Important things to know

Starting on 10 October, 2011 the union is asking members to abide by the terms of their contracts (including their obligation to perform their duties in an efficient manner), but to do no more than that; and in particular to:

• to work no more than their contracted hours where those hours are expressly stated, and in any event not to exceed the maximum  number of hours per week stipulated in the Working Time Regulations;
• to perform no additional voluntary duties, such as out of hours cover, or covering for colleagues (unless such cover is contractually required);
• to undertake no duties in breach of health and safety policies or other significant employer’s policies
• to set and mark no work beyond that work which they are contractually obliged to set and/or mark
• to attend no meetings where such attendance is voluntary on the part of the member.

Your contractual hours will be those expressed within your contract or within a collective agreement on workload between UCU and your employer.  Not all staff have clearly expressed contractual hours. You can find out your contractual hours position here.

In some cases, established hours can be derived from local workload collective agreements. In that case, you should work no more hours than expressed in this agreement. You can find out if we hold information on your local agreement here.

If we do not, please contact your branch.

You should undertake your normal contractual duties and work your normal hours but not take on additional duties. If you are asked to take on additional duties, seek advice from the union. However, under no circumstances should you work more than the average 48 hours in any 7 day working time period laid down in the Working Time Regulations.

Even if your contract says this and there is no local agreement that limits working hours, there is still a lot that you can do under the work-to-contract.

1. If you have a departmental workload management system or agreement that regulates your working hours and the distribution of your duties, observe this strictly.
2. You should undertake your normal contractual duties and work your normal customary hours but not take on additional duties. If you are asked to take on additional duties, or work extra hours to perform those duties, seek advice from the union. Under no circumstances should you work more than the average 48 hours in any 7 day working time period laid down in the Working Time Regulations, even if it is normally the case that you do so.
3. You should work-to-rule in relation to your marking. Take due care and consideration when marking work, ensuring that they are precisely meeting the guidelines both from the university itself and from the QAA. Staff are often placed under pressure by their institution to conclude their marking or second marking speedily in order to ensure internal deadlines are met. However staff have a responsibility to ensure that quality standards are being maintained, even if this means deadlines have to slip. If you find yourself falling behind, you should inform your line manager that, in accordance with your contract, you are fully complying with the University, department and QAA guidance and will therefore be unable to complete your marking or second marking by the required deadline. Read more on this here
4. You should attend no meetings where such attendance is voluntary on the part of the member. Get more advice on this here
5. Remember to ensure that you are working in a safe and healthy environment. You can find lots of guidance on doing this here

Our legal advice from Leading Counsel is that UCU members are covered by the Regulations and therefore that working within its limits is not a breach of contract. Consequently, working to contract is consistent with your contractual obligations as no employee can be required lawfully to work in excess of the WTR’s 48 hour limit over a sustained period of time.

Refer to your contract in the first instance. If your contract does not or could not require you work in the evenings or at weekends you can refuse to work at those times. You can find out your contractual hours position here.

 If your contract shows that you can be required to work weekends, you should refer firstly to your contractual hours or any local workload agreement. If you believe you are being asked to work too many hours, that is to say if you find that you cannot fulfil all your contractual duties within the hours limit in your contract, or the Working Time Regulations (if you do not have contractual hours or a workload agreement or established practice) you should make reference to your institution’s occupational stress or workload policies which will set out various duties upon the employer to address heavy workloads.

If you have no contractual hours or local workload agreement, refer to the WTR. If your contract shows that you can be required to work at weekends, then these weekend days also count for the purposes of the calculation of the average 48 working hours. That means that you should work no more than an average of 48 hours over 7 days.

If you are asked to take on new duties in addition to your normal duties, which involve either evening or weekend working you should refuse citing the UCU working to contract action and pointing out your willingness to perform your normal contractual duties within reasonable weekly limits as set down either by your contract or the Working Time Regulations.

If you are in doubt you should ask your head of department whether attendance is voluntary or mandatory. If they say you must attend, ask them to put in writing direct to you and take it up with your rep. A written instruction to you does not count as a general instruction to all, so other members should seek individual confirmation that they are also required to attend.

