NEWARK AND SHERWOOD DISTRICT COUNCIL

Transcription

1 NEWARK AND SHERWOOD DISTRICT COUNCIL JOB EVALUATION GRADING OF POSTS 1. INTRODUCTION The pay and grading of jobs must be fair and non discriminatory, complying with equal pay legislation and associated Codes of Practice. In order to meet these objectives, Newark and Sherwood District Council has used the Greater London Provincial Council Job Evaluation Scheme to provide a standardised and methodical method of measuring the relative value of posts, in order to assign each post to the Council s salary scale. This document describes the procedures to be adopted in the evaluation of posts using the Greater London Provincial Council (GLPC) Job Evaluation Scheme. In addition to the above local conventions have been agreed to assist with interpretation of the GLPC scheme. However, it should be noted that the scheme itself will continue to be the primary source of reference. 2. POSTS COVERED BY THE PROCEDURE All posts of the Council covered by the National Joint Council for Local Government Services National Agreement on Pay and Conditions of Service (Green Book). The following are excluded from this procedure: The Chief Executive and Directors or any other post on Strategic Director related salaries. Craft (Red Book) employees. Contractors or Agency staff. Consultants. 3. REASONS FOR THE EVALUATION OF POSTS It is the ongoing responsibility of management to identify significant changes in job roles that may justify a re evaluation of the post and job descriptions should be reviewed annually as part of the formal Appraisal Process. However, a written grading claim can be made by an employee who believes their duties and responsibilities have increased significantly since the post was last evaluated. An increase in duties/tasks, i.e. more of the same, is not grounds for a re evaluation of a post, unless the increase is of such a level that the post becomes materially different. Reasons for a post to be subject to evaluation would generally fall within the following three categories: a) The creation of a new post. b) Organisational change, where changes are being initiated by management in consultation with HR to the structure or scope of a Business Unit, which has a significant impact on the content

2 of jobs to the extent of justifying a re evaluation. c) Where there has been no consequential organisational change, but there has been a development/change to a post over a period of time, which has resulted in the post holder taking on additional duties and responsibilities or there has been a loss of duties and responsibilities, which has a significant impact on the content of the job. The first two categories could be considered to be management initiated evaluations, whereas the third is more likely to be initiated by the post holder, although this can also be initiated by management following a review of the job description as part of the appraisal process. However the philosophy of the job evaluation process is that it should be a joint process between management and employee, aimed at reaching consensus. In particular, changes to posts which occur as a result of organisational change will be subject to formal consultation with the trade unions and the individuals affected. Any employee requesting re evaluation of their post in circumstances detailed in (c) above must have been in post for at least twelve months. The employee must be able to show that there have been changes to their duties and responsibilities since the post was last evaluated, which are significant enough to potentially justify a change of grade. 4. THE RE EVALUATION PROCEDURE (a) Management Changes Where management has initiated changes either to individual jobs or as a consequence of the restructuring of a Business Unit, the appropriate manager will be responsible for preparing a revised job description, person specification and organisational structure in consultation with HR to decide whether the post needs re evaluating. Where there are major changes in job content and structure, which may result in formal selection to the revised posts, the revised job description should be produced by the appropriate manager in consultation with HR, following which consultation should take place with the recognised trade unions and where appropriate individuals directly affected by those changes. There is however, no requirement to reach agreement on the content of the new job description. Where changes are being made to existing posts and where the employee will continue to undertake the revised duties in the future, the manager and HR must consult with the post holder regarding the content of the revised job description in order to reach agreement prior to evaluation of the post. A review of the post(s) will then take place as soon as possible. The impact of both a significant increase in the level of duties and responsibilities or the removal/reduction in the level of duties and responsibilities should be taken into consideration when assessing whether a post should be re evaluated. Consideration will also need to be given to other posts within the affected area to assess what impact, if any, the changes may have on their grades. THE RE EVALUATION PROCEDURE (b) Individual Requests for Re evaluation Where an employee feels his/her post has developed over time, resulting in a significant change in duties and responsibilities, he/she can initiate a request for a review of the post. Employee

3 requests for review may be submitted at any time and this should be in writing to their line manager, with a copy to the Business Manager HR and Legal. The initial request should give in the first instance broad reasons why he/she feels the request is justified. The Line Manager should then meet with the employee to discuss the changes. Following this initial meeting the Line Manager will then consult with the Business Manager HR & Legal to assess if the changes are significant enough to warrant a re assessment. If the manager following consultation with HR agrees the post should be reviewed, it will be the postholder s responsibility to draft the revised job description and re evaluation of allocated scores questionnaire (Appendix A), and to arrange to discuss it with their line manager. The line manager will review the job description with the post holder, who may be accompanied by their union representative or work colleague, in order to establish full details of the submission and to verify the duties contained in the revised job description. The revised job description should clearly highlight the changes (both additions and deletions). In the event that agreement cannot be reached over the job description, the Business Manager HR and Legal will conciliate in order to try to obtain an agreement. Where this cannot be achieved, the Director/Business Manager, will arrange to meet with the post holder and line manager in order to achieve agreement. If the line manager having consulted with HR, either at the initial request stage or following production of a revised job description, does not agree to put the post forward for re evaluation, the post holder should be advised in writing of the decision, giving reasons for refusal. The post holder will have the right of appeal against this decision in accordance with the Council s Grievance Procedure. 5. ESTABLISHMENT OF JOB EVALUATION PANELS Where a new post(s) requires evaluation or changes to an existing post(s) requires re evaluation a Job Evaluation Panel will be convened at the earliest opportunity. (Refer to Job Evaluation Questionnaire for newly created posts annexed to this Policy at Appendix 1 and Job Evaluation Questionnaire for Re Assessment of Allocated Scores at Appendix 2.) In all cases, the following documentation should be completed by the respective Business Manager in consultation with Human Resources (where appropriate) prior to the panel meeting: Job Evaluation Questionnaire for either newly created posts or re assessment of allocated scores (whichever is applicable) Revised job description, (using the template attached at Appendix 3) Person specification and Organisational structure 6. THE EVALUATION PROCEDURE A Job Evaluation Panel comprising one officer from Human Resources, one Union representative, and 1 other officer not from the Business Unit to be evaluated will evaluate the post(s). In circumstances where the post to be evaluated is within HR, the panel will comprise of 1 union representative and 2 other officers. In addition the relevant Director/Business Manager will be

