With the recent period of strike action now concluded, we take a look at some of the key areas of interest and concern for colleagues, including work ongoing by the University and the sector on some significant workplace issues.
The University and College Union (UCU) took strike action over pensions and pay, and a number of related issues have been spoken about in the context of these national strikes, such as pay gaps, casualisation and workloads. Colleagues can read more about the negotiations at this link, and here we address some of the concerns being discussed in more detail.
Pay Gaps
In common with much of the rest of the sector and employers across the country, the University has a gender pay gap. The gap at Liverpool is currently 19% – the national figure for the whole working population in the UK currently stands at 17.8%.
The figure compares the average hourly income of the whole male staff population and the whole female staff population. The 19% (median) difference reflects the overall distribution of men and women in the pay spine and within different job groups. We are reducing the pay gap every year and we anticipate a positive set of results following analysis of the 2019 data.
At Liverpool, we are firmly committed to equality. We have undertaken a significant amount of work to promote gender equality in recent years, including supporting more than 150 women on the Springboard, Aurora and Senior Women’s Development Programmes. We also run academic promotion workshops, some of which are specifically aimed at women.
We have created new policies and guidance on Shared Parental Leave, and on the Menopause, as well as developing a Carers’ Framework. We have also joined the Mayoral Breastfeeding Charter, and created a network of Family Friendly Advisers.
As a result, the University has been recognised as an Athena SWAN Silver institution with multiple bronze, silver and a gold department awards. A total of 44% of professorial promotions in 2018 were women – an increase from 30% in 2017. We have also seen an overall increase in female professors from 18% in 2012 to 27% currently. In addition, 40% of our university leaders are women – up from 30% in 2012 – and six of the 10 members of our Senior Leadership Team are female.
The University published median pay gaps for the following staff in 2018 (a minus figure means the pay gap is in favour of the minority group):
- Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) pay gap of -13.2%
- People of Colour (PoC) pay gap of -6%
- Disability pay gap of 11%
For further information please see the Statutory Pay Gap Report 2018 which is available on the website here.
Bonus pay
The majority of bonus pay at the University is awarded through either the University’s Exceptional Performance Award (EPA) scheme or the NHS Clinical Excellence Award Scheme (CEA). The CEA is implemented by the University but determined by partners in the NHS.
In 2018 a total of 117 staff received a bonus payment, of which 63 were men and 53 were women; resulting in a median gender bonus pay gap of 87.6%. However, when the CEA is removed to leave only those awards determined by the University, the median bonus pay gap is 15.9%.
Casual and contract positions
The University continues to offer a wide range of employment opportunities, including casual appointments, because we will always have some need for flexibility in our workforce. Not every role can or should be permanent or full-time, but care is always taken to ensure that contractual arrangements are appropriate to the circumstances. We also know that some employees – including many among our own students – value having a high degree of flexibility in their working arrangements.
Career Development of Researchers
We are a signatory to the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers, an agreement between institutions, managers, researchers and funders that sets out to increase the appeal and sustainability of researcher careers in the UK.
The Concordat highlights the University’s commitment to effectively supporting researchers, through a rigorous process focused on their employment, their working environment and culture and their professional and career development. In line with new principles of the Concordat, the University has updated its Statement of Expectations for Principal Investigators (PIs) and Research Staff. The statement enhances expectations around time for development, with PIs now asked to allocate a minimum of 10 days pro rata, per year, for their researchers to engage with professional development opportunities.
The University has also been awarded £3.6M by Research England towards the innovative £4.4M Prosper project which will tackle equality, diversity and inclusivity issues that usually present barriers to training for postdoctoral researchers.
Workload
Many roles, including academic roles, have high degrees of autonomy and self-direction and the University is very conscious of workload and supporting staff with their health and wellbeing.
In July 2019 the University approved the Academic Portfolio Planning Framework, providing principles and guidance for workload planning models which will allow managers to plan, discuss and agree the distribution of academic work across teams using a consistent institutional approach.
