tqthe1
November 1st, 2006, 11:23 AM
A row has broken out after it emerged a council worker was paid a whopping £91,000 salary even though he was off ill for most of the year.
Ian Smith is a street and traffic light engineer for Birmingham City Council who reportedly gets a basic salary of £71,000 plus annual bonuses amounting to £20,000.
Despite being off ill, he is reportedly still being paid by the council's Street Lighting Direct Labour Organisation and received a £15,668 bonus for the 2005/2006 period as well as almost £5,000 in overtime.
Birmingham City Council's Alan Rudge said he now intends to stamp out the practice of workers being paid bloated wage packets.
"This is a throwback to employment practice which is outdated and we cannot just stand still," he added in a statement.
Christine Melsom of the Is It Fair? campaign group, which wants to scrap the current council tax system, said she fears the problem is endemic among local authorities.
She said: "I really think this is probably just the tip of the iceberg. How many more are there in other councils across the country?"
Earlier this month, Birmingham council came under fire when news leaked that some road workers - whose job was to paint white lines on the city's streets - earned £1,000 a week.
Ian Smith is a street and traffic light engineer for Birmingham City Council who reportedly gets a basic salary of £71,000 plus annual bonuses amounting to £20,000.
Despite being off ill, he is reportedly still being paid by the council's Street Lighting Direct Labour Organisation and received a £15,668 bonus for the 2005/2006 period as well as almost £5,000 in overtime.
Birmingham City Council's Alan Rudge said he now intends to stamp out the practice of workers being paid bloated wage packets.
"This is a throwback to employment practice which is outdated and we cannot just stand still," he added in a statement.
Christine Melsom of the Is It Fair? campaign group, which wants to scrap the current council tax system, said she fears the problem is endemic among local authorities.
She said: "I really think this is probably just the tip of the iceberg. How many more are there in other councils across the country?"
Earlier this month, Birmingham council came under fire when news leaked that some road workers - whose job was to paint white lines on the city's streets - earned £1,000 a week.