At a loss

Changes in hours and contracts are turning the single status agreement into a bad deal for early years staff employed by local councils. Simon Vevers reports It sounded like a great idea back in 1997 as it would mean equal pay for work of equal value for council employees. Local authority staff were told that there would mainly be winners and 'no one would lose'. So, why, nearly a decade on, is local implementation of the single status agreement penalising some of the lowest-paid staff - the very people it was supposed to help - many of them women and...