APPENDIX 3
SOAS Recognition and Reward Procedures
1. Introduction
The purpose of this procedure is to set out how the process of awarding
contribution increments, accelerated scale increments and one-off or non
consolidated payments (honoraria) will work within the school.
The first contribution round will not be fully embedded within the school until
August 2009.
The aim of this process is to provide a coherent and practical approach to
both recurrent and one-off or non consolidated payments made to staff in
order to reward individual contribution within their role, and to ensure
transparency, fairness and equality to all staff.
To increase transparency and consistency there is one scheme for all staff
covered by the single pay spine which encompasses all recurrent and all oneoff or non consolidated payments to reward members of staff who significantly
and consistently exceed the normal expectation of their role.
To ensure maximum opportunity for staff to be recognised, the award of
contribution increments, accelerated scale increments and one-off or non
consolidated payments will be considered following self-application or
management recommendation.
2. Equal Opportunities
The procedures outlined here should be carried out with due regard to any
diversity issues which may have affected either the original situation or the
current process. The School’s Diversity Adviser and diversity specialists
within the Human Resources Department are available to support colleagues
in this area. Where a diversity issue (e.g. a disability including chronic
physical or mental health conditions) has been disclosed to the School,
whether prior to the situation which triggered this process or during the
process, the line manager co-ordinating the process is responsible for
checking with the employee to determine their needs and for making the
appropriate arrangements. Employees who have not previously disclosed a
diversity issue which may be relevant to this process are encouraged to do
so, as early as possible, so that it can be taken into account.
3. Principles
The procedure is based upon the following principles:

All staff should be rewarded fairly according to their sustained
contribution, including the application of new skills and of expertise
developed over time in the job.
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
A summary of appraisal could be used in support of an application for
reward. It is recognised that the introduction of a new appraisal
scheme will require Heads of Departments/ managers and staff to be
fully trained in its use.

Assessment of objectives / performance standards achieved should be
clearly related to Departmental/ Section objectives, recognise
achievements and reward competencies and activities likely to
contribute to future success of the school.

Objectives / performance standards must be applied fairly and
consistently.

Judgements should be demonstrably based on objective evidence and,
where appropriate, recognise initiative, leadership and/or contribution
to teamwork.

Arrangements for access to contribution points should be fully
communicated to staff in a way that makes clear how it operates and
the part that they and their managers play in it.
4. The Reward and Re-grading Sub-committee
(a) For Support staff, all recommendations for contribution increments,
accelerated scale increments or one-off or non consolidated payments will be
considered by the Reward and Re-grading Sub-committee, which is a Subcommittee of Human Resources Committee. Membership of the Reward and
Re-grading Sub-committee is as follows:
Registrar and Secretary (Convener)
Pro-Director or Vice Principal
1 (or up to 2) x Head of Admin
Director of Human Resources
Clerk (one of Human Resources Manager)
(b) The Sub-committee will monitor and review the operations of the
Recognition and Reward Procedure on an annual basis. Any changes to the
procedures or its operation will be fully consulted on with the appropriate trade
unions.
(c) The Reward and Re-grading Sub-committee will consider each application
based on the agreed criteria before making a decision on each case. A
decision will be reached in each case on the basis of the evidence submitted
against the criteria. The Sub-committee will assume that account will have
been taken of the affordability of each case in relation to existing budgets
which will therefore not affect the decision taken.
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(d) The Department of Human Resources, on behalf of the Sub-committee,
will communicate the outcome directly to all applicants, and to the relevant
Head of Department.
(e) The Sub-committee will report annually to HR Committee and a report on
the results of the process broken down by ethnic origin, disability and gender
will be passed to Equality Committee to be reviewed at its next schedule
meeting.
f) In addition to consideration of the rewards and re-grades for Support staff,
this Committee currently also considers rewards and re-grades for IFCELS
teaching staff. Although this needs to be reviewed (see section 5 below), until
alternative arrangements have been agreed, the Committee will continue to
cover IFCELS Teaching Staff.
5. The Faculty Promotion Committees
(a) For Academic staff (Teaching & Research), it is the Faculty Promotion
Committees that take on the role of the Reward and Re-grading Subcommittee. As well as making recommendations to the School Promotion
Committee in respect of Academic promotions, the FPCs also consider the
award of accelerated scale increments and contribution points.
(b) It is proposed that cases from Language Teachers in the Language Centre
will go to the FPC for Languages & Cultures.
(c) Arrangements for IFCELS Teaching staff are yet to be agreed, but in
principle it has been agreed that they should be considered under one of
the FPC’s or that they should have a separate committee of their own to
consider rewards and re-grades. In the meantime, it is intended that they
should continue to be dealt with under the existing Rewards and Regrades procedures.
(d) It is important that the criteria used by the FPCs in determining awards are
consistent and therefore they will be subject to common guidelines
provided from time to time by HR. Responsibility for ensuring compliance
with the criteria (examples of relevant criteria are listed below) will rest with
the Dean/Chair of FPC.
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6. Criteria
Recognition payments should relate to the staff member and how s/he carries
out their role and not to the role itself. In order to assist the Reward and Regrading Sub-committee/ FPC in the interpretation of the relevant criteria,
supporting statements by the Head of Department/ Section should reflect their
own clearly identified strategic objectives and indicate clearly how the
performance of the relevant member of staff contributed in achieving these.
Clear guidance should be made available to both staff and Reward and Regrading Sub-committee/ FPC outlining where a contribution increment, an
accelerated scale increment or a one-off or non-consolidated payment would
be appropriate.
Examples of Relevant Criteria
Teaching & Learning excellence; Academic leadership; Entrepreneurial and
Enterprise Related Activities; Research excellence; People Management;
Budget Management; Services Delivery / Customer Care; Achievement of
Objectives / Performance Standards; Continuous Professional Development;
Promoting Widening Participation; Representation on External Bodies;
Technical Skills; Team and Project Leadership / Participation; Educational
Management and Administration Planning; Any other relevant objectives /
performance standards agreed between post holders and relevant Head of
Departments.
The award of contribution increments and accelerated scale increments
should be used to recognise an individual’s application of accelerated
knowledge, skills and/or behaviours which increase their contribution towards
School, Faculty and Departmental objectives, over and above the normal
expectations of the role for a sustained period (normally more than one year)
or where the requirement is clearly on-going.
One-off or non-consolidated payments should be used to recognise an
individual’s contribution towards School, Faculty and Departmental objectives,
significantly over and above the normal expectation for the role, but which is
not necessarily an ongoing requirement.
There is normally a one year qualifying period for all types of payment by the
date of submission of the application i.e. you should have been in post for one
year by the time you submit your application.
Other mechanisms such as the Market Supplement Policy and regrading/promotion procedures are available to cover market pay issues or
permanent changes to roles.
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6.1 Contribution Increments
These may be awarded where a staff member:


