Nottingham University staff fear losing hundreds of pounds a month due to allowance change

Staff at the University of Nottingham have expressed fears they will lose money due to a change in the unsociable hours allowance.

Employees in the operations and facilities department currently receive a fixed monthly amount for working unsociable hours, such as weekends and nights.

However, the allowance will be scrapped from the 31st July and replaced with a 15 per cent pay uplift for each unsociable hour worked.

This means the hourly rate of staff working unsociable hours will increase by 15 per cent. As opposed to a fixed amount, employees will be paid based on how many unsociable hours they work.

One employee, who claimed they will lose £3,500 annually, described the change as a “penny-pinching” measure.

They said: “We understand that equality is important to staff on our level, but the extent to which our pay is being reduced is insulting. People rely on that money to support families, pay mortgages, to pay rent… everything about [the change] is completely unfair. Why is the university targeting the lowest-paid workers they have?”.

Another staff member said: “From the outside looking in, you might go ‘that’s fair, everyone deserves equal fair pay.’ But it’s the fact that they decided to take the allowances from the lowest pay grades, which hits us right back down to minimum wage.”

via Unsplash

A review into the fixed allowance payments began in 2022, with negotiations with unions over the replacement of the system commencing in January 2025.

The scrapping of fixed monthly payments was later agreed with three trade unions recognised by the university, through a join negotiation committee.

However, the unions confirmed only Unison members are affected by the change.

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A Nottingham University spokesperson said all staff in departments working in the lowest three pay grandes, levels one to three, will be eligible for the 15 per cent uplift in pay when working hours are “deemed unsociable”.

They added: “A small number of colleagues have been more negatively impacted than others by these changes and will see a reduction in salary as a result.”

However, Vicki Norris, a branch secretary for Unison, said the changes were “not a done deal”, adding that negations with the university on “mitigation” would begin next week.

Nottingham University and Unison Union have been contacted for comment.

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Featured image via Unsplash