We are pleased to announce we have reached an agreement on the following pay proposal for employees in levels 6a to 9:

• A pay increase based on a 2% pay matrix. Plus
• A 1% discretionary spend, the focus of which will be determined by each CEO with their HR teams to target anomalies and key problem areas.

Overall, this equates to 3% of the total pay spend for this group of employees.

Unite will recommend this pay review to their members for acceptance in the forthcoming pay ballot which will take place from Monday 7 February until Friday 19 February.

PAY MATRIX

The following matrix will be used to award pay increases for all employees in level 6a to 9:

□   This matrix has an element of manager discretion but any adjustments up have to be balanced with movements down – this is necessary to ensure this is affordable for the business.

□   It had been previously agreed for those employees Above the pay range (i.e. where their FTE Salary is over the maximum of the pay range) every third year a pay award based upon the maximum salary for their pay range will be made (i.e. rather than a Lump Sum award)

□   No pay award will be available for Partially Successful performance – but when performance is back to a sustained Successful level of performance a pay award can be made at that time (not backdated) based on this pay matrix. Bonus awards can be made to Partially Successful employees on a discretionary basis as normal.

□   There will be no changes to the pay ranges for 2011.

Martin Hynes, our lead rep in Ipswich, leaves the company today for pastures new.

Martin has been a very active and hugely admired union rep, working tirelessly on behalf of members, fellow reps and the trade union movement. He will be sorely missed and Unite in AXA would like to take this opportunity to thank him publicly for all the hard work he has done over the years and wish him all the best for the future.

Click here to read the latest Unite in AXA newsletter on yesterday’s announcement in AXA Personal Lines. Please leave your feedback below or talk to your local union rep.

AXA Group Head Office in Paris has unfortunately rejected a request from Unite in AXA to reconsider the rules on the  AXA Miles shares for employees being made redundant in 2011.

The rules preclude anyone who leaves the company before the maturity date later this year receiving any of the free shares. Unite in AXA asked whether employees who had been given an AXA Miles passport back in 2004 and where made redundant in the few months prior to share release could be given them as some form of ex-gratia award as they had worked for the the majority of the qualification period.

Unfortunately Paris have stated that the rules for the award of the free shares cannot be altered and any employee made redundant prior to the release date will not receive their shares, regardless of how close they are to that date.

The TUC has published the first in a series of newsletters to help vulnerable workers, and the union members who protect them in the workplace, find out more about their basic employment rights at work. Whilst primarily aimed at vulnerable workers such as temporary and agency staff, Unite in AXA members may find it useful for friends and family as well. The newsletter can be accessed by clicking this link: Enforcing Minimum Rights

Kate Butler has volunteered to become a union rep in AXA DS Bristol and help make it better place to work in and assist her colleagues with any workplace issues

Thanks for volunteering Kate.

We are still looking for more reps in Bristol, especially Marlborough House. If you are interested please let us know by clicking the link in the header above.

Click here to read the latest Unite in AXA newsletter on the pay negotiations in AXA UK. Please leave your feedback below or talk to your local union rep.

Incomes Data Services (IDS) has reported that private-sector pay is set to increase this year but it will still trail behind the rate of inflation as VAT and rail fare rises impact RPI.

Their latest report predicts that pay rises are on course to be higher than 2010, but the growing cost of living will rise faster than average pay deals for the second year in a row.

The UK’s median pay award rose slightly to 2.2% in the three months to November 2010, according to the IDS research.

Read more about this here.

Unite in AXA would like to wish all our members a merry Christmas and happy, safe and prosperous New Year.