Hourly-Paid Workshop

1. Hourly-Paid Workshop UCU – an introduction Your rights Getting improvements

2. UCU – an introduction • Almost 120,000 members including academics, lecturers, trainers, researchers, computer staff, administrators and postgraduates in colleges, universities, prisons and adult education • The largest post-school education union in the world

4. UCU – an introduction • Negotiate pay and conditions locally and nationally • Provide individual advice and support (backed up by our legal scheme) • Campaign, negotiate and lobby for improvements for our members • Anti-casualisation issues (including hourly-paid and fixed-term contract issues) are a priority

5. UCU Aims Greater job security Equal pay (including being paid for all hours worked) Permanent pro-rata contracts Eliminate zero hour contracts Fair treatment

6. Part-Time Workers’ (Preventionof Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2002 The right to be treated no less favourably than comparable full-time workers / permanent employees (unless such treatment is objectively justified).

7. Fixed Term Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2002 Employer cannot treat a fixed-term employee any less favourably than a comparable permanent employee unless such treatment can be objectively justified. The use of successive fixed-term contracts will be limited to four years, unless the continued use of a fixed-term contract is justified on objective grounds.

8. Redundancy Avoidance Same legal rights (part-time or open-ended): Dismissals must be for a ‘fair’ reason No unfair selection for redundancy There must be consultation about dismissals (collective and / or individual) (Lancaster case) The employer is under a duty to seek ways of avoiding redundancies After 2 years’ service there is the right to redundancy pay

9. Employment Rights A written statement of terms and conditions Equal pay - any term that affects pay (overtime, holiday entitlement, travel allowance) Legal responsibility for your health and safety. Includes mental well-being eg stress Positive duty on employer to promote equality

10. Zero Hours Contracts • Allow variations in hours – down to zero • May not guarantee work (or income) • Can lead to exploitation • When there is no work the legal position in relation to the right to redundancy pay etc is unclear • Even if redundancy pay is agreed, reduced hours mean reduced redundancy pay

11. Employment Status • Employee – most rights • Worker • Self-employed?

12. Legal Successes • UCU member Sue Birch challenged her hourly rate of pay ( £10,000 less than a comparable full-time colleague) and won – receiving compensation and a permanent full-time contract • Lancaster Univ v UCU – won fixed term contract redundancy consultation rights

13. UCU Successes • Northumbria Univ – more than 80 hours teaching a year, or work more than 1 year, offered a fractional lecturing contract • Coventry Adult Education branch - no variable hours contracts. All tutors offered fractional contracts with guaranteed hours • CONEL – campaign/collective grievances • Aberdeen - Postgrad TAs campaign • Sheffield – contacting hourly-paid staff

14. What Can You Do? • Join UCU ( www.ucu.org.uk/join ) • Encourage colleagues to join / set up a network • Contact your branch: get involved • Hourly-Paid Survival Guide www.ucu.org.uk/index.cfm?articleid=3228 • UCU Hourly-Paid Network www.ucu.org.uk/elists