New annex 31 of the NHS TCS Handbook

The NHS Job Evaluation Scheme (NHS JES or JES) was introduced alongside the Agenda for Change arrangements for NHS staff in 2004 as the single, bespoke mechanism for determining the banding of roles covered by those terms and conditions of service. 

The primary purpose of the JES is to ensure pay banding is determined in a fair and transparent way that accords with legal requirements for “equal pay for work of equal value”.  

In addition, where it is operated in partnership and according to the processes and procedures outlined in the NHS Job Evaluation handbook it ensures staff have confidence that they are paid appropriately for the work they are required to do 

Importantly, the NHS JES is accorded the same contractual status as the other terms and conditions of service outlined elsewhere in this handbook. 

The requirements outlined in this annex are intended to support employers, staff and their trade unions in the operation of this contractual obligation and in managing the risk of pay inequalities by detailing the actions necessary to ensure proper application of the scheme. Employers are to ensure that their local policies and procedures are consistent with the requirements of this agreement and accord with the requirements of the NHS Job Evaluation Handbook and other guidance provided by the NHS Staff Council’s job evaluation sub-group (JEG). 

This agreement outlines the principles that underpin the NHS JES. It details actions required and the rights and responsibilities of staff, their trade unions and employers in the operation of the scheme. It provides clarity on key process and operational issues. 

This annex should be read in conjunction with the NHS JE Handbook. 

The NHS Staff Council has agreed the following principles to underpin all and any activity in relation to the NHS Job Evaluation Scheme at national, regional, and local levels.  

Equality -

The legal requirement to ensure equal pay for work of equal value is detailed in the Equality Act 2010.  Responsibility for compliance with the law sits with each individual employer and cannot be delegated. In line with this, the JES was designed to be fair and non-discriminatory. It has been found to be legally sound (*reference Hartley) but ONLY if it is applied according to the requirements outlined in its handbook.  These requirements should therefore be seen as a complete package of work as deviation from any part of the scheme may lead to equal pay risk. 

In addition, all staff should have equitable access to the provisions of the scheme regardless of their protected characteristics or occupation. 

Fairness -

All staff have the right to be paid correctly for the work they are required to do. In addition to having access to the scheme as above, this includes staff understanding and having confidence in the operation of the JES. Staff have the right to a re-evaluation of their job where it is agreed that the requirements of the role have changed significantly.  

They also have the right for the job description for their role to be reviewed at least every three years.  

The requirements of the JES should also be embedded in all workforce development, career pathway planning and service redesign plans, to ensure fair and consistent pay outcomes across staff groups. 

Consistency of approach to and application of the JES -

The JES has contractual status with the same legal standing as other terms and conditions of service. Consequently, it is essential that all processes and procedures of the scheme, as described in the NHS Job Evaluation Handbook, are followed consistently and that the guidance and advice issued by the NHS Staff Council is adhered to.  

In order to ensure consistency of application, sufficient resource must be made available to operate the JES.   

Partnership working and joint ownership of all JE activity -

The JES is a shared responsibility held jointly by employers in the NHS and staff-side trade unions. Therefore, locally all JE processes should be undertaken in partnership by those trained in the JES and that there are mechanisms in place to monitor, review and document all JE activity on a regular basis. 

Transparency of approach and communications -

Nationally, all documentation relating to the operation of the JES is publicly available.  At local level any job evaluation policy/process document will be agreed in partnership, will accord with the NHS Job Evaluation Handbook, and be promoted to all staff.   

The NHS Staff Council has responsibility for the scheme and will work in partnership to:

• consider feedback and intelligence on the operation of the NHS JES to assess service-wide risk, and take action as necessary 

• maintain and update materials and resources for the NHS JES so that employers can effectively apply the Scheme to assign jobs to pay bands 

• agree amendments or changes to the scheme should they be necessary. 

Employers should ensure that:

• they are aware of their legal requirements and manage their equal pay risk by ensuring JES is operated correctly

• there is an identifiable senior responsible officer (SRO) for JE with a reporting line to board level 

• the board receives a regular report on job evaluation (application and outcomes) and issues are raised on the corporate risk register as appropriate 

• responsibility for JE activity sits within a designated and resourced part of the HR/people function including a JE lead for staff side as well as a JE lead for the employer 

• they work constructively with local trade unions (TUs) to maintain sufficient staff side involvement in JE e.g. to identify new JE panellists, and that time off is granted for staff to attend JE training and to sit on panels – (Please note: JE panel work is not included in facilities time reporting) 

• mandated data returns are submitted as required 

• the end-to-end process for determining pay banding is no longer than 12 weeks unless mutually agreed (not including time taken for role holders and line managers to agree job information and/or job analysis questionnaires) 

• all JE panels including consistency checking are conducted in partnership. 

