Commenting on the announcement today (Monday) that the government is to provide funding so employees of some non-NHS organisations can receive the same one-off payment for last year as directly employed staff, UNISON head of health Sara Gorton said:
“This will ensure a small number of providers aren’t out of pocket for awarding staff what they’re legally owed, but this should have happened months ago.
“Sadly this won’t stop thousands of contractors and ‘bank’ providers from ignoring calls to do the right thing by paying the lump sum to outsourced and temporary staff in the NHS. Many of these workers are on low wages and insecure contracts.
“Ministers must end the two-tier employment scandal in the NHS and ensure all employers in the service play by the same rules.”
Notes to editors:
– Earlier in the year, UNISON launched Us2. It’s a campaign to ensure people working for private contractors in the NHS get the same pay as their directly employed colleagues in England.
– UNISON is the UK’s largest union with more than 1.3 million members providing public services in education, local government, the NHS, police service and energy. They are employed in the public, voluntary and private sectors.
Media contact:
Fatima Ayad M: 07508 080383 E: f.ayad@unison.co.uk