We held a second informal meeting yesterday with members – thanks to all that participated, it was great to see you all, and your contributions were really helpful.
This update is to let you know that negotiations about an extension to the Memorandum of Understanding with the University on furlough haven’t been successful. We are deeply concerned that the University has also proceeded to make changes to the furlough situation, AFTER the release of the survey re voluntary cost reductions, and without consultation with unions. Please note the following:
- the University is only guaranteeing 100% pay for people on furlough up to the end of July.
- From 1 Aug, the University is only prepared to pay 80% salary to people on furlough: https://portal.lancaster.ac.uk/intranet/cms/coronavirus/staff-faq (scroll down to section on ‘Job Retention Scheme (Furloughing). This includes ‘flexible furlough’ arrangements, where you will be paid your full salary for the time you are at work, but only 80% for any time you are furloughed.
Furlough can only take place with your consent, therefore do not agree to furlough from 1 Aug if you do not feel you can manage on 80% salary for your furloughed time. If there is ‘no work’ for you to do in your substantive role, the University will have to temporarily redeploy you elsewhere in the University in line with your current grade. If you have any concerns that you are being pressured into taking furlough at any point, please get in touch with us, before you sign anything!
With regard to the survey re. ‘voluntary cost reductions’ – this survey is not mandatory, and you are under no obligation to complete it. Our suggestion remains:
- Do not answer any questions in Part A – if you do, there is an impact on your contract with the University. Please note – the survey is in two parts, Part A and Part B. It is possible to respond to one and not the other. We suggest you skip Part A.
- Use the expression of interest form in Part B to indicate whether you want to take up some of the other voluntary measures being considered (flexible working, purchasing additional annual leave, etc) that may benefit you and also provide cost savings to the University. HR will then follow up with you and your line manager. Please be aware, before making a final decision,that any permanent changes to terms and conditions will have an impact on redundancy, pensions and retirement, and you should take this into consideration.
Please be aware that if you choose to make a voluntary donation to the University, and then agree to being fully or partially furloughed from 1 Aug onwards, you make end up making a considerable financial sacrifice, and we firmly believe that this is not fair to our members.
If your role is funded through external sources and you have any queries re the voluntary contributions survey, please contact us at unison@lancaster.ac.uk.
We are continuing to work on a method of providing more frequent informal engagement via Teams, as requested by you – some final fine-tuning is taking place, and we will make an announcement on this shortly.
As ever – the strength of the unions lies in you, the members. Please continue to engage with UNISON, and please ask your friends to join a Union!