With members of support staff from UNISON and Unite recently voting in favour of progressing National Job Evaluation, on the terms set out in their ballots, preparatory work is now underway. A comprehensive Project Plan has been developed with the key areas of activity being:
1. The Business Plan
2. Creating a Project Board and Governance structure
3. College Preparatory Work
4. Engagement of Educational Competences Consortium (ECC) to carry out the role evaluations
5. Completion of Questionnaires and Job Evaluation
6. Pay and Grading
7. Appeals.
The first, and most important step in this timeline is to release the funding promised by the Scottish Government. This funding is required to support the cost of delivering the project and for adjustments that may be required to current salaries, and of course for back payments where due. This funding can only be released following submission of a full business case and joint work on that is underway with direction and guidance from the Scottish Funding Council and the Scottish Government.
The scale of the project should not be underestimated; it is a major undertaking. To enable the project to be carried out as professionally and swiftly as possible we are intending to engage the professional services of the ECC to carry out the evaluations. ECC’s team of staff are highly experienced and qualified to conduct this activity, however, even with ECC on board we expect the project to last around 18 – 24 months.
Before ECC can begin their evaluations, colleges need to undertake work to ensure that Job Descriptions are up to date and mapping is completed on all staff and roles held since September 2018. This local college preparatory work is already underway.
UNISON and Unite are currently seeking interest from members wishing to be involved at local college level assisting their colleagues with the process of completing the questionnaires and other stages of the project and have had a positive response from their members indicating support staff are keen to support the project.
It is sincerely appreciated that support staff have been incredibly patient and understanding over the many years since this project was first agreed. While to date there has been no tangible outcome, the project has now recommenced and will be delivered. We trust that staff will continue to show their continued support and patience as the project now gets underway.