H.E.R.A.

Letter from the Warden

April 2008

Dear colleagues

HERA and the Framework Agreement

In 2003 there was a joint agreement between the Universities’ and Colleges’ Employers’ Association (UCEA) and the recognised Trades Unions for staff in higher education, to modernise pay structures. This involved introducing a job evaluation process and negotiating a single pay spine in each institution to replace the many different pay scales, ensuring equal pay for work of equal value. The agreement also provided for harmonisation of terms and conditions of employment discussions. This has been a truly substantial exercise across the whole higher education sector and in each individual institution.

I am very pleased to tell you that we have now finished discussions with the Trades Unions on the Framework Agreement on HERA and modernising pay structures at Goldsmiths. Our recognised Trades Unions – UCU and UNISON – will shortly ballot their members.

Goldsmiths’ Management Team has been in discussions with UCU and UNISON for a very long time now. These have been challenging for all parties and the outcome we have reached is not without cost. However, I firmly believe that the Agreement we have reached and the unified pay scale are fair and equitable to all staff, and increasingly make Goldsmiths an attractive place to work, removes many of the barriers between academic and support staff and improves on a lot of our current provisions.

All staff who are covered by the remit of the Agreement (ie, all academic staff except Professors, and all support staff except ARG 6), will, after a positive ballot result, receive a letter giving them details of what the Framework Agreement means for their individual role.

I have listed below some of the major highlights to come out of the Agreement. I won’t go into great detail but the accompanying leaflet tells you more and you can access the full Agreement on the following link: www.goldsmiths.ac.uk/hr/hera/. Printed copies of the agreement have been sent to those whom we know have limited access to the web. If you would also like a hard copy, please telephone Paul Richards on 020 7078 5124.

Pay scales
Everyone will move to a single pay and grading spine which is effective from August 2006. This means that staff have had, and will in future have, their jobs assessed on the same basis, using the same job evaluation system. Accompanying these scales are transparent guidelines showing how staff can move up their grade and progress further. The grading system will make sure it takes no longer than 5 years to move from the bottom of each grade to the top pay point of the grade before contribution point(s). There will also be provisions for outstanding members of staff at all levels to have their contribution recognised through additional point(s) at the top of the grade.

The vast majority of staff will receive an immediate increase in their pay and all staff will move to incremental scales which provide for the opportunity to progress by annual increments. A small proportion of staff will find that their current salary is above the maximum of the grade to which their role is allocated. These roles are referred to as having being ‘red circled’.  We have committed to working closely with these individuals and their representatives to reduce the numbers in this position and to minimise the eventual impact. I would like to stress that no one in this position will have an immediate reduction in salary; for those whose roles are red circled we have extended pay protection from August 2006, increasing it from 4 to 5 years.

The pay aspects of the Agreement are backdated to August 2006 and back pay owing will be increased by 5.3% as interest. Under the new arrangements no member of staff will be paid less than £7.81 per hour at August 2006 and £8.35 per hour in May 2008, which is far in excess of the national minimum wage and above many comparable employers.

Sickness benefits
Many staff will have an increase is sickness benefit provisions. All staff regardless of grade, will in future, have provision for 3 months’ full pay and 3 months’ half pay during sickness absence, from the start of employment and for the first 3 years. Thereafter provision increases to 6 months’ full pay and 6 months’ half pay.

Annual leave
Many staff will see an increase in their annual leave entitlement, with no one receiving less than 36 days including Bank Holidays and College closure days, with many more receiving 41 or 42 days. Maximum holiday entitlements will also be reached after 5 years rather than the 7 years which applies to a large group of staff at present.

Questions or queries
This is a positive step forward for Goldsmiths but there is a lot of information for everyone to take in. Our HERA Project Team are holding a series of open meetings to which all staff are invited. At each meeting, Chris Pearson, the Director of Human Resources will run through what the Framework Agreement means for staff and take general questions from the audience. Please note, that we cannot take specific personal queries at these meetings. We will write to staff individually as soon as the ballot outcome is known.

The open meetings will be held as follows:

I would encourage everyone to attend one of these meetings.

Please do read the accompanying leaflet sent with this letter, and look at the web site which contains the Framework Agreement in full, an explanation of technical terms, and a series of frequently asked questions. You can also e-mail questions about the project to hera@gold.ac.uk

Whilst the team will be happy to answer general questions about the Project, they will not be able to take queries about where an individual falls on a grade or the scale. Everyone will receive a letter explaining this in full after the results of the ballot are known. We expect to send these in late May/early June. Following this you will get a further letter from the Payroll Team letting you know to which precise pay point you have been moved and how much back pay you will receive.

I do want to thank everyone for the patience they have shown whilst we have worked to establish the Framework Agreement. While the Agreement has taken some time to reach, I firmly believe that it offers a good deal for all staff.

Best wishes

Professor Geoffrey Crossick
Warden of Goldsmiths, University of London