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The National Pay Framework

Pay and Grading

Grade Structure

The salary structure is shown in the table below. This is a single pay spine for all staff, replacing the multitude of different pay arrangements previously in place at UCL. All UCL non-clinical staff have the same pay structure.

The structure consists of ten grades spread over 53 points.

Two additional points have been added to the top of the national scales, and Grade 1 starts at the national point 3. These additional points permit Readers and Senior Lecturers to progress onto contribution points.

New grade structure

1-page PDF

New Grade Structure

Harmonisation of terms and conditions

Summary (PDF)

Hours and holidays

A new standard will apply for all new appointments: 36.5 hours per week and 27 days holiday (excluding days when the college is closed).

Changes to working hours and annual leave were planned to come into effect on 1st January 2006, but this may be delayed due to delays in the implementation of the package.

Time off in lieu

All staff will be in a position to negotiate days in lieu where they have worked excess time.

There are some staff on academic grades who are hourly paid. The notional working hours for academic staff is currently 35 hours and would now be 36.5.

Overtime will be available for all staff on Grades 1-6, including RA1Bs.

Exceptions for staff with historically better conditions

There are two groups of staff who may currently have contracted hours/holiday arrangements which improve on 36.5 hours and 27 days. Both groups will be entitled to retain existing holidays and hours during their service with UCL, even if they are promoted or regraded. 

These groups are:

  • Existing staff with 35 hours contracts or those with long-service enhancements.
  • Staff on preferential conditions of service from merged institutions which are still operational.

Maternity leave

Maternity leave is to level upwards to the arrangement currently for academic staff, i.e. all staff will be eligible for maternity pay from Day 1 (not after 12 months service as is currrently the case for all other staff).

Sick pay

Sick pay will be harmonised to the current arangements for support staff, except it will build up to 6 months full pay and 6 months half-pay after 4 years instead of 5. This scheme is very slightly worse than that currently for lecturing staff for the first three years, but better for research staff. Sick pay rights increase with service as follows:

 Full pay +Half pay
start - 3 months2 weeks2 weeks
3 months - 1 year9 weeks9 weeks
1 - 3 years13 weeks13 weeks
3 - 4 years22 weeks22 weeks
4 years+26 weeks26 weeks
 

Market Supplements

Full Policy (PDF)

A Market Supplement may be applied for with the agreement of the line manager. Such a supplement would apply to the post and other comparable ones (they are not dependent on the individual) and would apply for a fixed period of up to 2 years unless renewed. 

Market Supplements would not be increased by nationally negotiated pay awards but would be tax-deductable and potentially superannuable. 

Applicants will be expected to show objective verifiable evidence justifying a Market Supplement, including failure to recruit, higher salaries for comparable posts elsewhere, or skilled staff leaving UCL. The evidence will be evaluated by HR and decisions monitored by the unions.

Notice periods

The notice period will be the same for UCL and employee. Staff in grades 1-6 will be required to give four weeks' notice, grades 7 up, three months. Staff with teaching responsibilities will still be required to give notice such that they leave at the end of a term.

Probation

All staff on grades 1-66 months
Researchers & support staff, grades 7-99 months
Probationary lecturers3 years

Incremental date and retirement date

Incremental progression will take place on 1st August annually.

Effective from 1 October 2011, there is no compulsory retirement age at UCL. 

Regrading and promotion procedures

 

Full Policy (PDF)

Academic staff will progress between grades using the current Promotion Procedures. 

All other staff may apply at any time for a Grading Review of their post. The application will involve the submission of a Job Description Outline (JDO) or, exceptionally, the post holder may request an interview by a trained Role Analyst, the notes of this interview being presented as a JDO. 

A library of benchmark role profiles will be available to inform staff of typical requirements for posts at the higher grade. This will enable them to determine the likelihood of a successful application. Cases will be considered by quarterly Grading Review Panels. Each panel shall comprise 3 HERA role analysts. One analyst will be drawn from the trade unions (Amicus, UCU, UNISON), one shall be drawn from Faculty/Division nominees and an HR chair. The results of the Grading Review will be notified to the applicant within 2 weeks of the panel meeting to consider the case. Any change to the grade of the post shall take effect in the month following submission of the case to HR. 

Applicants may appeal the decision of the Grading Review Panel. In this situation, A Grading Appeal Panel consisting of two trade union nominees, two Faculty/Division nominees and a chair from Human Resources, shall re-evaluate the JDO. None of the members of the Grading Appeal Panel shall have been involved in the original Grading review.

Should I apply for regrading?

Only individually job-evaluated staff can take this route. 

Every staff member whose post has been evaluated will be sent details of their HERA score, individual scores for each element and a 'role description', ie. a textual explanation of these individual scores in terms of HERA. To understand this you can also look at the document Job Evaluation and Assimilation to the Single Spine at UCL.

If you do not succeed in your Grading Review you will have to wait two years before your post may be reassessed (this does not prevent you applying internally for a higher grade post in the meantime however). This means that it is sensible to identify when you have a good chance of an evaluation leading to an upgrade before applying for regrading.

Grade 6260309
Grade 7310410
Grade 8411526
Grade 9527599

The critical issue in considering regrading is the following. 

Have my duties changed sufficiently so that a rescoring of the post would likely cross the HERA boundary to the next grade?

  • How close was your original score to the top of the grade (see points ranges, above)?
  • Are the duties that you have accepted "more of the same kind of thing" or are they significantly different? If your duties are more varied, the score may well increase.
  • Have you accepted more management responsibility or taken on significant area of project work?

We can help you work out whether your post could be reassessed to win an appeal.

Note: Even if you are not in a position to apply for regrading now you may be in a position to apply later as your duties and responsibilities change. Needless to say, you can discuss with your line manager your personal staff development needs in line with the possible benefits this could have for your grade.

What help can I get?

We are committed to helping our members as much as we possibly can in this process. But you will also appreciate that a lot of people will ask for help.

So for advice and support please contact ucu@ucl.ac.uk in the first instance.