SIMS Personnel – Pay Related
Due to the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions changes effective from September 2013 which removes a mandatory pay structure for teachers, Local Authorities and SCOMIS are unable to provide automatic updates in the future.
This decision has been taken because schools now have the option of setting their own pay scales (within defined minimum and maximum points). When a SIMS update is sent out, the effect is that the information stored in local SIMS systems is over-written and replaced by the new information. To date, pay structures have been prescribed which has meant that the updates would apply across the board.
The effects of the 2013 changes are that schools are able to set their own arrangements regarding pay. Consequently, there will be variations from school to school which will begin to develop. The general update is unable to be tailored for each school. Scomis used to provide a Personnel Update file that incorporated any increments to salaries, new service terms, allowances, etc from a master database for each Local Authority. With the changes to the pay structures, in that Schools can now deviate from the set pay scales and design their own pay policies, it is now impossible to maintain a master database for these updates.
All of our staff on our Service Desk will be happy to support you through any changes you would like to make in this area. Just give us a call or log a case via our portal and we will be happy to help.
If you prefer, SIMS has some Quick Reference sheets to help you create and maintain Personnel areas. These can be accessed via the SIMS Homepage -> Documentation Link (top right corner of screen) -> Quick Reference Sheets -> Finance -> Personnel: Maintaining Service Term information. These sheets go through all the areas of Pay Related and demonstrate the necessary processes at each stage.
You can also access the Personnel handbook via the SIMS Homepage -> Documentation Link -> Handbooks -> Finance -> Managing Staff, which gives you more detailed instructions within Personnel as a whole.
We are training new Personnel staff on how to maintain this area during our SIMS Personnel: New Users Course, details of which can be seen via this link. However, if you would like us to create and run a half-day workshop for experienced users to go through the Pay Related and Reporting areas of SIMS, please log a call to our Helpdesk to register your interest.
Reviewed on 25/10/2016