• Easter 2004

• Christmas 2003

• 27th October 2003

• 13th August 2003

 TIMETABLE NEWS 

• Changes as at 24th March 2004

• Changes as at 13th August 2003

 Easter 2004

The Joint Steering Group is pleased to report that arrangements had been made for the evaluation of all Stage 1 jobs (that is jobs as at 1^st April ’02) by the end of the Easter 2004 break. The vast majority of initial interviews were completed by the end of March. A small number had slipped into April due to unforeseen circumstances. 

We are confident that all initial interviews (including an NJC JE review of jobs evaluated at the lowest band, A, under the Hay scheme) will have been carried out by 1^st June 2004. We still expect to be able to deliver the results of Stage 1 NJC Job Evaluation to a joint management and trade union side meeting in June 2004, and that final Job Overviews will have been circulated to employees in time for implementation of Stage 1. This will conclude the Steering Group’s and Project Team’s role for Stage 1.

Re-evaluation interviews

Re-evaluation interviews are being arranged for those jobs where the Joint Steering Group has accepted the validity of any concerns raised by jobholders or in the Data Monitoring Panels (DMPs). 

It has been recognised that it is not always possible to have the same trained trade union steward or analyst at the re-evaluation interview, given that some people have left or moved jobs etc. In light of this, it has been agreed that another trained trade union steward or analyst may be used, given that the role of the trade union steward is to ensure that the system is applied fairly and consistently and that the analysts are being advised which particular questions need to be revisited. These re-evaluation interviews should be completed by the end of May, but these will still need to go through the data verification process before they can be fed into the pay negotiations.

Vertical & Horizontal data checks 

The final stages of data monitoring involves the Joint Steering Group undertaking vertical and horizontal checks. The vertical checks consist of seeing if, for example, the job of a supervisor scores higher that the jobs of those they supervise. Where this is not the case we will investigate to see if there is a valid reason under the NJC JE criteria. The horizontal checks will be made across departments and groups to see if similar jobs (for example Personnel Assistants in each department) score similarly and, again, and if this is not the case investigating to see if there is a valid reason under the NJC JE criteria.

Hay “band A” jobs

The Joint Steering Group has identified 56 jobs that fall within Hay Band A and that will also be subject to evaluation using the NJC scheme in order to identify the extent of the overlap between the two schemes.

We have arranged to carry out the initial interviews for 51 of these by the end of April and data verification in May. However, 5 jobs will have to be evaluated in May because the post holders are either involved in financial year-end work or an OFSTED inspection.

These posts will go through the data verification process in June and will be fed into the pay modelling process when available.

What happens next?

From June 2004 onward, work will be undertaken on modelling the pay structure based on the results of Stage 1 of the NJC Job evaluations as part of wider negotiations on pay strategy. Further information on this is included at the end of this newsletter.

Meanwhile, we will be getting on with Stage 2 of the NJC Job Evaluation scheme. As part of preparing for Stage 2, the Joint Steering Group is in the process of working with Departmental Personnel teams and the Employee Services Centre (ESC) at Ruddington to identify jobs that have been created or have significantly changed between 2^nd April ‘02 and 31^st March ‘04.

Identifying “pure” new jobs should be a relatively straightforward task as these are jobs that did not exist in any form in the Authority before 1^st April ‘02. The intention is that these “pure” new jobs should be evaluated first in stage 2, with workplace meetings staring from mid June onwards.

The majority of newly established jobs from 2^nd April ’02, including many of those emerging from departmental restructurings, will be variations on existing jobs tailored to meet the needs of newly opened establishments or news ways of working. These are, in effect, changed jobs and can be treated in the same way.

Changed jobs are posts that were established at 1^st April ’02 but for which certain elements of the job have changed and the Job Description should have been up-dated or revised. In the Stage 1 interviews job holders and managers had an opportunity to indicate whether the job requirements had changed since 1^st April ‘02 and whether the job description needed updating as a result. This information was recorded (where provided) and will be collated for departments so that they can check that it is accurate and that job descriptions are updated accordingly.

It will only be necessary to re-evaluate those elements that directly affect the job’s score in any of the 13 factors in the NJC Job Evaluation scheme (for example an increase in the number of staff supervised). The Joint Steering Group is drawing up criteria to help Departmental Personnel teams identify those jobs that have changed and which of the 13 factors will need to be re-evaluated.

