Pay everyone the same ( who is doing the same job) for the open days and student ambassador work
Bethany Squires submitted on
Monday 9th September 2019
Complete
Current open days and similar work are paid at minimum wage, meaning over 25s get paid slightly more than 21-24s for doing the same job
The university should raise the pay for those who are 21-24 so it is the same as the minimum living wage. As students money can be a struggle and it would be a way to show that the students' input is valued.
I do not feel that the response that they pay people less so they can employ more people is good enough. If they want us to speak well about the university and how they treat and value students, they should show this, rather than just paying the smallest amount they can get away with.
Responses
Here, you can view the complete set of official responses from the sabbatical officers regarding this submission.
Students' Union replied on
Tuesday 29th Oct 2019 4:04pm
Dear Bethany,
As promised, I raised this with the University HR team. Unfortunately, they do not have any current plans to change this as their pay is based on the government's National Minimum Wage. I have copied their full response below:
'The university, over the last two years since UniWorkforce was introduced, has ensured equitable, transparent pay based on an hourly rate for the work undertaken. This is all picked up on the timesheet, based on the category of work that the casual worker has been asked to deliver and automated through the drop down selection to ensure consistency.
The agreed rate for the role of student ambassadors and those working open days is the government’s National Minimum Wage for these roles. Details of this are on the government website https://www.gov.uk/national-minimum-wage-rates. You will see that rates are based on age and a different rate for apprentices.This is legally compliant and assessed as the rate for the assignment. It is not envisaged that this will change in the near future.'
I would suggest that, as this is based on the government, it would be more effective for you, and anyone else you know affected by this, to write to your local MP to ask them to lobby on this issue as this would likely need to be changed at government level before the University would change it.
If you would like to discuss this further please drop me an email to president@soton.ac.uk
Kind regards,
Emily Harrison,
SUSU President, 2019/20
Students' Union replied on
Friday 25th Oct 2019 3:41pm
Hi Bethany,
Thanks for getting in touch.
I absolutely take your point and agree that it does seem unfair for peple doing the same job to be paid differently due to age.
I do also agree that he response that they pay people less so they can employ more people isnot good enough. However, it is true that it will likely have a knock on effect on the amount of people they can employ as there are limited budgets. Not that this is a reason to not pay everyone the same, but just something to bare in mind as an inevitable consequence.
I have raised this issue with the University's HR team and will come back to you with a response as soon as possible.
Kind regards,
Emily Harrison,
Union President, 2019/20
Actions
Forwarded to Union President
Friday 13th Sep 2019 9:16am
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