is consistently demonstrating exceptional performance i.e. over and
above the normal expectation for someone who is fully developed in
that role but where this is not enough to justify a re-grading;
is consistently providing sustained, outstanding services to the
Department or Section, or to the School at large e.g. exceptional
performance in a key area of the role.
Note:
One, two or, exceptionally, three contribution increments may be awarded,
where a case can be made for this based on the criteria agreed and subject to
their availability. It should be noted that the normal expectation is for a single
increment to be awarded.
Contribution increments will normally be effective from 1 August each year.
To be eligible for a contribution increment, a member of staff should be paid at
the normal maximum or penultimate of his/her salary scale.
6.2 Accelerated Scale Increments
These may be awarded where a staff member:

is developing and progressing within their role at a faster rate than
would normally have been expected and is making a greater
contribution to the Department or Section;

has taken on significant additional work on an ongoing basis, but where
the level of that responsibility falls within their current grade;

is demonstrating sustained behaviours / approaches which allow their
role to be achieved more effectively on an ongoing basis e.g. quality
achieved, customer services provided, application of the skills gained
following the achievement of a relevant qualification.
Note:
To be eligible for the award of an accelerated scale increment a member of
staff must be below the maximum of his/her salary scale. An accelerated
award does not involve payment beyond that point.
Accelerated scale increments are normally effective from 1 August each year.
More than one accelerated scale increment may be awarded in exceptional
cases.
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6.3 One-off or non consolidated payments
These may be awarded where a staff member:

is to be rewarded for a temporary re-grading of a role (Acting Up
Allowance), which would be time-limited. The Sub-committee is not
responsible for making judgments about AUA’s, which should be
agreed between the Line Manager & Budget Holder and HR in
accordance with School policy. It is, however, important that the Subcommittee is aware of any such allowances being paid in the year in
question for staff being put forward for a reward or re-grade to ensure
that there is no possibility of a double reward;

takes on additional but time-limited responsibility e.g. one-off project
work (Responsibility Allowance). The Sub-committee is not responsible
for making judgments about RA’s, which should be agreed between the
Line Manager and Budget Holder and HR in accordance with School
policy. It is, however, important that the Sub-committee is aware of
any such allowances being paid in the year in question for staff being
put forward for a reward or regrade to ensure that there is no possibility
of a double reward;

demonstrates a particular flexible approach or behaviour/s which
contributes directly to the achievement Departmental or Section
objectives (this should not be interpreted as working additional, unpaid,
hours though this may be taken into account);

contributes ideas which leads to greater efficiency, improved quality,
cost savings etc, and which contribute to the achievement of
Departmental or Section objectives;

achieves particularly challenging goals or objectives e.g. overcomes
significant obstacles to ensure deadlines are met;

