Human Resources

The Human Resources Division is structured by team:

Academic and Research Staff Policy
Employment Relations
HR Information and Systems
Pay
Reward
Recruitment
Staff Development Unit (Academic Support Staff)

Key areas of concern for Heads of Department in relation to staffing issues

Heads of Department who wish to discuss issues relating to academic staff should speak to the HR Director in the first instance. Issues relating to Interim/Major Reviews should be directed to Dominic Smith in the first instance. Issues relating to academic staff recruitment should be directed to Sarah Pedder/Sofia Avgerinou in the first instance.

Fixed-term contracts

The School only uses fixed-term contracts in very limited circumstances:

Covering staff absence (e.g. maternity leave, sabbatical, buyout leave)
Secondments
Where staff are funded by external sources of funding for a limited time
For particular projects where specialist expertise is needed
Time limited funding allocated by the APRC

Please also see Guidance on School use of fixed-term contracts

The School has moved research staff to open-ended contracts (explaining carefully that their appointments are still subject to the availability of external funding).

It should be noted that the termination of a fixed-term contract constitutes a dismissal in employment law and, therefore, it is necessary for the correct procedures to be followed.

Restructuring/ Redundancy management

Redundancies may occur in cases, for example, where a department decides to restructure its administrative support. It is important that redundancies are managed properly and, therefore, advice should be sought from Employment Relations as early as possible. Issues to consider include: exploring other funding options; consulting (both with the member of staff and others); ensuring that there are fair procedures in place for deciding who should be made redundant; exploring alternative employment options). LSE has established policy and procedures on redundancy. Proper consultation is still required even if the restructuring means that job losses are not anticipated.

Discrimination

Heads of Department are responsible for ensuring that staff in the department have sufficient awareness of the requirements of the Sex Discrimination Act, Disability Discrimination Act, Race Relations Act, the Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003 and the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003, Fixed-Term Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2002, and Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006, to ensure that discriminatory practices are not taking place. The Diversity Toolkit is available on the Human Resources website, see Respect for people: LSE's new diversity toolkit

Bullying and Harassment

The School has an Anti-harassment policy/procedure and Anti-Harassment Panel to deal with cases of bullying and harassment. Heads of Department should ensure that staff are aware of the bullying and harassment policy, and should any cases of bullying or harassment be identified, ensure that appropriate action is taken.

Please see the School’s website for further information:

Grievances

Heads of Department should be aware that under new legislation, any complaint in writing constitutes a grievance. This can include comments in an e-mail or exit questionnaire as well as a formal statement/letter of grievance. Following receipt of a grievance, a meeting should be held to discuss the complaint at which the employee has the right to be accompanied. Advice should be sought from the HR Director in the first instance regarding grievance issues in relation to academic staff. Grievance issues in relation to academic support staff should be directed to Employment Relations.

Sickness Absence

Sickness absence should be recorded on the appropriate pink form and sent to Human Resources to ensure correct payment. Heads of Department should ensure that sickness absence is monitored in the department and that advice is sought from Employment Relations in relation to members of staff with high sickness levels or regular sickness patterns. In cases where members of staff are signed off with stress, Employment Relations should be alerted and an Occupational Health referral will normally be arranged. A Managing Capability – Health Toolkit, is available on request from Employment Relations.

Disability

Where Heads of Department are aware or suspect that a member of staff has a disability, advice should be sought from Employment Relations as to whether any reasonable adjustments are necessary. It should also be noted that applications can be made to Access to Work, an external organisation, in order to secure funding where this is necessary in order to provide equipment or additional support. A “Managing Disability” Toolkit is available on request from Employment Relations.

Maternity/Paternity/Parental/Adoption Leave

Heads of Department should ensure that the department operates a fair system of maternity, adoption, paternity and parental leave and that members of staff contact Employment Relations for information regarding their entitlements. It should be noted that departments have to carry the costs, but a proportion of these are normally reclaimed from the Inland Revenue. Departments can also ask the APRC for assistance if necessary. Departments should seek advice from Recruitment when planning for cover. Parental leave can also cause difficulties, and may need careful negotiation with staff.

Flexible Working Requests

Members of staff with children under 6yrs (or 18yrs if registered disabled) are entitled to have an application for flexible working seriously considered. There is a standard procedure that must be followed in all cases and, therefore, advice should be sought from Employment Relations. Requests for flexible working are relatively common across the School following a return from maternity leave. A Managing Flexible Working Toolkit is available on request from Employment Relations.

Performance Management

Heads of Department are responsible for ensuring that support and counselling is provided to help members of staff work to the required standard. In such cases, Heads of Department should seek advice from the HR Director (performance issues in relation to academic staff) or Employment Relations (performance issues in relation to academic support staff). A Performance Management Toolkit is available on request from Employment Relations.

Post 65 Employment

Requests for post-65 employment will be determined according to the School’s Age Policy and Procedure which is available on the Human Resources website'

Promotion and Review (Academic Staff)

Interim/Major Review are designed to reflect key stages in career development. In particular, Major Review is one of the most significant stages in an individual’s career at the School. It follows that the Promotions Committee would expect a Head of Department to raise any serious concerns in relation to a lecturer’s prospects for a successful Interim/Major Review at an early stage.

Promotion (Academic Staff)

Heads of Department should ensure that academic staff within the Department are reviewed annually. In cases where the Departmental Professoriate are unable to recommend promotion, the member of staff should be given adequate notice of the decision not to support in case he/she elects to proceed as a self-sponsored candidate

Retention Issues (Academic Staff)

The Promotions Committee is aware of the pressures created when urgent retention issues arise and seeks to work with Heads of Department to deal with such matters expeditiously, without threatening the integrity and quality of the School’s established procedures. The Promotions Committee has agreed the following criteria for emergency procedures:

Evidence, in the form of an offer letter from a comparator, academic institution. Offers from the commercial sector are not deemed relevant in this context.
The Promotions Committee would expect confirmation from the Head of Department that the candidate would in any event, be put forward in the forthcoming promotion round.

The full emergency promotion procedures are published in the Guidelines for Promotion and Review of Academic Staff, 2008-2009.

Recognition and Reward

Academic Staff

Lecturers passing Major Review are rewarded with one additional increment from the following 1 August.
Members of academic staff promoted to Senior Lecturer and Reader are rewarded with two additional increments from the following 1 August.
Heads of Department are invited on an annual basis to put forward cases for the award of additional increments to the Academic Excellence Committee, (a Sub-Committee of the Remuneration Committee) empowered to agree the allocation of available resources.
The Professorial and Senior Managers Committee (a Sub-Committee of the Remuneration Committee), determines professorial salaries.

Academic Support Staff

Academic Support Staff Committee (ASSC): approves increments and lump sums for staff on Bands 8 and 9. The HR Director, should be contacted for advice on ASSC procedures.

Research Staff

Promotion procedures for research staff are dealt with by the Recruitment team (Sarah Pedder should be contacted for further information).
The ASSC approves requests for additional incrementation for research staff.

Research Staff Working Group

The Research Staff Working Group (RSWG) is actively engaged in reviewing the School's provision for research staff with a view to ensuring that the School offers the best possible working environment for research staff.

The RSWG is working towards developing a policy Framework for the employment and management of research staff at LSE. The draft Framework should be available for consultation at the end of the 2008 Michaelmas term. The Framework is being drawn up with due regard to the key principles of the Research Councils UK Revised Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers which launched in June 2008.

The RSWG will continue meeting until the end of Michaelmas term next session at which point it will hand over to the new Research Staff Committee which will come into existence at the beginning of Lent term, 2009.

August 2008