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The COUNCIL and the GENERAL BOARD beg leave to report to the University as follows:
1. The purpose of this Report is to set out new proposals for making payments to staff for administrative work over and above what is required under their contract of employment.
2. Currently there are several additional payments schemes in operation across the University for different categories of staff, the most comprehensive being the regulations for payments additional to stipend for University Officers (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 652). This scheme applies not only to the holders of University offices but also, by analogy with officers, to the holders of unestablished posts.
In addition to these regulations for officers, additional payments arrangements are currently in place for other categories of staff. Contract research staff and holders of unestablished posts may receive payments for additional administrative or health and safety duties. In addition, ad hoc payments may be made for additional duties that fall outside the remit of the individual's role, for example for supervision, teaching, examining, laboratory technical work. For assistant staff, there is a range of additional payments (Rules B19 and 20 of the Regulations Governing Employment by the University and Rules and Section 4, 2.5 of the Assistant Staff Manual) including acting-up/additional responsibility payments; payments to support staff for taking on voluntary security duties, working shifts or attending out of hours emergencies as part of a rota; and safety-related payments. In addition, like contract research staff and holders of unestablished posts, they may also receive payment for health and safety duties.
Payments under the above schemes may be either pensionable or non-pensionable.
3. Pensionable payments authorized by the General Board for officers include payments to Heads of Institutions, Chairmen, and Secretaries of Faculty Boards not divided into Departments, and those for clinical responsibility (Regulations 1-4). Although there are regulations which allow the Board to approve pensionable payments for the specific purposes listed above, no general provision exists which allows the Board (and the Council) authority to approve payments for purposes other than those specified in the regulations.
4. Non-pensionable payments (Regulation 5) are made in respect of administrative duties (including those for carrying out health and safety duties which are additional to the duties of the office and those for acting as a Chairman of Examiners). Procedurally, the main mechanism for making non-pensionable payments is through annual allocations from central funds to the Councils of the Schools, who disburse the funds appropriately to the institutions within their scope. Councils of the Schools may bid for additional funds to meet the cost of the payments they consider to be necessary. Faculties, Departments, and other institutions may also use their own resources to fund such payments; non-pensionable payments, funded in the main through Departmental resources, may be authorized outside the annual review for additional administrative duties of a limited duration, including ad hoc and longer-term arrangements, such as for academic-related officers temporarily carrying out the duties of a more senior role and those to Deputy Heads of Institutions.
5. Until recently, the maximum limit on non-pensionable payments for administration that could be made to an officer under Regulation 5(a) and 5(b) (one-fifth of the maximum of the scale of stipends for University Lecturers) was linked to the maximum emolument which could be received by an officer from a College or Colleges before a deduction from his or her stipend was made. This ceiling (which from 1 September 2001 was £6,850 a year) and that set under Regulation 5(c) and 5(d) (which from 1 September 2001 was £3,358 a year) have come to be unduly restrictive and no longer appropriate, given the increased administrative and other demands outside their normal duties made by Faculties and Departments on individual officers. It has now been removed (Joint Report of the Council and the General Board on amendments to regulations relating to deductions from and additional payments to the stipends of University officers, Reporter, 2000-01, p. 1003). In their response to the remarks made at the Discussion of the Report recommending abolition of the limit (Reporter, 2001-02, p. 362) the Council and the Board drew attention to the need to ensure that levels of payment continued to be commensurate with the weight of responsibility that is undertaken by the member of staff concerned. The Council and the Board have agreed that the relevant payment for the Head of the Institution concerned should be used as a yardstick in determining appropriate levels of payment.
