Regrading policy

Principals

The University recognises that on occasion, jobs can change. This is usually as a result of a restructure, but can also occur for other reasons such as increases in workloads or changes of focus of particular sections/services.

The University believes that it is vital for its continued success to ensure that the best people are appointed to jobs within University, whilst ensuring compliance with relevant legislation.

If a job has changed significantly, it will need to be re-evaluated to determine the correct grade. Approval must be obtained prior to any re-evaluations taking place. For grades 1 to 5 this must be from the relevant Senior Finance Business Partner and for grades 6 and above, Operations Committee approval is required. It should be remembered that a change in duties does not automatically result in a change in grade as there is scope within the parameters of each grade for a job to expand before moving into a higher grade.

On the rare occasion that a role changes and the new grade is lower than the current post-holder’s grade, the individual will receive salary protection (i.e. their current salary will be frozen) for a period of up to two years or until the top of the new grade catches up with their current salary. If the new grade is more than one grade lower than the current grade, discussion with HR will take place to establish the most appropriate course of action.

The following procedures should be followed during a restructure:

  • If 60% or more of a job is unchanged and the grade remains the same, then the individual post holder(s) can be slotted into the new role.
  • If more than 40% of a job is changed but the grade remains the same, then the role should be advertised in the normal way.
  • If the new role is of a higher grade, it may be ring-fenced to potentially suitable displaced staff as well as being advertised to any potentially suitable redeployees before being advertised more widely.

If, following any recruitment exercise(s), individual(s) are left without a role in the new structure, discussions will commence with HR regarding implementing the appropriate redeployment and redundancy procedure.

All staff should be made aware of these procedures at the commencement of a restructure in their area of work. Even where a Dean/Director of Service believes at the outset of a restructure that job grades will be unaffected by the proposed changes, they should consult with their HR representative prior to taking any action.

The fact that an individual is performing above the level required of a particular post is not a justification for re-grading since for non-academic posts (including SSA posts) it is the post that is graded not the post-holder. Credit for personal performance should be made through the reward review process.

Deans/Directors of Service must be mindful of the potential repercussions of changing individuals’ duties and responsibilities outside of a formal re-structure, particularly with regards to individuals’ grade and salary expectations as a consequence of any change as well as the need to treat other staff equitably. Therefore Deans/Directors of Service should consult with their HR representative prior to having any discussions with staff on this matter.

Where a re-grade has arisen because a post holder is required to take on additional duties which are an extension of their existing duties (for example, a research administrator taking on more duties in research administration) but at a higher level, the revised job description does not need to be advertised and the individual can usually be ‘slotted in’. This only applies where there is only one post holder. 

Where a re-grade is a result of the need to change an individual’s role to include significantly different duties (for example, a technician role that now includes management responsibilities as well as technical ones), an assessment of how much the role has changed must be carried out and if more than 40% of the job is changed then the new post must be advertised. In this case, if the individual post holder is not successful in securing the new position, discussions will commence with HR regarding implementing the appropriate redeployment and redundancy procedure.

There may be occasions when a school or service wishes to appoint a trainee to a particular role (usually on a lower grade to the established grade for the post). The purpose of a trainee role is to enable an individual to gain experience while studying for a professional qualification. The professional qualification must be an essential requirement of the higher graded post. Appointing to a trainee role requires Operations Committee approval. The contractual requirements will be determined at the outset.

Once the individual has attained the qualification, the school or service should inform Human Resources who will arrange for the individual to be re-graded to the higher grade.

Revised by Human Resources (AEPL) Revised May 2015