Job Evaluation FAQs
This page provides the definitive answers to frequently asked questions (FAQ's) about the implementation of the Job Evaluation process in Scotland.
The page is constantly being updated as new questions are submitted so please continue to review the page on a regular basis.
Click on the question to view the response.
- Where did the NHS Job Evaluation Scheme come from?
- What are national profiles?
- Where can I find details of the national profiles?
- Why am I unable to find a Job Evaluation profile for my post?
- How will my job be evaluated under the new scheme?
- Should I write a new job description?
- If I do need to write a new job description, is there a job description template available?
- If I don’t agree with the matching panel decision, can I make an appeal?
- The majority of our staff are NHS employees although they are funded by various sources (e.g. Higher Education, clinical trials, charity funds/grants, Scottish Executive) and are all currently on the Whitley Council A & C scale. Will their posts be evaluated under Agenda for Change?
- I would like to be involved in Job Matching. How do I put my name forward?
- In a number of the job profiles there is reference to qualifications. For instance Healthcare Assistant Higher Level refers to NVQ3. Does this mean experienced staff who are working at a similar level could not make this grade?
- There are different roles for various staff groups across the four countries, eg Community Psychiatry Nurse - how has this type of issue been addressed?
- How will partnership commitment to the matching process be guaranteed?
- Locally developed evaluations - how will they add into national profiles?
- Matching versus Evaluation - can you explain the processes?
- Will all the factors in the Job evaluation Factor Plan be used to evaluate posts?
- How does Agenda for Change relate to practice nurses and other staff in GP practices?
- What are protection arrangements for posts that fall into bands which are lower than current earnings?
- Senior managers – where do they fit?
- How is the job evaluation information recorded?
- How will people be trained to understand the Job Evaluation scheme?
- Will General practices adopt Agenda for Change?
- What ability is there to be flexible with national profiles?
- Matching panels in NHSScotland - will these be local or national?
- How will consistency of approach be ensured in identification of posts and processes?
- Is there a target date for all matching and evaluation to be completed?
- Is there an appeal framework?
- Where did the NHS Job Evaluation Scheme come from?
- The Job Evaluation Working Party (JEWP) included both management and staff side members working nationally in partnership. They developed the NHS Job Evaluation Scheme which has resulted in a system based on 16 factors.
Throughout 2001/2002, a 'benchmarking' exercise took place, which evaluated over 400 NHS jobs. Questionnaires were circulated in test sites along with a factor plan, an agreed protocol for conducting the exercise and a post-holder job evaluation guide. The protocol emphasised the need for a partnership approach.
Post-holders completed questionnaires and were interviewed by two analysts, one management, and one staff side. Both were trained to a national standard to assist post-holders in completing questionnaires and to ensure the information was an accurate representation of the postholder's job.
Completed questionnaires had to be signed off by both post-holders and their managers. Staff side organisations supported their members throughout this process.
A trained panel of evaluators with management and staff side representation evaluated returned questionnaires. This exercise provided information for grading, costing and assimilation of posts to the new system. It also provided the 'benchmark' posts. (i.e. 'standard' descriptions of jobs, with which jobs throughout the NHS are compared).
The data from the benchmarks was used to design job 'profiles', which will be used to move people from the current pay spine on to the new one. It is anticipated that profiles will cover at least 80% of NHS posts. Trained local evaluators drawn from management and staff sides will evaluate jobs that are rare or unique within the NHS and which do not match a profile locally. Evaluations will be monitored nationally to ensure that there is consistency.
The jobs were measured using 16 evaluation factors, and these cover knowledge and skills, responsibilities, effort and environment. Each factor was divided into a number of different "levels" which describe how much or how little a particular factor is involved in a job. The various levels were then assigned points and the total score of all the levels under each factor shows where each job stands in relation to every other job in the NHS.
- What are national profiles?
- National profiles broadly describe the various components of NHS jobs and are used to make the process of assigning staff to one of the new pay bands as straightforward as possible.
Profiles work on the premise that there are posts in the NHS which are fairly standard and which have many common features. Indeed one of the benefits of job evaluation is that it uses a common language and a common set of terms to describe all jobs. Job evaluation is about highlighting similarities between jobs via common language and measurement.
