BBC staff paid bonus for ‘getting out of bed’

BBC staff are being paid a £5,000 bonus for “getting out of bed” to work unsociable hours.

The corporation paid £21 million in “unpredictability payments” to journalists who were forced to work unsociable hours at short notice.

The BBC confirmed that 4,507 staff received the unpredictability payments, known as UPAS. A total of 1,194 employees claim UPA1, which is worth £2,732 a year. UPA2, worth £5,462, is claimed by 3,313 employees.

One former employee told the Mail on Sunday that the payments were open to abuse with mangers sometimes using them to top up their salaries, while others received a UPA despite not working anti-social hours. “We used to call them payments for getting out of bed. It was ridiculous,” he added.

Critics have said the payments show how out of touch the broadcaster is with its audience.

Andrew Bridgen, a Conservative MP, said: “The BBC is offering perks and privileges that are unavailable to anyone else in the public or private sector. The problem is that the BBC does not live in a commercial world and it does not have to because it is totally funded by taxpayers’ money.”

A BBC spokesman defended the payments, but added steps were being made to bring costs down: “We’re always looking to make savings and UPAS have come down by over £11million since 2009.”