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The C&RT bonus culture

18/3/2018

19 Comments

 
A Gender Pay Gap statement issued on 8 March shows that the Canal & River Trust is still operating a bonus culture, writes Allan Richards.

The statement, whilst demonstrating a clean bill of health on gender pay, reveals that more than four in ten staff received one or more bonus payments in the 12 months to April last year. The statement is confirmed as accurate by the Trust's Chief Executive, Richard Parry.
​
Changes in legislation mean that, from 2017 onwards, private and voluntary-sector employers in England, Scotland and Wales with 250 or more employees must calculate  their gender pay and gender bonus gaps as they are on 5 April each year. The information generated must be published before March 30 the following year.

Acas (who provide information, advice, training, conciliation and other services for employers and employees) and GEO (the Government Equalities Office) suggest that the data is published as soon as possible. However, this advice appears to have been ignored by the Trust who waited almost a year and then provided a press release linking its delayed publication to International Women’s Day.

Employers are required to publish six figures;

1. average gender pay gap as a mean average

2. average gender pay gap as a median average

3. average bonus gender pay gap as a mean average

4. average bonus gender pay gap as a median average

5. proportion of males receiving a bonus payment and proportion of females receiving a bonus payment

6. proportion of males and females when divided into four groups ordered from lowest to highest pay.

It took just a few seconds with a calculator to find that a high number of the Trust's workforce is being paid bonus. 
​
C&RT operates two bonus schemes. One is an ‘Annual Bonus Scheme’. This allows a single bonus to be paid based on the performance against yearly personal targets. It is understood that not all staff are eligible.

The second scheme is the “Thank You Award Scheme”. This scheme allows all staff to be awarded one or more bonus payments each year. The statement issued by C&RT says that individual payments made under the “Thank You Award Scheme” are much less by value than those under its ‘Annual Bonus Scheme’.

Under the above schemes payments were made to 690 Ca&RT staff in the 12 months up 5 April 2017 (this more or less equates to C&RT's 2016/17 financial year). Put another way, C&RT made one or more bonus payments to 40.7% of staff. The statement made by C&RT does not include the total amount paid in bonus paid to these 690 staff.

The reason that so many staff are being paid bonus may be partly historic. When BW became C&RT bonus arrangements for staff were continued under TUPE. With directors, some changes were made to salary and bonus arrangements. However, all directors transferring were eligible for bonus payments. 

Most charities do not pay staff or directors bonus believing recognition, encouragement of staff and better opportunities for personal development, can motivate employees more effectively. Then there is the vocational aspect. Those working in the charity sector do so, in part, because they believe in the purpose and goals of the charity. 

What about public perception? Would you donate to a charity that feels it has to pay 40 per cent of its staff bonus to motivate them? Would you give your time without payment (i.e. volunteer) so that a director or member of staff can be paid bonus? 

If one reads C&RT’s 2016/17 annual report, there is scant mention of these bonus payments.  We are told that C&RT’s Remuneration Committee, consisting of three Trustees, is responsible for bonus schemes: 
 
'The Committee determines the overall reward and remuneration strategy for the Trust, including any annual or periodic pay award. It approves the design of, and determine targets for, any performance related pay scheme operated by the Trust for any Executive Directors.'

However, just one of the 690 members of staff paid bonus warrants a mention. Stuart Mills, Property Director and the Trust's highest earner, was given a bonus of £24,491 to add to his basic salary of £164,499, pension allowance of £7,107, car allowance of £9,768, benefits in kind of £2,022.  On top of his total salary of £207,887) a further £57,366 was paid into his pension fund.

Is it not about time that C&RT stamped out this bonus culture and finds a way of motivating staff that is more in tune with being a charity?




19 Comments
Roger Abbott
18/3/2018 07:09:58

So he's been paid £164,499 which is boosted to £207,887 with benfits and allowances and then they give him another £57,366 on top to stick in his pension fund (in addition to the £7,107 pension payment they already gave him).
No wonder they say charity begins at home eh ?

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BobTheDog
18/3/2018 08:40:00

At least CRT are a reputable charity not like Oxford they only fuck boaters !

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BobTheDog
18/3/2018 08:43:48

Oxfam. I put Oxfam ! Bloody predicted text !!!

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Scott Pupekh
18/3/2018 08:51:02

Isn't the staff thank you award some sort of £25 high street voucher thing for exceptional work (after hours stuff etc.)?

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S
18/3/2018 20:46:51

That's quite correct. Volunteering to work at Open Days etc.

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Brian D Jarrett
18/3/2018 08:51:32

I’m left with an empty feeling over the bonus culture & excessive salaries that pervade CRT
What powers do any of us have to control this Charitable Trust ?
The IWA has a memorandum of understanding!
How can we take action to kerb this greedyand miss managed outfit ?!!!

