‘A complex and nonsensical pay system’ fuelling recruitment crisis in Scotland
![Workers engaged in a task](/sites/default/files/styles/3_2_s/public/2023-12/amy-hirschi-uwpo02K55zw-unsplash.jpg?h=c3635fa2&itok=gMsXGNmT)
Social workers in Scotland urgently need their own payscale as part of a new national approach to pay and conditions, says the Scottish Association of Social Work.
Most social workers are employed by local authorities, but their pay is currently tied up in a collective bargaining process as part of a ‘job family’ with other local authority workers.
SASW is calling for social workers to have separate and nationally agreed pay and conditions as is the case with teachers to eliminate differences in basic grade salaries between authorities that often amount to several thousand pounds.
It wants this to be part of radical reforms to create a National Care Service in Scotland.
Alison Bavidge, national director of SASW, said: “Local authorities are battling to recruit and retain social workers in a complex and nonsensical pay system. As a result, we have tides of recruitment and induction, influenced by the largest authorities, that moves the existing workforce around rather than solving an ever-increasing recruitment crisis, which ultimately affects the people we support.
"Since proposals for the National Care Service were first announced, our members have been clear that social work can’t go on as it is.
“Social workers need fair pay and the time and conditions to practice their profession as they are trained to, in a safe manner to support and protect people in Scotland.
“Our asks are not a simple answer to the crisis the profession is in, but we believe that without addressing these basic factors, it will be impossible to steer social work into a stable and sustainable future.”
SASW warns caseloads weighted to statutory intervention, protection and crisis work coupled with a lack of time for development and training are also driving burnout in social workers, many of whom are quitting the profession.
It points to findings from a 2019 report by the Scottish Social Services Council showing that one in four Scottish social work graduates don’t make it to six years in the job.
To address this, SASW is proposing a set of nationally agreed terms and conditions to include:
- A dedicated local government job family for pay and conditions for social work
- A consistent framework for pay that allows for rural weightings and short-term initiatives in hard-to-recruit areas
- Pay recognition and enhancements for additional qualifications and responsibilities
- A national maximum caseload of 15 cases for children’s services and 20 to 25 for adults and justice as recommended by Setting the Bar, with the expectation that cases are equally split between early support/standard/complex
- A reduction in administrative burden to enable social workers to spend more time with people
- Reflective supervision from a qualified social worker every six weeks as a minimum, distinct from case supervision provided by a line manager
- At least five days’/35 hours’ formal training each year
- Flexible working that meets the needs of social workers and our communities
- Paid overtime if social workers need to do more than their contracted hours, in order to keep people safe