Our University’s pay and employment conditions
16 Mar 2022
How we give our colleagues the best pay and conditions possible
Pay
Like the USS pension, our University can’t make decisions on pay on its own. Our pay increases are negotiated at a national level by the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA).
The last pay increase was in August 2021: 1.5% – 3.65% with the greatest increases for those who earn the least. This final offer was made at a time when inflation was running at 1%, though we know inflation has risen sharply since then.
Over half of our colleagues receive annual increments which, for those who are eligible ,amounts to an average of 2.9% of their salary, in addition to the pay award.
We consistently spend well over half of our entire income on pay and pensions. This figure (57% of income in 2019/2020) has increased over recent years, while major income streams such as the undergraduate tuition fee and research income are flat or declining in real terms.
UCEA has published a series of helpful infographics which compare the pay increases over the last few years and shows how they have grown overall, and in comparison to other sectors.
We know that inflation has risen in recent months to much higher levels than we were experiencing in the early part of 2021 and that will obviously be a major consideration for UCEA and all employers as it enters the national pay negotiations for 2022-23 with the trade unions.
Other employment conditions
We know that pay, pensions and working conditions are important to colleagues and form part of the re-ballots for industrial action by the University and College Union (UCU).
Whilst our University is not able to act alone on issues to do with USS and pay, we can and do take action on contracts, staff benefits (including the launch of our new employee assistance programme) and pay gaps. We are also establishing Task and Finish Groups with the trade unions on the issues of pay gaps and casualisation.
We’ve put together three visuals to help explain our University’s position and action on:
We take your concerns seriously and are committed to offering attractive working conditions for all colleagues. I hope you find this information helpful.
Contracts
The University employs staff on permanent contracts wherever possible. We use fixed-term contracts only in the following circumstances:
- if external funding is available for a short time
- to work on a defined project of fixed duration
- to cover secondments or long-term absence
- for research roles if four years or fewer
- to cover temporary increases in student numbers.
Casual, hourly-paid contracts are used only for specific and restricted reasons such as for student ambassadors where the requirement for work is expected to be for fewer than 13 consecutive weeks and where flexibility is required. Last year we engaged just over 500 on this basis. We employ over 12,000 staff.
In accordance with the provisions of the Contracts of Employment Policy agreed with the trade unions, a Joint Contracts Working Group comprising both University and trade union members monitors the appropriate use of fixed term contracts. UCU recently claimed that 48% of our academic staff are on fixed term contracts. This is simply untrue. Of our Lecturers, Senior Lecturers, Readers and Professors, the figure is just over 22%.
Pay gaps
In 2020, our mean gender pay gap (GPG) was 17.2% and our mean ethnicity pay gap (EPG) was 17.9%. The 2021 pay gap results will be published this month and show a narrowing of the GPG to 15.6% and of the EPG to 13.3%. For the first time we will be reporting on the disability pay gap (DPG) which shows a mean gap of 15.1%.
It is important to stress that these gaps are not due to men and women, or ethnic minority and disabled colleagues, being paid differently for work of equal value.
In general, there are fewer women, ethnic minority and disabled staff in senior roles and more in the most junior roles, which is the reason for these gaps. We are continuing to eliminate these disparities and we have recognised that the best way to do this is through focused action, interventions, and constructive dialogue with our colleagues. We will continue to report openly and transparently and make the changes that are needed.
On our ethnicity pay gap findings, we aim to further understand our position so that we can put into place actions which will make a real difference. We were one of the first in the sector to publish this information.
Other work includes our Equal Pay Audit, Athena SWAN, Race Equality Charter Mark, the Disability Standard, our newly-created Directorate of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and our Race Matters report and we have active staff networks supporting us in taking forward our new Equality and Diversity Strategy. This work is of high strategic importance to the University and in line with our values.
We recognise that there is much more to do to reduce and remove inequalities in our workforce, but we believe our approach locally will lead to sector-leading practices that hasten our rate of progress.
Our benefits package
Our staff and students are at the core of everything we do. As well as salaries, we make sure everyone has good levels of annual leave, access to learning and development and to wellbeing and support services, as part of a full benefits package.
We are proud to be a Living Wage Foundation accredited employer which sets a wage floor for our lower-paid manual staff. We have also been working hard to improve conditions of employment such as contracts, workload and our gender and ethnicity pay gaps, which we will discuss in more detail in my next message.
Opportunities to engage
Our University is working hard to deliver both the best benefits for our staff and also ensure our financial sustainability.
We are in regular contact with our campus trade unions, and we continue to talk to them about the issues they have highlighted, and we have already taken action to address them. You can find minutes of many of our meetings with the trade unions on StaffNet, so you can be fully informed of what is happening.
Where issues occur, we will tackle them collaboratively and we will be transparent about the actions that we take.
This transparency includes holding regular open meetings. If you are concerned about any of the issues raised by this ballot you can ask the Senior Leadership Team directly at the open meeting on Thursday, 7 April, where questions can be submitted in advance or during the event. Further information on these will be shared shortly.
In conclusion
Adèle MacKinlay, Director of People and Organisational Development said: “Our belief is that to continue industrial action after the serious disruption of the last two years, just as we have returned to some form of ‘normal’ as the pandemic strictures have eased, is deeply regrettable. In the event of on-going industrial action, we will continue to do everything to protect the student experience. Moreover, we believe that the action continues to damage morale across the University but also impacts on the wider reputation of the Higher Education sector when so many have made huge sacrifices.
“I am aware that some members within UCU have promulgated what can only be described as erroneous and deliberate misinformation on the issues raised, so I hope that this information is helpful in setting out the facts. My suggestion would be that we work together locally on what we can influence locally, and that we have our voice on nationally negotiated issues – the USS pension and annual pay increases.”
You can also see: