JOINT NEGOTIATING COMMITTEE FOR HIGHER EDUCATION STAFF

FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT FOR THE MODERNISATION OF PAY STRUCTURES

Overview

• This agreement has been developed in partnership between employers’ and trades unions’ representatives under the arrangements detailed in the June 2001 agreement establishing the JNCHES.
• The parties to the agreement are: Amicus, UCU (fromerly AUT and NATFHE), EIS, GMB, TGWU, UNISON, and the UCEA on behalf of its subscribing HE institutions.
• The parties are united in their view:
  • of the vital contribution which staff at all levels make to the continuing success of UK higher education, and the need for them to be rewarded properly; and
  • on the need to modernise pay arrangements in the sector to improve the recruitment and retention of staff, to ensure equal pay for work of equal value, to tackle problems of low pay, to recognise and reward the contribution which individuals make, and to underpin opportunities for career and organisational development.
• The agreement recognises that there is much diversity among HE institutions as well as many key features that they hold in common. It provides a common national framework for pay arrangements that fit with institutions’ varying missions and circumstances.
• The Government’s views on pay arrangements set out in the White Paper The future of higher education have also been recognised, as has the planned provision in England of limited additional funding for these purposes, together with the differing circumstances in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
• Effective implementation of this new agreement will require work by HE institutions and their recognised trades unions. It is expected that they will work in partnership to this end, reaching negotiated agreements on a timely basis.
• Existing national agreements on pay and grading will remain in force until superseded by implementation of new arrangements under the terms of this agreement.

 The full Framework Agreement can be accessed via this pdf:

  Framework Agreement pdf

In September 2008 UCEA published an independent case study review of the Framework Agreement. Part funded by HEFCE it can be accessed in pdf format below:

  A review of the implementation of the Framework Agreement