Pay & Conditions Report: communications & updates
This webpage hosts an archive of all communications related to the Pay & Conditions work.
The Pay & Conditions Steering Committee is committed to involving staff in its work and communicating transparently with colleagues throughout the review process. An archive of staff communications and updates relating to this work can be found below.
The staff feedback form that welcomed ideas, perspectives and input to the review has now closed, to allow the committee time to consider all the feedback before submitting its initial findings to the Vice-Chancellor in December 2023. All the input submitted is being shared with the committee for consideration and key themes arising from feedback forms and questions raised at all-staff events are reflected in the Frequently Asked Questions on these webpages.
Charles Alexander, member of the Pay & Conditions Steering Committee and Finance Bursar at Merton College, discusses the committee's final workshop, which covered reward policies and procedures, as well as pay benchmarking. This blog was shared with all staff in the University Bulletin on 27 November. Visit the Staff Gateway to read Charles' blog.
Professor Tim Soutphommasane, Chief Diversity Officer and a member of the Pay & Conditions Steering Committee, talks about the committee’s workshop on how the University invests in staff wellbeing and development, held on 19 October. This blog was shared with all staff in the University Bulletin on 13 November. Visit the Staff Gateway to read Tim's blog.
The staff feedback form, which welcomes ideas, comments and questions from colleagues for the Pay & Conditions review, will close on Friday 10 November to give the Steering Committee time to consider all feedback before submitting a draft report to the Vice-Chancellor in December. Staff were informed of the feedback form's closure date in the 30 October Bulletin. The Pay & Conditions FAQ webpage was also signposted to as a place where staff can find responses to frequently asked questions.
Rupert McNeil, one of the external members of the Pay & Conditions Steering Committee, talks about discussions at the committee’s workshop on staff benefits, held on 9 October 2023. This was shared with all staff in the University Bulletin on 30 October. Visit the Staff Gateway to read Rupert's blog
A recording of the Pay & Conditions Town Hall-style event, that took place on 11 October, was shared with all staff in the 16 October edition of Bulletin. You can find a link to the recording on the Pay & Conditions Report: staff consultation and events webpage (SSO login required).
Professor Matt Jarvis, member of the Pay & Conditions Steering Committee, discusses the committee’s second workshop on pay benchmarking for academic and research staff. This was shared with all staff in the University Bulletin on 2 October. Visit the Staff Gateway to read Matt's blog.
A webpage with Pay & Conditions FAQs launched on 29 September 2023, reflecting key themes and questions arising from staff feedback form submissions to the Pay & Conditions Report Steering Committee and recent staff events. New FAQs will be added regularly, as more questions are received. Staff were informed about the new FAQ webpage in the University Bulletin on 2 October 2023.
The University Bulletin sent to all staff on 18 September 2023 carried a reminder that all University staff were invited to attend a Pay & Conditions Town Hall-style event on Wednesday 11 October (12.30–2pm), taking place online and in person at the Oxford Martin School. This followed an invitation email sent directly to all University staff on Friday 15 September.
The Bulletin item informed staff that the Town Hall event would be an opportunity to hear from Professor Dame Kay Davies, Chair of the Steering Committee leading the Pay & Conditions review, and to put questions and points of view to a panel of committee members. It linked to an online registration form for the event, with the opportunity to submit question for the panel in advance, on the themes of Pay, Benefits, Investment in People, or Reward Policies and Procedures.
Bob Price, member of the Pay & Conditions Steering Committee, discusses the committee’s first workshop on professional services pay benchmarking and updates colleagues on the pay and conditions work over the summer. This was shared with all staff in the University Bulletin on 4 September. Visit the Staff Gateway to read Bob’s blog.
Following a University-wide call in July 2023 for staff participation in a series of Pay & Conditions focus groups, a further call was shared in the University Bulletin sent to all staff on 4 September 2023, to encourage staff in specific groups that are currently under-represented in the volunteer pool to consider self-nominating. Staff were also invited to share their feedback and ask questions about the review using this staff feedback form.
Self-nominations from colleagues in the Department for Continuing Education, GLAM and Humanities, staff in grades 1–5 and 9–10 across the University, and academic and research staff at all career stages are particularly welcome, to help optimise representation in the focus group cohorts. The deadline for self-nominations from staff in these groups is 14 September 2023.
The Pay & Conditions Steering Committee is committed to involving staff in its work. As part of its review, staff focus groups will be held in late September or October 2023, each running for approximately 90 minutes, on topics such as pay, financial benefits, non-financial benefits, pay structures and processes for progression, recognition, and fixed-term contracts. These will give participants the opportunity to engage with the committee’s work, and will help the committee to identify staff priorities and gather insight for its final report.
Due to capacity limitations and the need to ensure as representative a mix of participants as possible, the committee cannot guarantee that all self-nominated staff will be invited to join a focus group but will aim to include as many staff as possible.
Throughout the summer, the Pay & Conditions work will continue with a series of pay benchmarking workshops. Steering Committee members will attend four workshops including: benchmarking for professional services, benchmarking for academic roles, benchmarking benefits and investment in people. Specialist teams related to each workshop topic will also participate in each session.
General updates on the committee’s work will commence from 4 September, when the University Bulletin newsletter resumes publication.
Look out for an invitation - in a September issue of University Bulletin - to join a town-hall session with committee members during October, where you can hear about their work and have your questions answered.
Staff focus groups will be held in September and October, focusing on topics including pay, financial benefits, non-financial benefits, pay structures and processes for progression, recognition and fixed-term contracts. Thank you to the staff who applied to join these focus groups; applications closed on 24 July 2023, and over the summer, participants will be selected to ensure attendees are as representative as possible of Oxford staff’s circumstances.
In the meantime, if you have any questions or would like to share feedback, please complete the Pay & Conditions feedback form to submit a message.
The Pay & Conditions Committee is committed to involving staff in its work. In the University Bulletin sent to all staff on 10 July 2023, staff were invited to self-nominate to participate in a series of staff focus groups on the Pay & Conditions work. The self-nomination form closed on 24 July 2023. We would like to thank those who volunteered to participate.
The focus groups will be held in September and October 2023 to give colleagues the opportunity to engage with the committee’s work, identify staff priorities and gather insight.
Due to the need to establish focus groups that incorporate a representative mix of staff participants, we cannot guarantee that all self-nominated staff will be invited to join the focus groups. However, we will aim to include as many staff as we can. Where there are gaps in representation, direct recruitment will be used to target specific staff groups.
Dame Kay Davies, Chair of the Pay & Conditions Report Steering Committee and Emeritus Professor of Genetics, introduces herself, updates colleagues on what the committee is working on and shares information on ways you can get involved in the work. This was shared with all staff in the University Bulletin on 10 July. Visit the Staff Gateway to read Kay’s blog.
On 22 May, 2023 Professor Irene Tracey, Vice-Chancellor, Professor Anne Trefethen, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (People & Digital), Dr Markos Koumaditis, HR Director and Professor Tim Soutphommasane, Chief Diversity Officer, hosted an Open Forum to discuss People, Pay and Conditions, ahead of the Pay & Conditions report.
You can view a recording of the session on the Open Forum webpages.
Upcoming committee meetings
- 6 December 2023