Line managers are expected to:

• understand the requirements of the NHS JES both strategically and operationally 

• release staff to undertake JE training and panel work  

• work with staff to keep the job descriptions for roles under their management up to date/relevant – ideally annually but at least every three years 

• make clear when job requirements are changing substantively and ensure they are reflected in job documentation, (this may be different to temporary activities provided to support career development). 

Staff have the right to:

• be paid correctly for the work they are required to do 

• have an up-to-date job description that reflects the full requirements of their role (see also section 31.6) and that is reviewed at least every three years. 

• have a re-evaluation of their job where it is agreed the requirements of the role have changed significantly  

• have sight of the JE report for their job on request 

• challenge the outcome of a panel within three months of a decision being communicated to them.  

All parties to local joint negotiating committee (JNCs) /partnership forums (or equivalent), including trade union representatives and employers are expected to work constructively in partnership to ensure organisational commitment and capacity on JE including by-  

• receiving reports on JE activity and performance including training and resources 

• ensuring that regular monitoring and review of local policies and procedures is undertaken to ensure compliance with the JE handbook and to identify where and how policies can be improved  

• ensuring that all staff have equity of access to the scheme  

• ensuring there is provision for staff to seek informed advice and support from trade union representatives 

• ensuring there is an agreed dispute resolution process for example, an agreed process when staff and their line manager can’t agree job documentation. 

There is no set template for these reports. Organisations will have their own processes and procedures for such matters.  This may include detailed papers being discussed at a sub-committee level to ensure the board can have full assurance.  What is important is that boards understand their obligations and are aware of organisational performance so that risks and issues can be logged and addressed. 

Further details on this can be found in annex 24 of the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook. 

There is no fixed requirement, as this will vary depending on the size and structure of the organisation.  However, resources will include administrative support as well as a good cross section of staff (from across management and staff side) trained and supported to sit on panels. Resource requirements may change over time and organisations will need to ensure that systems are in place to forecast the demand for job evaluation panels. (For example, by considering planned restructures against previous year’s activity.)   The data collection required by NHS England will help identify any resource issues. 

Guidance on maintaining capacity for JE can be found in chapter 3 of the Job Evaluation Handbook. This will also include responsibility for, and management of, JE activity sitting within a designated and resourced part of the HR/people function including the nomination of a JE lead for the employer.  The JE Lead for staff side is a nominated/elected position and therefore is accountable to the trade unions. 

Training for staff side and employer representatives involved in panels should be agreed in partnership and organised by the employer. 

For training in England see the job evaluation training web page. 

For training in the devolved administrations, please contact your local JE lead or HR department. 

All staff have the right to be paid correctly for the work they are required to do.  Therefore, access to the JES should not just be prioritised for low volume roles or higher banded roles.  This means all staff being able to have a job re-evaluated where it is agreed to have changed significantly, being able to participate in JE panels and having sight of the JE report for their role on request. 

A pay band decision should be made by a panel, confirmed by consistency checking and released within 12 weeks.  The 12 week period starts when the job documentation for a role is agreed (by the post holder, line manager and JE administrator in the HR/People function) and is ready to go to a panel.  JE leads will be able to assist with this. 

Should a matching panel be unable to determine the pay banding for a role and refer the role for local evaluation, the 12 week period restarts once the JAQ for the role has been completed.  The 12 week period does not cover the time it may take for a role holder to request a review and a further 12 week period starts once review evidence has been received.   

Local JE policies should be jointly developed in line with the nationally agreed NHS Job Evaluation Scheme and should set out the requirements for fulfilling the scheme locally to ensure a consistent approach across organisation e.g. administrative details, the provision of training, the release of staff for panels and the process for updating job descriptions that ensures they are reviewed at least every three years. 

JE activity monitoring should include a regular assessment of governance and administration practices, as well as the quantity and quality of panel work and consistency of outcomes. The data collection required by NHS England will help identify any issues. 

The outcome of this monitoring should form the basis of reports to the board and the JNC. 

here are no set reports, however JNCs may find it helpful to understand  

• Backlogs of outstanding work which could include new job descriptions to be matched or evaluated, reviews waiting, amended jobs which need checking etc 

• How many jobs went through the relevant processes 

• Panel constitution and other capacity issues 

• Compliance with the 12 week timescale for JE panels 

• Updates on information from the NHS Staff Council and its job evaluation sub group ( JEG ) i.e. updates on profiles or new guidance etc… 

Such evidence will help JNCs discuss local JE performance and any risks associated with local activity.  It will also help in the development and agreement of a plan in partnership to address any capacity or implementation issues and commitment to regular reporting to the JNC on progress made. 

