Replacement teaching compensation

Introduction

The purpose of replacement teaching is to provide compensation to departments in the following circumstances:

Academic Office Holders – e.g. VCAB, VCAC, Deans, Chairs of certain School committees etc.
Staff with UCU responsibilities
Academic staff on sabbatical leave (in exceptional circumstances)
Commutation of Heads of Department sabbatical leave entitlement into cash payment.

Under the first two categories, recurrent funding is provided annually to the relevant departments for the duration the post is held. Requests in connection with sabbatical leave and commutation of Heads’ sabbatical entitlement are expected to be individual in nature and may be received at any time during the session.

Heads of Department/Departmental Managers are notified in writing by Human Resources in the Summer term of each session of any recurrent allocation(s) due to the department for the forthcoming session in respect of academic office-holding. At the same time, Departments are given the opportunity to submit any additional requests for replacement teaching compensation for the forthcoming session.

Further information on each category is provided below. Heads of Department should note in particular, the advice concerning compensation for sabbatical leave cover.

1. Academic Office Holders

Certain academic offices attract replacement teaching and departments are compensated accordingly. Replacement teaching compensation for academic office-holding is intended to enable departments to “buy in” temporary replacement teaching cover. Where a member of staff is located in more than one department, the compensation will be split as appropriate. Departments will members of staff holding academic office do not need to request release of the replacement teaching compensation. The cash equivalent of the MSL rating for each office is awarded automatically to the relevant departments at the beginning of each session for the duration of the individual’s term in office. The amount of compensation increases in line with annual increases to MSL values.

The value of one MSL in 2008-2009 is £865. Certain academic offices also attract enhanced sabbatical leave entitlement.

Academic Office	MSL rating
Pro Directors	(68 MSLs)
Vice Chair of Academic Board	(34 MSLs)
Vice Chair of Appointments Committee	(34 MSLs)
Dean of Undergraduate Studies	(34 MSLs)
Dean of Graduate Studies	(34 MSLs)
Adviser to Women Students	(9.5 MSLs)
Chair, Undergraduate Studies Sub-Committee	(14 MSLs)
Chair, Graduate Studies Sub-Committee	(34 MSLs)
Chair, Graduate School Board of Examiners	(9.5 MSLs)
Chair, School Board of Examiners for BA/BSc Degrees	(9.5 MSLs)
Chair, Research Degrees Sub-Committee	(34 MSLs)
Associate Dean for the General Course	(34 MSLs)

The compensation package offered for Pro-Directorships also includes 68 MSLs (cash equivalent) payable to the individual’s department when the retiring Pro-Director takes their sabbatical year accrued by virtue of being Pro-Director.

2. Staff with UCU Duties

The School expects that Heads of Department should manage sabbatical leave requests in such a way that ensures uninterrupted delivery of the department’s teaching programme. The design and structure of teaching programmes should be such that no one individual is essential – there may be exceptions where single courses are being run. The School would normally expect larger departments to manage this process internally. General requests for teaching cover will not normally be granted unless there are exceptional reasons.

However, the School recognises that there may be exceptional circumstances in smaller departments where a limited amount of temporary teaching cover may need to be provided and is willing to consider requests under the following headings:

Small departments who cannot cover the work of colleagues on leave
Departments who do not have the staff with relevant subject expertise to cover staff on leave.

If there are exceptional circumstances in a smaller department which necessitate a request for temporary replacement teaching for a period of sabbatical leave, the Head of Department should make the case in writing together with a full breakdown of estimated costs and send it to Dominic Smith, Human Resources, for referral to the Pro-Director.

This way, the majority of requests for sabbatical leave cover will be dealt with as they arise, which it is hoped will aid Heads of Department to forward plan. In cases where approval of a sabbatical application will necessitate a request for replacement teaching, Heads of Department are advised to await the Pro-Director’s decision before approving the sabbatical application to ensure that funds will be available to provide temporary teaching cover. If a request is approved, funds will be released to the department at the beginning of the session in which the sabbatical is to be taken.

The rate normally payable for a member of staff on sabbatical leave is £3,000 per term of sabbatical leave. Heads of Department should note that requests for replacement teaching compensation for staff on sabbatical leave are not expected to provide for replacement of salary costs for the member of staff on leave on a like-for-like basis.

3. Staff on Sabbatical Leave

Small departments who cannot cover the work of colleagues on leave
Departments who do not have the staff with relevant subject expertise to cover staff on leave.

If there are exceptional circumstances in a smaller department which necessitate a request for temporary replacement teaching for a period of sabbatical leave, the Head of Department should make the case in writing together with a full breakdown of estimated costs and send it to Sally Welch, Human Resources, for referral to the Pro-Director.

4. Commutation of Heads of Department Service Credit into Cash Payment

Heads of Department will be aware that their term of office carries enhanced sabbatical leave entitlement. Heads of Department receive triple entitlement for their office holding period; a three year period in office counts as nine years for the purposes of calculating sabbatical entitlement (the normal three years service credit, plus an extra six years additional credit). This entitles Heads to a year’s sabbatical following their period in office regardless of other service they may have accumulated prior to becoming Head of Department. The individual’s Department receives replacement teaching in the amount of £3,000 per term of sabbatical leave for the sabbatical year accrued by virtue of being Head of Department.

Heads of Department can, if they wish, commute the extra service credit into a cash payment if, for any reason, it is not possible to take his/her full sabbatical entitlement. This may be particularly relevant for Heads of Department who may be nearing retirement when they take up post. Heads of Department can commute to cash only that service which they accrue by virtue of being Head of Department i.e. six years; they cannot commute to cash the normal service accrued as a member of academic staff i.e. three years. The maximum cash commutation is therefore £18,000.

Commutation is charged to the replacement teaching budget and will include 11% added to the commutation figure in order to cover tax and national insurance contributions.

5. Departmental Replacement Teaching Accounts

Each Department has its own individual replacement teaching account code. Departmental Managers are budget holders for replacement teaching accounts. Dominic Smith, Human Resources, is also a named budget holder for all replacement teaching accounts.

The Finance Division maintains replacement teaching accounts on APTOS. Queries on APTOS should be directed to Liz Bunting. Other replacement teaching queries may be directed to Dominic Smith.

Replacement teaching allocations do not appear on the MSL/1. Allocations appear as a cash transfer to departmental replacement teaching accounts.

6. Funding Checks

Where a department wishes to employ temporary teaching cover charged to their replacement teaching account, funding checks should be signed off by Dominic Smith, Human Resources.