[UK] After living wage order G4S cuts NHS test-and-trace staff pay

G4S-run NHS test-and-trace units have cut the pay of some workers by up to 5 per cent following the release of a new contract from the government specifying that they should receive the real living wage, The Guardian reports.

The affected workers are part of a group of 1,000 working at mobile COVID-19 testing units at about 100 sites around the country. They are employed by G4S via the HR GO recruitment agency.

Some workers were told their hourly pay would drop from £10 an hour to a maximum of £9.50 an hour outside London, a cut of 5 per cent. Those in London will see a drop from a maximum of £11 an hour to £10.85, a 1.4 per cent cut.

In a letter to staff, G4S reportedly said the pay change was the result of a new 12-month contract with the government, under which it was required to pay all staff the real living wage; an independently verified minimum of £10.85 in London and £9.50 elsewhere.

While the change will result in a pay rise for those workers earning as little as £9.30 an hour, others got in touch with the Guardian to say their pay has been reduced down from £10 an hour.

The letter to workers said those prior higher rates of pay reflected “uncertainty around how long [the government] would require sites to operate”.

“The longer-term nature of the [new one-year contract] provides more certainty and therefore the real living wage is more appropriate for the longer-term role,” it read.

Sara Gorton - the head of health at the Unison union - said, “Living wage clauses are designed as a minimum; not an excuse for some greedy contractors to reduce pay.”

Workers are also concerned about not being paid for travelling time or fuel expenses to attend the testing centres.

Some reported that they were asked to report to a variety of sites each week which could be as much as an hour’s drive away from home or their main testing centre and their fuel costs were not reimbursed.

Some workers claimed they often travelled for two hours a day yet their daily rate only allowed for one hour of travelling time after working at least seven-hour shifts at the testing centres. If an hour’s extra travel time were taken into account, they were left with only £8.44 an hour compared with the legal minimum for over 23-year-olds of £8.91.

If the cost of fuel was taken into account, workers were left with even less money.

Workers were warned they would have to drive up to 50 miles a day when they took on the role and employers are not legally obliged to pay ordinary commuting time or expenses.

G4S reportedly said workers’ claims about low pay were unfounded. It said they were paid for an eight-hour shift and were on-site for an average of six hours.

“These claims are unfounded. All our workers are paid the real living wage for all hours worked, including overtime, in accordance with the law and government guidelines,” a spokesperson for the company said.

“The only travel that our workers do is their commute to and from their place of work. In line with general market practice in the UK, we do not pay employees for commuting time. For our mobile testing unit (MTU) workers, which is an area-based role with no fixed location, the average journey is less than half an hour each way.

“Our MTUs complete thousands of journeys across the country each month and 99% of round journeys in the last month were less than two hours.”

A spokesperson for HR GO said, “HR GO has paid our workers in line with the terms of our current contract with G4S.

G4S-run NHS test-and-trace units have cut the pay of some workers by up to 5 per cent following the release of a new contract from the government specifying that they should receive the real living wage, The Guardian reports.

The affected workers are part of a group of 1,000 working at mobile COVID-19 testing units at about 100 sites around the country. They are employed by G4S via the HR GO recruitment agency.

Some workers were told their hourly pay would drop from £10 an hour to a maximum of £9.50 an hour outside London, a cut of 5 per cent. Those in London will see a drop from a maximum of £11 an hour to £10.85, a 1.4 per cent cut.

In a letter to staff, G4S reportedly said the pay change was the result of a new 12-month contract with the government, under which it was required to pay all staff the real living wage; an independently verified minimum of £10.85 in London and £9.50 elsewhere.

While the change will result in a pay rise for those workers earning as little as £9.30 an hour, others got in touch with the Guardian to say their pay has been reduced down from £10 an hour.

The letter to workers said those prior higher rates of pay reflected “uncertainty around how long [the government] would require sites to operate”.

“The longer-term nature of the [new one-year contract] provides more certainty and therefore the real living wage is more appropriate for the longer-term role,” it read.

Sara Gorton - the head of health at the Unison union - said, “Living wage clauses are designed as a minimum; not an excuse for some greedy contractors to reduce pay.”

Workers are also concerned about not being paid for travelling time or fuel expenses to attend the testing centres.

Some reported that they were asked to report to a variety of sites each week which could be as much as an hour’s drive away from home or their main testing centre and their fuel costs were not reimbursed.

Some workers claimed they often travelled for two hours a day yet their daily rate only allowed for one hour of travelling time after working at least seven-hour shifts at the testing centres. If an hour’s extra travel time were taken into account, they were left with only £8.44 an hour compared with the legal minimum for over 23-year-olds of £8.91.

If the cost of fuel was taken into account, workers were left with even less money.

Workers were warned they would have to drive up to 50 miles a day when they took on the role and employers are not legally obliged to pay ordinary commuting time or expenses.

G4S reportedly said workers’ claims about low pay were unfounded. It said they were paid for an eight-hour shift and were on-site for an average of six hours.

“These claims are unfounded. All our workers are paid the real living wage for all hours worked, including overtime, in accordance with the law and government guidelines,” a spokesperson for the company said.

“The only travel that our workers do is their commute to and from their place of work. In line with general market practice in the UK, we do not pay employees for commuting time. For our mobile testing unit (MTU) workers, which is an area-based role with no fixed location, the average journey is less than half an hour each way.

“Our MTUs complete thousands of journeys across the country each month and 99% of round journeys in the last month were less than two hours.”

A spokesperson for HR GO said, “HR GO has paid our workers in line with the terms of our current contract with G4S.