Following the rejection of the Elsevier pay offer by NUJ members, representatives from the NUJ Lancet Chapel, the Lancet Leadership Team, and Elsevier HR met for the Stage One meeting of the dispute process on Tuesday May 5.
During the meeting we stressed that members have been extremely clear that they will only accept a deal that both meets this year's RPI and begins to repair the real-terms losses sustained in previous years. Unfortunately the new offer the company brought to the table was significantly beneath that bar, and would have tied us into a 2-year pay deal with an unacceptably low increase for 2027. The Committee felt very confident members would reject the offer and therefore did not bring it to the Chapel for discussion and a vote, which would have delayed negotiations.
Our pay ask of 7.5% or £3.3k (whichever is higher) remains a pragmatic and proportionate claim, especially in light of current high inflation. Our claim is developed to address colleagues’ dissatisfaction with low pay and pay erosion without outsized impact on finances and company stability.
We will therefore be progressing to the second stage of the dispute process where meetings are attended by a full-time NUJ officer and an additional senior manager from the Company to try to reach an agreement.
After several weeks of negotiation meetings, Elsevier made a formal pay offer to the NUJ Chapel as follows:
Base pay increase for all colleagues (excluding new hires after Oct 1, 2025) linked to performance OR an underpin of £1,300 to base pay (whichever is higher), back-dated to March 1, 2026.
Requires improvement: 0%
Successful performance: 2.3%
Very Strong performance: 2.7%
Outstanding performance: 3.7%
Plus introduce IIP for those individuals who had received communications about it in Sept 2025, back-dated to Oct 1, 2025.
The Chapel discussed the offer in a meeting for members on Thurs 16 April and voted whether to accept or reject the offer. The turnout was 87% and 99% voted to reject it. This vote result activates the dispute process, the first stage of which is an additional negotiation meeting with reps from the Chapel and the company by Thursday 7th May. Later meetings will bring in more people from the NUJ and Elsevier to try to reach an agreement.
Although members have resoundingly rejected the pay offer, the Chapel’s position remains that the September 2025 ICR IIP enrolments previously promised to individuals should be honoured from a budget distinct from the 2026 pay increases. The union previously approved the IIP changes before negotiations began and have stated to the Company that from our point of view these can be paid at any time. The decision to withhold or delay the promised IIP payments sits with the Company alone.
On 3 March, elected members of The Lancet NUJ Committee, representing NUJ members at The Lancet, presented representatives for The Lancet Leadership Team and Elsevier HR with our 2026 pay claim. This pay claim was wholly developed and ratified by NUJ members at The Lancet.
We believe this is the first time in the very long history of The Lancet that staff have collectively entered formal pay negotiations with management.
We will update the Bargaining Unit of significant developments during the pay negotiations.
Want to receive more detailed updates about how negotiations are progressing this year, vote on any upcoming major decisions and take part in setting our pay claim next year? Join the NUJ.
Our 2026 pay claim: an increase of 7.5% or £3,300 (whichever is higher) for all staff in the Bargaining Unit and the budgeted October 2025 ICR IIP enrolments to be paid, as previously requested by Chapel members. We also raised additional issues that have been identified as priorities by members.
During the Chapel meeting on 20 January, NUJ members agreed to not incorporate the Individual Incentive Plan (IIP) bonus in pay negotiations this year, proposing that they be paid as usual in March. The Committee informed Elsevier of this request and specified this included the individuals who were previously told they were to be enrolled on the scheme during the September 2025 ICR.
Elsevier agreed to pay the IIP in March for those currently enrolled on the scheme, but chose to bring the September 2025 ICR enrolments into the annual pay negotiations. Therefore, the Chapel added these proposed enrolments to the 2026 pay claim, with the stance that these should be considered separately to the requested pay increase.
If you are impacted by this and have any questions, please contact a Committee member or our gmail.
The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) is a trade union supporting those working in media and publishing industries—not just journalists. They represent employees in a workplace, and act on their behalf to work with employers to improve workplace pay and conditions.
The Lancet NUJ Chapel is the collective body of NUJ members at The Lancet Group.
Anyone can join the NUJ and become a member of the Lancet NUJ Chapel. The Chapel represents the interests of all UK-based Elsevier employees (not just NUJ members) operating within The Lancet Group (excluding the Lancet Leadership Team and the Executive Assistant). This is known as the Bargaining Unit.
Since September, 2025, Elsevier has been required to recognise the Lancet NUJ Chapel as representing the Bargaining Unit on the core topics of pay, holiday, and working hours. Any changes to pay and conditions negotiated by the NUJ Chapel apply to all colleagues with the Bargaining Unit. At the same time, Elsevier also recognised a separate Chapel of UK colleagues at Cell Press.
Staff in unionised workplaces in the UK are better paid, happier, and more satisfied than non-unionised workplaces. Join the NUJ today and have your say.
This website is maintained by the Committee of the Lancet NUJ Chapel, independent of The Lancet Leadership Team and Elsevier.
Rep = An annually elected member of the Committee. Reps are Lancet staff who are NUJ members.