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Colin
18/3/2018 16:06:04

With Gov. ignoring us,(I know this from personal experience as I have written to D.E.F.R.A. AND my local M.P. and the N.B.T.A.'s 35000 strong petition was ignored too.) and the waterways ombudsman being toothless and stacked in c.r.t.'s favour.The only options I can see at present are the Charities Commission and the Fund Raising Regulator...for what they are worth!.
Time to stop bickering amongst ourselves about who moors where and when and the size and use of different boats?,and STAND TOGETHER against c.r.t. and self regulating marina operators and lobby for BOATERS to take control with a non profit organisation.....maybe??.

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Brian D Jarrett
19/3/2018 07:46:24

I concurs 100% with this comment If we are to have any worthwhile canal system & infastructure left at the end of the day
Boaters MUST come together
It’s our canals CRT are only suppose to be its custodians !
We need to come up with a sutable plan to either make CRT carry out the job it was formed to do or replace it with another type of organisation which clearly sees itself as a “Navigation authority” and not some “Global Corporation”
They could take a leaf out of the structure and running of the Avon Navigation Trust !
What is clear CRT are not fit for purpose !

Alan Theaker
18/3/2018 12:05:02

Well with C&RT handing out promotions for failures it's reasonable to expect of em to give bonuses for failure too & on that note, were it not for boats they'd be out a job, so instead of putting licence fees up they ought reduce them & mooring fees too then we can all say we've done well.
Whistler nb Sawdust

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Colin
18/3/2018 15:41:48

Is this why wide beams are facing licence increases?...To line the pockets of SELF IMPORTANT FAILURES!?.
Spend OUR money on OUR waterways you bunch of USELESS,GREEDY THIEVES!.

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Alan Theaker
18/3/2018 17:00:10

Oops Richard, did'nt bank on a breach did you. Mite be a good idea to put a stop to the bonuses to help pay for it. Can't have hire companies & businesses on the Middlewich losing trade well into the summer whilst you try to raise the cash. You silly silly man.
Whistler nb Sawdust

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colin
21/3/2018 23:26:23

A breach supposedly cause by "rainfall".
If a bit of rain could cause this,why wasn't the problem spotted and addressed earlier!?.
Answers on a post card please crt!.

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Alan Theaker
19/3/2018 12:24:52

Boy o boy do I have a good laugh every time I log onto the floater & sorry folks, I know the antics of Richard Parry & Co isn't a laughing matter but theyr such a gullible bunch, easily lead & recall their spending £10k's on business consultant know-how back in 2004 when investing in a string of canalside pubs in cahoots with Scottish & Newcastle wich was gonna provide the booze & unlikely was it civil servants thought that up anymore than it was thought up to build marinas. The latter comes with gullible civil servants being wined & dined by successful businessman & wealthy ex bankrupts & es a result there's not much left in way of asset's that's not been converted into cash to Witter away in loss making schemes to a point they now need to borrow millions to continue paying themselves extravagant undeserved salaries & bonuses & they'd probably being advised where to put it too for when the time comes theyr summoned before a parliamentary select committee & for that I can't wait, but I can't imagine government reverting back to BWB & can't imagine regional councils taking on responsibility of canals in their domains either & on that note folks I dread to think what will become of the cut when C&RT get administrators in.
Whistler nb Sawdust

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Ken Churchill
19/3/2018 13:39:37

The Charity Commision are as bad as C&RT.

When I contacted the Charity Commision regarding C&RT wasting over £500,00 on legistation and expences - my narrowbaot hung up and sank in les than two minutes in Lock 40 Leeds & liverpool Canal, which C&RT had on record six previous chanber wall hang ups - the Charity Commision led me on a three month wild goose chase before I gave up.

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Roger Abbott
20/3/2018 07:15:31

Yep, unaccountable and autocratic. There seems to be no way to hold them to account, the charity commissioners aren't interested and neither are the parliamentary waterways and the waterways minister. All in all that means that we are screwed until such time as all the money has been splurged away into private pension funds and bonus pots and the whole organisation collapses in disarray, then and only then are we in with a chance to salvage something of OUR canals and waterways.

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colin
22/3/2018 23:08:39

H.R.H The Price of Wales is the patron of c.r.t. DIRECT YOUR COMPLAINTS HERE IF YOU FEEL YOU ARE BEING IGNORED BY THE TRUST!

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Alan Theaker
20/3/2018 13:28:55

The problem being Roger is that our inland waterways are solely that of a leisure complex, a liability wich could been at most self funding properly managed. The mistake government when the idea of converting to a charity was first conceived about ten years ago was not then to have head hunted a successfull private sector CEO to run it cost effectively wich can't be said of any public service establishment run by civil servants & to late is it now & can't imagine government now abolishing C&RT only to go back to ploughing in several tens of millions annually into a leisure complex when essentials like our roads are going to pot.
Whistler nb Sawdust

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Alan Theaker
22/3/2018 12:13:19

Boy o boy, coalboat Dusty came by yesterday & informed me that CRT are monitoring an ever widenng crack at first spotted & monitored by Thrupps livaboard comunity. Apparently piling would remedy a breach but I guess CRT are gambling on it waiting. So there you are Colin, prior to the Middlewich breach, it to was probably being monitored.
Whistler

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colin
23/3/2018 19:47:10

Monitored by boaters and ignored by crt!.
Another reason why we dont need the trust!.;-)

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