15 July 2025

Colleague update: Your Pay Award for 2025 to 2027

Recently, COSLA (the umbrella body representing Scottish councils and trade unions) made an increased formal pay offer to the Scottish Joint Council (SJC) trade unions for all council colleagues.

Although Glasgow Life is not part of COSLA or involved in pay negotiations, we follow and adopt the same pay awards as Glasgow City Council. This offer to the trade unions, therefore, also applies to Glasgow Life colleagues.

This week, Council Leaders agreed to implement the revised SJC pay offer made on 12 June 2025 for local government colleagues. Following this, Glasgow Life will implement this pay award, along with backdated pay to 1 April 2025. Payment is planned for 19 August 2025.

This new pay offer is for a two-year settlement, running from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2027. It includes:

  • A 4% increase across all grades and pay points for the current financial year, 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026.
  • A 3.5% increase across all grades and pay points for the following financial year, 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027.

What this means for you:

  • Pay levels in each grade have increased. We will soon publish our latest pay table on the colleague information pages of our website.
  • Non-standard Working Pattern payments and Work Context and Demand payments will increase by 4%.
  • The pay award is calculated based on work patterns. We will prorate this for part-time colleagues.

Staff in receipt of Universal Credit, check your claim:

Please note that backdated pay may impact your future payments. The amount you get could change if your take-home pay changes.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) calculates your benefits based on your personal circumstances. Because of this, Glasgow Life cannot know how, or if, these changes will affect you. A backdated payment might reduce the amount of credit you receive. In some cases, you might earn too much to qualify for the credit. If that happens, the DWP will close your claim and send you a message to let you know.

You can get independent help and advice about Universal Credit from Advice First. Freephone 0800 328 5644. You can also visit www.gov.uk/universalcredit.

Support:

Financial information and support are available from the Scottish Government's cost-of-living support website. This includes information on grants and benefits, as well as advice. Visit: https://costofliving.campaign.gov.scot/

You can find further information and support on our My Wellbeing pages: https://www.glasgowlife.org.uk/about-us/colleague-information/my-wellbeing/my-financial-wellbeing

If you need to discuss any financial issues confidentially, you can also contact PAM Assist. Our Employee Assistance Provider. They are available 24/7, 365 days a year. Freephone: 0800 247 1100 or email: counsellingteam@pamassist.co.uk or info@pamwellbeing.co.uk

You can find more information on the colleague information pages of our website: https://www.glasgowlife.org.uk/about-us/colleague-information/hr-policies-and-documents/employee-assistance-programme

Please share this with colleagues who do not have regular email access.