JNCs should also have sight of and discuss their organisation’s returns made to NHS England on JE activity. 

Line managers are advised to make themselves aware of the requirements of the scheme and of Annex 31 so that they can support their staff and maintain accurate job descriptions. NHS Employers has produced a webinar that provides a practical overview of the NHS Job Evaluation Scheme and the key responsibilities for line managers.

Should a line manager be required to sit on a JE panel they must attend the panellist training (see above). 

It is important that staff from all parts of the organisation and all pay bands/occupations can participate in JE panel work. Panels should be organised in sufficient time to enable line managers to adjust rotas/work as necessary and the expectation should be that those required to sit on the panel will be released to do so.  If something unexpected occurs at the last minute and a panellist must be pulled back to work, this should be logged so that repeat patterns can be monitored, reported to the JNC as necessary (see above) and mitigations put in place.

The NHS Staff Council published guidance in July 2025 that covers how to revise job descriptions.  Whilst it relates specifically to job descriptions for nursing and midwifery staff, its principles are applicable to all roles.

It is important that the line manager best able to describe and confirm the requirements of the job is involved in the drafting/reviewing of a job description.   

Local JE policy should stipulate who is responsible for signing a job description off within the relevant management structure.  

Any disputes relating to sign off will need to be dealt with through local grievance processes. 

To be clear, budgetary impact should not prevent staff from being paid correctly for the work they are required to do.   

Career development can be supported by clearly distinguishing between the evaluated requirements of the role and development activity undertaken by the post-holder. Development opportunities may include shadowing, acting up, secondments that are agreed in advance.  

This should be made explicit in discussions between the line manager and staff member, and it is good practice for this to be documented in appraisal and development records.   

These activities should not result in an ongoing change to the role or an expectation that staff routinely undertake higher-banded duties without the post being reviewed in line with AfC job evaluation processes. 

Where staff are supported to undertake additional qualifications to support their future career progression, there must be a clear understanding of whether, on completion of the qualification, the substantive job requirements will change and how that will be reflected in job documentation.  If roles do change after gaining qualifications the job description must be updated and put through JE to ensure that the pay band is correct. 

The NHS Job evaluation handbook says the following –  

All posts change over a period of time. For most, the job evaluation outcome will not normally be affected unless there are significant changes.  Some job outcomes may be close to band boundaries and consequently the banding for these jobs may change with only limited changes to job demands. 

It goes on to say that “knowledgeable Job evaluation practitioners” should decide whether changes to job documentation are significant and warrant a re-evaluation.”  

Therefore, the NHS Staff Council expects organisations to ensure there is a robust and transparent mechanism, developed and agreed locally with JE leads, to check the significance of any changes made when documentation is being collated for JE panels. It is not for line managers to make this assessment.  If it is decided that a job does not need to be re-evaluated this must be clearly explained to the role holder(s). There should also be a transparent dispute resolution process for instances where staff disagree with the decision made about the significance of changes. 

If no JE report is available locally for a role then this should go through job matching regardless of the nature of the change.   

The NHS JES relies on trained panellists from throughout the service to sit on the panels that determine the pay bands of roles.  These panels are formed in partnership between management and trade unions locally.  To be a staff side panellist you will need to be a member of a union and be nominated by your branch, so speak to your trade union representative or local office and ask to get involved.  Management side panellists should be drawn from across the organisation, not just the HR/people function. 

All staff have the right to be paid correctly for the work they are required to do.  As the job evaluation scheme relies on the accuracy of job descriptions to set the pay band of roles, it is essential that these documents are kept up to date.  Disputes about job descriptions will need to be taken up through local grievance processes.  Staff can contact their trade union representatives for support and guidance.  

There are a number of reasons why one may not be immediately available.  However, if this is the case and no report can be found (e.g. in legacy files if your employer merged with another) the role should go through a JE process to confirm banding and ensure appropriate records are available for the future.  Employers are advised to have an action plan that includes scoping of all job descriptions in use and the JE reports for them to be able to ensure that reports are available for staff such that role holders can see how their job has been scored and the job evidence used to come to that scoring. 

Job descriptions should be agreed within a reasonable timeframe.  There should be no unnecessary delay or stalling.  If agreement is proving difficult, additional evidence (e.g. job diaries) may help or support sought from local JE leads.