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Role profiles and job evaluation in pre-92 institutions

24 October 2006

Since members accepted the pay framework agreement and Memorandum of Understanding in April 2004, local associations have been engaged in detailed negotiations about the introduction of new pay structures, and associated role analysis and job evaluation arrangements.

This page gives detailed advice to local negotiators about the implementation of such arrangements.

UCU is not opposed to the introduction of role analysis arrangements for academic and related staff, and has worked hard to secure an approach we believe to be appropriate for these groups of staff.


Negotiations regarding new grading structures

While discussions about role analysis and job evaluation are clearly linked to the agreement of new grading structures, UCU is clear that role analysis/JE exercises will not be used to determine the design of grades for academic and academic related staff. The design of new grading structures should be negotiated based on the principles in the framework agreement and the Memorandum of Understanding. Role analysis and job evaluation will then be used to verify assimilation of staff to the new grades, and to ensure the position of staff on grades is defensible in equal pay terms. Some institutions have suggested that there can be no agreement on grading structures until after a full job evaluation exercise. This is unacceptable.

Implementation of role analysis for academic and academic-related staff

As part of initial discussions about implementation of the framework and Memorandum of Understanding, UCU will seek agreement that:

  • generic role profiles will be used wherever possible to determine grading for academic and related staff, using the national academic role profiles and the library of academic-related profiles
  • local job matching, benchmarking and role analysis procedures will be developed with reference to the guidance on the use and implementation of national academic role profiles
  • HERA or Hay job evaluation will be used as follows:
    • to validate the ranking of the profiles and agreed benchmark roles, and to agree ranges of scores for the academic and academic-related grades
    • for the purposes of grading atypical jobs not covered by the profiles or for the purpose of responding to equal pay challenges.

Academic role profiles

The academic role profiles are an integral part of the framework agreement and should be used in line with the UCU guidance. This guidance formed a major part of the union's seminars on role analysis and job evaluation held in summer 2004. Local negotiators who were not able to attend the seminars should ensure that they consult with colleagues who did and if local associations do not have negotiators who were able to familiarise themselves with that material, it is advised that they contact their regional office to ensure we can provide any necessary support.

Please refer also to the circular 'Implementation of the framework agreement - academic role profiles and pay progression within grades' (AUT-LA7589, Feb 2005).

Academic-related role profiles

Since the introduction of the framework agreement in 2004 many institutions have developed generic role profiles for academic-related staff using either the Hay or HERA schemes as the underpinning job evaluation scheme.

The profiles provided here have been agreed by UCU locally and have been used in the evaluation of academic-related staff.

UCEA had written to all pre-1992 institutions in June 2005 inviting them to submit role profiles to the library database of role profiles for academic-related staff. See 'Academic-related role profiles' (AUT-LA7650), for more on the UCEA library profile request.

Specific guidance on the implementation of job evaluation and role analysis

Please see the link below for the July 2004 briefing document 'Guidance on the use of academic and academic-related role profiles'.

See also the additional guidance 'Implementation of job evaluation and role analysis' (AUT-LA7679, Nov 2005)

Last updated: 9 March 2021