The Academic Portfolio Planning Framework will support transparency and equity of workloads and include reporting to meet Institute, School, Faculty and institutional needs for initiatives such as Athena SWAN. Staff are encouraged to engage actively with the development of their local model and tariffs in aligning them to the institutional framework. More information on the Academic Portfolio Planning Framework Project can be found here.
Flexible working
The University is keen to increase opportunities for flexible working and will shortly be putting in place arrangements for the removal of the 26-week eligibility period from its Flexible Working Policy, bringing the policy in line with other HR policies (such as maternity leave) where staff are eligible from their first day of employment.
The University has also designed a standard flexitime model that departments can choose to use, with details to be announced shortly. The aim of this is to provide staff in areas that opt in with greater flexibility in their working day – for some staff, this may reduce their need to move to part-time hours.
The University has also recently agreed to advertise most jobs as open to job-sharing and provide guidance for existing staff who wish to move to a part-time role via job-sharing which it is hoped will open up more part-time opportunities at all levels.
Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS)
The University supports the use of collective bargaining around the USS, whereby the proposals to address the pensions deficit and future sustainability of the scheme are discussed at a national level between the UCU union and Universities UK (UUK).
The USS remains one of the very best pension schemes in the country with average payments in retirement worth nearly three times the national average for private sector defined benefit schemes and comparable to government-backed public sector schemes.
The scheme needs more money to be able to pay future generations of staff. The cost of providing defined benefit pensions has risen dramatically because people are living longer, and the economic environment has fundamentally changed since the financial crash of 2011. The USS Trustee, The Pensions Regulator and an independent expert panel all agree that the scheme needs more money.
Universities are paying an extra £250 million this year to do just that, and the sector is asking members to increase their contributions too, in line with the established 65%/35% contribution split. That contribution will amount to an average £7 weekly increase (per employee) to the employers’ costs. In light of this, in October 2019, the USS Trustee board implemented an increased contribution rate from 8% to 9.6% of salary for staff, with employers’ contribution rate rising from 18% to 21.1%.
The UCU wants employers to pay for all the increased costs rather than employees being asked to make an additional contribution. However, a significant proportion of employers that participate in the USS, including our University, say that placing a further burden on their finances is currently unaffordable and would lead to difficult decisions about funds being redirected from other areas of their budgets.
Together with the UCU, universities have commissioned advice from a Joint Expert Panel (JEP) and used its recommendations to keep costs down. The second report of the JEP, which will be published soon, will also include options for long-term reform, including looking at valuation methodology and shared valuation principles for the future.
2019/20 Pay Award
The UCU also took strike action in relation to the sector’s 2019-20 pay award which ranged between 3.65% for staff on the lowest point on the pay scale, and 1.8% for those on the higher points of the pay scale. The award has the effect of increasing the rate of pay at the lowest point on the pay scale to £9 per hour, which is currently the Real Living Wage rate of pay. This coincides with the University’s announcement about becoming a Real Living Wage employer that was made in March 2019.
As with the USS dispute, the pay award is agreed nationally and many employers say that they cannot afford greater increases.
Support for students and colleagues
We are doing everything we can to minimise disruption to our students and their studies and have provided guidance for students on processes we have in place to ensure their attainment and progression is not unduly affected, while maintaining academic standards.
We recognise that the strike action may be a cause of concern for many students. We have advised students that they can access our wellbeing drop-in, located in the Alsop Building if they need extra support. Information on all other support available can be accessed here.
We have also produced a series of FAQs for students which are available here.
The strike action may have been a cause for concern and worry for many colleagues. The University Employee Assistance Programme provides for free and confidential access to a variety of support services, including counselling support. Further information is available here, and the contact telephone number is 0800 358 4858.
Further information
For further information, please visit the University’s industrial action page where you can find a list of FAQs.