Recent News
Published on Tue 12 Jan 2021 by Kirsty Niven
Information and Support during Covid-19
All information and support relating to the coronavirus outbreak can now be found on the Staff Support page, including advice on working from home, health and wellbeing, furloughing, recording sickness absence and annual leave.
HR Policies and Procedures
General Principles
It is recognised that COVID-19 has had a significant impact on the University’s normal way of working. With the campus still currently operating under level 4 restrictions and the majority of staff still working from home, there has had to be adaptations to the operation of some of the University’s HR policies and procedures with managers and staff having to engage with these processes in a different way.
These have included:
While working remotely and adhering to government guidance and social distancing rules may have affected the way some HR policies and procedures have had to be implemented, there is still an expectation that all reasonable steps are taken to engage with these processes. The principles and purpose of these policies and procedures remain unchanged and they continue to provide a consistent and transparent approach for staff and managers on a range of employment issues, helping to ensure that matters being considered are considered fairly and in accordance with the University’s core values and in support of key strategic objectives.
COVID-19: Temporary Changes to HR Policies and Procedures
As part of the University’s response to Covid-19, it is appropriate to continually review our HR policies and procedures and consider any temporary changes that are required to certain policies and procedures to support our staff and to reflect the current circumstances over this period.
This review also aligns with the work of the Business Recovery Group and arrangements that have been made to support staff who are required to work on campus in a co-ordinated and managed way when it is safe to do so.
In reviewing our HR policies and procedures, it has been established that many of our policies do provide flexibility. However it is recognised that further guidance and points of clarification may be required to reflect the current situation and any changing government guidelines. For other policies, a more fundamental review of the policy or new guidance may be required.
Please note that a number of health and safety policies have also been amended in light of the Covid-19 situation. These can be viewed on the Safety Services web page.
Additional policies and procedures may be added to this list following discussion at the Covid-19 On Campuses Staff Sub-Group and in consultation with the Campus unions.
Temporary changes to our current policies and procedures include:
What is our normal policy? | What is changing temporarily? |
---|---|
Sickness Absence | |
What is our normal policy? Under the university’s sickness absence policy if you fall ill and cannot attend work, you would be required to: notify your Nominated Person by telephone as early as possible on the first day of absence (normally within one hour of notional starting time); and |
What is changing temporarily? You should still notify your Nominated person to let them know that you are unable to attend work and the reason is either Covid-related or another absence reason. If it is Covid-related, you must stay away from work and you must follow the Government's self-isolation guidance if you or anyone you live with develops:
In addition, the Covid-19 Self Reporting Form should be used to provide information about a known or suspected case of Covid-19. If the absence is not Covid-19 related, the absence should be reported in the normal way. Anyone who has symptoms must self-isolate straight away and use NHSinform or call 0800 028 2816 to arrange a test.
Please note that Government guidance may change and the latest information should be checked. See the latest guidance. You may also be self-isolating in some circumstances in which you have no symptoms, including if you:
You do not have to get medical advice from NHS Inform to self-isolate. However, if your symptoms worsen during self-isolation you should contact NHSinform . If you have no internet access, you should call NHS 111. Please dial 999 only if you have a medical emergency.
|
Sickness Absence: Medical evidence | |
What is our normal policy?
|
What is changing temporarily? For Covid-related symptoms, you will not need to provide a Fit note, instead the medical evidence will be a:
If you are self-isolating for more than seven days' absence, we ask that you provide us with an "isolation note" from NHS 111, which you can obtain by completing a simple questionnaire at 111.nhs.uk/isolation-note.
If you have been advised that you need to ‘self -shield’, you will have a letter from the NHS advising you to "self-shield" because a serious underlying health condition means that you are at high risk– see the government guidelines for more details.. A self-shielding letter can be classified as an automatic Fit Note for those that cannot work from home. Staff who can work from home would be expected to do so.
|
Sickness Absence: Acceptable levels of absence | |
What is our normal policy? Under the sickness absence policy we would normally invoke a formal review of your absence levels when the absence:
falls regularly on specific days e.g. a Friday and/or Monday |
What is changing temporarily?
If you are in self-isolation because:
The sickness absence will still need to be notified and recorded but we will not take this absence into account when determining whether or not to invoke a formal review of your absence levels under our absence management procedure. |
Sickness Absence: Sick pay | |
What is our normal policy? Under the sickness absence policy your sick pay entitlement in any 12-month period will be based on your continuous service date and will include a period of full pay followed by a period of half pay (as detailed in your contract of employment). |
What is changing temporarily? You will continue to be paid your sick pay entitlement as provided in your contract of employment if:
|
Flexible working | |
What is our normal policy? Under our Flexible Working Policy you can normally agree informally with your line manager to one-off or short-term changes to your working patterns or periods of homeworking. However, if you wish to change your working patterns or work from home for an extended period, a formal request for flexible working would normally be made following the procedure set out in our Flexible Working Policy |
What is changing temporarily?
