Medirest, the healthcare division of Compass Group UK & Ireland, has announced that it will be paying all its healthcare frontline employees, who support the NHS, the equivalent NHS Agenda for Change rate of pay.
Medirest operates at 20 NHS Trusts across the country providing a range of vital support services including catering, cleaning, portering and security. This change will benefit over 2,200 employees at 20 NHS Trusts now receiving aligned basic rates of pay, where Agenda for Change is currently not in place.
Employees will see on average a 5% increase in pay bringing them in line with NHS colleagues doing similar jobs. This pay uplift will be fully funded by Medirest and will be implemented from June 1, 2020.
In addition to the increased pay, Medirest sickness entitlement is also being improved.
These new measures follow moves that Medirest has already implemented, including awarding a six-week bonus payment to those healthcare frontline employees and their supervisors who have supported the national effort against COVID-19. During this time, employees were also provided with additional financial assistance, access to emotional and mental health support, 7,500 complimentary essentials food boxes and other care packages too.
Commenting on these new enhanced terms, Steven Cenci, Managing Director for Medirest says: “Our people are at the heart of all that we do. We want our colleagues to feel as valued as the NHS staff they work alongside. This new pay award recognises the exceptional work and the contribution our healthcare heroes are making at the hospitals in which they work.
“Over recent weeks our teams have shown extraordinary professionalism and commitment to their roles. We are incredibly proud of the work they have done to support the hospitals and communities in which they work.”