6. There are problems and disparities with the current schemes, which the Council and the General Board believe illustrate the need for review, for example:
| (a) | Specific regulations covering pensionable payments were introduced by the University on an ad hoc basis over the years to introduce remuneration arrangements for specific purposes. The Council and the General Board believe that whilst these arrangements are running smoothly and could be retained within any new schemes, there is scope for clarification in some circumstances, for example arrangements for cover when an officer is on leave or there is a vacancy. It is desirable that there should be a general regulation which authorizes the Board and the Council to approve pensionable payments not only for reasons which are specified in the existing regulations but for eventualities as they arise. If such a regulation were to be approved, the Council and the Board would publish a Notice which would be kept under review and which would list the purposes for approving such pensionable payments. |
| (b) | The criteria for payment laid down in the regulations for non-pensionable additional payments to officers (Regulation 5), which give authority to the General Board only and were based on the need to give academic staff additional payment for carrying out administrative work not regarded to be part of their duties, no longer reflect the diverse reasons why an administrative payment to an officer (and by analogy unestablished staff) may be appropriate, and they need to be updated. Also, as with pensionable payments, problems arise not infrequently because there is no general regulation which empowers the General Board and Council to award additional general payments rather than on this highly specific basis. Wider-ranging authority needs to be given to the Council as well as the General Board so that payments can be made to all officers in circumstances where they are appropriate. |
| (c) | The regulations that govern non-pensionable (and pensionable) additional payments have evolved historically and do not adequately reflect the range of administrative demands outside their normal duties made by Faculties and Departments on individual officers. There have been some improvements recently, for example through the introduction of a Schedule of payments to Heads of Institutions1 and through the recent Joint Report which removed the ceiling on additional payments. However, a more coherent approach to reform is necessary and the removal of the ceiling provides an opportunity to review the regulations. The Notice, referred to in sub-paragraph (a) above, could also provide guidance on appropriate limits, determined by reference to the schedules of payment to Heads of Departments, for non-pensionable payments. |
| (d) | Whilst there is provision in the regulations for Departments and Heads of Departments (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 554) for the appointment of a number of Deputy Heads in any Department and the General Board have agreed that the payments should correspond to between 25 and 50% of the Headship payment, these payments and those for officers acting up temporarily in a more senior role (under Regulation 5) are currently non-pensionable. By analogy with the payments to Heads of Institutions, and on grounds of equity, the Council and General Board believe that such payments should become pensionable. |
| (e) | The annual review of non-pensionable additional payments relates to institutions within the remit of the Councils of the Schools only. In addition, there has been a substantial increase in the number of staff taking on health and safety duties, including the duties of Departmental Safety Officer, Radiation Protection Supervisor, Biological Safety Officer, and Laser Safety Officer, and receiving additional payment in recent years. In the light of this, the Health and Safety Executive Committee are currently reviewing the best approach for discharging these local safety duties. The Council and the General Board believe that a more structured scheme would lead to a fairer and more consistent payment to staff according to the additional administrative duties carried out whilst retaining local discretion with Faculties and Departments continuing to recommend payments themselves, in accordance with guidance laid down by the central bodies. |
| (f) | The initial rationale behind some of the Assistant Staff schemes has been eroded over the years. In addition, in recent years it has been agreed that assistant staff may receive the core payment for health and safety duties. |
7. The Board and Council wish to revise the regulations so that they can provide the necessary authority for making payments additional to stipend for administrative work in a more comprehensive and flexible way. The revised regulations would lay out the framework which would be underpinned by additional payment schemes to provide a comprehensive, coherent, and rational set of arrangements for making additional administrative payment to all staff groups. They believe that any reform of the regulations and additional payments schemes for academic staff should wherever possible seek to harmonize and streamline arrangements for all staff, in particular those relating to acting-up/additional responsibility and health and safety payments.
