NJC Scale Support Staff - grateful for any info!

[SequinsandStilettos]

Hello all,

I am currently support staff NJC scale grade E point 11.
As my contract only states point 11, (as opposed to 11-16), does that mean I will always stay on that paygrade as opposed to moving up with experience each year to point 16. How do you get extra points if no room for promotion, or is that scale continuum only used for other local govt jobs rather than education?
Secondly, is the school allowed to award someone doing exactly the same job with exactly the same job title (and with exactly the same experience and qualifications) a higher level of pay or different scale? (For example, to six recruitment/retention).

Many thanks in advance

to aid recruitment

Hopeful bump

Not sure what scale E is, we use NJC scale 5 for the level of support staff you are talking about, which for us runs from point 12 to point 15. I imagine if your contract states point 11 but doesn't mention scale you may well be limited to point 11. Check with the Business Manager.

Schools can pay support staff whichever point they like within a scale m, another person pay have negotiated a higher starting point. You can challenge it if you feel it is discrimination based on a protected characteristic eg all the men are on point 15 but the all the women are on point 11

Thank you for the reply. I suspect the other person is on different terms entirely, possibly even on teaching scale rather than support staff, but nonetheless doing same (support staff) role and same job title. Do not begrudge them negotiating higher, just feel underpaid and unappreciated.

We also use the NJC scale at my school in outer London. We would say that you are on Scale 5, point 11 and the range is 11-15.

We are not really supposed to use the "scales" anymore, but all roles are advertised with the point range made clear. So if you were appointed on point 11, you would automatically move up the points each year until you reach the top of the range as long as there are no capability issues. In your case, this would be point 15. If you had negotiated to start on a higher point, you would simply reach the top sooner.

Unfortunately, the only way to continue to obtain pay rises (apart from the annual "cost of living" rises that are negotiated by the unions, is to take on more responsibility and get your role re-evaluated / re-graded or to apply for other roles with a higher salary.

Below are the current (2021-22) Full-Time Outer London Salaries by scale/point. The majority of our term time staff working 5 days end up with about 77% of the published salary.