University delays pay rise in 'challenging time'

Sheffield Hallam University will not give staff a pay rise this year as it continues to grapple with finances.

In an email to staff seen by the BBC, Vice-Chancellor Prof Liz Mossop warned the university faced “really difficult decisions during a very challenging time”.

She said it had a recovery plan focused on reducing costs and increasing income to “weather the challenges”, and she was confident it would put the university in a stronger position for the future.

Sheffield Hallam said every 1% increase to staff salaries cost around £2m, and the overall cost to the university of implementing the pay award was approximately £6m.

It comes after the Universities and Colleges Employers Association, which represents universities as part of collective pay bargaining with trade unions, concluded its discussions on the 2024/25 pay award.

The letter said: “In previous years the university has implemented the pay award uplift from August, but this year we have taken the difficult decision to delay the payment of the award to staff until July 2025.

“This is the latest point in the 2024/25 academic year that universities can implement the award according to the terms of the collective bargaining agreement.

“When the pay award is implemented in July 2025, it will not be backdated.

"University Executive Board members will not receive the pay award at all for 2024/25.”

Prof Mossop said it had “not been an easy decision” and she appreciated colleagues would be “very disappointed”, but the university had to look at ways to reduce overall costs.

The letter added: “By delaying its implementation to July 2025 we can further reduce costs significantly and protect more jobs.

"We will keep the decision under review, but it has already been factored into our budget for this year.”

Earlier this year, the university said up to 400 jobs could be lost as external pressures, such as the government's plans to reduce the number of international students in the UK, had led to "tough decisions".

Sheffield Hallam employs around 4,500 staff and said it would do "everything possible" to avoid compulsory redundancies.

The Hallam branch of the University and College Union paused strike action pending discussions with the university.

A Sheffield Hallam University spokesperson said implementing the pay award later than in previous years would help the university reduce costs significantly and protect more jobs.

They said: “Like all universities, we are having to make a number of tough decisions due to the financial challenges being faced across the higher education sector.

“This is not a decision we’ve taken lightly for staff who are working hard to welcome new and returning students at the start of the academic year.

“The decision to delay the pay award is part of a clear plan to reduce costs and grow income to help us towards a more sustainable financial future, where we can continue to be one of the UK’s most popular universities.”

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