{"id":1205,"date":"2020-02-19T12:47:58","date_gmt":"2020-02-19T12:47:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/?p=1205"},"modified":"2020-02-19T12:54:59","modified_gmt":"2020-02-19T12:54:59","slug":"casualisation-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2020\/02\/19\/casualisation-news\/","title":{"rendered":"CASUALISATION NEWS"},"content":{"rendered":"
Casual readers may be forgiven for thinking that subtext’s drones are embittered cynics whose philosophy can be summed up as ‘D Floor bad, HR enablers of bad’. In an effort to challenge this notion, here’s a vote of thanks for the new ‘Fixed-term Contracts and Casual Working Policy and Procedure’, drafted by a working group involving the campus unions and approved by the Joint Negotiating and Consultative Committee (JNCC) on 4 November 2019. It isn’t easy to find online, and hasn’t yet been put on HR’s page of policies and procedures, but can be accessed on the intranet here:<\/span><\/div>\n
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https:\/\/portal.lancaster.ac.uk\/intranet\/news\/article\/new-policy-means-permanent-contracts-to-be-used-at-lancaster-wherever-possible<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n
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The Director of HR comments that the new policy ‘underlines our commitment to making sure staff feel secure and supported at this university.’ It’s been lauded in the House of Commons by Cat Smith MP, who invited the Minister of State for Universities and Science to ‘join me in welcoming the changes at Lancaster University’ (Commons Hansard, 20 January 2020). In short:<\/span><\/div>\n
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1) Fixed-term contracts will only be used in these circumstances: cover for temporary staff absence; cover for one-off peaks in demand; recognised and time-limited training programmes; and if a staff member requests it (the latter includes situations where an external funder stipulates that their funding is conditional on the position being fixed-term).<\/span><\/div>\n
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2) ‘All staff currently employed on fixed-term contracts will be automatically moved onto indefinite contracts,’ unless their role falls into one of these four cases.<\/span><\/div>\n
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3) Casual (in other words hourly-paid) contracts will only be used in these circumstances: very short term roles up to 12 weeks in duration; and ad hoc roles with no regular pattern of work and no obligation between the parties to offer or accept work (i.e. zero-hour contracts).<\/span><\/div>\n
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The unions offered particular praise to HR Service Delivery Manager Matt Ireland for overseeing the drafting and approval process. All in all, a good news story…<\/span><\/div>\n
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…except that doubts are now setting in amongst union activists regarding HR’s commitment to implementing it. Mr Ireland has now left Lancaster to work for an NHS Trust in East Lancashire.<\/span><\/div>\n
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Let’s look at the current list of vacancies. Among them is an advert for a Business Analyst in Admissions and Outreach (ref N2348), who ‘will focus on the implementation of a new postgraduate admissions system.’ This is ‘a fixed term role, initially until 31st October 2020.’ There’s also a role as Business Relationship Officer for the Lancashire Cyber Foundry (ref N2347), part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund, which seeks to develop ‘a unique business support programme for small to medium enterprise businesses across a range of industrial sectors.’ This is ‘a fixed term post until 30 September 2022’ – note that, according to the new policy, ‘time-limited funding, in itself, will not be justification to place an individual on a fixed-term contract.’ Maybe you’d like to be a Disability Advisor (ref N2338), leading on ‘support for disabled students on the new Frontline postgraduate Social Work programme.’ This is ‘a two year fixed term appointment.’<\/span><\/div>\n
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Have recruiting managers just not got the memo, or has the memo not been sent in the first place?<\/span><\/div>\n
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What about those currently on fixed-term contracts – can they expect to receive letters confirming their indefinite status any day now? It seems unlikely: HR’s page on ‘ending fixed-term contracts’ has not been updated since March 2019 and still claims that, ‘if you wish to extend a fixed-term contract, you need to submit a Manager Request using Core MyHR. Alternatively, a request to Transfer to Indefinite Contract can be made. If managers are awaiting authorisation so that further employment can be offered it is strongly advised that a case for redundancy is made in parallel as a precautionary measure. Any such proposal can be withdrawn once authorisation has been received.’<\/span><\/div>\n
