IMPLEMENTATION OF PAY AND REWARD PROPOSALS
JOB EVALUATION APPEALS PROCEDURE
and
INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMPLETING THE JOB EVALUATION (NJC) APPEAL FORM
The Job Evaluation (NJC) Appeal Form is to be used by job holders to lodge a formal appeal against the grading of a post under the proposed pay arrangements. It is not to be used to request a re-evaluation of a post following changes to the post’s remit and responsibilities. If your manager agrees that your role has changed significantly since its original evaluation, he or she may complete a Re-evaluation request. This is a completely different procedure and has its own forms, process and deadlines. Re-evaluation and formal appeals processes cannot be conducted in parallel. Additional time will be allowed to lodge an appeal if the role has been subject to a previous re-evaluation procedure. PLEASE DO NOT CONSIDER BEGINNING A JOB EVALUATION APPEAL UNTIL ANY MATCHING APPEAL OR RE-EVALUATION PROCESS IS COMPLETE AND YOU HAVE A FINAL JE RATIONALE.
An appeal must be made, using the correct form and with all additional written evidence appended, no later than 31 January 2014 or one calendar month from the receipt of an outcome notification if the post has been subject to an earlier matching appeal or re-evaluation stage.
In accordance with the National Agreement on Pay and Conditions of Service and the appeals process agreed with UNISON and GMB you can appeal on the grounds listed below.
Grounds for appeal:
1The NJC job evaluation scheme has been wrongly applied.
This would apply where you can demonstrate that your job description and/or person specification stipulates a requirement or level of responsibility in accordance with the job evaluation scheme, but which has not been recognised in the job overview. This means that, for instance, you believe that your job description clearly indicates that your level in the factor of Responsibility for Finance should be a 3 when your role rationale shows it to be 2.
2The evidence provided (role profile, person specification) does not provide complete information about significant elements of the role.
For this ground of appeal to be appropriate, the evidence you provide must show that significant job requirements have not been appropriately identified, and as such may not have been fully considered in the evaluation. Please note; if the duties and responsibilities of the post you currently occupy have changed significantly since your post underwent evaluation it may be appropriate for it to be re-evaluated. Please discuss this with your manager and see the appropriate guidance pages.
3It is believed that an equivalent job is more highly graded and paid.
You may be aware of a post doing broadly similar work to your own that has been put in a higher grade. Although this can indicate a potential anomaly in JE scoring, it is not in itself an argument for a re-grade. For your appeal to be considered, you must be prepared to demonstrate that one or more of the factor levels attributed to your role are incorrect. Where the appeal is successful, the grade for your post will be adjusted. You should be aware that the findings of the appeal panel may be that the post you occupy has been graded correctly but that the comparator post that you have cited is graded too high. In these circumstances the grade of the comparator post will be amended and the post holder(s) will be afforded the same rights of appeal as any other employee.
Appeals can be individual or collective;
- Individual appeals are where an employee has a unique job description (i.e. is the only person with any particular JE code) and considers that there are grounds for appeal
- Collective appeals are where there is more than one job holder doing the same job and at least 50% plus 1 job holderssubmit an appeal. All job holders have an equal right in determining their support for a collective appeal, regardless of their individual working hours. The outcome of the appeal will apply to all job holders, even if they have not taken part in the collective appeal. You can find out how many other employees share your JE code and role profile by consulting the job and grade lists on the intranet/internet Pay Review sites.
In practice, once the appeals window has closed, the number of employees (as evidenced by verified signatures on one or more appeal forms) appealing against any single role (as identified by a single JE code number e.g. “JE2200”) will be totalled and if this number exceeds 50% of those matched with that JE code, the appeal will be processed. Please note that the appeal panel will take all evidence from all appellants into account when making their judgement but there will be only one outcome delivered in relation to any one role/JE code. If, in the panel’s judgement, the evidence indicates that there may actually be more than one distinct role shared by the appellants, the panel may refer this back to the Pay Review/JE team for further deliberation and consultation with the appropriate departmental managers. This may result in one or more additional JE codes being generated, each with its own evaluation. Individual appellants will be advised accordingly and outcome letters reissued if necessary.
IN ALL CASES, for an appeal to be successful you must be able to provide evidence that one or more of the factor levels ascribed to your role (as shown on the JE rationale provided to you with your personal outcome letter) is incorrect.
