In the June 2021 the RAIUL UCU surveyed all faculty about experiences of occupation stress. Here you will find the report on the findings and updates on the campaign to fight unacceptable levels of stress at Richmond.

 

Update on the Stress Campaign (December 2021)

We have experienced unprecedented challenges over the past couple of years at Richmond with the threatened collapse of the university and the pandemic. Notwithstanding, ongoing workplace stressors for our members due to insecure contracts and inequitable and unreasonable workloads have impacted faculty. Workplace stress as you know is a serious issue and a threat to health and well-being. Following on from the Richmond UCU stress survey in the summer the Chair, Secretary and Health and Safety Officer met with the Executive Team to discuss the findings and work together to provide solutions. It was evident from the results of the survey that Richmond faculty are experiencing unacceptable levels of stress, which the executive team acknowledged.

At the meeting we asked for HSE guidelines to tackle workplace stress to be followed. It was agreed that stress would become more visible in communications to break down stigma and raise awareness; resources and information on stress reduction will be signposted, and; the university stress policy will be reviewed as part of the employee handbook update. We also emphasised the importance of training for HoDs to recognise stress and for stress-specific risk assessments to be part of the stress policy for the university. A united front is needed to tackle work-related stress and we encourage all faculty to take time off when they are sick, and report to HR if this sickness is stress-related. The Executive team are looking for alternatives to make-up classes to support faculty sick leave. We are compiling an adjunct skills and knowledge database, which will help identify suitable cover and guest speakers within current faculty to help facilitate sick leave of faculty.

 

 

2021 Richmond UCU Stress Survey: Preliminary Summary of Key Findings

(August 2021)

For a full report of the draft findings see: UCU Stress Survey_Draft findings 

Background

Occupational stress is fast becoming “a cause of serious personal injury in the workplace” . Evidence shows workplace stress is related to psychological and work-related harm (e.g., diminished work performance, lower job satisfaction, absenteeism, career interruptions, job loss, depression and health problems) plus higher risk of coronary heart disease 

Method

Following ethical approval, an online questionnaire created in Microsoft Forms was distributed via ‘All faculty’ email. In this first phase of the study 40 members of faculty (including 65.9% of full-timers) completed the questionnaire.

Key Preliminary Findings

•The majority of faculty (92.5%) questioned experience “unacceptable levels of stress”, with 40% of  respondents experiencing unacceptable levels of stress “often or always”.

•When asked to rate their work-life balance (WLB) on a 1-9 scale (where 1 = My work and home lives are completely separate, to; 9 = There is no separation between my work and home lives) 50% of faculty rated between “7-9” and when asked for their ideal WLB rating 38 participants rated between “1-5”; no one chose higher than “6”

•Over half of faculty (52.5%) stated they worked over 40 hours per week, 11 working 50+ hours

•48% stated they were in work when sick, and 63% did not take all of their annual leave entitlement

Conclusion and Recommendations

Unacceptable stress at Richmond is a health and safety issue that the University and senior management team (SMT) must address.

The University has a statutory responsibility to employees. Therefore, in line with HSE recommendations, a stress risk assessment needs to be conducted as soon as possible, in order to design a stress policy for the university to promote a system of continuous improvement.

It is our position that all workload, promotion, and progression models must ensure faculty’s health and safety resolve stress levels through a fair, transparent, and reasonable workload.

 

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact: richmonducubranch@richmond.ac.uk or the research team:

Dr. Samantha Bracey, Assistant Professor of Sports Management, samantha.bracey@richmond.ac.uk

Dr. Susan Pell, Associate Professor of Communications, pells@richmond.ac.uk