Bath Spa University

This document sets out the revised procedure to be used for the evaluation of all posts at the University and replaces the Appendix 4 of the Pay Framework Agreement. This document has been agreed with the recognised trade unions.

There are three circumstances when a request for a job evaluation would be appropriate:

• The existing job holder is working within a role and seeks regrading.
• The planned development of an existing post, which the manager recognises needs grading.

In either of these two circumstances there is no requirement for the new role to be advertised

• The development of a new post, which needs grading and this post will be advertised.

When you can apply for Job Evaluation

Any request that an employee makes for their post to be evaluated must meet the following criteria:

• must not be within 12 months of any previous request or appeal.
• must have been employed in the post for 12 months or more before a request for regrading can be made.

There are four possible outcomes to a request for job evaluation

• The grade for the role is incorrect and the grade will go up
• The grade for the role is incorrect and the grade will go down
• The grade for the role is correct and the grade will not be changed
• There is no business case for the regrading

Employee Regrade Requests

1. Employees wishing to apply for regrading must complete the Application for Regrade which is available from the HR website. Hints and guidance for the completion of this form are given within this document and if the employee needs any further assistance they should speak to their line manager, trade union representative or HR. The employee should provide details of the significant additional responsibilities that have changed the role within the last 12 months. Once the employee has completed and signed the form this should be passed to line manager to verify. The line manager will verify and sign the evidence provided to say that it represents a true and accurate picture of the current requirements of the employee's role. It is essential that the line manager dates the form, when they receive it, as this will be the effective date of the regrade should the regrade request result in a higher grade.
2. Once signed by the line manager, the completed and signed Application for Regrade form should be sent to the Director of HR. If possible this document should be sent by email.
3. The Director of HR will review the Application for Regrade and if the employee can demonstrate reasonable grounds for a job evaluation, the Director of HR will then assign the regrade request to a HERA analyst for review and send the HERA Analyst the Application for Regrade form. If the Director of HR considers the evidence presented lacks reasonable grounds, and turns down the request, the employee has the right to appeal as outlined in 'General Principles' below.
4. The HERA analyst will review the evidence and meet with the employee to clarify, discuss and add evidence if appropriate. If further evidence is given by the employee it must be documented and signed off by the line manager before progressing. In the event of any disagreement about the evidence between the employee and the line manager, which the HERA analyst cannot resolve, then HR will mediate. When the evidence is agreed, the HERA analyst will score the HERA evidence and send it with the agreed HERA evidence to HR.
5. When the agreed HERA evidence and first score is received in HR, HR will assign a second scorer from within the HR Department. Both sets of scores will be compared and if there are differences both HERA analysts will meet and agree a score for the role. Once a role has been scored HR will validate this score against similar roles.
6. If the results indicate that regrading is appropriate, then authorisation will be sought from the Vice-Chancellor by the Director of HR. If this authorisation is gained, the employee will be notified of the outcome and their salary adjusted accordingly with effect from the date the Application for Regrade was signed by the line manager. If this authorisation is not gained, then HR will approach the line manager to discuss how the higher grade responsibilities can be removed from the role.
7. If the result indicates that there is no change to the grade, the employee will be informed by the Director of HR and advised of their right of appeal, as detailed below.
8. The process will normally be completed within 8 weeks.

Appeals

1. If an employee is considering lodging an appeal against the evaluation result the appeal should be made in writing to the Director of HR using form JEA within 5 working days of written notification of the result of the evaluation. Any additional evidence submitted at this time will need to be verified by the line manager before the appeal is heard. The basis of the appeal is that there is new or more detailed evidence, and if this is not provided, then the appeal will be turned down by the Director of HR. In this event, however, the employee still retains the right to appeal this decision as outlined in 'General Principles' below.
2. If it is agreed that the appeal should proceed, the employee will be given a copy of the record of evidence and the score generated from the evaluation interview.
3. HR will then arrange for an appeal panel to be convened within 1 month of receipt of the appeal. If arrangements cannot be made within this timescale, the staff member will be informed of the reasons and the next available date.
4. The appeal panel will consist of the following: A member of the HR Department, a member of the Senior Management Team (Chair) and a Trade Union representative. All appeals panel members will need to have received training on the HERA process.
5. The employee has the right to be represented at the appeal hearing by a trade union representative or work colleague.
6. The chair of the appeal panel will ask the employee to talk through their reasons for the appeal. The employee will be asked to demonstrate where they feel the new evidence or the more detailed evidence should be taken into account.
7. The panel will consider the evidence, ask questions where appropriate, and ask for additional information and verification from the employees' line manager, who will be made available, if required.
8. The employee then has the opportunity to sum up their argument. Afterwards the panel retire to consider the new or more detailed evidence and decide whether:
   • it is appropriate to be considered as evidence
   • the record of evidence should be amended
   • the score relating to that evidence should be amended
9. If the panel revise the scoring, then the HR representative will be responsible for amending the scores on the HERA software and producing the new score total.
10. There are four possible outcomes from the appeal panel:
    • The grade for the role is incorrect and the grade will go up
    • The grade for the role is incorrect and the grade will go down
    • The grade for the role is correct and the grade will not be changed
    • There is no business case for the regrading
11. The HR panel member will communicate the outcome to the employee in writing within 5 working days of the reconvened hearing.
12. The decision of the appeal panel is final.

General Principles

The employee has the right to be accompanied to the appeal hearing by a fellow worker, or a full time trade union officer or a union official who has been certified by the union as having experience and/or training in job evaluation matters.

Where the Director of Human Resource has considered the application for regrading or appeal unreasonable and the employee disagrees, they must put their case in writing to the Deputy Vice-Chancellor responsible for appeals within 5 working days of the Director of Human Resource's decision.

The Deputy Vice-Chancellor will consider the case for regrading or appeal and respond to the request in writing within 5 working days. If a longer period of time is needed, the employee will be informed in writing. The decision of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor is final.

Created 1 May 2009. Amended in March 2010, with the agreement of the Trade Unions.

The links below provide further information on the HERA scheme:

• HERA questionnaire.