Nice Little Earner !

[tonyav]

I wonder if IDS pay's himself a bonus.

http://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/dwp-staff-received-almost-%C2%A3140-million-in-bonuses-over-the-last-three-years/ar-CC4opo?li=AAaeUIW

[wolf63]

I don't know how many people are left in DWP but I doubt that staff members received much individually. The wages were abysmal and the job can be very stressful.

[Davemano]

You cannot compare DWP staff with essential services whose cuts have lead to an unacceptable staffing level resulting them not being able to operate effectively.

[tonyav]

I'll bet that upper management have had some nice bonus's though, wolf.

Why miss leading, Jim ?.

[naomi24]

Humphrey ensures that government decisions are carried out - that's his job - but individual Ministers are not responsible for paying Humphrey's salary.

[jim360]

Firstly, because you've linked it to IDS as if it's somehow his responsibility -- it's not. And secondly, because the vast majority of DWP Civil Servants have seen essentially none of these bonuses. Mostly they go to top staff, of whom there are very few.

And thirdly, the whole thing is used to dump all sorts of crap Civil Servants who can't really do much about it as their terms of employment include "vows of silence". So there's not much chance of them to respond. It's just seriously annoying.

Criticise IDS for his rank incompetence and inability to listen to anybody that doesn't agree with him 100%, but not this.

[tonyav]

I linked IDS because the Independent put a great big picture of him at the top of their article. Blimey anybody would think he was in charge of the dept or something.

[naomi24]

Misleading, eh?

[jim360]

But he's not in charge of Civil Service Pay. So it is misleading. A good thing that he's not, perhaps, but trying to dump this on him is totally unjustified.

[Psybbo]

So who is in charge then, Jim?

[tonyav]

I wonder if IDS pay's himself a bonus.


I don't see how that is dumping whatever you mean on him.

[Psybbo]

Perhaps he should go for a second bedroom?
can't believe I said that

[jim360]

The pay is set by the Department -- I presume this means effectively that the pay levels are set by Civil Servants themselves -- but overall responsibility is the Treasury's. On the other hand the pay has been frozen or limited to 1% since 2010 or even a couple of years before, ie almost all Civil Servants have had real-terms pay cuts for the last five or six years.

[lady-janine]

surely the final buck stops on his desk.

[wolf63]

It could be that instead of a real pay rise the staff have been awarded a non-consolidated pay rise. I am afraid in the latter years of employment I was ill and was living in a world of my own so I can't remember the specific details.

[wolf63]

The above makes slightly more send if I mention that I worked for DWP until 31/10/2003.

[Hypognosis]

Civil Service salaries are conspicuously unequal, per pay grade, between departments; some are "more equal than others". I recall one former tax office worker who was staggered how much more he was getting, for the same grade, in the same town (ie it was nothing to do with regional variations, such as the high-unemployment northeast getting thousands per year less than we got, in the southeast).

Performance bonuses are based on annual performance review "box markings" but, as it is not possible to be privy to how productive your colleagues are, I always took the cynical view that it was more a measure of social skills.

As for bonuses for the higher-ups, these are really a reflection of how hard their workforce are working and it is a real kick in the guts to see boss awarded thousands for your hard graft while you get a measly hundred or teo. For the year! Really motivational...

[Hypognosis]

Clarification: tax office casework staff were, at that time, paid about the same as our admin assistants.

[naomi24]

Jim, //But he's not in charge of Civil Service Pay. So it is misleading.//

My question was rhetorical.

Bouncer, //He is the man who puts names forward for these bonuses ,//

No, he isn't.

//[ who else can]. //

These departments have a management structure - just as businesses do. IDS has no say in individual salaries or in bonuses. He is just a part of the machine.

Tony, //I wonder if IDS pay's himself a bonus. //

See above.

[Hypognosis]

I presume IDS does the performance management review (PMR, henceforth) of the Grade 1 Civil Servant so he can be said to influence the bonus (or not) of at least one of them.

By setting departmental *goals* and performance targets (ie setting policy) the minister can indirectly influence who scores a bonus and who, by being obstructive or uncooperative (the Humphrey Appleton types) does not.

So, ask yourself what these bonuses were awarded in aid of? Number of people thrown off incapacity by ATOS assessments, or similar?