Consultancy for student unions
Your team. Your reward. Done right.
Practical support for fair, transparent pay and reward
Your team does a lot. Recognising their work fairly, consistently and transparently shouldn’t be complicated. At ECC, we make it simple to get pay and reward right, so your staff feel valued, your organisation runs smoothly, your decisions are backed by evidence and you maintain that competitive advantage.
Partnering with Student Unions on Pay and Reward
With growing attention on equal pay, the Employment Rights Bill set to come into force from 2026 and a sharp increase in employment tribunal cases, even smaller organisations are facing increasing challenges around fair pay and reward practices.
With the right tools and guidance, you can avoid disputes, reduce risk, stay competitive and make sure everyone knows that their role is recognised.
At ECC, we’ve designed a service with student unions in mind. We offer full access to the HERA job evaluation tool and online database for storing role information and scoring data, as well as access to training to our reward network for sharing best practice and sector news.
In a nutshell
HERA. The trusted job evaluation tool
Access our specialist software, designed specifically for the education and not-for-profit sectors. Review, score and record role profiles with confidence, safe in the knowledge that HERA takes into account the unique responsibilities of student union roles, such as pastoral care, so that your whole team’s work is valued fairly.
Friendly, expert advice on grading and equal pay reviews
Work with our expert reward consultants to plan or review your pay structure and identify risk areas.
A benchmarking database to support pay decisions
Use our secure online platform to access salary data, compare roles and inform pay and grading structures.
On-demand consultancy from sector reward specialists
Work with us on a flexible, pay-as-you-go basis for role evaluations, salary benchmarking, and expert input when you need it.
Whether you're managing a small team or a complex organisational structure, we help you make confident decisions and demonstrate fairness to your staff, members and trustees.
The HERA job evaluation tool gives your student union a clear and consistent way to evaluate roles, in line with most UK universities, whether you follow your university’s pay structure or create your own.
You can access ECC's support easily, either through membership or standalone consultancy services, helping your student union make confident, transparent, and evidence-based reward decisions, without any of the guesswork.
What you should know
🟠 The HERA job evaluation tool is used by 70% of UK universities.
🟠 More than half a million people's roles have been evaluated using HERA, across 130+ institutions.
🟠 HERA has been consistently recognised as a robust and reliable system in employment tribunals.
ECC worked closely with LBSU for two key projects over the last few years. The first, using HERA, to evaluate all unique roles at LBSU as a basis for developing a bespoke pay and grading structure, suitable for an organisation of our size. The second supporting our recent restructuring exercise where they supported us to evaluate 24 new roles.
Jacqui Short, Director of Resources & Operations, Leeds Beckett Students' Union
To get started
If you want to find out more or arrange for a consultant to discuss your particular requirements, please contact us