demonstrates behaviours / approaches which allow the role to be
achieved more effectively e.g. quality, customer services provided, but
where these have not yet been demonstrated on an ongoing basis.
One-off or non-consolidated payments (except RA’s and AUA’s, which would
be paid monthly during the period of application) are normally paid with the
July salary in the year the reward was made and would normally take the form
of payments at a level agreed annually by the committee, which may be paid
on a pro-rata basis for part-time staff as deemed appropriate..
It is important that the Reward and Re-grading Sub-committee/ FPC can
justify variations in any one-off or non-consolidated payments reflecting in a
transparent way the achievements of the recipient as this will also be
monitored by Equality Committee and perceived disparity of treatment can
lead to potential challenges to decision on the basis of equality legislation.
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It is also important for the Reward and Re-grading Sub-committee/ FPC to
consider whether one-off or non-consolidated payments have previously been
made to members of staff for the same or very similar reason in the previous
two years. In these cases an award of a contribution increment or an
accelerated scale increment to reflect this trend may be more appropriate as a
way of rewarding sustained excellent performance.
It may be appropriate to award a one-off or a non-consolidated payment to a
team or group where there is evidence that all members of the team / group
have worked together to achieve a significant objective.
Where a contribution increment or an accelerated scale increment is awarded
there should be clear demonstration that the individual has increased their
contribution to the Department or Section and to School objectives on an
ongoing basis. With this in mind, it is unlikely that the Sub-committee would
consider a further accelerated scale increment or contribution increment the
following year, even if performance levels are maintained. It could still award
a non-consolidated payment the following year if the level of performance is
maintained, and a further increment (accelerated scale or contribution as
appropriate) might be awarded the year after that, again if the level of
performance is maintained. The Sub-committee will take account of all
awards given to individual applicants over the preceding three years when
making its’ decisions.
7. Application Process
Members of staff and / or Heads of Departments/ Managers wishing to apply /
recommend the award of a contribution increment, an accelerated scale
increment
or
one-off
payment
should
complete
the
form
Application/Recommendation for Consideration for Recognition and
Reward accessible at the end of this policy. Completed forms should be
passed to the Head of Department / Section for their comments and then
submitted to the Human Resources Department.
Applications should be completed by the 20 April each year. The Human
Resources Department will send out a reminder of this deadline to all staff
and Heads of Departments or Section by the 20 March each year.
Please note: While a member of staff is entitled to make an application on
their own behalf and does not require the support of the Head of Department
or Section to do so, the application requires a statement from the Head of
Department or Section in order for the Reward and Re-grading SubCommittee/ FPC to assess the application. Heads of Department or Section
must provide this whether or not they wish to support the application. In the
latter case they should make clear the grounds for not supporting the
application within the statement.
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Support and guidance will be made available to staff to effectively reflect their
cases where they may not be confident doing so in their own. Such support
and guidance is not intended to identify and build cases on a staff member’s
behalf. Members of staff can contact their line manager or Human Resources
Manager if they feel they would benefit from this assistance.
8. Salary Scales
Copies of the current salary scales are available via the Human Resource
website.
9. Fast Track Application
In circumstances which are deemed, by the appropriate Dean of the Faculty
or the Registrar, to be wholly exceptional and unforeseeable, applications
may be submitted to the Reward and Re-grading Sub-committee/ FPC
outside the normal timetable. In such cases, the standard procedure will be
followed if feasible. In the event that time does not permit, or circumstances
dictate otherwise, an electronic consultation exercise will take place.
Decisions cannot be made solely on chair’s action. The appropriate trade
unions will be informed of the circumstances of any occasion that this “fast
track” process has been initiated.
10. Outcome of Exercise
The Reward and Re-grading Sub-committee will meet annually in June to
consider all applications under this procedure. The dates for the FPC’s are set
and published annually.
Members of staff will be informed of the outcome of their application by the
HR Department by the end of July.
Members of staff whose application has not been successful, or who have
been awarded a different type of payment than they had applied for, will be
given written feedback about the decision. This feedback will clearly indicate
the reason for the sub-committee’s decision referencing the relevant criteria
used in its assessment.
11. Appeals
Staff have the right to appeal the decision of the Reward and Re-grading Subcommittee/ FPC in respect of their application under this procedure.
Notification of the intention to appeal the decision should be sent to the
Human Resources Department within 10 working days of receipt of the
notification of the outcome.
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The Human Resources Department will write to any staff member who lodges
an appeal inviting them to attend and/or provide a written submission to the
Reward and Re-grading Sub-committee Appeal Panel/ FPC equivalent giving
a minimum of 15 working days notice (the Appeal Panel should normally meet
within 8 weeks of the notification being sent).
The member of staff should write to HR at least 5 working days before the
date of the Appeal Panel meeting indicating whether they wish to attend the
hearing and/or provide a written submission. Any written submission to the
Appeal Panel must be received by the Human resources Department at least
5 working days before the date of the Appeal Panel meeting.
The purpose of the Appeal Panel is to allow a member of staff to question the
decision of the Reward and Re-grading Sub-committee/ FPC in their case on
the basis solely of the areas raised in the original submission and with regard
to the reason outline in the feedback letter. Consideration will only be given to
additional information that amplifies or provides more detail on the areas
covered in the original submission.
Members of staff should be aware that a decision to reject an application does
not mean that the Reward and Re-grading Sub-committee/ FPC found no
merit in the case but also may have reflected the consideration of recent
rewards awarded to the applicant.
12. Confidentiality
Information relating to reward and regrading applications and appeals must be
treated as confidential by those involved, and must be managed in
accordance with the School’s Data protection Policy and IT policies. Staff
involved in these processes should note that applicants have the right to seek
access to personal data about themselves under the Data Protection Act.
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