Holidays and benefits

Differentials between private and maintained sectors apply to conditions just as much as pay and conditions of service, says Maggie Koervers, operations director of Dundee-based Oranges and Lemons. 'They don't just get better paid in the maintained sector, they get more holidays and work fewer hours.' But while practitioners in the state sector enjoy higher pay, better pensions and longer holidays than their counterparts working in private settings, they lose out on benefits such as bonuses and access to subsidised childcare.