Council workers are being given more than two days’ pay a year for being in a lift.
Those on the tenth and eleventh floors at the town centre head offices are given a five-minute “lift allowance” each day. Over a year it amounts to almost 20 hours, but the perk is set to go as costs are cut.
The system was introduced more than twenty years ago when antiquated technology meant that staff waited up to ten minutes to catch a lift. Workers believed they were being unfairly penalised after they got to work on time and were then delayed by the wait for a lift in getting to their desks where they clocked in.
Under the scheme, second-floor staff get two minutes a day, those on floors three to six get three minutes and staff on floors seven, nine and twelve get four minutes. But the lifts have been improved and a pay review means that the allowance could be abolished.
Stephen Harper, the council’s head of human resources, said: “The allowance was introduced many years ago because poor lift facilities in the municipal offices meant that staff often had to wait 10-15 minutes for a lift during the morning and afternoon peak times.
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“Workers argued that their ‘clock-in time’ should be when they arrive at their workplace, rather than at their desk. Flexible working and faster, more reliable lifts mean it’s no longer as relevant.”