The Government's advice is to "work at home unless your work absolutely cannot be done from home". As long as the University's operational needs continue to be met, you will be able to:
You should speak to your line manager, if you wish to take advantage of these options, or any other flexible working options that may help you at this time. However, the decision as to whether or not to agree to your request for flexible working remains with your line manager. Once agreed, the temporary flexible working arrangement will continue until further notice. If circumstances change, your manager will discuss with you any adaptations to, or the withdrawal of, the flexible working arrangement, with the final decision remaining with your manager. |
Carers Leave | |
What is our normal policy? To be eligible for flexible working for caring reasons, staff must have been continuously employed by the University for 26 weeks. Parents and others who combine work with caring for dependents have the right to be considered for flexible working and are entitled to time off for dependants to deal with unforeseen circumstances. There are a number of University policies which carers may find of particular relevance:
|
What is changing temporarily?
All staff over this period will eligible to be considered for flexible working due to caring responsibilities irrespective of length of service. During this period and while you are working from home, if you have additional caring responsibilities due to for example school closures or looking after a dependant or family member who is unwell, you should discuss this with your line manager and agree what work you can reasonably do given your particular circumstances. The temporary changes to the Flexible working policy above will apply and should be referred to; If you are unable to work due to your caring responsibilities as a result of the Covid situation, you should discuss with your line manager. There are a range of University policies that carers can access and if flexible working is not possible.
|
Requirement to work remotely | |
What is our normal policy? Except by prior agreement with us, we do not normally require you to work remotely for an extended period. There is normally no expectation that:
|
What is changing temporarily?
Given the current global health situation, you should be working remotely unless your work absolutely cannot be done from home. You should contact UoD-IT at help4u@dundee.ac.uk if you have any queries about IT equipment for working remotely. |
Travel: Work-related travel | |
What is our normal policy? Under normal policy, you may be regularly travelling in the UK and abroad for work and for some roles this is an important requirement of the role. The University will not however authorise any travel to countries or regions where the Foreign and Commonwealth Office advises against all travel. Where the advice is against all but essential travel, the University (in this case the University Executive Group) would need to consider the risk involved versus the merits of visit. |
What is changing temporarily? You are currently not required to travel in the UK or abroad for work. The new Government advice from Tuesday 5 January 2021, is that it is to stay at home except for essential purposes. Travel to or from Scotland without a reasonable excuse is not permitted. You should therefore not travel unless the guidelines are updated to reflect any change to the current travel restrictions. If any essential work-related travel is being considered, a full justification and risk assessment must be submitted to your Dean/Director, who will assess it and decide whether to support this. If they do support it, the travel proposal must then be submitted to the University Covid Ops group for final agreement. Any travel to countries or regions where the Foreign and Commonwealth Office advises against travel will not be authorised.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/travel-advice-novel-coronavirus
|
Travel: Non-work-related travel | |
What is our normal policy? We do not normally have any rules around staff travelling outside work. |
What is changing temporarily? The new Government advice from Tuesday 5 January 2021, is that it is to stay at home except for essential purposes. Travel to or from Scotland without a reasonable excuse is not permitted. You should therefore not travel unless the guidelines are updated to reflect any change to current travel restrictions. If you have taken a decision to travel abroad and disregard government advice, and you are not able to work from home, the period of quarantine (10 days) will need to be taken as annual leave or unpaid leave.
|
Recruitment: New staff joining University from out-with UK | |
What is our normal policy? The University currently has no requirements beyond standard pre-employment checks and confirmation that UKVI requirements have been met. |
What is changing temporarily?
There are now specific requirements in place for individuals entering Scotland and a period of self-isolation/quarantine will need to be factored in to start dates for new appointees joining from outwith the UK. Current guidelines are that you must self-isolate for 10 full days if you arrive in Scotland from a country outside the Common Travel Area (UK, Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man). This is to protect against the risk of imported cases of coronavirus. |
Compassionate Leave - Bereavement | |
The University Bereavement policy grants a period of paid leave on the death of close relatives or dependants
The duration of paid leave will take account of the member of staff’s relationship with the deceased, any domestic responsibilities that may have to undertaken and any travel arrangements, but will not normally extend beyond 5 days |
It is recognised that alternative arrangements may have to be made over this period if there has been a death of a close relative, with funeral services severely restricted due to social distancing rules. The current Bereavement policy does provide flexibility to managers when approving compassionate leave. In these unusual circumstances and to recognise that a funeral service /celebration of life service may take place at a later date to which other family members and friends can attend, there will be a greater flexibility and understanding to facilitate these arrangements. |
Compassionate Leave: Special Circumstances | |
Not applicable (no Compassionate Leave – Special Circumstances policy) |
Due to COVID -19, an additional policy has been introduced to recognise the impact that Covid-19 may have had on some staff and that there may be a requirement to grant an additional period of paid leave to deal with a serious situation. This will not normally extend beyond 5 days |