September 2024 bulletin

News and updates

Details of upcoming Main and Casual payroll deadlines can be found on the Payroll website.   

Visit the Payroll deadlines and cycles page to learn more about the monthly payroll cycle, including the key monthly payroll dates for People Management users. 

Visit the Payroll website

Please click the links below to download the invites as a calendar reminder for the upcoming payroll deadlines and ‘no user input’ days:

The new £1,500 Oxford University Weighting will be applied to the national pay spine points for 2023/24, as agreed through UCEA (the Universities and Colleges Employers Association). This payment will be made starting from September's payday (27 September 2024) and backdated to 1 August 2024. It will be incorporated into salaries, is pensionable, and will be prorated for part-time and hourly paid staff, as well as for staff who join or leave mid-year. 

The Oxford Living Wage increase, already applied in April 2024 for many staff in grades 1–3 and the Apprentice grade, will be absorbed into this year’s Oxford University Weighting payment. Staff who received the April 2024 uplift will receive the remainder of the £1,500 Oxford University Weighting (paid monthly), effective from 1 August 2024, alongside all other staff on grades 1–10. The impact of this is illustrated in the table below. 

An FAQ has been added to the Pay and Conditions website, explaining how the Oxford University Weighting affects staff on grades 1-3. 

National Pay Spine Point University Grade & Point UCEA Aug 2023 scale Oxford Living Wage (OLW) 2024 scale; as published on Finance website UCEA 2023, plus OUW % uplift from UCEA 2023 scale £ uplift from 2024 OLW % uplift from OLW 2024 scale
10 1.6 £22,631 £23,706 £24,131 6.63% £425 1.79%
11 2.6 £22,681 £23,706 £24,181 6.61% £475 2%
12 2.7 £23,144 £23,706 £24,644 6.48% £938 3.96%
13 2.8 £23,700 £23,706 £25,200 6.33% £1,494 6.30%
14 2.9 & 3.4 £24,248 £24,248 £25,748 6.19% £1,500 6.19%
15 3.5 £24,533 £24,533 £26,033 6.11% £1,500 6.11%
16 3.6 & 4.1 £25,138 £25,138 £26,638 5.97% £1,500 5.97%
17 3.7 & 4.2 £25,742 £25,742 £27,242 5.83% £1,500 5.83%
18 3.8 & 4.3 £26,444 £26,444 £27,944 5.67% £1,500 5.67%
19 3.9 & 4.4 £27,181 £27,181 £28,681 5.52% £1,500 5.52%

We are excited to launch the University HR Essentials online course, a pre-requisite for new PeopleXD users*. The course will also benefit anyone with HR responsibilities, including those with read-only access. Developed with input from the Staff Immigration, Reward, HR Policy teams, as well as Recruitment / People Management POG members, it raises awareness of key University HR policies and practices (though it is not HR policy training). It aims to provide a solid foundation in University HR knowledge, for those new to HR here.

This training is required for new users starting from 1 October. *For details on which roles need this training, visit the Identify and book the training you need webpage. The course is available via the University’s course booking system, CoSy.
 

As you may be aware we have been piloting an online shortlisting feature within PeopleXD, that enables interview panel members to efficiently shortlist candidates online, and self-serve shortlisting documents, removing the need for off-system file sharing.

Following the positive feedback from the pilot, we have now extended access to a group of early adopters. Pending the success of this extended pilot, we aim to roll out the feature to all users by early next year.
 

The refreshed 2023/24 data for the Athena SWAN staff and recruitment dashboards will be available by 31 October. However, the 2022/23 maternity return rate data will not be refreshed until early 2025 (January/February), as 18 months must pass after the end of the 2022/23 year to accurately measure return rates and longevity.

Recruitment and turnover data for the 2024/25 academic year is now available in the Resourcing Dashboard.
 
Additionally, the validated turnover data for 2023/24 in the Resourcing Dashboard will be refreshed by the end of October. - earlier than the usual 15 November update. This is to support the preparation of a data presentation for the People Committee in Michaelmas term.

  • 25 September: No HR Systems Support available due to 'Professional Service Conference'.
  • Throughout September: Be prepared to respond to any queries as we undertake rigorous HESA checks and prepare our submission.
  • 1 October: Prepare for the October increments for eligible academic-related staff. Ensure that:
    • a) the 'Increment due' dates are populated and accurate; and
    • b) the correct salary is approved prior to the increment date. (Further details will follow in September's bulletin).
  • 24 October 10:00-11:00: HR Systems briefing (invite sent)

Reminders

Automatic increments are due to be paid for Professional and Management, Academic and Research grades from 1 October, provided they have been in their current role since 1 July 2024 or earlier. To ensure the correct rate of pay is implemented, please follow these steps:

1. Verify increment dates:

  • Run the ‘Increment Due Date’ report to identify staff without an increment due date, those with the ‘increment on hold’ flag, or those without a future increment date.
  • Review these records to confirm their accuracy and make necessary amendments. 

2. Approved correct salary prior to the increment date:

  • Ensure employees due for an increment on 1 October have the correct salary approved by 23:59 on 30 September.
  • The system will automatically add one increment (where applicable) to the current approved salary.
  • Verify that future dated salary lines with effective after 1 October 2024 are set at the correct scale point the employee post-increment.
  • Use the ‘Staff in Post’ report to check current salary data and the ‘Monthly Personnel Changes’ report to review future dated salary changes and their approval status.

Please ensure you promptly extract and input your new starters' completed details from Onboarding into their employee record on PeopleXD, especially National Insurance (NI) numbers, as they are essential for our RTI submissions to HMRC and USS Pensions records. For further guidance, visit: https://hrsystems.admin.ox.ac.uk/appointing-guidance-online-applicants-e...

Project updates

The Workforce Management team is working with the first group of departments set to go live with the Leave and Absence functionality in PeopleXD this October. These departments are currently completing data reference tasks and training for the rollout. Thank you to everyone involved for your support.

To support the rollout, we’ve created an overview webpage with key stages, upcoming activities, and FAQs: https://hrsystems.web.ox.ac.uk/preparing-for-the-workforce-management-rollout-in-peoplexd.

The project team will contact departments in future waves with updates and timelines. For questions, email workforcemanagement.project@it.ox.ac.uk.

Details of current, in-scope projects under the HR Systems Programme can be found on our dedicated webpage. This includes latest updates and timelines, where available. Note: These pages are updated regularly.

HR Systems Programme projects