Acting Up Policy

Acting Up Policy (Including Honararia)

Introduction

There may be occasions during your employment, when you are requested to temporarily undertake additional duties or responsibilities. This may be as a result of a more senior officer being absent from the workplace due to long term sickness, maternity leave or a secondment arrangement. Where this occurs, the employee undertaking these duties is described as ‘acting up’ into that role. Where this occurs an employee will be entitled to an additional payment in recognition of the ‘acting up’ arrangement, providing the criteria outlined in this policy is met.

The Council is committed to equality of opportunity, and takes steps to ensure that all employees are not discriminated against either directly or indirectly in accordance with its Equality and Diversity (Employment) Policy. In the application of this policy and in accordance with the Equality Act 2010, the Council will make any reasonable adjustments to cater for employees who declare that they have a disability.

Definition of Acting Up

In order to qualify for an ‘acting up’ allowance, the following criteria must be met:

• A business case stating the need for an acting up arrangement must be submitted by the Head of Department to the Human Resources Manager, and approval given by the Workforce Development Panel, before commencement
• The cost of making the acting up payment must be accommodated within existing salaries budgets
• The officer must be undertaking the full duties and responsibilities of a higher graded post
• The officer must be undertaking these full duties and responsibilities for a minimum of four weeks
• The higher graded post must either be vacant or the permanent post holder on long term absence, such as sickness, maternity leave or seconded elsewhere
• Acting up will be agreed for a period of up to six months in the first instance. If the arrangement needs to exist for longer than this, then a further business case must be submitted to the Human Resources Manager for approval by the Workforce Panel
• Any requests for acting up of one year or more, must be submitted to the Human Resources Manager for consideration by Management Team.

Payment of Acting Up Allowance

• An employee will not receive payment for the first four weeks of acting up
• Once the four weeks has expired an agreed payment will be made monthly in their usual pay
• Normally the payment will be based on 90 percent of the difference between the employee’s current spinal column point, and the lowest spinal column point of the higher graded post
• If the acting up period exceeds six months then 100 percent of the difference between the employee’s current spinal column point and the lowest spinal column point of the higher grade is payable, subject to the confirmation of the Head of Department that all of the duties of the post are being carried out
• The higher salary must be in accordance with the grading of the post temporarily occupied
• In circumstances where the above would mean the payment is unrealistic, such as difference between the top of Grade 2 and the bottom of Grade 3 is marginal, agreement can be reached to base the payment on the difference between the existing spinal column point and a spinal column point within Grade 3. Similarly if the higher graded post is career graded, and the officer’s existing grade is the same as the bottom of the career grade for the higher post, discretion will be used in selecting an appropriate point within the career grade.

Terms of Employment During the Acting Up Period

During an acting up period, the employee is afforded the same terms and conditions of employment as in their permanent role. In addition:

• The details of the responsibilities that the employee will be expected to undertake when acting up, will be provided to them in writing
• If the acting up period exceeds six months, then any annual increments on the higher grade must be paid in accordance with normal incremental progression subject to confirmation from the Head of Department
• During the acting up period, the employee is entitled to any enhanced annual leave entitlements the ‘acting up grade’ may have. This entitlement will cease at the end of the acting up arrangement
• Employees will be given at least one week’s notice of the acting up arrangement ceasing. At this point, they will return to their previous role and the salary for that post. This allows flexibility to accommodate the senior employee returning to their post at short notice. The Council reserves the right to reclaim any overpayments that may occur as a result
• If an employee wishes to cease undertaking the acting up arrangement, they must provide at least one month's notice
• The additional pay received by the employee during their period of acting up, is subject to pension (LGPS) deductions where applicable
• If an employee who is ‘acting up’ is absent from the workplace for a protracted period, such as because of sickness, it is at the discretion of the Head of Department in consultation with the Human Resources Manager, as to whether the arrangement should continue to be paid during the period of absence

Honoraria Payments

There may be circumstances where the responsibilities of the post are shared between more than one employee. In these cases an honoraria (one-off payment),in accordance with a percentage of additional duties they are undertaking, can be applied.

One-off honoraria payments can also be made to officers, who are performing outside the scope of their post, dependent on the circumstances of each case, or where the additional duties and responsibilities are particularly onerous. The intention of such payments is to reward exceptional performance. Heads of Department should seek approval from the Human Resources Manager in consultation with the Finance and Procurement Manager, detailing how the costs of such payments can be met.

In some instances, honoraria payments can be made on a retrospective basis, since it is sometimes difficult to make an overall assessment of the percentage proportion of the higher level duties undertaken, until after the event.

Any honoraria payments will be confirmed to an employee in writing, and paid at the next available pay date. Such payments are subject to the employees usual pay deductions, but not pension (LGPS) deductions.

Further Advice

Further advice and guidance on the Acting Up Policy and Honoraria Payments can be provided by Human Resources, Resource Management.