Working to contract – Q&A
Firstly, thank you to all those who took some form of action on what was overall a very successful day.
You will now have been contacted by Human Resources asking you to declare whether you took part in the strike. At that point please do so, copying your message to ucu@st-and.ac.uk. We know that in addition to those on strike, others did not come in or took a day’s leave. It is of course not too late for those of you who did this to reconsider and reply to HR that you actually took part in the action along with your colleagues! The numbers on strike will be the most important factor in getting the negotiations restarted for a better deal.
If you do state that you took strike action, the University will then make a deduction from your pay. They have told us that that deduction will be at a rate of 1/260 of your annual salary. Please see the Q&A below for the implications of this.
Now that the one-day strike is over (i.e. with effect from Friday 1st November) the next phase of the industrial action will begin. This will consist of working to contract for an indefinite period. During this time, we ask all our members to do the following:
(a) Add the following text to your email signature: “As a member of the University and College Union, I am working to contract for an indefinite period from Friday 1st November. This is in an attempt to bring my employers back to the negotiating table over the 2013 pay claim. More information on the dispute may be found at http://www.ucu.org.uk.”
(b) Display a poster (can be downloaded here –http://www.ucu.org.uk/hepay13) on your office door or your noticeboard.
(c) Email HR asking for a copy of all the paperwork relating to your contract of employment. A template can be found here – Draft email to HR re contract paperwork.
(d) We will be holding a series of small department-level meetings at various locations across campus to update you and get your feedback on the current action. Look out for the invitation coming your way!
(e) WORK TO CONTRACT!
http://www.ucu.org.uk/index.cfm?articleid=6804
Here’s some further information in the usual question-and-answer format:
Q: Doesn’t the 1/260 pay deduction mean they’re exempting us from working at weekends?
A: Apparently yes – a convenient clarification of our contracts! This will be particularly useful during the work-to-contract phase of the action, because it seems to imply that weekend working cannot be required, even of those on non-fixed-hours contracts.
Q: What if I have a contract that says that I do work weekends? Or what if I was only contracted to work three hours on the strike day?
A: In any such case, please ask Human Resources explicitly what amount of pay they intend to deduct. If they stick to 1/260 of your annual salary, complain! We will happily provide support to any member who finds him/herself in dispute with HR over pay deductions for the strike day.
Q: What does working to contract involve?
A: Working to contract basically means doing only those duties that your contract explicitly requires. If you have a fixed-hours contract, it means not working beyond those hours. It also means a withdrawal of good will, and not taking on voluntary tasks beyond your required work.
Q: What if I don’t have a fixed-hours contract?
A: Options for working to contract in this case are more limited, especially since many non-fixed-hours contracts list your duties simply as “those assigned by the Head of School”. You could, however, ask your Head of School for an explicit clarification of what duties are currently assigned to you, and then do only those. You might suggest to him/her that he/she contact Human Resources if unsure how to respond to such a request.
Q: What’s the point of working to contract?
A: There are two significant features of working to contract. First, since you are obeying all clauses in your contract the University cannot dock your pay for it. Second, it is nonetheless classified as industrial action, meaning that the “yes” vote in the September / October ballot remains valid and the ballot does not have to be conducted again if / when action is escalated. Thus it allows us to remain in dispute, and active, while giving time to see whether the Universities and Colleges Employers’ Association will return to the negotiating table.
Q: Will anything else happen during the working-to-contract period?
A: Yes: we will be organising various profile-raising events, of which details will follow in due course. To have a hand in putting those together, or just to take part in the discussions and remain informed, please come to Wednesday’s meeting (details above).
As ever, questions are welcome: please address them to ucu@st-and.ac.uk, which will maximise the speed with which we can respond. Thank you all for your support.