Welcome back Richmond Faculty!

We hope that you have had a chance this summer to restore yourself for the semester ahead. As we return to campus, we look forward to seeing familiar faces on campus and welcoming new colleagues to Richmond.

The UCU Richmond Branch Committee has been busy over the summer; we have collected information about faculty’s working conditions, feedbacking on changes and updates to University policies and practices, and organising for the fall. In this newsletter we provide an update of our work and ways to get involved on the following issues:

• Faculty’s unacceptable levels of stress and workload
• Adjunct faculty’s poor employment conditions
• Faculty Progression, Promotion and Workload (FPPW)
• HR guidance for long Covid
• New international and home working policies

The UCU Branch Committee conducted a survey of all faculty at Richmond about their experiences of occupational stress and wellbeing (see full draft findings). The results demonstrated that majority of faculty experience unacceptable levels of stress due to workload, inability to take meaningful sick leave or annual leave, and insecure contracts. We used this data to push for the university to address issues of unacceptable stress and workload, and challenged on the inequality and precarity faced by Adjunct Faculty in particular. The Senior Management Team agreed with the UCU that it is a serious issue that must be addressed, however, a plan to move forward has yet to be established. As it is a health and safety issue for employees, we will continue to demand that the university monitor and reduce stress amongst all faculty over the continuing year, especially in light of our return to face to face teaching. We have a second meeting with Senior Management on stress this month.

A major focus of the Committee this summer was the poor working conditions of Adjunct Faculty at Richmond. Adjunct employees on insecure zero-hour contracts typically make up over 60% of faculty at Richmond, and many have worked at the university for more than four years. Yet with most not receiving teaching during the 2020-21 year, and it appears that Adjunct Faculty have been asked to bear the brunt of teaching cuts made during this period, leading to unemployment and hardship. Information collected through casework and a survey of Adjunct Faculty Contracts of UCU members has made it overwhelmingly clear that the University must improve Adjunct Faculty’s working conditions. We are calling for the end of the use of zero-hour contracts and to give Adjunct faculty of two or more years’ standing the option of moving to permanent fractional and full-time contracts. We also are asking for a review the pay of Adjunct Faculty contracts to ensure equity across departments and pay levels comparable to other higher education institutions in London.

We have set up an Adjunct Faculty Action Group and are holding an open all-faculty meeting on October 1st for those who are interested in getting involved. (For further resources)

The UCU continued to speak for all faculty’s interests in the Faculty Progression, Promotion, and Workload (FPPW) Working Group. We have pressed for transparency and fairness in the development of the workload model and its implementation. We have made it clear that we cannot support any workload, promotion, and progression scheme that does not ensure the health and safety of Faculty and equality in the workplace (see our letter to SMT). As evident in the above survey, we pointed to employee stress due to workload as a particular concern that the FPPW must address. We also insisted that it must ensure opportunities for professional development, including pursuit of research, of all Faculty.

In response to HR’s proposed guidance on long Covid, the UCU has called for further measures to support faculty experiencing this serious condition and also, critically, to prevent transmission of Covid in the first instance (see UCU’s full response). We have argued that long Covid is a both a health and safety, and an equalities issue that can have disabling consequences. Not only have we called for further organisation-wide risk assessment and for a review of the Sickness Leave Policy, we also insist that the University go beyond the minimal rules and recommendations set by the government to put in place practices that would help prevent Covid infections in the first place to guarantee Covid-safe working conditions to everyone on our campuses.

Over the summer, we engaged in an open dialogue with HR concerning the implementation of new International and Home Working policies in response to faculty working conditions over the past 18 months. We are aware members may wish to continue to work from home. We also recognise members often work outside of the UK, especially during the summer, so clarification is needed on these practices. We wish to safeguard our members’ right to work more flexibly in future, either from home or outside of the UK, be it for personal or professional reasons. HR have produced home working guidance, which the Branch welcome. The International working proposal restricts working from outside of the UK to 30 days. The policies remain in development, and we are still in active consultation regarding home and international working. We aim to canvass members views on International working and encourage faculty to make their views known to the Branch.

Have your say: Issues for the JNCC meeting with SMT

Branch Officers will be meeting with the Senior Management Team at the Joint Negotiation and Consultation Committee in late September. Please let us know issues and concerns you would like us to address.

Get involved with your Local Branch:

We are looking for volunteer Caseworkers and Departmental Reps to help build and diversify the voice of the Union. We are also always interested in hearing from members and those who want to join.

Please get in touch with us (richmonducubranch@richmond.ac.uk) and come to our upcoming events.

Together we can improve working conditions at Richmond.