3.8% on Accenture HR staff pay bill

Staff at Accenture HR Services, represented by the CWU and Connect communications unions, agreed a settlement worth 3.79% on the pay bill effective from September 2003. The company is a human resources (HR) operation outsourced from BT that is now part of Accenture, the US-based management consulting, technology services and outsourcing business.

The agreement covers around 1,100 staff at sites in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Milton Keynes, Stone and London, most of them former BT employees. It increased mid-point salaries and responsibility allowances by 2.5%, following the implementation of an agreed new reward/career structure bringing together a number of differing arrangements.

Pay increases ranged from 0.75% to 5% depending on the employee's position in the salary range and "contribution rating". The pay bill increase also covered the cost of individuals moving onto the minimum of their salary range, and pay increments for those covered by the former-BT NewGRID salary scheme. Salary minima start £10,378.

In a separate agreement negotiated by the PCS civil service union, Accenture staff employed to record National Insurance Contributions for the Inland Revenue had a 3.5% increase on their pay bill last year. Individual pay rises ranged from 2.5% to 5.5%. The agreement, also effective from September 2003, covers about 60 people based at Longbenton in Newcastle upon Tyne.

Accenture recently won a £934 million information systems contract for NHS patient care and services in Eastern England adding to a similar contract in North East England.