The new Higher Education Job Evaluation Scheme has this week been approved by the Department of Further and Higher Education.

Fórsa’s Head of Education Andy Pike said the move now paves the way for further discussions with the Institutions on when the scheme will be implemented, later in 2023.

The scheme captures the key responsibilities for grades III to VI and measures those responsibilities against objective criteria. The documentation for the scheme includes a job evaluation handbook, scoring matrix and detailed questionnaire.

Andy explained that the agreement with the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (DFHERIS) and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform allows for 10% of jobs to be evaluated in any year with more being processed in the first year that the scheme is open. Applications will be evaluated jointly by union and management evaluators.

“The Higher Education Branch has already held two detailed training events for union evaluators and a third and final training event is planned,” he said.

Discussions will now commence on the logistics of identifying which staff are eligible to apply based on seniority and the timescales for starting and concluding the process.

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