broadbanding - after 4 years reserved rights

[nicechap]

Anyone recall a communication around last year's pay award saying that for those staff in a lower grade after broadbanding that they pay would be frozen after the 4 years reserved rights period? For the life of me I can't find it now.

[saunders265]

PAY PROTECTION POLICY

This document forms part of the Managing the Surplus Framework – Managerial Grades and should be read in the context of the Framework as a whole and all the documents which constitute it. Information for line managers on the deployment of the Framework is set out in the Guide to Deployment of Managing the Surplus Framework.

Policy1

Every reasonable effort will be made to place a Surplus Employee at his/her substantive grade and on equivalent terms and conditions; however there may be occasions where this is not possible.

A Surplus Employee who cannot be found a suitable alternative job on the same terms and conditions and who is matched against a position that attracts less favourable terms and conditions because the new job is either:

a) at a lower grade in the same or a different Division / Function; or
b) at a broadly similar level in another Division / Function with different pay structures,

and would result in a reduction in pay will be entitled to the protections set out below:

Protection of Pay
Following his/her appointment to the new job, he/she will remain on the Pay Rate2of his/her substantive grade in his/her Parent Division / Function for four years from the date of transfer (“the Reserved Rights Period”). At the first review of Pay for the new job following the expiry of the Reserved Rights Period, the employee’s level of Pay immediately prior to such review (“the Protected Pay Level”) will not be increased but will be held at its existing level until such time as the level of Pay for the new job increases to equate with or exceed the Protected Pay Level (“the Mark-Time Provisions”). Thereafter the usual Pay Rate for the new job will apply.


Protection of Pensionable Allowances
Where the new job carried out by the employee attracts a lower level of pensionable allowances (i.e. lower monetary value) than that received in total by the employee in his/her old job and, at the date his/her old job ceases, the employee has been fulfilling a role to which pensionable allowances applied continuously for more:
a) than six months but less than twelve months he/she will be entitled to receive a lump sum payment equivalent to three months’ payment of the difference ;
b) for twelve months or more but less than 24 months he/she will be entitled to receive a lump sum payment equivalent to six months’ payment of the difference;
c) for 24 months or more he /she will be entitled to receive a lump sum payment equivalent to twelve months payment of the difference.

There will be no requirement to recover such payments from the employee on leaving the business or returning to a higher level of earnings.

Where the employee had been fulfilling the duty attracting pensionable allowances in his/her old job on a rotation basis payment, as set out above, will be made on a pro-rated basis.

Employees will be expected to take on duties in the new job which attract equivalent pensionable allowances to those earned in their old job wherever possible.

Any entitlement as a result of these protections will be set off against the amount of any increase in the employee’s Pay and Pensionable Allowances which the employee enjoys by reason of redeployment into the new job.

Protection of Regional Pay
Where the new job attracts a lesser amount of regional pay than the employee received in his/her old job, the following lump-sum payments will be made to the employee in two equal annual instalments. The first payment will be made with the employee’s first salary payment following the end of his/her trial period and confirmation into the new job. All payments will be made less the usual deductions, including tax and employee national insurance contributions and will only be made where the employee is in employment with Royal Mail Group on the date for payment.

a) Move from Inner London to National pay area - £7,000
b) Move from Outer London to National pay area - £3,500
c) Move from Inner London to Outer London - £3,200
d) Move from Inner London to Defined area - £4,700
e) Move from Outer London to Defined area - £2,000
f) Move from Defined Area to National pay area - £1,300

If, within two years after the transfer the employee leaves Royal Mail Group, or moves to an area with higher regional pay, any and all payments made will be recoverable in full. It is a condition of payment of the above sums that the employee agrees to such repayment and in particular that any outstanding monies may be deducted from monies owing to him/her by Royal Mail Group.
In addition to the payments referred to above, the employee will continue to receive the regional pay element of his/her salary in his/her old job until such time as his/her level of Pay and regional pay in the new job (taken together) equates with or exceeds the level of Pay and regional pay he/she was receiving in his/her old job immediately prior to the transfer.

Additional Protection where new job is at a lower grade
Where the new job is at a lower grade (and that will not be more than one grade below the employee’s substantive level) efforts will continue to be made to place the employee at his/her former substantive grade for a period of four years from the date of the move to that lower-graded post. During this period the employee will continue to be included in Matching Model Database runs for posts at his/her former substantive grade. At the end of that four year period, if no suitable work at his/her substantive grade in the old job has been found, the employee will be regraded to the new lower substantive grade and will receive the Pay Rate appropriate to that grade recognising the Mark-Time Provisions.

The employee may opt to take Voluntary Redundancy as an alternative to taking a transfer to which this policy applies.

The costs associated with this policy will be borne by the Parent Division / Function.

Where an employee is appointed to a post which is at a broadly similar level in another Division / Function but where the different pay structure will result in a higher Pay Rate than that he/she enjoys immediately prior to the transfer, the employee will transfer to the new structure at the incremental step which is immediately above his or her current actual Pay Rate.

[nicechap]

That's great, that's exactly what I was after. Many thanks.

[saunders265]

Pleased to oblige.