The majority of employees in Stirling Council work under one of two sets of terms and conditions – Manual Worker and APT&C. The differences between these two sets of T&Cs relate, mostly, to the allowances that are paid for unsocial hours, shift and weekend working.

To demonstrate these differences, lets look at two employees who both work Saturday and Sunday as part of their normal working week (NOT OVERTIME as they have two days off through the week).

• Employee 1 is a Manual Worker and so gets paid Time and a half for Saturday work, Double Time for Sundays;
• Employee 2 is an APT&C worker and gets paid time and a half for both days.

If both were to work evenings through the week then Employee 1 would get time and a fifth for hours past 8pm, but employee 2 would receive time and a third past 8pm or an irregular hours allowance, if they qualified.

Clearly there is an equality issue, perhaps it’s not gender based, but if Single Status is about one system for all, then terms and conditions must be harmonized.