An agreement has been reached over a public sector pay award after a dispute went to binding arbitration.

Union members will be told of the result before Christmas.

Prospect had accepted the offer from the Public Services Commission but it had been rejected by Unite. A revised offer was also rejected by Unite - resulting in a referral to independent arbitration.

The offer, which was made in August, included 3% for 2025-26, backdated to April 1, and an increase in annual leave entitlement for all PSC staff who have accrued 10 years’ service from 28 days to 30 days.

This replaced a previous offer of 2.5% and a £200 lump sum - an offer that had been accepted by the other public service union Prospect.

There are 4,276 government staff whose pay comes under the PSC.

Arbitration took place at the end of November and has now concluded. It is binding on both sides.

No details have been released about what the arbitrated settlement includes - or whether it is supported by either or both unions. But it will be implemented.

Tynwald members will also see their pay increase as a result.

Prospect regional officer Mick Hewer said the result has been notified through the Manx Industrial Relations Service and has been approved by the Council of Ministers for implementation.

‘At the moment, we are meeting with PSC representatives to finalise the wording for the local agreement and implementation, at which time we'll inform the memberships,’ he said.

Mr Hewer said he’d only seen a dispute go to arbitration three times in the 30 years that he’d been involved.

Both Unite and Prospect last year rejected a three-year deal made up a 4% increase for 2024-25, followed by 3% in 2025-26 and 2% in 2026-27.

A two-year deal billed as a final offer was also rejected. Then in April, both unions accepted the backdated 4% increase for 2024-25.

The PCS had said it wanted to begin the arbitration process as quickly as possible but previously believed this was unlikely to bring a resolution in this calendar year.