INSTRUCTIONS
Please clearly complete the details at the top of the first page. For collective appeals, if there are more than five signatories sharing one appeal form, please provide details on a separate sheet with names and signatures of all those supporting the appeal. All employees have the right to complete their own form individually if they wish, but appeals will only progress if 50% +1 of all employees sharing one JE code/role profile support the appeal.
For example, the role designated JE2020 may have 30 role holders organised in six teams of five in six different locations, A - F. In Location A, all five employees work together to complete the appeal form and all sign it. In Locations B, C and D only three out of the fiveJE2020 employees wish to appeal and do so independently, and in Locations E and F there are no appeals at all. On the day following the closure of the appeals window the number of signatures is totalled, 5 + 3 + 3 + 3 = 14. As this is less than 16 (50% + 1 of 30 = 16) the appeal would not progress. If, on the other hand, one employee each at location E and F had submitted independent appeals, the total would be 16, the appeal would progress and all 30 employees’ roles would be subject to the appeal decision.
Select which of the grounds for appeal you are nominating.
Your appeal can only be based upon the factors used in the job evaluation scheme. Please provide notes in the appropriate boxes supporting your claim against each appropriate factor. If you need more room, please attach additional pages as required, indicating which job evaluation factor you are referring to.
Please note that simply copying the definitions from the NJC scheme or the local conventions will not be considered adequate evidence. To present your case to the panel, you will be required to provide detailed, relevant and factual evidence, including examples, regarding the tasks and responsibilities of your role.
Your manager is not required to support your decision to appeal and they will not give you advice as to whether or not an appeal is appropriate. They can, however, give you information about the job evaluation scheme, details about the post you occupy and procedural guidance.
When your form is complete, please either post it or scan it and send it to . Your manager will be asked to provide factual comments about the evidence you have provided and you will receive a copy of the annotated form in advance of the appeal being heard.
Your completed appeal form should be posted to the Pay Review Team, Saxon Court orscanned and emailed to the Pay ReviewTeam to arrive no later than 31 January 2014.
Appeal panel
Appeals will be heard by a panel consisting of one HR, one management and one union representative who will all be fully trained in the NJC job evaluation scheme and the accompanying local conventions. Members of the panel will not previously have been involved in job evaluation or moderation for that post, or be employed in the same service area.
Appeal conduct
As appeal panel members will be selected from a pool, sometimes at short notice (ensuring maximum flexibility without conflicts of interest), employees will not receive advance notice of the date of time of the appeal. They will, however, be notified of the outcome within 10 working days of the appeal hearing.
The appeal panel will meet in private and will comprise one management and one union representative, accompanied by one HR representative who will provide the required paperwork, guide the panel in terms of time, procedure and the NJC job evaluation scheme, and record decisions.
The appeal panel will consider the factors identified by the employee using the NJC job evaluation scheme and may contact the job holder or their manager to ask questions for clarification.
The appeal panel will review the documentation submitted to include appeal form, role profile, person specification, organisational structure and any other relevant notes.
The panel will review the factor levels awarded to the post for the factors against which the employee has appealed. If, in the judgement of the appeal panel, the evidence submitted prior to or during the hearing may have a bearing on factors other than those nominated in the appeal, they may elect to review whichever factors they see fit.
While unanimity in the final decisions on the awarded level for any particular factor will be sought, a majority (2 out of three) will be acceptable.
The HR representative on the panel will note the finally determined factor levels on the appeals form, have the form signed by the panel members and pass the completed form to the Pay Review Team for processing.
Appeal outcome
There are four possible outcomes of the formal appeal hearing and employees should take this into consideration before making their appeal:
- The re-evaluation of one or more factor levels results in a change to the overall job evaluation total score which places the post in a different pay grade. The new grade can be higher or lower than the existing grade.
- The re-evaluation of one or more factor levels results in a change to the overall job evaluation total score which is NOT sufficient to change the pay grade for the post.
- There is no change to the job evaluation total score (although there may be changes to factor levels which offset one another) and therefore no resultant change of pay band.
- In exceptional circumstances only, the panel decides that no decision can be made with the information available and the appeal is adjourned and additional evidence requested.
In the event of an appeal taking place after the implementation of the new pay structure (currently scheduled for 1 April 2014), any increase or decrease to the job holders’ pay grade will be backdated to the date of implementation and appropriate back pay or protection applied from that date.
HR will notify the employee/s of the decision in writing within 10 working days of the date of the appeal.
The appeal panel’s decision is final
Appeal Instructions v 0.2