Letters have been landing on doormats day after day, each with differing salary notifications. Some recipients have seen their wages drop by up to £7,000 in a matter of days.

The bungling by the personnel department has led to calls for their mass resignation as tempers within the workforce reach breaking point.

One employee at the environmental services department said: "Moray Council prides itself on best value. I would suggest that the council taxpayers within Moray have in fact received no value as a result of this exercise.

"To achieve best value, perhaps the entire personnel department, which has doubled in size since 1999, should resign en masse."

And a disgruntled refuse collector branded the latest embarrassment for the council a 'total disgrace', and called on bosses to be held accountable for the administrative breakdown.

The bin man was initially told that his wage was to be £18,000 per year – before another letter arrived apologising for the error and stating his salary would actually be £15,500.

"The whole thing has been a monumental cock-up," he said.

"It's a total disgrace, and people can do without this kind of thing. Certain managers should be held accountable for this, but I don't expect they will.

"Stress levels are at breaking point, and there is a lot of anger about."

The council employee said he couldn't believe his eyes when a number of contract letters kept appearing at his home – before the council finally clarified the situation.

The last letter he received from the personnel department said: "I wrote to you recently to inform you that the single-status letter for your post contained inaccurate details with regard to your proposed new grade.

"Regretfully, I am again writing to you to inform you that the second contract letter for your post also contained an error.

"Unfortunately, the amount of pay protection stated in the letter was incorrect.

"The correct information is now contained in the accompanying contract letter. This shows that the reduction in your pay is lower than the earlier letter.

"I understand that the occurrence of these errors is most unsatisfactory, and would like to take this opportunity to offer my apologies about this situation and assure you action is being taken to avoid errors."

Another worker questioned the overall cost of the mistake.

"So far some employees have received no letters at all, while others have received four letters," he said.

"Considering all letters were sent out through external mail, one hates to think the cost to the council so far."

Yet another bin man was also left confused and angry about his new contract after receiving three different letters.

"One said I was a Grade 1, another a Grade 2, but I'm actually a Grade 4," he said.

"As Grade 1 is the lowest paid grade in the council, it meant that my salary would have dropped by about £7,000 – I couldn't believe it.

"It is an absolute shambles, and something which needn't have happened."

Insiders claim that the personnel department has been mired in controversy for years, with some employees accusing them of being unhelpful and abrasive towards staff.

But chief executive Alastair Keddie, who has overall responsibility for the department, defended the department. He said Moray Council was the first in Scotland to reach a collective agreement on the whole single-status issue of pay and conditions.

In a written response to 'The Northern Scot', he said: "The decision acknowledged it was a very tight timescale, and that there would be a risk of administrative errors.

"This was weighed against the benefits of removing a very large financial liability from the council taxpayers of Moray, which could be measured in tens of thousands of pounds per year."

Mr Keddie said he regretted any distress caused to individuals, and sought to reassure them that work was underway to correct any errors identified before the information was passed to payroll.

He added: "Apologies have been issued to those employees who have been affected.

"I would also reassure staff that, as previously stated, the council has in place procedures for those who have problems relating to the outcome of their revised pay and conditions of service arising from the implementation of single status.

"I am also satisfied that the personnel department has minimised the risk of error associated with the implementation of such a large-scale change over such a short period.

Council convener, Councillor Eddie Coutts (Innes), would not be drawn on the controversy, and said it was a matter for the chief executive.

He continued: "He is aware that there are one or two problems, and as far as I'm concerned it's really not a members issue.

"It is not something that we should be involved in. If there are issues they should be raised with Alastair Keddie."

However, other councillors were more forthcoming with their views.

Leader of the Labour group, Councillor Sandy Keith (Bishopmill East), branded the contracts exercise as "shambolic" and said he would raise questions on the matter.

"I understand the anger of the staff," he added. "My wife's contract was actually sent to someone else, and she was absolutely furious about it.

"It is not good enough, and I will certainly hope to raise a number of questions about this.

"I have had one or two concerns about the personnel department which I have raised, although I don't want to expand on these matters."

SNP group leader, Pearl Paul (Rural Keith and Rothes) said staff were under enough stress without having to deal with circumstances outwith their control.

She added: "It has been a tremendously stressful time for them, and they have my complete sympathy.

"It has to be remembered that the staff are the most important component of the council, and I will certainly be asking questions about this matter."

A spokesman for the council said they had reached an agreement on the new pay and grading structure revised terms and conditions of employment, which had been communicated to some 4,500 over a short period of time.

He added: “We are aware that during the process there were problems involving some staff, and revised documentation has been issued.

“The only cost involved was a relatively small additional postage charge.

“However, if there are staff who still have queries about their individual terms and conditions, they should refer to personnel, who will use the recognised procedures to resolve any issues arising from single status.”

UNISON’S Moray branch secretary, Irene Sinclair, said feelings were running very high among members.

She added: “Some have received letters with other people’s details, and a number of our members have called for the resignation of some senior officials in personnel and finance.

“Even now, some people do not know what their new pay rates are, and we have a very limited time to lodge appeals for them.

“We have had reports from a lot of members that they are deeply unhappy about this, and they feel they have been treated very shabbily.

“However, we will be doing our best to support them through this.”

The council signed an historic deal with unions in October to implement a major salary shake-up.

The parties reached a collective agreement on the new wages structure following almost two years of negotiations.

The council pumped a further £2.3 million into the settlement after its first offer was overwhelmingly rejected by the workforce last year.

But even with the extra cash, more than 400 employees have had to take a cut in their monthly pay packet.

s.scott@northern-scot.co.uk

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