BARNET’S CLEANERS FORCED TO WAIT 12 DAYS FOR WAGES THEY HAVE ALREADY EARNED

Austerity, Insourcing, News, Solidarity

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

BARNET’S CLEANERS FORCED TO WAIT 12 DAYS FOR WAGES THEY HAVE ALREADY EARNED

Barnet UNISON demands action from councillors and MPs as Norse Group — a Local Authority Trading Company owned by Norfolk County Council

Barnet UNISON, representing workers across the London Borough of Barnet, is calling on Labour councillors and MPs to urgently intervene after Norse Group imposed a pay arrangement that forces cleaners to wait 12 days after completing four weeks of work before receiving their wages.

Norse Group, owned by Norfolk County Council, was awarded the contract to clean Barnet Council’s buildings. The company’s own 2025/2026 pay schedule — obtained by Barnet UNISON — confirms, without a single exception across all 17 pay periods, a uniform 12-day gap between the end of every working period and every payday. By the time a cleaner is paid, they are already nearly a fortnight into their next four-week working period.

These are London Living Wage workers in one of the most expensive cities in the world. At any given moment, Norse is holding approximately six weeks’ worth of earned wages that belong to our members.

Helen Davies, Branch Chair of Barnet UNISON, said:

“These cleaners get up before dawn to clean the Council’s own buildings. They work four weeks. Then they have to wait another 12 days for money that is rightfully theirs. In the meantime, they cannot pay their rent, their travel costs, their energy bills. They are being forced into overdrafts and debt to cover basic living costs while Norse sits on their wages.

“Norse told us this is about payroll compliance. That is not credible. The reality is that these workers — the lowest paid in public services — are being made to finance Norse’s payroll processing. Their solution was to offer our members a loan. We rejected that with contempt. You should not have to take a loan to access wages you have already earned.

“This is happening under a contract commissioned by Barnet Council. Labour councillors and Labour MPs have the power to act. After last week’s elections and the Prime Minister’s own words about fighting for working people who have been let down, we expect them to use it.”

The detriment to workers is concrete and serious:

  • Workers on the London Living Wage cannot meet rent, bills, and travel costs on the dates they fall due because 12 days of earned wages are withheld
  • Workers on Universal Credit face assessment period distortions caused by the irregular pay timing, causing fluctuating UC awards they depend upon
  • Workers are pushed into overdraft and high-cost credit to cover living costs in the gap between earning and receiving their wages
  • Norse’s proposal that new starters take credit union loans was firmly rejected by UNISON — workers should not go into debt to access money they have earned

Norse’s justification does not stand up. The company has argued that its payroll arrangement is required for compliance with HMRC’s National Minimum Wage framework. Barnet UNISON rejects this entirely. The NMW classification of “time work” determines how minimum wage compliance is calculated — it says nothing about how many days after a period ends an employer may delay payment. Thousands of hourly-paid workers across the public and private sectors are paid within five days of a period’s end. A 12-day lag is a commercial choice, not a legal requirement.

Barnet UNISON is calling for:

  1. Labour councillors and MPs to write formally to Norse Group demanding the pay lag be reduced to a maximum of five working days from period end
  2. Barnet Council to review whether the Norse contract complies with its obligations under the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012
  3. A commitment from Barnet’s Labour administration that when the Norse contract expires in 2027, the cleaning service will be brought back in-house, with workers employed directly by the Council on proper terms and conditions
  4. Public support from Labour councillors and MPs for the Barnet UNISON petition, which is being formally launched this week

Background:

Norse Group is the largest Local Authority Trading Company in the country, generating profit for its shareholder, Norfolk County Council, through service contracts with other councils. Barnet UNISON has held two formal meetings with Norse management. On both occasions the company refused to change the pay arrangement. Barnet UNISON has also written previously to the Leader of Barnet Council and to all Labour councillors, without the response this situation demands.

The Prime Minister, in his speech to Labour members on 11 May 2026, acknowledged that “for working people, tired of a status quo that has failed them, change cannot come quickly enough.” For Barnet’s cleaners, change means being paid promptly for work they have done. That is not an unreasonable demand.

ENDS

For media enquiries contact: contactus@barnetunison.org.uk

Notes to Editors:

  • Norse Group is a Local Authority Trading Company wholly owned by Norfolk County Council, operating across the country through contracts with local authorities
  • The Norse Group 2025/2026 pay schedule, obtained by Barnet UNISON, shows a consistent 12-day gap between period end and payday across all 17 pay periods in the schedule
  • The current Norse cleaning contract with the London Borough of Barnet is due to expire in 2027
  • Barnet UNISON represents over 3,000 members working across Barnet Council, schools, FE colleges, depots, care services, and contracted services
  • The London Living Wage is set annually by the Living Wage Foundation and is higher than the statutory National Living Wage