Earlier this week, the Vice-Chancellor & President Professor Karen Cox  wrote of her concerns over campus relations between us all, staff and students, and announced that the University will not  be deducting any pay for action short of a strike (ASOS) for this period of action and that we were talking to Universities and Colleges Union (UCU) about our Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) and hourly-paid lecturers (HPLs) positions to ensure there is no long-term detrimental impact if they choose to take strike action.

As a result of these discussions, the University has made the following changes to the position of GTAs, HPLs and other timesheet colleagues involved in the current action.

Changes to our Pay Policy

With respect to our GTA colleagues, and in recognition of their positions both as students and employees, we will be making no pay deductions at all related to this current period of UCU industrial action. There are no conditions attached to this decision.

With respect to HPLs and timesheet colleagues we will guarantee the offer of additional hours to match any hours they lose through industrial action once they have ceased their participation in the action. We will exercise this offer positively and flexibly where HPLs or timesheet colleagues, for reasons outside of their direct control, may have difficulty in accepting initial re-offers of work. With respect to HPLs and where it makes sense to do so (eg because a HPL contact hour has been missed due to strike action but there is still a requirement to undertake exam marking) we will pay for work at flat rate. Schools will make clear to HPLs in advance of requiring marking to be done whether they regard this marking as connected with earlier contact hours which have been worked (and therefore payment has already been received for the associated marking) or whether the relevant work will be paid at flat rate. No staff will be expected to work without payment.

This position, will be reflected in the HR FAQs and pay policy as soon as we are able. We will also edit our pay policy and FAQs so that there is no longer a reference to deductions for Action Short of a Strike (ASOS). These changes may though take a couple of working days to be made. In the meantime, all Timesheet and HPL colleagues should now complete a ‘Record of Hours Not Worked’ form for the hours they were due to have worked, but have missed due to industrial action. Once signed by the relevant Head, a copy will be returned to the member of staff and another retained by the school/department as a record of the hours to be offered in the future. The new form will be available on the HR website by Monday 12 March – https://www.kent.ac.uk/human-resources/pensions/uss-industrial-action2018/.