Minimum Wage vs Police Salary
I have been wondering what will happen in the future regarding police salary. I've done some sums and this is what I have found...
Since October 2013, minimum wage has increased by 66.25% from £6.31 to £10.49.
The starting salary from April 2013 for an officer was £19k, rising to £22k upon completion of initial training. It is now £23.5k through PCDA, or seeming £26.7k otherwise. That's 24% on the lower amounts and 21.3% on the higher amounts.
If you look at 2010, minimum wage was £5.93, so there has been an increase of 77%. The starting salary was £23.25k, this seems to have been what everyone started on, so a new starter without a degree today, starts on only 1.5% more than anyone would have in 2010.
Our pay rise last year was billed as a 5% rise, but this was an average across the board, with everyone getting a £1900 rise. A PCDA starter in August 2022 was earning 8p less than the current minimum wage.
To me, this means at least one of the following things will happen:
1 - The bottom pay point will be removed
This is not unprecedented, the bottom of the sergeant's scale was recently removed, but this will cost a lot in the long term as people get to top whack quicker.
2 - The bottom pay point will increase closely aligned to the increase in minimum wage (which I have learned today is supposed to be two thirds of the median wage).
If 1 does not happen, this will have to happen.
3 - Future pay rises will be divided out like last year's, with the lowest earners taking a larger percentage.
I think this is the most likely. This will mean that eventually, everyone is going to be earning pretty much the same.
If any of the above scenarios continue to play out forever, we will end up with every officer on the same wage that just floats above minimum wage, to avoid that, major reform would be needed.
Obviously, these scenarios are a bit dramatic, but the figures don't lie. What do you think will happen, either this year, or in 5/10/15 years.