/ Higher Duty Pay and Honoraria Guidance /

Human Resources

/ Human Resources
Civic Campus
Euclid Street
Swindon, SN1 2JH
Tel: 0800 032 5642
Fax: 01793 463498
Web: www.swindon.gov.uk
Title: / Higher Duty Pay and Honoraria Guidance
Author(s): / Policy & Strategy Team
Sponsor: / Director of Human Resources and Change
Endorsed by: / Directors Team Date: 1st April 2010
Review date / 1st April 2011
Application / All Swindon Borough Council departments with the exception of:
·  Group Directors and Directors
·  Staff employed under Solbury Terms and Conditions
·  Youth Workers
·  Schools staff including Teachers
This document replaces: / N/A

Introduction

This guidance provides a framework under which payments should be made to employees who temporarily undertake additional duties and responsibilities that exceed the requirements of their job.

Higher duty payments or honoraria are normally given where the additional responsibility is expected to last consistently for 4 or more weeks.

Employees are entitled to be fairly rewarded for being asked to undertake additional responsibilities, which are above and beyond the scope of the grade of their post.

Higher duty pay and honoraria require business case approval.

Higher Duty Pay

A higher duty payment is payable only where an employee takes on the duties and responsibilities of a higher graded post for a continuous period of at least four weeks. This may occur as a result of:

·  Temporarily filling a post until a substantive appointment can be made

·  Filling a key post while another employee is on maternity leave

·  Filling a key post to cover long term sickness absence

·  Filling posts due to other temporary extended leave arrangements e.g. secondments

It is not appropriate to use higher duty payments as a means for covering annual leave.

Selection process for higher duty payments

With the exception of sickness absence most instances of long-term absences are pre-planned. Arrangements to cover the post should therefore be made at the earliest opportunity in order to ensure the most appropriate cover.

If it is made clear in the employee’s job description for them to deputise, then they should be asked to act up. However, in the case of more than one employee being eligible to deputise, it will be necessary for a selection process to occur.

If there is no clearly identified employee then the manager should bring the opportunity to the attention of all eligible employees within the team / section. If it is unclear who should be classified, as eligible HR advice should be sought.

If the manager wishes to reach a wider pool of employees or has been unsuccessful in identifying a suitable candidate from within their own section, the acting up opportunity will be advertised internally as a secondment opportunity.

Honoraria

An honorarium payment may be granted in the following circumstances:

·  Where an employee undertakes a significant proportion of higher level duties and responsibilities outside the scope of their normal post for a limited period of time

·  More than one employee shares responsibility for undertaking a specific and or separate part of a wider role which has been evaluated as having higher level duties

·  Where an employee undertakes work from a different job in addition to their own role, with no additional staffing resource, and that work is evaluated on the same band.

Honoraria will not usually be paid where additional work is undertaken which is of a like nature to the individual’s existing job description.

Criteria

Payments have to be objective and the criterion used is robust enough to withstand investigation from both an internal audit and equality perspective.

In determining the appropriate level of higher duty payment, the Director should take into account the following factors:

·  The difference in grading between the job requiring cover and the job grade of the employee selected to cover;

·  The duration of the period of absence – a clear start and end date for the allowance will be agreed before payment is made;

·  The level of support provided to the covering employee;

·  Arrangements relating to the employee’s normal duties; and

·  The relevance of the experience in relation to the agreed personal development plans for the employee providing cover

Care should be taken when agreeing that employees should undertake additional duties to ensure that they are reasonable and the situation should be reviewed on a regular basis.

Process for implementation

In order to request the award of an honorarium or higher duty payment, managers should complete an Honorarium & Higher Duty Pay Request Form.

The manager should be satisfied that the request meets the criteria for awarding the payment to the employee and that this is supported by a sound business case. The case should include the following:

·  The reason for the proposed payment

·  The duration, specifying dates from and to – the duties are expected to last consistently for at least 4 weeks

·  Cost – rate of pay or amount of one-off payment (honorarium)

The completed Honorarium & Higher Duty Pay Request Form is then submitted to Group Finance Manager, Director and the relevant HR Business Partner who will consider the business case against the criteria and confirm whether or not the payment has been approved. Final approval must then be provided by the Director of the department.

Monitoring

Human Resources will ensure that data is held and retained on all honoraria and higher duty payments in order to avoid any gender bias and to ensure equality and fairness of treatment at all times in terms of the operation and implementation.

Reports will be generated and sent to Directors and HR Business Partners on a six-monthly basis to review honorarium and higher duty pay.

Contacts

HR First Response

1st Floor, WTW

Tel: 4343 or 0800 032 5642

E-mail:

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