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It may, then, be some time before Lancaster is, to quote the policy, ‘using indefinite contractual arrangements wherever possible and reducing the use of fixed-term and casual arrangements.’ But the policy is there – subtext would be interested to hear any evidence of it actually being used.<\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Casual readers may be forgiven for thinking that subtext’s drones are embittered cynics whose philosophy can be summed up as ‘D Floor bad, HR enablers of bad’. In an effort to challenge this notion, here’s a vote of thanks for … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":568,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[333,82,152,557],"class_list":["post-1205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-anti-casualisation","tag-casualised-staff","tag-hr","tag-issue-192"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p99sHo-jr","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":580,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2018\/05\/24\/ucu-agm\/","url_meta":{"origin":1205,"position":0},"title":"UCU AGM","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"May 24 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The Annual General Meeting of Lancaster UCU on Wednesday 16 May in the Elizabeth Livingston Lecture Theatre passed off without incident. Rumours of coups and tantrums (prams and toys) and factions were groundless or forgotten. The meeting voted through several amendments to the local branch rules and listened to a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "news"","block_context":{"text":"news","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":610,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2018\/04\/24\/deep-dive-casualisation-and-precarious-working-practices\/","url_meta":{"origin":1205,"position":1},"title":"DEEP DIVE: CASUALISATION AND PRECARIOUS WORKING PRACTICES","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"April 24 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"PRECARI-R-US The casualisation and precarious working practices of academic staff are issues that universities are loath to acknowledge, let alone address, and are a far bigger issue than they would admit. However, as universities become more competitive for students, reputation becomes more important, and they are vulnerable to charges of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "special feature"","block_context":{"text":"special feature","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/category\/special-feature\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":612,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2018\/05\/24\/subtext-178-the-future-aint-what-it-used-to-be\/","url_meta":{"origin":1205,"position":2},"title":"subtext 178 – ‘the future ain\u2019t what it used to be’","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"May 24 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Fortnightly during term time. Letters, contributions, & comments: subtext-editors@lancaster.ac.uk Back issues & subscription details:\u00a0http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/about\/ In this issue: editorial,\u00a0hostile environment (x4), sticky wiki, Gary on teacher (x4), flounders, surveying the surveyors (x2), democracy, LUSU (x3), crazy paving, gradballs (x2), lost & found, mostly men o\u2019 wisdom, wet and forget, spine, buses,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "editorial"","block_context":{"text":"editorial","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/category\/editorial\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":771,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2018\/10\/11\/alumni-news\/","url_meta":{"origin":1205,"position":3},"title":"ALUMNI NEWS","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"October 11 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"News reaches subtext that our former VC Paul Wellings is continuing the friendly, inclusive style he pioneered at Lancaster, in his current role as VC for the University of Wollongong. UOW staff were striking this week over insecure work and unfair pay, in particular Wollongong's use of casual and fixed-term\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "news"","block_context":{"text":"news","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1209,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2020\/02\/19\/subtext-192-strike-while-the-subtext-is-hot\/","url_meta":{"origin":1205,"position":4},"title":"subtext 192 – ‘strike while the subtext is hot’","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"February 19 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Every so often during term time. Letters, contributions, & comments: subtext-editors@lancaster.ac.uk Back issues & subscription details: http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/about\/ In this issue: editorial, strike, casualisation, lancaster exchange, student politics, emeriti, gender stereotyping, new build, spineless, university future, widden's review, penguins, letters. ***************************************************** EDITORIAL 'Ultimately our aim is to protect our community's wellbeing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "editorial"","block_context":{"text":"editorial","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/category\/editorial\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1224,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2020\/03\/27\/letters-28\/","url_meta":{"origin":1205,"position":5},"title":"LETTERS","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"March 27 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Dear subtext, As the most recent Head of Department of the late School of Independent Studies, I am assuming I can consider inviting myself to authorise my own access to the University's IT and email? John Wakeford *** Dear subtext, Reading the letters in subtext 192, I was struck by\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "letters"","block_context":{"text":"letters","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/category\/letters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/568"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1205"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1205\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1206,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1205\/revisions\/1206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}