Responses to Queries Raised by EI Sites Part 4The Joint Secretaries have answered the following questions.
The Joint Secretaries have answered the following questions.
Q. Is 30% ceiling on R&R absolute maximum?
A. 30% is the normal maximum. See Paragraph 11&12 of Annex N of the Terms and Conditions Handbook.
Q. What or who is the minimum number of stakeholders for consultation re R&R premia?
A. This is covered in Annex F paragraph 6.
Q. Senior Managers who have had London weighting consolidated in pay may receive a 20% increase when new system terms and conditions are applied. Must Trusts evaluate them under AFC or can they use senior managers pay circular instead?
A. Most senior managers will be covered by Agenda for Change. The new senior manager arrangements are primarily for board level posts. If Managers currently have a consolidated pay package, this should make no difference to the outcome. It is not expected that the increase for managers will be of a different order to other staff.
Q. This question is in relation to COLS and RRP. This issue arose as a supplementary point following clarification that COLS outside London will be re expressed as RRP. We are assuming COLS outside London includes outer and fringe areas. We have a number of staff in our Dartford locality who currently receive both COLS and London Fringe allowance. If we apply the COLS rule under AFC then the staff will get old fringe expressed as pay in high cost area supplement which is fine but will loose COLS as they are within the London area. This will mean our staff will be upset and it feels inequitable. Options to sort out include: 1. Do nothing about it so staff will get pay protection. (This could negatively impact on our 8 % target) 2. Treat as the others and let COLS be applied to all staff as RRP in West Kent irrespective of old fringe zone 3. Increase the pay in high cost area supplement to the value of the old COLS. (a messy way of achieving the same answer as 2)
A. The technically correct response is option 1, however options 2 or 3 are possible.
Q. We are anticipating problems with staff who receive a payment for unsocial hours working and who are required to work Christmas Day/Boxing day as part of their standard working week - so will receive no further payment i.e. they will be paid exactly the same as those in the same staff group/rota who are not required to work.
A. No, This is not a correct use of RRP's.
Q. Does On Call fit within the definitions under unforeseen changes to agreed patterns of working, refer to page 9 of the handbook? If it does, will the £15 unforeseen change payment apply or is this intended for shifts as part of a rota? The section refers to both on call and shifts but the payment part mentions shifts only.
A. The £15 is only payable in relation to changes of shift. Any inconvenience payment relating to change in the on-call rota would be a local matter.
Q. Annex N paragraph 9 - 13 refersDo you need to pay everyone in a pay group the same protection as the handbook seems to suggest you pay someone a premium that means they are "no worse off"? This may mean that some staff will get more pay than their protected pay would be if they are all paid the same premium but if they are not are there equality issues? And in the case of craftspersons - what if 2635 takes them above what protected pay would be? Again can different groups get different amounts e.g. plumbers get 2635 + 1000 when electricians get 2635 + 500?
A. If a group of staff are at the top of grade X that is worth £1,000 more a year than the top of the grade they should go to under AfC all relevant staff should receive the £1,000 RRP. If some staff were not yet at the maximum of the old grade the difference between their current pay point would be less than £1,000 but they were recruited at a time when their maximum expectations was £1,000 and so it seems to me reasonable to fix their RRP at the same level. There subsequently arise the question of what to do with new starters, but the reason for allowing national RRPs was that we believed the factors which had given rise to the need for national RRPs in the first place would continue so £1,000 should be applied as well unless there has been a material change. As a far as a craftsperson is concerned I recall we fixed the national rates and an assumption that they would go to band 3. If the actual rate were higher then the RRP should be greater but could vary as in the example.
Q. What is the position on mufti allowance, is it included in the salary calculation on assimilation?
A. Mufti allowance is not a job evaluation related allowance, it should not be included in the assimilation calculation. There is no provision for a multi payment within the agreement.
Q. In calculating arrears and any protection what is the position on "under or over payments" in relation to (a) overall pay and (b) individual component of overall pay such as unsocial hours or on call payments?
A. First, in relation to arrears payable during the period between 1 June and the date of assimilation, if total pay for work done under AfC rules (including non-protectable items such as casual overtime) gives a lower figure during the arrears period than total pay for work done under pre-AfC rules then there should be non clawback of the difference.
As regards the protection payment that applies in the longer term the short answer is that, with one exception, the employee retains any improvement in overall pay and is protected if overall pay is reduced, with pay before and after assimilation calculated on the basis of Table 2 in Section 46 of the T&C Handbook.
Pay protection does not apply separately to each individual pay component, nor should arrears be calculated and paid separately on each individual pay component. The exception is that referred to in paragraph 46.37 of Section 46, ie staff who are subject to local on call arrangements who agree with their employer to retain those arrangements for a period not exceeding 4 years. In that case, as indicated in Table 2 in Section 46, payments are due under these arrangements should be excluded from the calculation of pay before and after assimilation for protection and arrears purposes.