1.1Where It Is Recognised That an Employee Temporarily Undertakes Duties and Responsibilities

1.0POLICY STATEMENT

1.1Where it is recognised that an employee temporarily undertakes duties and responsibilities at a higher grade than the one they are paid on, an acting up or additional responsibility allowance will be paid. Cases for ex-gratia, primarily to encourage and reward performance should be made via the Contribution Pay Scheme.

2.0SCOPE

2.1This policy applies to all employees within the University who meet the definitions as outlined in section 3.

3.0DEFINITIONS

3.1Acting up allowance

An acting up allowance is a payment made when an employee undertakes the full duties and responsibilities of a higher graded role. This will normally be for a continuous period of a minimum of four weeks and a maximum of six months. Examples include:

• undertaking 100%of the higher graded job to cover sickness absence, maternity leave, career break or other extended periods of leave (but not annual leave)
• undertaking 100% of the higher graded job to cover a vacant post until it is filled on a permanent basis

3.2Additional responsibility allowance

An additional responsibility allowance is a payment made when an employee undertakes part of the duties and responsibilities of a higher graded role. This will normally be for a continuous period of a minimum of four weeks and a maximum of six months, OR if there is a temporary need for business purposes for an employee to complete a specific piece of work. Examples include:

• undertaking part of a higher graded job, i.e. less than 100% of the duties and responsibilities, to cover sickness absence, maternity leave, career break or other extended periods of leave (but not annual leave)
• undertaking part of the higher graded job to cover of a vacant post until it is filled on a permanent basis
• completion of a temporary project

4.0PRINCIPLES

• Where there is no clear deputising role, it will remain at the discretion of the Head Department/Manager to determine which employee should be asked to ‘act up’. However, equal opportunities principles should be adhered to.
• The period of acting up must be for a minimum period of 4 weeks and a maximum period of 6 months. Extensions to the maximum may be agreed in exceptional circumstances by the Dean/Director on advice from Human Resources
• There will be no right to automatically slot in or be appointed to the post as a result of acting up.

5.0RESPONSIBILITIES

5.1To ensure appropriate application of the policy, the following responsibilities have been identified.

5.1.1Head of Department/ Manager

• Ensure that there is a genuine need to put in place acting up arrangements
• Ensure that fair and reasonable consideration is given to
• Seek advice and support from HR as required.
• Ensure that the expected workloads of employees are reasonable and can be adequately covered in the acting up period (six months maximum).

5.1.2Human Resources

• Provide guidance and advice to employees, managers and Heads of Department in accordance with this policy and the intended principles.

6.0PROCEDURE

6.1Before considering whether an acting-up opportunity is necessary, Heads of Departments/managers should consider alternatives such as whether the duties of the post can be re- organised/shared, whether some elements of the role can be put on hold or whether the post could remain vacant.

6.2Where the need to cover the duties of the vacant post is for more than 6 months, Heads of Department/Managers should discuss the matter with HR to ensure that the most appropriate arrangements are put in place, e.g., a fixed term contract for a temporary may be more appropriate.

6.3 Once the Head of Department/Manager has identified a need for acting up, they should discuss the matter with their HR partner/advisor and agree the specific terms of the allowance. Deans/Directors should be notified of the arrangements.

6.4Written confirmation should be sent to HR services who will arrange for the payment to be made to the employee. This should include the following:

• Name of employee
• The reason for the payment requested
• The current salary and grade of the person for whom the Acting Up Allowance is being sought
• The current salary and scale of the member of staff whose responsibilities are being covered
• The percentage of extra responsibilities undertaken or the percentage of time taken to perform the extra duties (if additional responsibility allowance)
• The dates during which the additional responsibilities are to be or were undertaken
• The nature of the responsibilities and duties if the employee is undertaking a project

7.0PAYMENT

7.1Acting- up allowance

For the duration of the acting up period, the employee will be paid on the minimum* point of the evaluated grade for the role that they are carrying out 100% of the duties and responsibilities for.

*If the employee is currently being paid on a contributory award beyond the maximum of their grade, which is equal to, or more than the minimum of the proposed acting up grade (excluding pay protection arrangements), then payment to the next point on the higher grade will be awarded. This will ensure that there is financial benefit to the employee.

7.2Additional responsibility allowance

The additional responsibility allowance payment will be calculated based on the percentage of the duties and responsibilities being undertaken at the higher grade and the difference between the employee’s current salary and the bottom point of the evaluated grade.

If the additional responsibility is for a specific piece of work HR will advise on the amount of allowance that would be appropriate. This allowance will be calculated based on an assessment of:

• level of work i.e. complexity, size of responsibility
• an estimation of the amount of time to complete the piece of work
• existing practice within the University to ensure consistency

8.0REVIEW

8.1This policy does not form part of any employee’s contract of employment and will be kept under regular review and may be amended or withdrawn to reflect changing University requirements.

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