Recording participation in industrial action
All email to all staff from Rachel Brealey, Chief Operating Officer, on 30 June.
Dear colleague,
Two of our campus trade unions, the University and College Union (UCU) and Unison, have recently called on their members employed at the University to take industrial action.
As we do not know which of our employees are trade union members, we need to write to all staff, to ensure that those who participated in the industrial action know what we expect them to do in terms of declaring their participation.
The following information is only directly relevant for staff who took part in strike action.
- UCU announced that a period of continuous strike action would commence from 15 June onwards. The UCU ended this strike action on 26 June.
- Unison announced periods of discontinuous strike action on 15 to 18 June (inclusive), and 22 to 28 June (inclusive).
UCU Strike Action
As the strike took place over a defined period (rather than being open-ended as originally notified and envisaged) staff should report participation via Employee Self Service (ESS) in the normal way by 5pm on 7 July. Any member of staff who has already notified their participation in strike action over this period via the MS Teams form need take no further action.
Please note; All arrangements relevant to registering participation in the marking and assessment boycott are unchanged and remain as previously notified.
Unison Discontinuous Strike Action
Colleagues who participated in Unison’s discontinuous strike action are required to report participation as soon as possible upon return to work following the strike date via Employee Self Service (ESS) in the normal way and as previously notified. This is in order that appropriate adjustments to their salary can be made.
Colleagues who participated in Unison’s discontinuous strike action are reminded that the deadline for reporting participation in strike action during the periods 15 to 18 June and 22 to 28 June is Wednesday 5 July.
Information relevant to both sets of strike action
If a person works part-time or shifts and decides to go on strike, they are asked to confirm the number of hours that they were scheduled to work on the strike participation day(s).
If you work in cleaning services and you do not have access to Employee Self Service, please notify your line manager of your participation in strike action and they will report this for you.
One day’s pay will be deducted for each day of participation in strike action. The calculation of one day’s pay will be 1/365th of annual salary for full time employees, and the actual hours contracted for that day for employees who work part time hours or shift patterns.
Deductions will be processed no earlier than the July pay cycle.
For any member of staff taking strike action of any kind (i.e. whether indefinite or discontinuous) the deduction of salary may have additional consequences. For example, during participation in industrial action, employee and employer pension contributions will not be made and pensionable service will not accrue.
For clarity, the withholding of pay is without prejudice to any other right or remedy on the part of the University, including any claim for damages for breach of contract.
More information about why the industrial action is taking place - and what is taking place nationally and locally to resolve it - can be found on For Staff. If you have further queries, please speak with your manager or head of school or service in the first instance.
Yours sincerely,
Rachel Brealey
Chief Operating Officer