TEU NEWSLINC Lincoln Branch May 2011 Christmas Closedown Mediation History The University has long been faced with a substantial financial liability due to a large amount of untaken leave. In October 2009 the Union were informed that the University intended to closedown for three days in the week before Christmas and that staff would be required to take annual leave for those days. While questioning the legality of the decision, the TEU agreed to the closedown on the understanding that the University would be generous to staff who might be disadvantaged and that the University would work with the Union on the Annual Leave Policy so that leave was managed effectively in the future. The Union was clear that this was not to set any precedents about a customary closedown.
preparation, or with preparing to meet end of year reporting deadlines.
Mediation After representation from the Union’s legal advisors, the University agreed to take part in mediation. This took place on May 18th but unfortunately was unsuccessful. In very general terms the Holidays Act allows an employer to have one customary closedown a year. The Union’s position is that we do not accept that the three or four days before Christmas Eve are a time when the University has customarily closed down.
The issue was discussed as part of the collective bargaining process but no agreement was reached.
The act allows an employer to require employees to take outstanding leave at a specific time if they have negotiated with the employee and cannot reach an agreement. We are happy that if staff have a lot of accumulated leave that they have been unable to agree on taking, that the University can compel them to take it at a specified time (i.e. in the week before Christmas). However we do not agree that those staff who managed their leave responsibly—and especially those with no accumulated leave should be disadvantaged in this way. In fact we do not believe the University can legally require this.
The Issues
Next Steps
While some of our members are quite relaxed about being compelled to take time off before Christmas others are not. We have over 100 signatures of members who are prepared to have their names attached to further action. Many staff do not have much accumulated leave and do not want to be compelled to take leave at a time when their families are not yet on holiday. Many have serious problems with childcare. For others, the last week of the year is busy with summer school marking and
The Union’s legal representatives will now file a “Statement of Problem” with the Employment Relations Authority to get a ruling on the legality of this compulsory leave. We hope that this will be filed within the next 3 or 4 weeks so we can get a decision before Christmas.
In May 2010 the University sent a memorandum signalling it would again close down, this time for four days before Christmas. We accept that the University were prepared to work with individuals who identified problems however essentially staff were required to take these days out of their leave entitlement.
We will keep you informed.
VC listens It would be fair to say that the Vice Chancellor was not terribly impressed with the content of our last newsletter. We expressed concerns about lack of communication with the Union post earthquake and in particular about the release of building reports. We are very pleased to report that when we did meet with Roger Field he was prepared to listen to our concerns. He agreed that it would be useful to have a protocol for involving the Union during a critical incident. The branch committee are now working with Human Resources to develop this protocol. He also agreed that it was appropriate to release the full minutes of the meeting with the structural engineers about how the buildings were assessed and the results of those assessments. These notes are on the intranet http://staff.lincoln.ac.nz/news.asp?i=2221. We would like to thank the VC for being prepared to listen to our concerns and act appropriately on these matters.
Telford restructure A proposal has been released which recommends that two senior positions at Telford are disestablished. Some of the duties in those current roles would be transferred to current Telford staff and some would be taken over by Lincoln staff. We urge all our members on both campuses to look at the proposal. You can make you own submission or you can let us know your concerns and we will include them in a union submission.
TEU Lincoln Branch If you have any issues please contact the organiser or one of your committee representatives.
Branch Organisers (Lincoln) Cindy Doull: Ext 8910 teu@lincoln.ac.nz (Telford) Kris Smith: 03 4790085 Kris.Smith@teu.ac.nz President Clare Churcher: Ext 8905 Immediate Past President Scott Walters: Ext 7678 Administrator Carol Grant: Ext 8910 Treasurer Marlene Jaspers: Ext 8185
Other Issues The Total Remuneration (Superannuation) Reference Group finally met on the 19th May. To recap— Academic staff who join the NZ Universities Superannuation Scheme do not receive the employer’s contribution in addition to the salary. It is deducted from their base pay so as to be cost neutral to the University. At the meeting on May 19th a number of options were discussed including phasing out the package as well as removing it completely. There is a little more work to be done before a final report is prepared for the Vice Chancellor and consultation. We will make every endeavour to get a speedy and satisfactory outcome. Study Leave. The VC has asked Greg Ryan to lead a review of Study Leave. The TEU will have representation on the review panel and it is hoped that some recommendations will be available for consideration by the end of June. We are still waiting for a revised PIMD and Consulting policy (promised by the end of April.) We con-
tinue to encourage the University to meet its obligations on these matters.
Wine tasting You are invited to attend a Wine tasting on Friday May 27 at 4.00 pm in the fifth floor tea room in the Hilgendorf Building. Spaces are limited and open to the first 40 members who reply to Shona.Mardle@Lincoln.ac.nz. See you there!