In dealing with all this, the Joint Steering Group is looking to simplify the preparation process and build from our experiences in Stage 1.

Thank you…

Overall, the Stage 1 process has been a success. The tight timescale for completing evaluations has been met, employee participation in the process has been comprehensive and largely positive, and joint working between the trade unions and management has been very effective. The Joint Steering Group would like to thank all involved for contributing the time and effort necessary to achieve this.

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 Christmas 2003: Happy New Year! 

The Steering Group would like to give thanks to all those who have put so much hard work into making the NJC JE scheme work throughout 2003. We are pleased to report that, as of 19^th December 2003, 826 interviews have been carried out across all departments and a further 376 were booked.

Good progress continues to be made across the Authority with arranging and undertaking interviews and it is likely that the majority will be complete by the target date of 29^th February 2004. A contingency period was agreed within the overall timetable and we are using the period up to the end of April ’04 to deal with:

• Those jobs identified as Band A or below by the Hay scheme that also have to be evaluated under the NJC scheme;

• All necessary re-evaluations that emerge from the data monitoring process.

This contingency period allows us to ensure quality and consistency are maintained. It will also allow us to accommodate the relatively small proportion of interviews for those jobs that cannot be scheduled before the end of February (e.g. because of cancellations due to sickness). This is the target date that many managers, employees and trade union stewards have been working hard with the Project Team to achieve.

The Project team will liaise with managers to ensure that the most timely and appropriate arrangements possible are made for all job groups.

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 27th October 2003 

The Steering Group are pleased to report that, as of 27th October 2003, 434 interviews have been carried out across all departments and a further 406 were booked.

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 13th August 2003 

We can report that, as of 13th August 2003, nearly 300 preparation meetings had been held and that the Analysts had carried out 111 interviews. Working at this pace, and provided no major problems arise, the Steering Group is confident that the NJC JE Phase 1 interviews will be completed by the end of February 2004.

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 JOINT NEWS ON THE WAY AHEAD

This Jointly written section of the website provides an opportunity to let employees know what is happening in the Authority to apply the results of the NJC Job Evaluation to Phase 2 of the County Council’s Pay Strategy. This phase applies to most staff who are currently paid up to SO2. 

It was jointly agreed, by the Authority and the trade unions at a meeting of the Informal Corporate Joint Forum on 24^th March ’04, that: 

• The Authority will be appointing a Programme Manager in the near future to coordinate the work on developing a Pay Strategy as part of the Job Evaluation programme.

• Part of the planning work will include identifying an implementation date that takes account of:

  1. the size and scope of the task involved in translating the results into working pay scales

  2. negotiating the wider pay package (possibly including allowances and additional payments), and

  3.  the business implications for a number of services

• There is also work that has to be done to agree an appeals process and how we maintain the NJC Job Evaluation system for the future.

• Both sides agreed that it is important that we take the proper time to get this right because it could directly affect a large number of people’s pay.

• Both sides recognise that there will have to be careful, inclusive, and detailed negotiations to ensure that accuracy and consistency are maintained, and that there will have to be appropriate and timely communication with employees.

As a result of the above, we have agreed that the implementation date be extended beyond 1^st October 2004. Once a new timetable is agreed, employees will be informed of the revised implementation date. 

A formal joint letter will be issued soon from Councillor John Stocks, Portfolio Holder for Resources, and Jill Turner, Chair of the joint Trade Union side, to confirm their support for this decision.

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 Timetable changed: 13th August 2003 

By now, you should have heard that the timescale for implementing NJC JE has been extended. The extension was agreed by the Authority and the Trade Unions on 13^th August. The table below shows the newly agreed timetable.

Although there were delays in setting up the joint Steering Group and filling posts, these did not have a significant impact as all involved worked cooperatively and did their utmost to condense the work programme in order to try and deliver the project on time. As a result of this hard work, systems were sufficiently in place to enable interviews to commence by the target date of 2^nd June this year.

However, unforeseen difficulties and the complexities of the process meant that the target end date of 1^st April 2004 could not be achieved. For example, Departments have been providing additional information regarding posts, and differences within posts, that has resulted in 300 extra interviews (and preparation meetings) having to be scheduled in.

Given the complexities and additional workload identified, the Steering Group decided that the Authority and Trade Unions needed to be made aware so that the timetable could be revised and other consequent issues addressed. Both partners considered, given the importance of NJC JE, that it was better to do it right than to do it too quickly.