Broadcast: News items

Colin Shipp, Director of HR, emailed all staff on Friday 5 May. Read the full text of the email below. 

I am writing with some reminders about actions to take in relation to the ongoing industrial action at the University. 

Declaring strike days
Further to our previous communications, we ask that you complete an industrial action declaration form if you participated in any of the strike days called by the University and College Union (UCU), which began on Wednesday 1 February 2023.  
 
All deductions must have been made by the May payroll, therefore the final deadline by which all days must be declared is 5pm on Friday 12 May 2023. 
 
You can see more information, including the full list of the strike dates in February and March, on the Staff Hub.
 
Marking and assessment boycott
UCU has notified the University of Sussex that it is calling on its members to take Action Short of a Strike (ASOS) in the form of a marking and assessment boycott on a continuous basis from Thursday 20 April 2023. Some staff will be exercising their legal right to take industrial action in relation to the ongoing national dispute with UCU about pay, and terms and conditions.
 
What to do if you choose to take action
If you choose to participate in the marking and assessment boycott, then you are required to notify the University that you are participating in the action, and the date on which your marking and assessment duties start, on the electronic declaration form. The date your participation starts is the date that you are required to undertake any marking and assessment duties but choose not to do so, i.e. when you have the activity to undertake, such as the date exam scripts are available (rather than the date you would have chosen to start marking the scripts, or the date the marks are to be submitted). You may be contacted to verify your declared start date.
 
Please ensure you read the message from Keith Jones sent to all staff on Wednesday 19 April. As detailed in Keith’s message, the University does not accept partial performance. Participants in the marking and assessment boycott will be paid an ex-gratia amount of 75% of salary, which is subject to ongoing review by the University. Pay deductions, and any ex-gratia payments, apply on a continuous basis from either 20 April 2023 or the date that participants declare that their marking duties started, if later, until the period of ASOS, or their participation in it, ends.  
 
Further information is available on our Industrial Action webpages, which include Frequently Asked Questions and a full glossary of terms. 
 
Kind regards,
 
Colin Shipp
Director of HR