Outsourcing chaos leaves PCS members seven weeks without pay
Facilities staff transferring from one outsourced company to another will see their pay date change, meaning a long period between pay days.
PCS members working as facilities staff for outsourcing giant Mitie at the Cabinet Office and Foreign & Commonwealth Office are being transferred to two other companies, ISS and OCS.
Some have been told they will have to wait until December 14 for their first pay cheque from their new employer. Others who rely on Universal Credit to top up their wages will have their benefit payments disrupted as their pay frequency will change from monthly to fortnightly.
These changes will undoubtedly cause financial hardship and distress to staff, particularly so close to Christmas.
One member told PCS: “I’m a single mother of three with no savings. To wait nearly seven weeks for four weeks’ pay would mean I couldn't pay bills, buy food, pay for gas and electric. This comes in a cost-of-living crisis and before Christmas. I am already losing sleep and not able to eat with the worry.”
PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: “This heartless and devastating policy will ruin Xmas for many of our members. To push this change through without union agreement is appalling. We demand the employer drops this scheme and returns to the old system that allowed workers to budget every month.”
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