The pay and grading guidance for Support Staff can be found here. This note gives general information and guidance about the pay and grading of support staff in schools. Support staff are employed on conditions of service determined by the National Joint Council for Local Government Services (NJC), determined by both national and local agreements. Schools must use the County Council’s pay spine and grading system, and may not create their own pay rates. Schools are also strongly recommended to follow the County Council’s job evaluation system and guidance on allocating posts to grades.
Academy schools who are still following the NJC, should ensure that pay is updated according to this.
Above the bar payments
All decisions about incremental progression should be made in line with your school's pay policy and linked to the appraisal process. Movement above the bar should be the exception and not the rule. The usual position is that once a staff member has reached the midpoint increment, they will not progress further up the incremental scale. However, there will be occasions when progression beyond the midpoint is appropriate, providing that the following criteria are met:
- The school requires the work to be done
- The work needs to be done on a permanent basis
- The staff member regularly and routinely carries out work over and above the current job description for their grade
- The staff member is the appropriate person to do the work and they meet the required standards.
If you establish that there is an operational need for the work to be done, but there are more candidates at the same grade eligible to progress than are required, an internal selection exercise should be conducted following a transparent and objective process.
If your school has no requirement for work to be done 'above and beyond' the current job description, there is no obligation to allow movement beyond the bar and the staff member should continue to work to their existing job description.
Decisions on pay progression should be made by the person or group specified in your school's pay policy (normally the pay committee) and should be documented to provide a audit trail.