All Northumberland County Council staff are set to receive a pay rise of at least 2% from this month.
And some workers will receive a "significant annual increase" as the bottom rate of the new pay spine is to get ahead of the National Living Wage, meaning the local authority will have a minimum rate of £9 per hour and £17,364 a year for all employees.
The new salary structure, which is to be endorsed by the council's decision-making cabinet at its meeting on Monday, April 29, follows the National Joint Council for England and Wales (NJC) and trade unions agreeing a new pay spine with effect from April 1 this year, as part of a two-year agreement.
The NJC represents local authorities and their employees, with its principal role being to reach agreement on a national scheme of pay and conditions to then be applied locally.
The NJC guidance did not set out a specific approach to adopting the new pay spine and councils had to consider various options and present formal proposals which were then subject to local negotiations and agreement.
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The outcome in Northumberland, which was the preferred option of trade unions, is that all staff on county-council terms, conditions and pay bands will receive a minimum of a two per cent pay increase from April 1 this year.
A revised pay structure will see staff on NJC terms and conditions being placed on a lower 'spinal column point', however, they will see an increase to their full-time-equivalent salary. No member of staff will receive a pay reduction.
The county council will also have a minimum hourly pay rate of £9 and £17,364 per year for all employees.
This means that the Northumberland Living Wage supplement, introduced in 2015 to increase hourly salaries to a minimum of £7.85, is obsolete going forward.
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