Salford mulls "work one hour for free" plan to avoid compulsory redundancies

Salford Council has drawn up plans to ask staff to work one hour a week for free in a bid to stave off compulsory redundancies, the Manchester Evening News has reported.

The paper said it had obtained a council document that suggested the move, if implemented, would save £4.4m a year with no loss of productivity. The local authority is targeting a minimum of £39m in cuts over the next three year.

Under the scheme, Salford’s 11,000 would be asked to continue working a 36 hour week but be paid for 35 hours. The average employee would lose £27 a month under the proposals.

The council suggested that it would try in the future to pay 36 hours for a 35 hour week to make the loss up.

But Ray Walker, Unison’s branch secretary at the council, said he was disappointed that the council prepared the report without seeking the views of staff.

He told the Manchester Evening News: “The fact is that local government workers are in the middle of a pay freeze this year, and, together with cost of living rises, any attempt to cut an hour a week of our members’ pay would have a devastating impact on low-income earners.

“A loss of £27 a month is £324 a year. The other fact is that any pay cuts to local workers will impact on the local economic footprint and will hit others who rely on the business of such workers in shops, markets and elsewhere.”