BOROUGH OF POOLE/BRANKSOME HEATH MIDDLE SCHOOL
ACTING-UP ALLOWANCES AND HONORARIA
SCOPE
These arrangements apply to all Local Government Services, Soulbury and Youth staff in service units, to Service Unit Heads, and to support staff in schools.
EQUALITY
When considering an additional payment account needs to be taken of equity and fairness with other colleagues in the same service unit or school, in other service units and schools, and the evaluated grades of the jobs in question.
Managers need to consider when and how the end of an additional payment should be managed so as not to demotivate an employee. Sometimes there is a case for a lump sum to be paid on completion of a task or project, rather than a monthly payment.
The Council has a responsibility to ensure equality of access to honoraria across its services. Human Resoruces (HR) has a responsibility to ensure that payments are objectively justified, appropriately time limited, and that there is consistent application across the Council.
ACTING-UP ALLOWANCES
DEFINITION
An "acting-up" allowance applies where an employee is asked to undertake the full duties of a higher graded post for a continuous period of at least 4 weeks in the absence of another employee.
SALARY
They should receive the salary of the higher graded post that they are temporarily occupying, normally at the lowest salary point of the higher grade. The employee would receive any incremental progression due on the higher grade and the benefit of any pay award on that grade.
Any payments for approved overtime working would be based on the higher grade (up to and including grade I; overtime pay is not applicable from grade J upwards).
An acting-up allowance is pensionable.
DURATION
The manager must specify an end date for acting-up to avoid over-payment; where this is uncertain the end date must still be specified but could be subject to review stating a date and reason of that review.
An acting-up opportunity can be for a maximum of six months, unless covering a maternity absence which is likely to justify a period up to a year. Any other proposed extension should be discussed with HR before proceeding.
PROCESS
The decision on whether an acting-up opportunity in a service unit is advertised or whether it is offered directly to one employee should be taken in consultation with the Head of Human Resources and a Strategic Director. In schools the Headteacher should consult the Governing Body. In some circumstances trade union consultation may be appropriate.
The appointment will be confirmed by the manager via Employee First.
HONORARIA
DEFINITION
There are two reasons for which an honorarium may be awarded:
A. Temporary additional duties:
o where an employee is undertaking some but not all of the duties of a higher graded post for a period of at least 4 weeks due to the absence of a colleague or the post being vacant, or is sharing these with one or more others
o where the employee has completed a particular task or project or undertaken exceptionally onerous duties at a level above their normal duties
B. Permanent higher responsibilities:
o pending full job evaluation where the responsibilities of the post have grown significantly
A. TEMPORARY ADDITIONAL DUTIES
Where the higher level duties are those of a post which has been fully evaluated, honorarium calculations will be based on the confirmed grade for that post. The honorarium should be a justifiable equitable amount with a clear calculation showing how this payment has been calculated and why it is justified. Where the additional duties are new and additional work to the organisation, either permanent or temporary, this must be clearly explained and based on provisional grade advice from HR.
Honorariums are a separate allowance to the main salary and should be expressed as such, and are either paid as a one-off lump sum or an assessed fixed sum per month. They must have an end date to avoid overpayment; where this is uncertain the end date must still be specified but can be subject to review stating a date and reason of that review. Sometimes it may need to be made clear to the recipient that it may end by an earlier event (eg return of a permanent postholder).
B. PERMANENT HIGHER RESPONSIBILITIES
It is important for managers to be aware that higher level responsibilities may warrant an increased job evaluation score but still fall within the same band as the employee's existing grade.
An honorarium payment for this reason is therefore limited to a maximum of six months and to be set within one grade above the grade for the employee's substantive post. If the higher level duties will continue for longer than six months a full evaluation is required based on a job evaluation questionnaire. The honorarium payment will normally cease if the questionnaire is not submitted to HR within the six months. Exceptions to this will be rare (covering maternity leave may be such an exception.)
It is also necessary to identify where those responsibilities lay previously, as it may be necessary to reduce the evaluation and grade of that post. Where higher responsibilities are genuinely new to the organisation this should be explained clearly on the form.
The honorarium should be reviewed at 31 March to determine whether the allowance should attract an April increment. This will be influenced by whether the employee is due an increment on their substantive grade. In practice an increment would need to be paid on the honorarium if the employee was due one on their grade, otherwise the value of the honorarium would be eroded. The annual pay award should be applied to an honorarium.
Any payments for approved overtime working would be based on their substantive grade (up to and including grade I; overtime pay is not applicable from grade J upwards).
An acting-up allowance is pensionable.
APPROVAL PROCESS
An application for payment of an honorarium should be made on the Honorarium form and requires approval as set out on the form. Strategic Directors will not sign the form before the relevant Head of Service and Head of HR have done so. Confirmation of approval will be sent by HR to the employee and the manager.
Human Resources
June 2010
HONORARIUM FORM CAN BE REQUESTED FROM HR DEPARTMENT AT THE BOROUGH OF POOLE
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