Facilities time proposals in relation to casualisation:

We (BUCU) have been seeking the following, as a reasonable suggestion for how staff on part-time/fixed-term contracts and elected PGR branch officers can access trade union facilities time (‘paid time off for trade union duties’) in the same way as staff on full-time contracts can. This has so far been denied by the University of Birmingham management, on grounds that we believe to be incorrect – largely claiming that this is ‘standard for any organisation’, despite having been shown evidence of other Universities (Warwick, Durham, Sheffield) doing some or all of the below. The current arrangements for facilities time therefore create a situation whereby staff on part-time/fixed-term contracts and elected PGR branch officers are treated less favourably then staff on permanent contracts.

1. Reps on casualised contracts should have the option to choose between having their paid time off for union duties covered by someone else (the line manager would action this), and/or being paid extra for facilities time on top of their contract, and/or having their contract extended;
2. Reps who are PGR members but not currently having a contract would need to have a contract for facilities time drawn up;
3. For the standard half-day week financed by departments: use the standard half-day/week instead of 10% of the contract; remove all references to ‘10%’ and only work with ‘half day-week’ as a minimum.
4. Remove the 50% (of contract) paid time off limit for casualised members – both in relation to the time covered by departments and the time covered by central HR;
5. if a casualised member’s contract is such that half day/week is more than 50% of their contract/week, they should be granted the full standard half-day (as cover and/or top-up);
6. if the branch committee decide to offer facilities time (from the overall pool for the branch) that goes above the 50% of the rep’s workload, that should be implemented – the university should have no say in which kinds of contracts the pool of facilities time is distributed to by the reps;
7. Facilities time arrangements should cover the entire academic year for which the rep has been elected
8. e.g., if a rep’s contract lasts for 10 months, the University of Birmingham should top up their facilities time for the two extra months;
9. If a rep holds an officer position alongside a Health and Safety rep/officer role (the latter is covered by different legislation), the facilities time provision should be added up for both roles;
10. Training: paid time off (or paid on top of one’s contract) should be provided for training reps, regardless of the type of contract they are on;
11. Establish a clear point of contact from HR who’d be CC’ed in comms to one’s manager about the need for them to action the facilities time request
12. Reps who use weekly timesheets should have time added on or paid cover agreed – just like reps on contracts would.

BUCU committee, May 2024