- Where can I find details of the national profiles?
- All of the national profiles are available on the Department of Health website.
- Why am I unable to find a Job Evaluation profile for my post?
- Approximately 300 profiles have been agreed by staff and management representatives working in partnership. The process of developing profiles is expected to continue as more commonly occurring jobs are identified. At the end of the day some local job evaluations will be necessary because jobs of a specialist nature will not necessarily be covered by a nationally agreed generic profile.
- How will my job be evaluated under the new scheme?
- You will be asked to provide an up to date and agreed job description. Postholders will agree their job descriptions with their manager. Staff representatives may also be involved in this process.
Trained job matchers will identify possible job matches with your post from the national profiles issued. Then, a matching panel normally of 2 staff side reps and 2 management reps will decide if your job matches one of the national profiles. If it does, you will be placed on that band. If you feel that this isn't the correct decision, you can request a review which involves a second matching panel carry out the same process.
If your job does not match with a national profile, your post will require to be evaluated locally and you will be asked to complete a job analysis questionnaire. This is a lengthy document and takes some time to complete. You would then spend some time with two trained job analysts, 1 staff side and 1 management, to go through the questionnaire. Their job is to make sure that all the information the job evaluation panel require is available.
A local job evaluation panel, normally of 2 staff side and 2 management reps, would then evaluate your post and decide which band it would be.
- Should I write a new job description?
- No, you don’t need to write a new job description. However, you should revise the job description for your post and agree the content with your line manager.
- If I do need to write a new job description, is there a job description template available?
- A number of job description templates exist which indicate the type of information required for reviewed jobs however the templates will not cover all posts. You can view the full list of completed templates on the templates page.
- If I don’t agree with the matching panel decision, can I make an appeal?
- Resolution of disputes by individuals or groups are dealt with in the Job Evaluation handbook. You can ask for a review involving a second matching panel and would be asked to provide details of where there is disagreement with the matching panel decision.
A postholder could pursue a grievance if they believe the Job Evaluation process was misapplied but not on the basis that they disagreed with the banding decision.
- The majority of our staff are NHS employees although they are funded by various sources (e.g. Higher Education, clinical trials, charity funds/grants, Scottish Executive) and are all currently on the Whitley Council A & C scale. Will their posts be evaluated under Agenda for Change?
- Yes. All directly employed NHS staff, the exception of doctors, dentists and some senior managers, will have their posts evaluated under the new scheme.
- I would like to be involved in Job Matching. How do I put my name forward?
- if you are interested in participating in the process you should contact your Agenda for Change Lead (see the AfC Contacts page for details of the AfC Lead in your area).
- In a number of the job profiles there is reference to qualifications. For instance Healthcare Assistant Higher Level refers to NVQ3. Does this mean experienced staff who are working at a similar level could not make this grade?
- No it doesn't mean that. The Job Evaluation Handbook includes a full Job Evaluation Factor Plan. If you look under Factor 2, Knowledge, Training and Experience, look at the levels and the definitions, which make it clear that appropriate experience where knowledge has been acquired can be counted as equivalent to qualifications.
- There are different roles for various staff groups across the four countries, eg Community Psychiatry Nurse - how has this type of issue been addressed?
- Where there are differences in roles, a national profile may not cover the post concerned. National profiles have ranges for some factors in the Job Evaluation Factor Plan. This allows for some variations found in jobs. If there appears to be a particular named post e.g. Community Psychiatry Nurse, the NHS Board still has to go through the matching process and if the post does not match any of the national profiles, the post will be evaluated locally.
- How will partnership commitment to the matching process be guaranteed?
- Matching panels will be joint panels with representation of staff side and management. All panel members will be fully trained before sitting on a panel which includes a description of the partnership process required. The Scottish Pay Reference Implementation Group (SPRIG) will monitor the Job Evaluation procedures carried out by NHS Health Boards.
- Locally developed evaluations - how will they add into national profiles?
