The Northern Ireland Assembly has increased the salary of staff working under the members of the legislative assembly (MLA), aligning their pay with employees who work in the Assembly.
Effective from 1 April 2021, grade one staff will see their annual salary rise from £18,00 to £23,490-£24,960, grade two staff from £19,750 to £29,400-£30,420 and grade three staff from £22,750 to £36,100-£37,180. These pay increases will affect both employees and agency workers.
This is due to the staffing allowance for every employee working under the MLA increasing to £80,000 per year in 2020, an increase of £30,000 from the £50,000 allowance set in 2016. Additionally, there will be more funds available for office expenses, with this increasing to £7,00 per year, from the £4,900 set in 2016.
Other benefits that employees will maintain are entitlements to contractual sick pay (CSP), on top of the legal requirement of statutory sick pay. CSP will be paid to employees based on the rolling period that they work at the establishment. Employees will also be entitled to 52 weeks of maternity leave, with the first 18 weeks being at full pay.
A spokesperson at the Northern Ireland Assembly said: "This amendment is the basis on which members are provided with the necessary resources to carry out their functions as a member. It establishes the level of travel allowances that will be paid to members, enables members to pay staff, and also to recover the costs incurred in running a constituency office to provide services to constituents such as purchasing equipment, rent, rates, utilities and other operating costs. "
