A number of councils have already brought in the agreements

The local authority has launched a formal consultation on the proposed terms and conditions, which comply with equal pay legislation.

The move paves the way for the council to impose the contract on about 3,200 staff, which it insisted it did not want to do.

It said it was making "good progress" in talks with trades unions.

However, there were a number of areas where agreement had not been reached, such as rates for working on Saturdays.

During the consultation, affected council staff will be asked their views on the new terms and conditions, and negotiations with trades unions will continue.

The council is keen that agreement is reached by negotiation and does not want to impose new conditions of service on its employees Stirling Council spokeswoman

Councillors will get a progress report in December, before deciding what to do next.

A Stirling Council spokeswoman said: "The council needs to implement Single Status and Job Evaluation at the earliest practical date to make sure that pay structures and conditions of service are fair, non-discriminatory and enable the council to provide the best possible service to local people and businesses.

"Negotiations between Stirling Council management and the trades unions have been ongoing and good progress has been made with both sides fully engaged, bringing forward useful proposals and agreeing acceptable concessions to help a negotiated agreement.

"However, some conditions of service are still to be agreed.