Calculation of hourly rates of pay for academic and related staff in HE institutions

Where staff remain on hourly paid contracts there is a need to have a proper mechanism for determining the hourly rate of pay that meets the objective of equal pay for work of equal value.

For members in the post-92 sector there is JNCHES guidance on pay for hourly-paid lecturers [20kb] - please note UCU has since questioned the worked example and how holiday pay is calculated.

For members in the pre-92 sector the following guidance should be followed:

For equal pay purposes it is imperative that the hourly rate of pay is related to the pay and grading of non-hourly paid staff. There should therefore be link between the national pay spine and the local grading structure and the rates of hourly pay.

A key method for calculating hourly rates of pay is to determine the appropriate grade. The posts of hourly paid staff should be subject to the same role analysis process as for non hourly-paid employees, to determine their appropriate pay grade.

There are then two approaches to payment:

1. payment for each hour worked to deliver effectively the teaching and any other related duties required by the institution, for example preparation, marking, student support, administration, research, attendance at meetings and development
2. calculation of a comprehensive rate which includes payment for teaching and all associated work such as preparation, marking, student support, administration, research, and development.

Holiday pay should be paid when holiday is taken - holiday entitlement should be calculated on a pro-rata basis and should be paid accordingly. For more information on calculation of holiday pay for hourly paid staff see UCUBANAB24.

If a comprehensive rate of pay is being used then the UCU method of calculation assumes a weighting of at least 2.5 for every teaching hour to take account of preparation, etc.

However, the weighting of 2.5 should be increased by local agreement where it can be demonstrated that the time taken to prepare, etc, is greater than 1.5 hours for every teaching hour.

Worked example:
This example assumes a working week of 37 hours which would need to be adapted to reflect local circumstances.

A member of teaching staff in a pre-92 institution starting at the bottom of the academic 2 pay scale (point 30 on the single pay spine in this example):

• annual salary is £34,304 (from 1/08/21)
• basic weekly rate is £34,304 ÷ 52.18 weeks = £657.42
• basic hourly rate is £657.42 ÷ 37 hours per week = £17.77
  (this may need to be reduced to reflect the actual working week at the institution in question; however, we would not expect a working week in excess of 37 hours)
• comprehensive hourly rate is 2.5 x £17.77 = £44.42

This rate does not include holiday pay and paid leave must be provided on a pro-rata basis.

To calculate the pro-rata entitlement of paid holiday, first calculate the appropriate pro-rata contract (see the UCU advice on calculating pro-rata contracts) and multiply the fraction of a full time equivalent (FTE) post by the FTE holiday entitlement.

For example, if an hourly paid member of staff is calculated as working 0.5 of a FTE post and total leave entitlement for a FTE is 34 days, then the hourly-paid member of staff is entitled to 17 days paid leave per annum. Bank holidays and closure days must also be provided for.

The table below applies the same principles for the calculation of hourly rates of pay to every appropriate point on the national pay spine. Hourly paid staff are entitled to incremental progression in the same way as other staff, so for example, an hourly-paid lecturer appointed to an Ac3 post where the Ac 3 grade runs from point 37 to point 43 would expect a rate of pay starting at £47.31 and rising incrementally to a rate of £56.49 (adjusted for pay awards).

Note: all hourly-paid lecturers should be graded at academic 2 or above.

Points 22 -29 are only appropriate for hourly-paid staff in the pre-92 sector not meeting the academic level 2 profile and graded as academic level 1/grade 6.