Unite the Union has launched a postcard campaign as part of its latest action to urge the Financial Conduct Authority to rethink its staff pay packages.
The union has previously criticised FCA boss Nikhil Rathi for pushing through this year’s employee pay package without consulting staff.
The package will see employees below senior management level receive a minimum 4.5 per cent pay increase, but the FCA has said the average uplift is closer to 6.5 per cent.
The FCA has said while it did not conduct a formal consultation with staff this year over pay, the package is based on changes which were consulted on last year.
In an update today (February 15), Unite said it would compile postcards from staff members and send them to the regulator early next month in an effort to represent their views on the pay offer.
“This campaign is a creative way to take collective action short of industrial action,” the union said.
“The FCA can afford to make significant investments in its staff without breaking the bank and FCA staff need to know they can afford to stay in their jobs.
“If the FCA won’t ask staff about their pay, Unite will help staff make their say loud and clear.”
The City watchdog’s 2023 pay package does not come into effect until April, which the union argued gives the regulator enough time to talk to staff, before reconsidering and improving its offer.
Unite has called the offer “the poorest cost-of-living adjustment of any regulator or financial firm we know”, saying it will not make the difference needed when inflation is 11-14 per cent.
Meanwhile, the FCA argues it is “one of the best” overall employment packages of any other regulator or enforcement agency in the UK.
Submissions from staff members for Unite’s ‘Rethink Pay’ campaign, which can be up to 50 words, will be accepted until March 1.
The union is also calling for “improved working conditions and benefits” to make the difference between inflation and the pay adjustment, which it said “many other financial firms and regulators have done”.
And for staff in Edinburgh and Leeds, the union is calling for “greater [pay] equity”, arguing London employees are paid more for the same work.
An FCA spokesperson said the regulator has made improvements to pay beyond what it set out last year, and that the changes will help it continue to rebalance our overall salaries and narrow pay gaps.
“We attract a high calibre of talent, and we’ve successfully recruited more than 1,000 new colleagues over the last 12 months as our headcount grows to meet an expanding remit,” they said.
Unite conducted a survey last month based on 500 staff responses, which suggested 56.7 per cent of the FCA’s staff are now actively looking to leave the regulator.
Some 1,136 colleagues joined the FCA in 2022, a year which also saw 649 staff exits.
Headcount at the FCA reached 4,352 last month, from a full-time headcount of 3,878 at the end of March 2022.
The regulator expects headcount will continue to grow, with at least a further 150 new joiners expected before the end of March 2023.
This would take its total number of employees to about 4,500.
A brief history of action
Changes to the regulator's pay structure began last year, amid pressure from industrial action - which marked the first time staff had staged a walkout at the City watchdog.
While Unite has previously tried to become the regulator’s recognised trade union, the FCA said it has not garnered enough support from within the regulator to gain statutory recognition.
In April 2022, the regulator introduced a revised pay structure based on performance which it said was also designed to reward those on lower pay.
This year, for example, staff earning below £125,000 who achieve a performance level grade of 3 out of 5 or above will receive a base salary increase of at least 4.5 per cent.
Colleagues earning above £125,000 who achieve a performance level grade of 3 or above will see rises of at least 4 per cent.
As part of the offer, about 800 of the FCA’s lowest paid staff members received overall increases to their pay packages of around £5,500.
In January, the FCA proposed to add two union members to its internal staff consultative committee (SCC) in response to feedback from employees.
The FCA said while it did update the SCC on its pay package for this year, it did not conduct a consultation like it did last year.
It is this lack of a formal consultation that Unite is now challenging.
ruby.hinchliffe@ft.com