Overtime Payments and Allowances Policy

Contents
  1. Background
  2. Overtime Payments
  3. Responsibility Allowances
  4. Acting Up Allowances
  5. Special Allowances
1) Background

This paper sets out to clarify the position in respect to additional payments in the light of the new, agreed, School-wide arrangements enshrined in the Pay Framework agreement.  It should be read in conjunction with the School policy on Rewards and Recognition as well as the Pay Framework Agreement documents.

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2) Overtime Payments

In accordance with the agreement reached as part of the pay framework implementation, overtime payments are only applicable to staff in Grades 2 – 7/Ac2.

The following principles apply:

  • Additional hours worked, during the normal working week (e.g. between 8am and 6pm Monday-Friday, or at weekends or in the evening for staff contracted to work weekends or evenings) should be compensated for using TOIL where possible in the first instance in accordance with local requirements.
  • For hours worked outside of the normal working week or where TOIL arrangements are not possible due to pressure of work, any overtime worked needs to be agreed in advance by the line-manager and budget holder.
  • Overtime payments will be made as follows:

i) Plain-time rate for additional hours worked during the normal working week (including weekend or evening work for those contracted to work those hours).
ii) Time and a half for additional hours worked outside the normal working week (e.g. between 6pm and 8am weekdays or Saturdays for day-time Monday-Friday staff)
iii) Double-time for additional hours worked during Sundays (except for those contracted to work weekends), Bank Holidays and on School closure days for all staff.

All of this is without prejudice to the outcome of the further discussions in respect of overtime arrangements in the Library that have been agreed as part of the Pay Framework implementation agreement.

For staff in Grades 8/Ac3 – 10/Ac5, no overtime payments would be applicable and reasonable additional hours are a role requirement.  However, if there is a regular need for staff to undertake additional hours or if there is a particular project which requires significant additional hours for a limited time period, other payments may be applicable (see below).

Click here to download an Overtime and Additional Hours form.

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3) Responsibility Allowances

The School currently operates a system of responsibility allowances for a variety of roles (e.g. Head of Department allowance) with different rates applicable for specific responsibilities and roles being paid.  These rates are currently under review and it is intended that a full list of RA’s and associated payments be published in due course.

In the meantime, when considering whether or not to award a responsibility allowance, the following principles should apply:

  • The allowance should be for a clearly defined activity over and above the normal duties of the role.
  • The allowance should normally be for a clearly defined period of time, although in some circumstances it might apply throughout an employees’ entire period of employment (e.g. on-call allowance for IT staff).
  • Additional hours worked should not be so excessive that they contravene the Working Time Regulations. The allowance and the time-period should be agreed in advance with the line-manager and budget holder and confirmed by a temporary variation of contract letter from HR.
  • Activities undertaken that attract a responsibility allowance should be discounted when assessing the role using HERA for pay grading purposes and when considering staff for additional or contribution point increments or honoraria.  Otherwise, there is a danger that there will be double payment for the same duties, with an associated inequality and equal pay risk.

Click here to download a Variation of Contract Request form in order to request that a member of staff receive a Responsibility Allowance.

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4) Acting Up Allowances

Where a member of staff in a lower grade is asked to cover the duties of a higher grade post, they may be paid an Acting-Up Allowance.

The following principles should apply:

  • Where the employee is covering 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 or, where there are overlapping grades, at least one spine point above their current spine point.
  • 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 (e.g. if 2 people are covering, each member of staff 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).
  • The allowance should be for a clearly defined period of time, usually until either the post-holder in the higher grade returns or the post is filled.
  • The allowance and the time-period should be agreed in advance with the line-manager and budget holder and confirmed by a temporary variation of contract letter from HR.
  • Activities undertaken that attract an acting-up allowance should be discounted when assessing the role using HERA for pay grading purposes and when considering staff for additional or contribution point increments or honoraria.  Otherwise, there is a danger that there will be double payment for the same duties, with an associated inequality and equal pay risk.

Click here to download a Variation of Contract Request form in order to request that a member of staff receive an Acting Up Allowance.

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5) Special Allowances

There may be some circumstances where none of the above payments would apply, but there is an operational need for SOAS staff to undertake additional work which would otherwise involve the School in additional expense by employing contractors or agency temps (e.g. out of hours AV/IT cover for conferences etc).

Whilst it is difficult to envisage all possible permutations of this, the following principles should apply to these payments:

  • The allowance should be for a clearly defined activity outside of the normal work pattern for the employee and should consist of duties commensurate with the grade of the employee.
  • The payment should be based on the employee’s hourly rate and number of hours required to carry out the activity.
  • The payment should be made as a lump-sum on completion of the activity, authorised by the line manager and budget-holder.
  • Activities undertaken that attract a special allowance should be discounted when assessing the role using HERA for pay grading purposes and when considering staff for additional or contribution point increments or honoraria.  Otherwise, there is a danger that there will be double payment for the same duties, with an associated inequality and equal pay risk.

Click here to download a Variation of Contract Request form in order to request that a member of staff receive a Special Allowance.

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