4 invited to attend the beginning of the Panel to provide details of the requirements of the post and to enable the panel to ask any question they think appropriate to assist in grading the post. All panel members will have received appropriate training in applying the Job Evaluation scheme. The panel will evaluate posts by referring to the: GLPC Job Evaluation Scheme (primary source of reference); local conventions (guidance document only); job evaluation questionnaire (New Posts/Changes to Post); job description (Refer to Appendix 4); person specification (Refer to Appendix 5); organisational chart. Information provided by the Director/Business Manager at the commencement of the panel All of the aforementioned documentation will be shared with members of the panel at the outset of the meeting and the Director/Business Manager will guide panel members through each of the documents to enable scoring to take place. This will provide panel members with the opportunity to discuss each point in detail with the author of the documents as a means of developing greater understanding when evaluating the role. As part of the job evaluation process it is important to note that each member of the panel carries equal status and therefore where possible the panel should try and reach a unanimous decision on each factor. However, in circumstances where this is not possible a majority score will be allocated and a comment to this effect noted on the paperwork. Where there are a number of posts to be evaluated, the panel will look at appropriately grouped posts and will evaluate them hierarchically, starting with the most senior post and cascading down the organisation structure. Following evaluation, the Business Manager HR and Legal will advise the relevant Director/Business Manager/post holder(s) of the panel s decision. A copy of the scoring sheet against each factor will be completed and retained on the Job Evaluation file. Employees will be required to sign a copy of the revised job description regardless of whether the re assessment was successful or not. In the case of organisational change/restructure the effective date will be the date agreed that any changes should take effect. In all other cases the effective date will be the date on which the Job Description is finalised and signed as agreed by both the employee and manager. Where revised structural arrangement have been implemented, whether as a result of revisions to existing posts or through the creation of new posts, the post holder will be able to request a review of the job description with their line manager six months after taking up the revised post to check whether the revised job description reflects the duties and responsibilities of the post accurately. This request must be made in writing no more than 2 weeks after the 6 months has elapsed. Where a member of staff is prevented from undertaking the duties of the post for 6 months from the implementation date due to maternity, sickness or parental leave etc. (*e.g. Member of staff slotted into the post prior to going on maternity leave). The member of staff will be entitled to ask for a review after they have actually carried out the duties of the revised post for 6 months and therefore this should be extended by any period of maternity/sick/parental

5 leave etc. Where it is agreed that significant changes are required to the job description, following consultation with the Business Manager HR and Legal, the post may be re evaluated and where appropriate any revision to the grading will be effective from the date on which the Job Description is finalised and signed as agreed by both the employee and manager. 7. APPEALS Any employee who is dissatisfied with the evaluation process will have the right of appeal. Appeals will only be permitted where it is believed the scheme has been wrongly applied. Any Business Manager (or above) who is dissatisfied with the outcome from an evaluation process in respect of a newly created post will have the right of appeal in circumstances where they believe that the scheme has been wrongly applied. Appeals should be made in writing to the Business Manager HR and Legal within ten working days following receipt of the notification of the evaluation results. The employee/business Manager/Director (or above) must submit their statement of case on the appeals pro forma (Appendix 3), giving details of the factors and factor levels contested and including any additional information that he/she feels was omitted from the original submission. Prior to submitting an appeal the employee should discuss the statement of case with their manager and the manager must sign the pro forma to show their agreement to any additional information provided. The Appeals Panel will consist of a trades union representative, a member of Human Resources and a senior management representation. No panellist may have sat on the original evaluation panel. The employee will be entitled to be accompanied by their trades union representative or a work colleague. The outcome of any appeal may be that the grading of the post would remain the same, go up or go down. 8. Appeals Procedure The procedure to be followed for the appeals hearing will be as follows: The Panel Chair, after introductions, will set out the purpose and the process to be followed. The employee (or their representative)/ Business Manager/Director (or above) will present their case in support of their appeal. Members of the Appeal Panel may ask questions in order to gain further clarity. The Manager will be asked to provide any further information required by the Panel or to clarify any points.

6 The Panel Chair will ask the employee (or their representative)/ Business Manager/Director (or above) to sum up the case before adjourning to deliberate the case in private, only recalling the employee (and representative) and Manager if there are some points that need to be clarified. The decision of the panel will be by a majority vote. The Panel Chair will reconvene and give a verbal decision to the employee (and representative) / Business Manager/Director (or above). This will then be confirmed in writing to the employee/ Business Manager/Director (or above) within 14 working days of the meeting and reasons for the Panel s decision will be given. The decision of the Job Evaluation Appeal Panel will be final. 9. Canvassing of Members Officers of the Council shall not canvass Members directly or indirectly, in connection with an application for re grading made. Such actions could lead to disciplinary action.