You could write using the following formulation:

“As you know, UCU members are currently working to contract and this action includes non-attendance at voluntary meetings. Consequently, I am writing to ask you to confirm in writing whether you require my attendance at [name of meeting].”

Staff are often placed under pressure by their institution to conclude their marking or second marking speedily in on order to ensure internal deadlines are met.

However staff have a responsibility to ensure that quality standards are being maintained, even if this means deadlines have to slip.

Academic staff should therefore take due care and consideration when marking work, ensuring that they are precisely meeting the guidelines both from the university itself and from the QAA.

Second marking or blind marking should be undertaken with similar due care and consideration, with staff again ensuring that they are precisely meeting the guidelines both from the university itself and the QAA.

Under no circumstances should staff allow themselves to be rushed by their institution to the extent that they are unable to fully meet the terms of both the university and the QAA guidelines.

It is  clear that the volume of academic workloads is forcing many members to mark students’ work outside normal hours in order to meet internal feedback  deadlines. In this case, our advice is that you should mark or second mark all scripts thoroughly and properly and to the letter of your department or QAA guidelines and that you should do this within your normal working patterns.

If you are pressured to cut corners or work extra hours to meet the deadlines report this to the union immediately and ask your line manager to put their instruction in writing including which of your other duties you should not do in order to complete marking; which aspects of the marking process they wish you to cut corners on in order to speed up; and also what they intend to do to meet their obligation to ensure your health, safety and wellbeing with particular regard to realistic workload and deadlines for tasks.

Every employer must have conducted a risk assessment on your job and must have recorded significant points. Regulation 10(1) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 stipulates that your employer has a duty to provide you with this information.

Your institution will have a health and safety policy that lays out the responsibilities of employees and various layers of management for dealing with health and safety issues. You can find your institution’s policy here.

You should request a copy of the risk assessment on your job and workspace. Your institution has a legal duty to provide you with a copy of this risk assessment document. This will probably sit with your line manager or the university’s safety office. You should write to your line manager or head of department in the first instance.

If you do not receive a copy within two weeks, you should complain to your line manager in writing to the effect that you are concerned that no assessment has been undertaken and that you do not wish to become complicit in your employer failing in a legal duty by working in a potentially unsafe environment. You can use the template text below:

Dear xxxxxxxxx

As an employee of xxxxxxxxxx, I am aware that I have the following rights in relation to Health and Safety regulations,

• as far as possible, to have any risks to my health and safety properly controlled
• to be provided, free of charge, with any personal protective and safety equipment
• to stop work and leave your work area, without being disciplined if I have reasonable concerns about my safety.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/HealthAndSafetyAtWork/DG_4016683

I am concerned that my employer is not currently fulfilling its duties in respect of these rights in the following ways______

I am mindful of my duty to work safely and my right to stop work and leave my work area. Unless my concerns are immediately dealt with, I will consult my union about further steps.

Yes. The Regulations do not contain detailed technical specifications or lists of approved equipment. Instead, they set more general objectives. Employers have to:

• Analyse workstations, and assess and reduce risks - Employers need to look at the whole workstation including equipment, furniture, and the work environment; the job being done; and any special needs of individual staff.
• Ensure workstations meet minimum requirements 
• Plan work so there are breaks or changes of activity 
• On request arrange eye tests, and provide spectacles if special ones are needed 
• Provide health and safety training and information 

Every employer will have a DSE policy. Find out more details about what your employer should be doing here (pdf). 

Your institution will have a specific policy which will tell you how they propose to comply with the regulations and how you can request an assessment of your work station and access eye tests and other remedial actions and resources. Every member should make use of this policy. You can find your institution’s policy is here.

If you are performing your normal duties but not undertaking activities over and above that, the employer has no justification for deducting your salary. UCU will challenge any attempts to make deductions from staff who are following the work to contract.

You can make sure everyone knows you are participating in the action to defend your pension by downloading a door or desk poster here.

Your local association will keep you updated with advice and news of the impact of the action.  If you have a query they should be your first port of call.