|
Page updated: 12 May 2004 |
JOB
EVALUATION & NOTTS COUNTY COUNCIL: The process
Nottinghamshire County Council is
carrying out National Job Evaluation. Please click on
the link below or scroll down the page:
In addition, an NJC JE Help Line has been set up and Guidebook produced. For details, click on the link below: So, what exactly is Job Evaluation? Job Evaluation (JE) is a process that seeks to objectively measure the different elements or parts of a job. It evaluates each element and gives a total score for the job. All the jobs are scored in the same way, giving a comparison of jobs throughout the organisation. Why is JE being introduced in Notts County Council? The Single Status national agreement (between employers and trade unions), which has operated since April 1997, includes a provision for introducing evaluation. It was recognised that the existing pay and grading structures might not treat employees undertaking equivalent duties in the same way across and even within Departments. Both the County Council and the Trade Unions had particular concerns that equal pay for work of equal value issues should be addressed. The Single Status Agreement ends the differences between manual workers and ex-APT&C staff, replacing the white and purple books of terms and conditions with a single green book: the National Joint Council For Local Government Services National Agreement on Pay and Conditions of Service. Job Evaluation is part of the work being done in Notts to put the Agreement into practice. In the County Council, the agreement reached at Personnel Committee on 19th December 2002 was to evaluate jobs that were in place on 1st April 2002. Who’s involved? There are a number of groups of people involved in this process. The people involved in sorting out JE are the Steering Group. This is made up of 2 managers (Terry Pears from Social Services and Andy Wells from Environment), Claire Gollin from central personnel and 3 representatives of the trade unions (Jackie Johnson and Bob Watt from UNISON, Hazel Beresford from GMB) all working together as a team to try and make sure that JE works fairly. The County Council has agreed to use a computerised version of the NJC Scheme that will be accurate, consistent, objective and transparent. The next group consists of those who will be carrying out the JE work. These include a team of analysts who will be employed to do just this task, and other joint union and management panels who will be involved in the detail once we get going. The most important group of people involved will be those whose jobs are to be evaluated. The majority of County Council staff will be covered by the NJC JE Scheme, with a few notable exceptions: Craft Workers (such as electricians and mechanics), Youth & Community Workers, and Teachers will not be included because they are on different terms and conditions. What JE isn’t… JE is not about setting a level of pay to the points scored by a job. That will be the subject of separate negotiations which will be looking at how the results of the Hay and NJC JE schemes can be married up to create a coherent pay structure for the County Council. How was NJC JE carried out? Benchmarking Initially, a test run of the system was carried out to look at sample of posts. We carried out “benchmark” evaluations for a range of jobs at different levels and across departments. These “benchmark” evaluations were purely to check the system and did not count towards the results for the jobs. Any jobs used for benchmarking were formally evaluated once the checks have been completed. Putting jobs into families and groups The steering group worked with personnel sections and trade unions to identify families of jobs that are similar. These families were then be subdivided into groups and sub-groups across departments. Further explanation can be found in the Guidebook Before the interview Before an evaluation of a job can be carried out, the post holders need to prepare for the interview. This involved meetings of jobholders in the relevant group. Details of the meetings can be found in the Guidebook. If yours is an unique post (you are the only person holding a post that cannot be grouped with any others) you should still go through the preparation process, talking through the job with your line manager and a trade union steward before going into the interview. If you are a unique post holder but are not a trade union member, you need to be aware that a trade union steward will be in the meeting as an observer to maintain fairness and consistency throughout all the interviews. The interview A team of analysts has been employed by the County Council to carry out the interviews. It is their job to meet with the group representative(s) (along with the manager and trade union steward) and go through a series of questions on a computer. The questions have been designed to minimise any guesswork. They are either “yes” or “no” answers, or choosing from a list of options. The program and questions have been agreed between the employers and trade unions at a national level as a way of evaluating jobs in accordance with the 13 factors in the NJC JE scheme. When all the questions have been answered, you will be able to see a Job Overview on screen that describes your job in terms of the 13 job evaluation factors. If, on reading this you do not agree with the description, you can revisit any of the factors to reconsider your answers. At the end of the interview, we are asking the person being interviewed to sign to say that they were satisfied with the way the interview was carried out. This will also be