Have look at the Frequently Asked Questions for further clarifications.
You are probably wondering when the Framework Agreement will be implemented in Manchester. We had hoped to ballot you on the local implementation of the Agreement by December 05, since we had in effect reached an agreement on how this should be done some time ago. Nevertheless it seems that there may be further delays. The reasons are as follows.
First, the job evaluation using Hera has been so slow that even now, after almost a year of work, there simply is not enough data on which to base the assimilation of all the staff. Moreover, the data provided by Hera is turning out so 'noisy' as to make a straightforward assimilation difficult. (UMUCU only accepted use of Hera reluctantly, as a compromise).
This being so, to avoid further delays we negotiated an interim measure, according to which the transfer to the single spine would be based on job matching where agreed by management and us, and (on a provisional basis) to a next higher point on the spine where not yet agreed. We expect only a small proportion of our members to come in this latter category. These disagreements would be resolved in the future using appropriate job evaluation and nobody would suffer further delays in the interim.
The implementation of this interim measure has been delayed by other unions. As a result, after consulting NW UMUCU, we have had to withdraw from joint union bargaining. We are now working to persuade management to implement the interim measure as soon as possible for academic and related staff, irrespective of delays in their negotiations with the other Unions.
We are hoping to ballot you as soon as possible, this so that we can all benefit from the small financial gains attendant on the Framework Agreement implementation.
Having said that, the grading arrangements are currently leading the sector --- though we are expecting other large universities in the region (Leeds, Liverpool) to announce similar deals soon. The `Manchester deal', which is compatible with the national Memorandum of Understanding and indeed an improvement on the UMUCU preferred implementation, was reported recently in AUTlook. On the basis of this agreement, we have recommended cooperation with the job evaluation process, which is a part of the national Framework Agreement.
The university is now using an approach of `job families' rather than individual job evaluations, which is broadly in line with UMUCU policy.
This process is now in progress, inasmuch as all staff should soon be allocated to a `benchmark', where possible, and a provisional place in the university structure (by both level and category). In the case of academic staff, these benchmarks (or job families) are based entirely on current job title/grade. For example, benchmarks include `Lecturer B', `Professor', `Research Assistant'. For academic-related staff, assignment is on the basis of job descriptions; we are working with the HR team to create a sensible list of benchmarks for academic related staff. We are insisting that there should be some review process at the end of this stage, so that we can pick up any obvious anomalies.
The next stage is for role analysis data to be collected from a sample of individuals. This will mean representatives from each benchmark group undergoing HERA type interviews - either individually or in small groups. It is important to emphasise that it is the job family which is assessed, not the individual job holder.
The data from this process should be used not only to generate a HERA score (which can be used to confirm the validity of the grading structure as against support staff grades ) but also to match the benchmark to a role profile. Academic staff should be matched to the national role profiles, with some local customisation. Local role profiles for academic related staff should be generated, which can eventually be fed into the national library of academic related role profiles. The UMUCU are participating in the multi-union Pay and Grading Steering group which is monitoring the process. We are also actively engaged in negotiations with management in order to ensure that the process is fair to our members and is conducted in line with national agreements.
Please let us know any concerns or problems you have with the job evaluation process.
The 2005/2006 promotion round is now in full swing at School level, with cases to be sent to Faculty Promotions Committees soon. New guidelines have been issued to Schools, which take at least some account of UMUCU comments. Every School should have a properly constituted committee for dealing with potential promotion cases. Note also that, if external references are sought for promotions to Senior Lecturer, then these MUST be chosen in consultation with the candidate. It is also worth pointing out that there are now promotion criteria for all levels (including to professorial level) based solely on excellence in teaching.
If you are having any problems with the promotions process, please let us know.
Not quite, but we expect the numbers of colleagues employed on such contracts to be much reduced in future. The new university has a declared aim of reducing the use of fixed term contracts of employment so a move in this direction is inevitable and to be welcomed. In addition, this institution, like others, is considering how it will comply with the requirements of the Fixed Term Work Regulations which will begin to bite in the not too distant future. A Negotiating Committee is currently being convened, including UMUCU representatives.
UMUCU recently held an open meeting on this topic which was very well attended. There is a growing awareness of the issues and of difficult decisions ahead. Until now the focus has very much been on the impact of the new regulations on the fixed-term member of staff, and it is now widening to include the impact on the principal investigators and line managers who are responsible for them. More meetings on this popular topic are being planned. Look out for details.
Meanwhile, please let us know what you think.
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