In Archaeology Labour Market Intelligence: Profiling the Profession 2002/03 (table 58) (available from IFA > The Profession page), there is the sobering statistic that 25% of those aged 40-59 earned less than £18,000 per year. What this means is that low pay (low even by archaeological standards) is not a short-term problem for recent graduates. Somebody who graduated 15-35 years ago might still be at this grade. If you wish to retain your trained and experienced staff, you need to make sure they can actually afford to live on what you pay them.
Increasingly, though, money is not the only issue. Many other people manage on £18,000 per year. What is critical in the long term is the overall package that employment brings: issues like arrangements for travelling time, holidays, pension scheme, healthcare, and training, may be just as important to retaining staff.
The IFA has recognised that pay is not necessarily the biggest problem: it now expects employers to offer
• 37.5 hour average working week
• Employer pension contribution of 6%, subject to any reasonable qualifying period
• 20 days annual leave excluding statutory holidays
• Minimum sick leave allowance of 1 month on full pay, subject to any reasonable qualifying period
Step 10: how do you treat your staff?
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