- Locally evaluated posts will not automatically become profiles. If it is felt that the post, once evaluated, may reflect a post which could be used as a National Profile, because the post may exist elsewhere the evaluation will be sent to the National Profiling Group for consideration and then for consultation in the normal way.
- Matching versus Evaluation - can you explain the processes?
- The Job Evaluation scheme has two procedures. In the first instance attempts are made to match a post against the national profiles. If successful then the post will be allocated the relevant pay band.
Only if there is no match against appropriate profiles will a local evaluation take place.
- Will all the factors in the Job evaluation Factor Plan be used to evaluate posts?
- Yes. The Job Evaluation scheme has 16 factors to capture all the various job demands found in NHS posts. All the posts are assessed against them.
- How does Agenda for Change relate to practice nurses and other staff in GP practices?
- Agenda for Change will not automatically apply to staff who are employed by GPs. Staff working within a GP practice but employed by the NHS will however be covered.
- What are protection arrangements for posts that fall into bands which are lower than current earnings?
Where an evaluation under the new system results in reduced earnings, protection will apply. This will be for one year with a pay uplift from date of implementation, ie it will include the 3.225% pay increase in 2005, and thereafter on a mark time basis. What this means is that an employee's earnings will be frozen until such time as the rate for the job/band catches up with what you are earning. This applies to Scotland only. This ensures that nobody in Scotland will face a reduction in earning because of Agenda for Change.
- Senior managers – where do they fit?
- Currently Executive and Senior Managers pay is under the direction of the Scottish Minister for Health. A review of Executive and Senior Managers pay has been undertaken and it will shortly publish proposals for future arrangements. It is likely that any new arrangements will be in line with the principles of Agenda for Change.
- How is the job evaluation information recorded?
- There is a UK national computer aided job evaluation system (CAJE) which will be used for both the matching and local evaluation processes. This is a new system for Agenda for Change and must not be confused with other computer job evaluation systems which have been used in the NHS in the past.
- How will people be trained to understand the Job Evaluation scheme?
- There are various levels of training for the Job Evaluation System - a half day course which gives detailed awareness of the scheme and is sufficient to allow staff to understand the scheme and how it is operated. More detailed training is available for matching panel members and job evaluators/analysts. This training is now conducted at local level.
- Will General practices adopt Agenda for Change?
- This will be for General Practices to decide. The Scottish Pay Modernisation Team is providing detailed information to General Practices on Agenda for Change so that they can take an informed decision.
- What ability is there to be flexible with national profiles?
- There is no opportunity to change or write national profiles - if posts in NHSS do not match any of the national profiles then they must be submitted for local evaluation. The matching process allows some marginal variations and may still therefore provide a match.
- Matching panels in NHSScotland - will these be local or national?
- Matching panels for NHSS will be at NHS Board level.
- How will consistency of approach be ensured in identification of posts and processes?
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The training itself should ensure a high degree of consistency and the Pay Modernisation Team will have a role in working with all sites ensuring consistency in approach to the new system, reviewing outcomes of matching and local evaluation processes and addressing any differences. Use will be made of the CAJE system and the review process will be overseen by the Scottish Pay Reference and Implementation Group (SPRIG) The Job Evaluation Working Party (JEWP) has published a guide on consistency checking.
- Is there a target date for all matching and evaluation to be completed?
- SPRIG has agreed a matching timetable, which sets out September 2005 as the target date for assimilation.
- Is there an appeal framework?
- The position with regard to matching is that a matching panel will review posts and, if they agree a match with a national profile, the post will be placed in the allocated pay band and the employee informed. If the employee does not agree and can produce evidence that not all the job information was available for the panel, the post will be reviewed by a second panel, the majority of whom should be different members. If that second panel agree with the outcome of the first panel, then the post is placed in the pay band and there is no further right of appeal.
In a situation where there is no match to an appropriate national profile or the two matching panels disagree, a local evaluation will take place.
There is no right of appeal beyond the second matching panel. if an individual feel that the procedure has been misapplied then the grievance mechanisms can be used.
Thanks to Paul watt and the Staff at Greater Glasgow NHS for their assistance in compiling the list of questions and responses.
