Section 2: support staff handbook

Expand All

The employment of all staff of the University is subject to its Statutes and Regulations. Matters affecting the establishment and grading of posts, salary scales and general conditions of service are determined by University Council (as detailed in section 1 of handbook).

Council is advised on matters relating to staff by the Personnel Committee. Certain functions of this committee are carried out by specialist subcommittees. Details appear in section 8 of this handbook.

2.1.2 Departments and institutions

The University, as the employer, has overall responsibility for the employment of all staff in university departments and institutions, but each member of staff is initially engaged by a particular department or institution. Departments manage their own recruitment, issue standard letters of appointment and are responsible for the work and welfare of their members of staff. A number of departments issue their own handbooks, containing more detailed information than can be included in this publication, relating to the working arrangements and conditions within that department. Any question relating to your employment should be addressed in the first instance to the Departmental Administrator (or equivalent).

Note: in some departments, faculties and other units the role of Departmental Administrator may be carried out by an equivalent person with a different title.

2.1.3 University Offices

The servicing of the Personnel Committee and its panels, and responsibility for the execution of its policy, are in the hands of a unit of the Administration Division of the University Offices - University HR (situated in Worcester Street). See the University of Oxford Internal Telephone Directory, or the contact search on the University's home page for details of individual extension numbers.

The division of the University Offices which handles among other matters the administration of salaries and the pension schemes for the staff of most departments is the Finance Division, also situated in the University Offices. Enquiries in connection with these matters should be addressed in the first instance to your Departmental Administrator.

Back to top

 

Altogether there are around 10,000 full-time and part-time members of the University's staff, including those employed in clinical departments on local NHS Trust sites.

2.2.1 University support staff

There are ten grades for staff in the University; support staff are employed in grades 1-5. Each post is placed on a grade after an evaluation of the work to be performed and the level of skill and responsibility it requires, using the Higher Education Role Analysis (HERA) job evaluation scheme which was extensively tested and implemented at Oxford by a joint working group of management and staff representatives.

The range of salaries and cost of living increases for all support staff in universities are negotiated nationally and implemented in Oxford after consideration by the Personnel Committee and Council. There are additionally some national agreements on conditions of employment - and their adoption in Oxford has been approved by Council - but most conditions of general application in the University are determined locally, by Council, following consultation or negotiation within the University's Joint Committee for University Support Staff (JCUSS).

2.2.2 Pay scales

Details of the rates of pay for these various groups of staff are contained in the Payroll section webpages. Revisions to the scales are normally posted on notice boards within each department, on the Payroll section webpages,  or details may be obtained on the website or from your Departmental Administrator.

Back to top