8. The Council and the General Board propose that the reform of the additional payments procedure should be effected by adopting two schemes for all staff, as follows:
| (a) | a scheme enabling the central bodies to authorize pensionable additional payments to individuals carrying out additional roles with substantial responsibility, as specified under the regulations. These roles would include formally appointed Heads and Deputy Heads of Departments falling within the scope of Schedules 1-6, Chairmen or Secretaries of Faculty Boards not divided into Departments specified in Schedule X, and all staff in receipt of an acting-up allowance or payment for temporary additional responsibility. In the case of UEF-funded institutions falling within the scope of the Schedules, payments to Heads, Deputy Heads, and Chairmen or Secretaries of Faculty Boards not divided into Departments would continue to be charged to a central funding source. However, where acting-up allowances and additional responsibility payments were being made to cover for a vacant post or unpaid leave, there would be an automatic right to call on the source of funding of the vacant post. In the case of other temporary cover, for example for paid sickness or maternity leave, the institution would need to request a non-recurrent grant if the cost could not be met from their funds. All pensionable additional payments would be paid in monthly instalments with the individual's stipend or salary through the payroll. |
| (b) | a scheme allowing local non-pensionable payments to be made to staff for additional duties or responsibilities to their usual role, carried out on a temporary basis, for example those to officers for carrying out additional administrative duties2 (either on an ad hoc basis or throughout the academical year) and those for taking on additional health and safety duties such as Departmental Safety Officer, Department Fire Safety Officer, Radiation Protection Supervisor, Biological Safety Officer, and Laser Safety Officer where the institution concerned wished to make an additional payment over and above the core payment (which would continue to be charged to a central funding source). This procedure would operate through an annual allocation to Faculties, Departments, and other institutions, who would be given the discretion to decide and recommend additional lump sum payments under the provisions of this scheme to their staff. The maximum rate payable to a member of staff within each institution would be set by reference to and compared with the relevant headship payment and equitable ranges of rates specified for particular administrative duties, in a similar way to headship payment schedules, as laid down in a separate Notice. The Personnel Division would implement the local additional payments scheme by requiring each institution to provide a list of payments to staff on a termly basis. |
9. Accordingly, the Council and the General Board recommend:
That, with effect from 1 October 2002 the regulations for payments additional to stipend (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 652) be replaced by the regulations set out in the Annex to this Report.
| 25 March 2002 | ALEC N. BROERS, Vice-Chancellor | DONALD LAMING | Z. NORGATE |
| TONY BADGER | IAN LESLIE | G. A. REID | |
| JOHN BOYD | A. M. LONSDALE | JEREMY SANDERS | |
| PETER GODDARD | D. W. MACDONALD | M. SCHOFIELD | |
| D. A. GOOD | M. D. MACLEOD | LIBA TAUB | |
| GORDON JOHNSON | JAMES MATHESON |
| 13 March 2002 | ALEC N. BROERS, Vice-Chancellor | J. C. GRAY | KATE PRETTY |
| N. BULLOCK | PETER LIPTON | M. SCHOFIELD | |
| ANDREW D. CLIFF | A. C. MINSON | S. J. YOUNG | |
| MALCOLM GRANT |
1. The competent authority shall have the power to make pensionable additional payments and non-pensionable lump sum payments to University officers or to other persons approved by that authority as set out in Regulations 2-11 below.
2. The Head of each Department included in one of the Schedules 1-6 below shall be entitled, in addition to his or her stipend as a University officer, to a pensionable additional payment for administrative responsibility at an annual rate according to the following scale:3
| Percentage of the standard professorial stipend |
|
| Schedule 1 | 30% |
| Schedule 2 | 25% |
| Schedule 3 | 20% |
| Schedule 4 | 10% |
| Schedule 5 | 7.5% |
| Schedule 6 | 5% |
3. The General Board shall have power to authorize pensionable payments to Deputy Heads of Departments, appointed in accordance with Regulation 5 of the regulations for Departments and Heads of Departments, as a proportion of the appropriate payment made under Regulation 1 to the Head of the Department.
4. The General Board shall have power to make alterations in the list of Departments in the Schedules as they may from time to time think fit.
5. The General Board shall have power, after consulting the Faculty Board concerned, to authorize a pensionable additional payment to a person who discharges any of the duties associated with the office of Chairman or Secretary of the Board of a Faculty included in Schedule X, provided that the aggregate of the sums paid each year under this regulation in respect of any particular Faculty shall not exceed the payment made under Regulation 1 to the Head of a Department included in Schedule 3.
