The University recognises the significant contribution made by Hourly-Paid Teachers (HPTs) to the delivery of teaching in many Schools. This procedure underpins the Part-Time Teacher Fractional Contracts Policy which can be used to offer a fractional contract to an hourly-paid member of staff undertaking substantial teaching hours on an on-going basis.
The Faculty / School will manage the forward planning of teaching provision, resources required, and work allocation to staff, and will be supported by the Human Resources Manager.
Prior to the start of the academic year, Faculties / Schools will review their plans for the provision of teaching, including future plans for courses, expectations around appropriate teaching support, and budgetary considerations. This activity will help to identify where there is an ongoing need for HPT staff who may need to be considered for conversion to fractional contracts. Inevitably, this activity will also identify where existing HPT work is not required at the same volume, or where it is no longer required, taking into account other approaches to delivering teaching. This early stage of teaching provision planning will not take account of unanticipated issues which may arise later in the year, for example, research leave, sickness, maternity leave and under/over-shooting of student numbers.
To support plans for the forthcoming academic year, the Faculty Human Resources Manager will provide Schools with data showing HPTs and related hours from previous academic years (where available). This will require the identification of individuals who are near the 0.2 full time equivalent threshold.
An outcome of this review is the identification of HPTs who may meet the criteria to become fractional.
The Faculty / School shall ensure that the individual has been allocated to the appropriate HPT descriptor, based on the responsibilities of the role; this will require consideration of the HPT descriptors in relation to the work being assigned.
At the same time, the Faculty/School shall consider on a case by case basis whether or not the role is a Pathway 3 role (in the Research and Teaching Family), or a non-Pathway HPT role (in the Research and Teaching Family), based on the responsibilities of the role. This will require consideration of the Pathway 3 role profiles, and the HPT descriptors in relation to the work being assigned.
Where it has been established that an HPT’s required activity is ongoing (for at least two academic years), and having determined the appropriate role, the Faculty / School is to undertake a consideration of the fraction of a full-time equivalent necessary in relation to local workload models, taking into account expectations around student support and staff provision, and in terms of what is required to undertake the role[1]. Work allocation must take into account what is reasonable in determining an HPT’s fraction in terms of all current teaching and teaching support duties required to undertake the role to an acceptable standard.
Where it is proposed that an HPT is going to be offered a fractional contract on an HPT Descriptor, the employing School should complete a ‘Request to Appoint’ form for approval by the Dean. Where authorisation by the Dean is agreed, the salary costs will continue to be met from the HPT budget.
Where it is proposed that the HPT moves to a Pathway 3 role as opposed to an HPT Descriptor, approval will be required by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor. Where a Pathway 3 role is approved, the salary costs for the Part-Time Teacher will be transferred from the HPT budget to the core salary budget.
For either scenario, approval is not required from the Establishment Review Group (ERG).
Following the implementation of the policy, where an individual on a fractional contract subsequently resigns from the role, the employing Faculty/School must assess whether the existing arrangement on the HPT Descriptor or on Pathway 3 should continue. Any resulting change would require approval (as outlined above) and salary costs would need to be allocated to the appropriate budget.
Having determined that an HPT meets the criteria for a fractional appointment, the Faculty / School will normally offer a fractional contract to the individual, which they can then choose to accept, decline and continue to remain as an HPT, or decline the contract offer.
Where an individual being offered a fractional contract has any queries regarding the offer (for instance regarding the descriptor, pathway, volume of contracted work, etc.) they should raise the issue with their School in the first instance.
HPT roles have been graded in accordance with the University’s job evaluation scheme, from grade F to K (see Appendix - Table 1). For all grades, the work will be offered as a percentage, e.g. a 60% appointment. For a summary of actual hours and how this will be expressed as a percentage appointment, see Appendix - Table 2.
The individual will be offered a contract on either a fixed term or an open-ended basis, in accordance with the relevant University policy and the individual’s continuous service.
Existing HPTs being offered a fractional contract will be eligible for incremental progression based on the rules in the following table:
|
Length of service |
Increment point on appointment to a fractional contract |
|
For existing HPT’s with 5 or less complete years’ continuous service |
3rd increment point |
|
For existing HPT’s with 6 complete years’ continuous service |
4th increment point |
|
For existing HPT’s with 7 complete years’ continuous service |
5th increment point |
Existing HPTs will be appointed to the 3rd,4th or 5th increment point of the relevant grade depending on length of service, therefore existing HPT’s who are offered a fractional contract will be appointed no lower than the 3rd increment point. Staff with less than six years’ service will remain on the third increment point until they have reached six years’ continuous service.
New staff appointed to undertake part-time teacher work on a fractional basis will normally[2] be appointed to the first increment point, and the usual university rules of incremental progression will apply.
Annual leave entitlement will be given in accordance with the A to I, or J and above terms and conditions, as appropriate. All entitlements are pro rata for part-time staff.
It is the expectation that fractional staff will be offered and accept work in accordance with their relevant skills, knowledge and experience. As is the case with other staff, this may at times require the individual to undertake alternative duties as the University may reasonably require.
The employing School shall treat the individual as a member of that School on an equal basis with other part-time staff. Depending on the nature of the role, this may include access to appropriate resources such as desk-space, attendance and/or participation in relevant School meetings, induction, staff review and training activity.
In the event that the volume and/or nature of the work changes, redundancy rights may apply to Part-Time Teachers as is the same for other staff.
|
Descriptor Name |
Grade |
|
Demonstrator |
F |
|
Teaching Support Assistant |
G |
|
Language Tutor |
G |
|
Assistant Teacher |
H |
|
Teacher |
I |
|
Associate Teacher |
J |
|
Senior Associate Teacher |
K |
|
Teaching Unit Organiser |
K |
|
Teaching Unit Developer |
K |
|
Fraction compared to a full-time equivalent role |
0.2 |
0.3 |
0.4 |
0.5 |
0.6 |
0.7 |
0.8 |
0.9 |
1.0 |
|
Equivalent percentage to be offered in the contract |
20% |
30% |
40% |
50% |
60% |
70% |
80% |
90% |
100% |
|
FOR INFORMATION ONLY - Hours derived from a 1540 hours/1 FTE figure, rounded to nearest 10 for use to determine which fraction should be offered |
310 |
460 |
620 |
770 |
920 |
1080 |
1230 |
1390 |
1540 |
[1] The Faculty / School must provide the HPT with the opportunity to discuss the proposed role and hours’ allocation, and raise any queries.
[2] The University’s Starting Salary policy applies to all new appointments.
