DWP pay ballot to start in the new year

The group executive committee would like to thank DWP members for taking part in the consultative ballot which concluded on 10 October.

Members were asked if they were prepared to take industrial action on pay and have answered in their thousands - 80.5% being in favour of industrial action on a 52.3% turnout.  It was a significant result for the group and exceeds the turnout required in a statutory ballot. The result clearly shows the strength of feeling amongst the DWP membership.

Members made it clear that they are unhappy with the derisory offer from DWP, how DWP distributed the monies available under the treasury remit guidance and DWP's complete refusal to submit a pay flexibility case (business case) to increase spending on pay in the department.

The DWP group executive committee has received approval from the national disputes committee to move to a statutory ballot on pay.

The national disputes committee has approved the request to run a statutory ballot across the DWP. It is anticipated that this ballot will run between 5 January and 16 February.

This timeline avoids the Christmas period and will allow members time to update membership records.

It is important to remember that the consultative ballot was online, by email and we will not have that advantage in a statutory ballot moving forward. A statutory ballot will be a postal ballot.  

We have given the department every opportunity to come back to the table and have been met with a refusal to reopen meaningful talks. We have no option but to ballot members and show the employer that they need us more than we need them.

Pay meetings and membership feedback

Members voiced their anger that the offer could see pay for AAs and AOs at National Living Wage (NLW) rates on 1 April 2026. Members at the EO and HEO grades have also reported their anger at the offer with some manager members sitting just above the NLW and significant wage disparities between those who are on ED and those who opted out in 2016.  The GEC agrees that despite DWP targeting the senior grades with higher increases, members in those grades are still paid well below the market rate for their skills.

Rejection of the 2025/26 pay offer

The GEC rejected the DWP’s distribution of the pay remit, and so the pay ‘offer’.

The group president wrote to the permanent secretary on 30 July outlining the PCS position, members returning to NLW rates of pay in 2026, the full remit not being targeted towards the lowest paid, the failure to submit a pay flexibility case. PCS demanded a reassessment of the executive team’s priorities and the reopening of talks.

Management responded to that formal request by refusing to re-open pay talks. As there has once again been a dismissal of our members' real concerns and the weight of feelings demonstrated by the consultative ballot outcome, your group executive committee requested that the national disputes committee consider a submission to move to a statutory ballot.