1. About this guidance
1.1. St George’s, University of London supports the principles of equality of treatment in employment and is committed to having procedures to determine the pay and conditions of employment of all our employees that do not discriminate unlawfully and are free from bias
1.2. St George’s, University of London recognises that there are a number of situations where it is appropriate to award an additional payment to an employee, in addition to their substantive pay. This page outlines the various allowances that St George’s, University of London can pay.
1.3. This guidance applies to all employees.
2. Responsibility Allowance
2.1. Job requirements may alter over time and all staff are expected to work flexibly in the interests of St George’s, University of London and their own professional development. However, St George’s, University of London operates a system of responsibility allowances for a variety of additional roles (eg Institute Director allowance) with different rates applicable for specific responsibilities and roles being paid. The key principles should apply:
- The allowance should be for a clearly defined activity over and above the normal substantive duties of the role.
- The allowance should normally be for a clearly defined period of time.
2.2. The table below indicates the agreed rate of pay for these roles. In most cases these payments are for both clinical and non-clinical staff but there may be instances where clinical staff are paid via additional PAs.
Rate of pay for responsibilities allowance
| Role | Allowance |
|---|
| Institute director |
£10,000 |
| Dean |
£10,000 |
| Deputy/Associate Dean |
£4,000 |
| Speclialist role (e.g. Home Office licence holder) |
£4,000 |
| Head of section (financed via the Institute) |
£2,000 |
| Multiple additional roles |
Dependent upon level of role up to maximum of £10,000 |
3. Acting-up Allowance
3.1. Where an employee in a lower grade is asked to cover the duties of a higher graded post, they may be paid an Acting-up Allowance.
3.2. The following principles should apply:
- Where there is a requirement for the employee to cover all the duties of the higher graded post, they should be paid at the grade appropriate for the duties. This will mean, for most people, the bottom point of the grade of the post being covered.
- Where the duties of the higher graded post are covered by more than one post-holder, the approximate proportions should be calculated and pay differences made pro-rata (eg if 2 people are covering, each individual would get their substantive pay plus 50% of the difference between their current pay point and the bottom of the grade above, or the next nearest increment, for the duration of the acting-up period).
- Where employees are asked to take on some duties at a higher grade, but not the whole or part of a particular role, normally this would be offered as a development opportunity and no allowance would apply.
- No allowance would apply if the duties are expected to last less than 4 weeks.
- The allowance and the time-period should be agreed in advance by Resourcing Review Committee (RRC).
- Equality of opportunity should be considered when deciding who should act-up. Where there is more than one employee who could act-up, eg a number of team members, a ring-fenced recruitment exercise should be undertaken to determine who will take on the role.
4. Market Supplement
4.1. St George’s, University of London recognises that some roles are more difficult to recruit to and St George’s, University of London’s level of pay for such roles is not regarded as competitive within the current market. Where this is the case, in order to aid recruitment and retention a market supplement may be paid.
4.2. The following principles apply to these payments:
- Evidence of failure to recruit at the St George’s, University of London level should be provided.
- The agreed supplement amount must be based on market data and agreed with Finance and Human Resources (HR).
- The payment will be reviewed annually by RRC to ensure that it is still relevant.
- The university may remove this supplement at any point should the role no longer attract a higher salary in the market place.
5. Retention Payment
5.1. There may be times when it is appropriate to award a retention payment to retain an employee’s valuable skills and knowledge within the organisation. Where this is the case, advice must be sought from HR on the appropriate level of payment. Any retention payment made will be based on current market data, comparable levels of remuneration for similar roles within St George’s, University of London and any offer of employment from elsewhere. Any retention payment made would require sign-off from Finance and RRC.