your opportunity to record if your job has changed since 1st April 2002. After the interview After the interview, all members of the job group will be sent a copy of the Job Overview within 10 days. This can be used to check the outcome of the interview to maintain consistency and fairness. If anyone is not satisfied with the Job Overview they will have 5 days from receipt to raise their concerns via the Help Line. If you do not receive a copy of the Job Overview for your group please contact the Help Line. How are the results verified? The Job Overviews for all the interviews have to go through a process of verification by a process known as data monitoring (also known as “moderation”). There are five stages to the data monitoring process. Stage 1: Individual employee(s) who have been selected to represent their larger job group or a unique post will be interviewed by a Job Analyst in the presence of a line manager and a trained trade union Steward. At the end of the questions, the interviewee will be able to read the draft Job Overview (JO) on the computer screen and revisit any factors that do not appear to reflect the job. The JO produced at the end of the interview will be the Initial Job Overview. At the end of the interview the interviewee is asked to sign to say that the process is accepted as appropriate and fair. If not, the interview will be suspended and the post will be resubmitted for a fresh evaluation. Stage 2: A copy of the Initial Job Overview will be circulated to all employees within the group with 10 working days. Any employee may register a concern about the content of the JO within 5 working days of receipt by contacting the JE Help Line by phone or e-mail. This should specify:
Therefore, a maximum of 15 working days after the interview, the JO will either go on to stage 3 or, if no concerns have been registered, it can go on to stage 4 Stage 3: The Steering Group will consider the registered concerns and may determine that:
If there is no case for further action, the JO will go on to stage 4. A partial re-evaluation is carried out by means of a further interview that will revisit the answers to the relevant factor(s). After this, a revised JO will be produced. A total re-evaluation is carried out by means of a further full interview. After this, a new JO will be produced. Any replacement JOs will be circulated as before in stage 2. Stage 4: A Data Monitoring Panel (DMP) will consider the JO and supporting documentation. Each DMP will consist of 2 trade union and 2 officer representatives, will be representative of gender and will have a cross-departmental focus. In the event of unplanned absence, reserves will be on stand by from each side to ensure an even representation. There will also be a reserve Chair. Each panel will be chaired by a member of the Steering Group, on a rota basis Panel representatives have been selected who are independent of any other stage or process in the implementation project, they will not undertake data monitoring for their own service area or any other job groups for which they have provided support at group meetings and/or evaluation interviews. Every effort will be made to allocate each panel individual posts and groups within the same job family to ensure a consistent consideration of the width and depth of posts at all levels The job of the DMPs is to:
Panels will either:
If the JO is signed off as correct and complete the JO will be go on to stage 5. If the DMP recommend that the Steering Group refer any number of factors back to Job Analysts for full or partial re-evaluation and resubmission, this will be carried out as before in stage 3. Stage 5: As the evaluation process proceeds it will be possible for the Steering Group to undertake vertical checking across the range of levels within any job group, e.g. seeing if the job of supervisor ranks higher than the jobs of the employees they supervise. If the Steering Group identifies any areas for re-evaluation, a further JO will be produced as before in stage 3. Horizontal checking (across groups and departments) and consideration of consistency across the scope of posts Authority wide will be undertaken by the Steering Group when all results are in, supported by 2 expert analysts from the wider group of Analysts. The Steering Group will make any final decisions regarding re-evaluation. In exceptional circumstances this may involve a referral for a further evaluation and the Steering Group may request a final JO as before in stage 3. WHAT HAPPENS ONCE ALL THE FINAL JOB OVERVIEWS HAVE BEEN PRODUCED? Once all stages of the job evaluation process are complete, a separate process of attaching final job rankings to an agreed pay structure and communicating the scores to all jobs groups in that context will take place (see "What happens next?" section of Easter 2004 progress report). The NJC Job Evaluation Guidebook We hope that the information above helps to answer the basic questions but we recognise that you might have other questions you want answering. That’s why we are producing a Guidebook. These will be distributed through your departmental systems. If you have not received a copy of the Guidebook by the time you are told your group is to have its interview preparation meeting, please contact the Help Line. Alternatively, you can download a copy in "word" format by clicking here. If you are aware of any special language needs or formats (Braille, large print, tape etc) in your staff group please make sure the manager knows so we can ensure no one is missed out. Job Evaluation Help Line Tel: 0115 977 3643 E-mail: [email protected] |