Staff at Scotland’s largest social care charity are being consulted on a new pay offer that would inject an additional £900,000 into pay for about 1,500 employees, after it emerged that strike action was being considered.

More than 500 staff at Enable Scotland, which advocates for and supports children and adults with learning disabilities, are being consulted on the pay offer, which would lift the carers’ minimum hourly rate to £12.20, an increase of 20p. 

The new wages will affect about 1,500 Enable Scotland employees, Third Sector understands. According to its latest accounts filed with Companies House, the charity had a total of 2,099 staff in the year to the end of March 2023.

The new pay offer was secured by the union Unison Scotland after postal strike ballots were issued to 575 Enable Scotland employees in September, which could have resulted in mass walkouts over pay.

The ballots were issued after Enable Scotland put a two-year offer to its staff, which proposed a minimum hourly rate of £10.90 an hour for last year and £12 for 2024/25.

The union said this fell “significantly short” of the staff’s pay claim of a minimum of £15 per hour and failed to address both low pay and the social care staffing crisis.

If the new pay deal is accepted, the minimum hourly rate would be raised by just 20p, but the union said that this was the best that could be achieved through negotiation.

The strike ballot, which was due to close at the end of this week, has been paused following the new offer, which will be subject to a three-week consultation with staff from 10 October.

Thomas Baylis, Unison steward at Enable Scotland, said: “Strike action is always a last resort, especially for workers who support some of the most vulnerable people in Scotland. 

“The employer must prioritise its workforce and begin moving towards the urgent pay reform the social care sector desperately needs.”

Enable Scotland has been contacted for comment.