6. A University officer who is medically qualified and who holds an honorary contract as a Consultant or a Senior Registrar or a Principal in General Practice in the National Health Service shall for the period of such a contract be entitled to receive, in addition to his or her stipend as a University officer, a pensionable additional payment for clinical responsibility at an annual rate according to a scale of payments determined by the General Board and published by Notice. The place of such an officer on the scale of payments shall be determined by a Joint Committee of the General Board and the Addenbrooke's National Health Service Trust in relation to the weight of the officer's clinical responsibility as recognized by the grant of an honorary contract with the National Health Service and assessed not less than once each year by that Committee which shall consist of:
(a) the Regius Professor of Physic, as Chairman;
(b) one person appointed by the Faculty Board of Clinical Medicine;
(c) two persons appointed by the General Board;
(d) two persons appointed by the Addenbrooke's National Health Service Trust.
In addition, the General Board shall have power, on the recommendation of the Faculty Board of Clinical Medicine, to approve a non-pensionable additional payment for extra clinical work which is undertaken, outside his or her normal duties, by the holder of an office of Clinical Lecturer or by some other person approved by the General Board.
7. The competent authority shall have power to authorize pensionable payments to officers temporarily carrying out the duties of a more senior post in addition to their appointment.
8. The competent authority shall have power, on the recommendation of the Faculty Board or other body concerned, to approve pensionable and non-pensionable additional payments to a University officer or to some other person approved by that authority, as published by Notice.
SCHEDULE 1 |
|
| Chemistry | Pathology |
| Engineering | Physics |
SCHEDULE 2 |
|
| Anatomy | Materials Science and Metallurgy |
| Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics | Medicine |
| Biochemistry | Physiology |
| Clinical Veterinary Medicine | Plant Sciences |
| Computer Laboratory | Zoology |
| Earth Sciences | |
SCHEDULE 3 |
|
| Astronomy (Institute) | Haematology |
| Chemical Engineering | Judge Institute of Management Studies |
| Clinical Biochemistry | Pharmacology |
| Education | Public Health and Primary Care |
| Experimental Psychology | Pure Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics |
| Genetics | Surgery |
| Geography | |
SCHEDULE 4 |
|
| Archaeology | Oncology |
| Architecture | Psychiatry |
| Land Economy | Social and Political Sciences |
| Obstetrics and Gynaecology | Social Anthropology |
SCHEDULE 5 |
|
| Biological Anthropology | History of Art |
| English and Applied Linguistics (Research Centre) | History and Philosophy of Science |
| French | Linguistics |
| German | Scott Polar Research Institute |
SCHEDULE 6 |
|
| Advanced Religious and Theological Studies | Medical Genetics |
| (Centre) Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies (Centre) | |
| Archaeological Research (McDonald Institute) | Other Languages |
| African Studies (Centre) | Paediatrics |
| Anglo-Saxon, Norse, and Celtic | Radiology |
| International Law (Lauterpacht Research Centre) | Slavonic Studies |
| International Studies (Centre) | South Asian Studies (Centre) |
| Italian | Spanish and Portuguese |
| Latin-American Studies (Centre) | |
SCHEDULE X |
|
| Classics | Law |
| Divinity | Modern and Medieval Languages |
| Economics and Politics | Music |
| English | Oriental Studies |
| History | Philosophy |
1 The Schedule of payments does not provide for payments to holders of offices who receive stipends for being the Head of the Institution, for example the Director of the Fitzwilliam Museum, the Director of the University Computing Service
2 This includes payment to Chairmen of Examiners where an annual return is sent to the Board of Examinations.
3 The current regulation shows the value of each additional payment which varies each year in line with increases in professorial salary. The proposed new regulation shows each payment as the equivalent percentage of professorial salary.
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Cambridge University Reporter, 27 March 2002
Copyright © 2002 The Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University of Cambridge.