Pay bands for field and supervisor staff for the Census

Please note: The information on this web page was updated on 07 May 2021 to rectify an earlier error.

You asked

Census field staff across England and Wales doing the same role have different hourly rates as they are allocated a different salary band based on their work location. I am aware that some staff were incorrectly placed in the wrong salary bands when recruited and were then changed mid-contract. Please could you explain the formula and data used to identify which location was allocated into which band, so that it can be checked that field staff are all on the correct salary bands.

We said

​Thank you for your request.

Pay Approach for Supervisor and Officer level

ONS determined pay band allocation using the 2011 census pay rates with inflation-based increases for the intervening years, alongside current Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) data.  

The reason for using refreshed 2011 pay rates as a baseline alongside ASHE data was that that it provided information at Local Authority (LA) level, ensuring that differences between LA areas could be accounted for.  The pay structure in 2011 was considered successful and had been developed to address the specific requirements of the census programme.  The pay model supported the need to attract short-term temporary field staff across all locations, based on market forces rates, therefore providing confidence around attraction in a unique and time-critical project.

The model was based on three pay bands based on LA areas and included weighting for Hard to Count (HTC) areas and vacancy rates, to ensure that rates reflected local employment markets and enabled ONS to set pay rates for each individual LA.

As part of the 2011 pay model refresh pay rates were set for each individual LA.  These rates were then distributed into three pay bands with pay band one denoting the highest pay rates.

Each LA was assigned to a pay band by applying a similar distribution to that used in 2011 with the highest being placed in pay band one:

Once each of the LA's had been allocated a pay band, ONS set a pay rate for pay band.  This was conducted using standard deviation as follows:

1.     The standard deviation was calculated for each role and pay band.

2.     The standard deviation was subtracted from the highest pay rate within each pay band.

2011 Census Pay Approach for Manager level

In 2011, the manager level roles had two pay bands rather than three.  To provide assurances that we could attract candidates to these short-term posts, the three-pay band approach was applied.

2021 Census Pay Approach for Manager level

To set the 2021 manager pay rates, the following steps were taken:

1. The percentage differential between the 2011 supervisor and manager level roles for London and National were calculated. This differential was applied to the Supervisor level pay band one (London) and pay band three (National) roles to provide the new rate.
2. The mid-range percentage differential between the new manager pay band one (London) and three (National) was used to calculate the percentage increase for the new pay band two for manager level roles. This mid-range differential percentage range was applied to the refreshed Supervisor level pay band to provide the new manager rate.

The final census 2021 pay rates for each role level by pay band is detailed in the Table 1.

A list of the of all the LA areas that have been allocated to pay bands one to three for all Field Staff level roles are detailed in the attached spreadsheets named 'Pay Band 1 Field', 'Pay Band 2 Field', and 'Pay Band 3 Field'.

A list of all LA areas that have been allocated to pay bands 1,2 & 3 for Supervisor & Manager level roles are detailed in the spreadsheets named 'Pay Band 1 Supervisor and Manager', 'Pay Band 2 Supervisor and Manager', and 'Pay Band 3 Supervisor and Manager'.