Public sector pay policy 2022 to 2023

Equalities Assessment

The results from the equality impact assessment of the 2022-23 Public Sector Pay Policy are available on the Scottish Government's Public Sector Pay webpages at:

https://www.gov.scot/policies/public-sector-pay/.

The continued progressive approach proposed in the 2022-23 Public Sector Pay Policy helps to reduce overall income inequality. It may also help in positively working towards reducing the gender pay gap within the public sector as it should increase the overall base levels of pay for those at the lower end where women are overly concentrated. This is further supported by the continued restraint applied to higher earners, including senior appointments, where there are higher proportions of men.

The application of a wage floor of £10.50 per hour (going beyond the real Living Wage) and the £775 cash underpin will positively benefit lower paid staff and in particular those with one or more protected characteristic. From the data available, there is a higher proportion of women, disabled people, individuals from a minority ethnic group, younger employees or a combination of one or more of these protected characteristics as well as part-time workers among lower paid employees. Therefore the measures proposed in the pay policy protect these employees from pay restraint and in many cases provide a positive benefit.

While we are satisfied that the risk of any indirect discrimination, as a result of capping the pay for higher earners, can be justified by the overarching aims of the pay policy, it will still be necessary for individual employers to ensure that they do not introduce or perpetuate any direct or indirect discrimination for individuals in their application of the policy. Employers covered by the pay policy are also subject to the statutory public sector equality duty, and it is their responsibility to ensure their pay systems are fair and non-discriminatory and that they undertake an assessment of their pay proposals prior to submitting them to the Scottish Government.

The pay policy will set the overarching framework within which public bodies can make individual choices on the impact of the policy on their own circumstances. Public bodies have the flexibility to draw up their own pay proposals to take into account local pay issues such as recruitment and retention, equality and the impact of the lower pay measures on other staff. The pay policy actively encourages employers to take into account their own staffing profile, local evidence, views of staff and unions and equality issues in framing their pay proposals.

Technical guidance

A Technical Guide providing further detail to assist public bodies in the preparation of their Staff and Senior Appointment pay remit proposals under this policy will be published separately. This will be available on the Scottish Government's Public Sector Pay webpages at: www.gov.scot/publicsectorpay.