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Proposed changes to the General Staff Remuneration System 1. Automatic Pay Increases and issues arising Salary levels and grades The Remuneration section of the present General Staff Collective Agreement describes six salary levels, and gives minimum and maximum pay grades for each of these six levels.

Under the proposed changes agreed salary levels will be subdivided into six salary steps.

Progression through annual increments Progression through the steps in each salary level will be by satisfactory performance. Satisfactory performance is understood as performance that meets reasonable expectations. Because The University of Auckland maintains high workplace standards, performance is assumed to meet reasonable expectations unless managers declare it unsatisfactory (see the section below for an explanation of how this may be done).

Progression will occur automatically, through annual increment on an anniversary date.

Provisions for dealing with unsatisfactory performance A manager may declare an employee's performance unsatisfactory on the grounds that it does not meet reasonable expectations. A manager has the responsibility of raising any problems with an employee’s performance well in advance of Performance and Development meetings where the problem might be discussed.

If an employee's performance is deemed unsatisfactory, then the employee has the right to refer this judgement to the joint Appeals Committee. If the employee does not query the judgement, or if the Appeals Committee confirms the judgement, then a programme will be initiated to rectify the problem(s) that have prevented the employee meeting reasonable expectations. A nominated representative can support the employee during the rectification programme.

Once the rectification programme has been successfully completed, the employee will be granted his or her annual increment. The date of the award of future annual increments will not be affected by the rectification programme.

2. Progression through recognition of professional development and issues arising In addition to the progression available through annual increments, staff can also progress through professional development and through recognition of skills, knowledge and expertise. Progression to the levels of Proficient and Expert is voluntary.

Recognition of Proficiency An employee who wishes to be recognised as Proficient must show a high level of skill by a) researching, reflecting upon and learning from their work experience and b) undertaking training which enhances their job performance. A certificate will be issued to recognise the achievement of Proficient.

Employees who wish to be recognised as Proficient must present a proposal to their manager during their first Performance and Development meeting of the year. This proposal will indicate how the employee intends to write a 'Research and Reflection Document' that will discuss and draw conclusions about one or more aspect of their work and/or undertake training that enhances their work. Both the Research and Reflection Document and the training will be designed to increase the institutional knowledge of the university, as well as the skills of the individual employee. ‘Job groups’ within different parts of the university will develop criteria to help employees and managers agree on useful subjects for the Research and Reflection Document and useful training programmes to undertake.

If the proposal is approved by the employee's manager, then the employee will submit the Research and Reflection Document and evidence of the promised training by the annual performance and development review meeting held at the end of the year. A trained composite committee comprising union representatives, other employees and managers will then decide whether or not to award the employee a Recognition of Proficiency Certificate. If the committee declines to recognise an employee as Proficient, then the employee may refer the matter to the Appeals Committee.

Recognition of Expertise An employee who wishes to progress to Expert level must submit a proposal to his or her manager during their first Performance and Development meeting of the year.

This proposal will indicate how the employee intends to write a Research and Reflection Document that will discuss and draw conclusions about one or more aspect of his or her work and/or undertake training that enhances his or her work.

Both the Research and Reflection Document and the training will be designed to increase the institutional knowledge of the university, as well as the skills of the individual employee.

The Research and Reflection Document produced for the Certificate of Expertise must deal with aspects of the employee's work that were not considered in the Research and Reflection Document produced to attain the Recognition of Proficiency

Certificate. Likewise, the training undertaken as part of the Certificate of Expertise programme must be importantly different from the training that was undertaken to earn a Recognition of Proficiency Certificate.

Achievement of Proficient and Expert and accelerated progression An employee who has gained Recognition of Proficiency will be entitled to an additional payment equivalent to one salary step or a negotiated set rate. Similarly, an employee who has gained Recognition of Expertise will be entitled to an additional payment equivalent to two salary steps or a set rate to be negotiated.

3. Bonuses payments and related matters Bonus Payment for Special Contributions A request for a one-off, lump sum payment not exceeding two thousand dollars for the completion of special projects or for taking on extra responsibility over and above normal duties can be made by an employee's manager or by an employee through their manager. Requests will be assessed by the joint Appeals Committee. .................................................................................................

Footnote The proposed changes to the remuneration system for the General Staff at The University of Auckland have two goals.

In the first place, they aim to show how the current anomalous performance pay system at the university can be replaced with the sort of hybrid system of annual progression and merit-based pay that encourages cooperation and values experience, knowledge and expertise. It is this hybrid system which is used successfully in other universities around New Zealand.

The proposed changes also aim to fit with the terminology and structures which university management has created in recent years as part of its General Staff Development and Performance Review Process. By using 'official' terms like 'institutional knowledge' and by turning performance development and review meetings into vehicles for our goals we can achieve a fair, transparent and consistent pay model for general staff at Auckland University that attracts, values and retains staff.

Because we are arguing that a hybrid system in which automatic progression plays a key role will be a lot simpler for both employees and management, it is essential that we avoid cluttering our proposal for changes with unnecessary detail.

There are many parts of the proposal which need 'filling out', but we should differentiate between details of primary and secondary importance. Many collective agreements end up acquiring a great many extra details as negotiations go on. At the beginning of the process, though, a surfeit of detail can confuse both employees and management and obscure the essential points being made. Â