Schools job evaluation

Management and trade union representatives via a formal job evaluation process jointly make all decisions regarding the grade of posts covered by the single status agreement. Southampton City Council currently uses the job evaluation scheme recommended to Local Authorities by the National Joint Council (NJC) for Local Government employees. The NJC Scheme has been specifically designed for use in Local Government and has been developed with particular regard to issues of equal pay.

Job evaluation is a process that allows jobs to be ranked one against the other throughout the organisation.

The purpose is to ensure that jobs are graded fairly and consistently in relation to others.
It does this by examining duties and responsibilities of each job against a number of factors.

Key to job evaluation principles is that more complex and more responsible work should receive greater compensation than less complex or responsible work otherwise there will be no incentive to acquire deep skills or assume responsibility; and there should be equal pay for like work within the organisation.

The rules of job evaluation

• It is JOBS that are evaluated not JOBHOLDERS
• The evaluation is based on a FULLY COMPETENT level of performance by occupants of the job
• The job is evaluated as it is TODAY
• Present pay, status or grading are not RELEVANT
• Jobs can only be evaluated if they are UNDERSTOOD

When evaluating a post, the following 13 aspects of the post are considered in turn:

1. Knowledge
2. Mental skills
3. Interpersonal & communication skills
4. Physical skills
5. Initiative and independence
6. Physical demands
7. Mental demands
8. Emotional demands
9. Responsibility for people
10. Responsibility for supervision
11. Responsibility for financial resources
12. Responsibility for physical resources
13. Working conditions

1. Knowledge

This factor measures the level of literacy, numeracy, practical, technical, specialist, theoretical, procedural and organisational knowledge required.

2. Mental skills

This factor measures the level of mental skills required for the job. It includes the requirement to solve problems by using, judgement, creativity and analytical skills as well as the need to plan for future activities and events.

3. Interpersonal and communication skills

This factor measures the level of interpersonal and communication skills required for the job and the purpose they are needed for. It includes oral, sign, written and linguistic skills.

4. Physical skills

This factor measures the level of requirement for specific physical skills, i.e. operation of hand tools and other equipment.

5. Initiative and independence

This factor measures the level of scope allowed to the job holder to exercise initiative and take independent actions.

6. Physical demands

This factor measures the level of required physical effort. e.g. sitting in constrained positions, lifting and carrying, pushing and pulling, working in awkward positions, manual digging etc.

7. Mental demands

This factor measures the level of sensory and mental concentration, alertness and attention required by the job. It takes into account interruptions and work related pressure.

8. Emotional demands

This factor measures the emotionally demanding aspects of the job, arising from contacts or work with other people who are in some way disadvantaged.

9. Responsibility for people

This factor measures the level of responsibility for individuals, or groups of, people (member of the public, client, service users and recipients), other than employees supervised or managed by the jobholder.

10. Responsibility for supervision

This factor measures the level of direct responsibility for the supervision, co-ordination or management of employees, or others in an equivalent position.

11. Responsibility for finance

This factor measures the level of direct responsibility for financial resources.

12. Responsibility for physical resources

This factor measures the level of direct responsibility for physical resources, including manual or computerised information, office and equipment, tools and instruments, vehicles, machinery, land, construction works, buildings, fittings and fixtures, personal possessions, stocks and supplies.

13. Working conditions

This factor measures the level of exposure to disagreeable, unpleasant, uncomfortable or hazardous working conditions arising from the environment or from work with people.

Calculating the grade for a post

Within each of the above 13 factors are different levels of skill. Attached to each level of skill are a number of points. Deciding on the level of skill for each factor and adding up the corresponding number of points gives you the total score for the post.

The total score is then used to identify the corresponding grade for the post

To view details on how scores correspond to grades, please click on the document: Pay and Grade Structure with Progression Zones

All new posts are evaluated, prior to being established and recruited to. Existing posts are evaluated, at the request of the manager, if the duties and responsibilities of the post have been revised.

If you feel that your post has been revised and should go through the job review procedure, please discuss this with your line manager.

Job evaluation panels meet regularly to evaluate new and revised posts. The joint panel consists of one Unison representative, one United Unions representative and two management representatives, all of which have been trained in job evaluation. This panel will assess the post against each of the 13 factors to determine a score and grade for the post.

To ensure an accurate evaluation, it is essential that the Joint Job Review Panel have as much information about the post as possible, therefore the panellists are presented, prior to the date of the panel, with the following paperwork:

• Up to date job description
• Up to date person specification
• Up to date structure chart
• Proposed structure chart if part of management restructure
• Evaluation results of other posts within the section and across the authority

The decision of the panel must be unanimous. If agreement cannot be reached, the panel is postponed whilst additional information is sought.

If the duties and responsibilities of your post change and the revised job description and person specification are sent through the job review process, there are three possible outcomes:

• The grade of your post may go up. Any increase in grade will be implemented with affect from the date of the panel
• The grade of your post may remain the same. Your pay will not be affected
• The grade of your post may go down. If this happens, from the date of the panel the grade for your post will decrease to the lower grade. However, you may be entitled to pay protection under the SCC Pay Protection Policy and you should discuss this with your headteacher