University and Edinburgh UCU Joint Statement

The University of Edinburgh and Edinburgh UCU restate their commitment to working in partnership to enhance the employment experience of those employed on Guaranteed Hours and Fixed-Term contracts.

The University and UCU have agreed a programme of work to address issues of particular concern to teaching staff employed on guaranteed minimum hour contracts.  The University and UCU have also committed to review the number and duration of fixed-term teaching fellowship contracts, and to take this forward to effectively consider the formal claim submitted by UCU in February 2018.

Whilst the University and UCU agree that progress has been made since the move away from ‘hours to be notified’ and introduction of ‘guaranteed hours’ (GH) contracts and welcome the development of the policy for the recruitment, development and support of tutors and demonstrators, it is also recognised that more needs to be done to ensure that GH staff are fairly paid for all of the work they are asked to do and to reduce the insecure nature of these contracts.   

To address this, work has already commenced, piloted by the Schools of Languages, Literature and Culture and History, Classics and Archaeology, to gain a better understanding of the make-up of our GH population and whether the work they do could be consolidated into more substantive part-time or full-time posts. 

We have also agreed to ask all Schools/Deaneries to confirm that they have embedded key policy components in their School level handbook for tutors and demonstrators.

We aim to complete this analysis across all Schools/Deaneries by August 2018. 

The University and UCU recognise that it is in all our interests to put sufficient energy and commitment into resolving this in a timely manner.

A programme of fortnightly negotiating meetings has been scheduled to discuss this information, and other data relating to fixed-term contracts, to generate proposals for consideration by October 2018 by UCU members and the University Executive.

Professor Jane Norman, Vice-Principal, People and Culture

James Saville, Director of HR

Grant Buttars, Honorary President, UCU Edinburgh

28 June 2018