Differentials between private and maintained sectors apply to conditions just as much as pay and conditions of service, says Maggie Koervers, operations director of Dundee-based Oranges and Lemons. 'They don't just get better paid in the maintained sector, they get more holidays and work fewer hours.' But while practitioners in the state sector enjoy higher pay, better pensions and longer holidays than their counterparts working in private settings, they lose out on benefits such as bonuses and access to subsidised childcare.
Differentials between private and maintained sectors apply to conditions just as much as pay and conditions of service, says Maggie Koervers, operations director of Dundee-based Oranges and Lemons. 'They don't just get better paid in the maintained sector, they get more holidays and work fewer hours.'
But while practitioners in the state sector enjoy higher pay, better pensions and longer holidays than their counterparts working in private settings, they lose out on benefits such as bonuses and access to subsidised childcare.
Admittedly, these extras are by no means commonplace in the private sector, but some employers are becoming more creative when putting together employment packages.
While few are as innovative as the Childbase Chain, with health insurance and share options, private sector benefits are rising: 15 per cent get a bonus (compared with 9 per cent last year) and 16 per cent use subsidised childcare, a rise of 3 per cent. But extra benefits can be costly. Maggie Koervers says, 'We decided to give our nursery nurses free childcare and one year it cost us 49,000.' New staff now get a good discount.
