ITN, the maker of news for ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5, is to scrap collective pay bargaining and introduce an individual “merit-based” system for more than half its 700-plus staff.
The new system will analyse annually an individual’s performance, the performance of their division and their pay compared with the market rate.
It will affect almost 400 staff who work on Channel 5 News and ITN Productions, which makes shows including BBC2’s Young Vets and ITV’s Caught on Camera as well as the multimillion-pound contract to film and produce 1,800 Football League matches each season, plus functions including finance, HR, legal and corporate communications.
Staff working on ITV News and Channel 4 News, which employ about 330 staff, are not affected.
ITN said a survey found Channel 5 News and ITN Productions staff wanted to be evaluated separately from the usual annual pay award negotiated by the unions.
“Although the majority of the staff want a merit-based system, some divisions were more in favour of this approach than others,” said the ITN chief executive, John Hardie, in an email to staff.
“So, having looked at the survey results as a whole, and following feedback from many of you and discussions with the joint unions, we have now shaped what I hope will be the best solution for everyone.”
ITN employed an average of 723 full-time staff last year, of which 518 are defined as “editorial and technical”, with a wage and pension bill of £51.7m.
Unions negotiated staff a 1.4% pay rise for all ITN staf in the last round of negotiations late last year.
