Month: November 2011

Academic Appointments Procedure – Remote interviews and restrictions on the use of this method

The College’s recommendation of the exceptional circumstances in which Skype and video conferencing may be used to interview candidates for academic posts can be read on the College’s Academic Appointment Procedures Use of Technology guidance note. 

In all cases where remote interviewing is proposed, (assuming the exceptional circumstances apply, as set out on the document mentioned above), permission from the Senior Dean (via HR) must be sought, and a justification provided.

Applying for job vacancies at Imperial – new online functionality

Staff searching and applying for job vacancies at the College from early December will be able to use new functionality within the Employment webpages and ICIS aimed at streamlining the process. Staff will be able to access vacancies either by clicking on the ‘Job Search for current Imperial College staff’ button on the Employment website or by logging into ICIS and selecting the ‘My Opportunities’ responsibility.

Staff will able to set up ‘job alerts’ to receive emails when new vacancies become available which match their pre-selected criteria. If a member of staff chooses to apply for a vacancy via the new facility, personal information will be extracted from ICIS to automatically populate a number of fields in the online recruitment system. To ensure your personal details are up to date, use the ICIS Self Service facility.

Once the new functionality has gone live, links to guidance, online demonstrations and FAQ’s will be available from the Employment website.

This is the first in a series of improvements to streamline the application process, and further developments to the system will be implemented as part of the College’s upgrade of Oracle next year.

Industrial action by UCU on 30 November 2011

The University and College Union have issued the College with a notice of industrial action in the form of a one day strike on 30 November 2011.  This is in support of their continued dispute on the USS pension reform and is timed to coincide with the protest by public sector trade unions at the Government’s proposed changes to public sector pension schemes.

Members of Imperial College staff participating in industrial action on 30 November

Members of staff who do not attend work on 30 November in support of the industrial action are not entitled to be paid for the day of absence.  Pay will be deducted at 1/261th of annual salary.  Pension membership would normally be suspended during industrial action but the College has taken the decision to maintain contributions to ensure that staff have life cover maintained during this period.  

Members of staff taking Industrial Action are requested to notify their Head of Department in advance of the action and to copy this notification to the Director of HR – directorofhr@imperial.ac.uk

A sample message to send to the Head of Department is provided here.

On the day of industrial action

The College will monitor the numbers of staff intending to take industrial action and plan any adjustments to services and teaching accordingly.  There is a very short period of time to gather names and then to assess the potential impact.  Staff and students should monitor the College staff pages  for the latest information on services and teaching.

 If industrial action does take place then it is usual practice for the Union to place picket lines at some entrances to the College.  The Union may distribute leaflets and talk to members of staff and students attending College on the day of action.  The College’s experience is that pickets run by its local unions have always been conducted in a professional, peaceful and non-threatening way.  Members of the College community can be assured that they will not be prevented from going about their usual business on the day of the action if they wish to do so.

UCU Action Short of a Strike

The one day action supplements UCU’s ongoing continuous industrial action in the form of working to contractual responsibilities only.  Action short of a strike usually consists of union members refusing to do parts of their role which are non contractual.  The College will not accept partial performance of a contract.  Where a member of staff declines to participate in an activity that his / her line manager considers to be part of the normal requirements for the role, pay will be withheld in full.  Further information will be provided to any member of staff who wishes to take part in action short of a strike.

Industrial Action by Public Sector Workers

The strike by public sector workers not connected with the College may still impact on the ability of staff to attend work as normal on 30 November.  The most likely causes of disruption are school closures and possibly disruption to travel services.   Each member of staff is expected to make every reasonable effort to present him/herself for work.  If a member of staff anticipates that she or he may not be able to attend work as normal on 30 November due to industrial action not connected with the College then they must discuss the possibility of alternative working arrangements for the day with their manager, in advance of the strike day.

Alternatives working arrangements are subject to the operational priorities of the department and must be approved by the line manager.   Options for consideration are:

  • Early or late start to co-ordinate with others sharing non public transport travel arrangements etc.
  •  Taking leave (paid or unpaid), provided that this is acceptable in terms of the needs of the department/division.
  •  Redistribution of working hours, to make up the strike day not worked, provided that this is acceptable in terms of the needs of the department/division.
  •  Taking work home or working from home.

 Please contact your local HR team with any questions.