Any staff member at the University who is in UCU and has any union role – department rep, safety rep, committee member, caseworker, or any other role, is entitled to have 0.1FTE (or pro rata) allocated to their workload as part of a legal entitlement to paid time off for trade union duties which the University is obliged to provide under the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. This legislation is underpinned by the UoB / UCU branch Recognition Agreement and Time Off for Trade Union Duties Agreement

Paid time off is also allowed for training required to perform your duties.

The committee will assist you with notifying your local manager of your new position and the time you are entitled to, establishing your facilities time and reduction of duties.

If you have any difficulties claiming facilities time, please contact the branch admin.

Committee

General Committee Members

All elected members of the committee are automatically entitled to 0.1 FTE (0.5 day) per week paid time off. This comes out of the Departmental budget for the member’s area.

Committee Officers

We have an agreement with UoB for an extra allowance of 1.6 FTE from the central budget, to be shared amongst committee members who take on officer roles that require more than 0.5 day per week. This time is allocated by the committee according to the branch’s priorities, however, the university has a rule that no member can spend more than 50% of time on trade union work.

The committee can decide who gets what from the 1.6 FTE pot. This is normally allocated to officers taking at least 0.2 FTE. If you are considering joining the committee to take on an officer role please contact the branch to discuss potential facilities time allocation.

Training available, optional:

• Various

Departmental reps

As a recognised union any rep automatically has a right to 0.1 FTE (full-time equivalent, i.e. half-a-day per week) for trade union work, under the Time Off for Union Duties agreement. This comes out of the Departmental budget for the member’s area.

Training available, optional:

• Reps 1 (3 days)
• Reps 2 (3 days)

Caseworker

On completion of caseworker training you can join the casework team and you are entitled to 0.1 FTE (0.5 day) per week paid time off. This comes out of the Departmental budget for the member’s area.

Training available, compulsory:

• Representing members (7–10 hours)

Safety representatives

There is a statutory requirement for the University to allow union safety representatives whatever time off with pay during working hours necessary for them to do the job effectively. This is provided for in the Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Act 1977.

Union health and safety reps work for the benefit of everyone on campus. Currently UoB has agreed that all Safety Reps will be entitled to 0.5 days per week to undertake their core duties.

Training available, optional:

• Health and safety 1 (3 days)
• Health and safety 2 (3 days)
• Various specialist courses

The University has to report facilities time data to the government and therefore asks us to confirm what has been taken.