A controversial rule on paying high salaries to bosses at Bristol City Council has been questioned by councillors. The highest paid staff must be paid no more than 10 times as much as the lowest paid staff, according to the council’s “bogus” pay policy.
From April the lowest paid council employees will earn the Real Living Wage, which is £10.90 per hour. Based on a full-time week of 37 hours, this means a minimum salary of £21,029. Meanwhile, the chief executive will be paid between £176,000 and £187,000.
While this meets the rules set out in the pay policy, councillors on the human resources committee on February 16 raised questions about how agency workers were not included. Many low paid staff are employed through agencies, as well as some very highly paid ones.
