HERA and job evaluation

HERA is a job evaluation scheme which was designed and developed by ECC in conjunction with higher education institutions (over 100 joined a consortium, along with representatives from national trades unions) specifically for use in higher education. HERA has been recognised by the Equal Opportunities Commission as a non-discriminatory job evaluation scheme. The majority of Higher education institutions have adopted HERA as their job evaluation scheme of choice.

A job evaluation scheme can ensure:

  • A fair, equitable and transparent process for comparing the relative size of jobs
  • Consistency and parity across the University
  • A demonstration of the principle of equal pay for work of equal value
  • The promotion of fairness and equality generally

HERA is an analytical factor-based job evaluation scheme. It aims to assess the relative value of roles in a consistent and equitable manner. HERA focuses on wider aspects of a role rather than on individual tasks and analyses roles based on 14 discrete elements covering a range of duties and responsibilities. Comprehensive information is gathered on roles by completing a role description, or through interview, and roles are then evaluated against each of the elements. Each element is scored, the scores for each element weighted appropriately, and then added together to give a total point score for each role. The total score indicates the relative size of the role.

Background

The reform of pay structures in the Higher Education sector commenced with the Independent Review of Higher Education Pay and Conditions (the Bett Report in 1999). HERA was developed to support the National Framework Agreement, under which HEIs undertook to reform their pay and grading structures. HERA was adopted by Oxford Brookes University to underpin the new 12-grade structure implemented in 2006.

Role profiles

At Brookes, we have developed ‘role profiles’ (or generic job descriptions) for academic roles and for support roles found in all of the Faculties. These roles profiles are underpinned by HERA to evaluate the grade for the role. Where there is an agreed role profile, grading will be undertaken by matching the job description against the relevant role profile. For more information, follow these links:

HERA elements and weightings

This information is available on Google Drive for Oxford Brookes staff only:

Useful documents

The following documents are available on Google Drive for Oxford Brookes staff only: 

  • Guidance for role holders
  • Guide for verifiers
  • Interview record