National framework agreement on pay –
University of Derby UCU commentary
The University of Derby National Framework Agreement on academic pay is the product of
nearly 2 years of negotiation following the 2003 pay settlement which required all
universities to negotiate new pay scales for academic staff on the national HE contract
based on a framework agreed between NATFHE; AUT (now UCU) and the employers.
Implemented so far
Following a job evaluation exercise based on sample posts throughout the University all
academic staff on the national HE contract were assimilated to the new pay scales as from
August 2006 – following a request from the local UCU Branch, the University agreed to
implement the new pay scales even though the final Framework Agreement had not been
signed off. We were able to secure a no red circling deal which means that no academic
member of staff has had their pay frozen or reduced and all staff are continuing to receive
automatic incremental progression where applicable.
Awaiting implementation
The draft agreement guarantees progression from Lecturer to Senior Lecturer, (for
academics on an L/SL contract), and also guarantees automatic incremental progression
throughout the Lecturer / Senior Lecturer pay scale. This is a significant beneficial variant
to the current national HE contract. Under the new agreement your automatic incremental
progression can only be threatened if you are being subjected to action under the
University’s disciplinary procedure for underperformance following a failure to respond to
help and support provided under the University’s DPR process.
The University has agreed to implement an ‘accelerated incremental progression’ for staff
who can demonstrate that they have ‘exceeded expectations’. This will mean receiving a
double increment instead of the normal annual single increment for staff not at the top of
the Lecturer / Senior Lecturer scale.
We have also managed to negotiate 8 additional contribution points at the top of the
Senior Lecturer scale, (currently worth £39160 to £49607), instead of the 3 contained in
the benchmark framework agreement. These 8 points are the equivalent of the old PL
scale (now referred to as the AC4 scale) – however they will not operate as a scale as
progression onto and through these points will depend both on the size of the job as well
as a performance rating of ‘exceeding expectations’. This is a significantly beneficial
variant on the current pay arrangements for academic staff at Derby.
The University has also committed itself to pay the new hourly rate for sessional staff (now
known as Associate Lecturers) based on the new pay scales including incremental
progression up the sessional scale.
How the new agreement will operate
Following the annual budget setting process the University will meet with UCU
representatives and consult on the amount of monies available for the accelerated and
higher pay components of the agreement. Then at the start of the academic year all staff
should meet with their line manager and agree what will be required from them in order to
qualify for accelerated progression or for access and progression through the extended
scale (AC4). Throughout the year staff should have progress meetings with their line
manager to ensure that they are on target to achieve what is being required of them. At
the conclusion of the year, provided you have your line manager’s approval, your
application for accelerated progression and / or access to the AC4 scale will go to panel
made up of the Faculty senior managers for their approval. This process will be monitored
by a recognised union observer at each stage.
Your UCU negotiators have had some concerns re the transparency and fairness of this
process which is why we intend monitoring it throughout with the use of trained observers.
What we didn’t achieve
We didn’t achieve a return to the old PL scale (now AC 4) last seen in Derby some 10 years
ago – the NFA doesn’t require the implementation of the AC 4 scale and the University is
not prepared to reintroduce it without some performance related criteria in order to access
and progress through the scale – however we have negotiated the 8 additional contribution
points which do match the AC 4 salary points but as is explained above do have a
performance related element to them.
Regional & National Ratification
Throughout our negotiations we have been assisted by the UCU Regional Support Officer
and the attached draft agreement received a qualified Regional approval in order to be
submitted to the National Ratification Panel. The National Panel, while not formally
ratifying the draft agreement on the grounds it contains performance related criteria, have
accepted that it is an improvement on the current pay and rewards system in operation at
Derby and have therefore approved the Branch Committee putting the draft agreement to
a vote of the membership.
2
Summary
Your negotiators feel that this is the best deal we can achieve by negotiation – we have
successfully obtained the transfer of all academic staff to the new scales without any red
circling, we have an agreement on accelerated progression through the scales and we have
managed to increase the standard 3 contributory salary points to 8 in order to match the
higher AC4 pay scale – however we didn’t manage to achieve access or progression
through these additional points without some performance related criteria. It should be
stressed that the performance related criteria only apply to accelerated progression and to
access and progress through the higher AC 4 scale. Normal progression through the L/SL
scale is automatic as at present.
If the Branch does not endorse the draft agreement then the University has strongly
indicated to us that their fall-back position is to reduce the 8 contribution points to the 3
contained in the National Agreement (and which will still have performance related criteria
attached to them) and also to withdraw the provision for accelerated progression through
the scales.
The next step
Full Branch meetings will be held in order to discuss the draft agreement and then
arrangements will be made for an e-mail vote of members on whether the draft agreement
is acceptable to the Branch.
Personal Contract Holders
The draft agreement does not apply to anyone who is currently on a Personal Contact.
However we have started discussions with HR re a mechanism for some Personal Contact
Holders to opt for a return to the national HE contract – these discussions are still at an
early stage and we will circulate more details re this once more progress has been made.
Mick Booth – Branch Chair UCU Buxton
Harjinder Lallie – Branch Chair UCU Derby
3