Come and hear about the latest discussions with management with regards to a workload allocation model. Matters took a step backwards with regards to the workload discussions recently and we are reduced to a surreal discussion about 12 hours notional work. It is unfortunately clear that management are way out of touch with regards to all the duties that an academic member of staff has, how long it takes to complete them or how many hours we work that are sheer goodwill.
The blinkered mantra is ‘it is not unreasonable to expect an academic to work 8 hours a day’ – if we did only work these hours! More progress has been made this week and UCU is hoping that we will be able to agree a model shortly. In the meantime, if you are having problems with your workload then speak to an Officer or Representative and refer the sector wide details of the National Contract regarding the factors that MUST be taken into consideration when allocating work for post 1992’s. You should still have an allocation that does not exceed 1548 hours overall as per our local agreement. Details of the National Contract can be found here: http://www.ucu.org.uk/index.cfm?articleid=1970