These guidance notes do not cover ‘Bought in Teachers’: a separate document on the employment of ‘Bought in Teachers’ is available from Human Resources.

This document is a guide to employing casual staff in the academic year 2006/2007. This guide replaces all previous guides and incorporates significant changes in procedures from previous academic years. Heads of Departments should ensure that all members of staff are aware of these procedures and that casual staff are informed of the changes.

The following sections contain significant changes:

Pay: The Job Evaluation exercise has been undertaken for all staff including casual staff and this has provided a new pay framework. Please see section 5 for further details.
Procedure for making a claim for payment: The claims payroll has changed from a fortnightly payroll to a monthly Payroll. Please see Section 9 for further details and the payroll calendar.

---

1. Introduction
2. Summary of Responsibilities
3. Employment Legislation
4. Recruitment and Selection of casual staff
5. Pay
6. Costs to Consider
7. Immigration Checks
8. Contractual Requirements
9. Procedure for Making a Claim

Traditionally, staff have been employed on a casual basis to complete short term pieces of work or projects, or to cover the absence of permanent staff. However, recent and emerging legislation is making it more difficult to employ people on such a basis. This document is designed to provide guidance on how to ensure that this legislation is adhered to when employing staff on a casual basis.

This document is for guidance only. If you have any questions or are unsure of what action to take, please contact your HR Adviser.

The procedures for employing casual staff have changed. It is essential that Departments follow the new procedures to avoid a delay in payment to an individual.

2.1 Head of Departments Responsibilities

It is the responsibility of the Head of Department to:

• Ensure the procedures outlined in this document are followed correctly
• Ensure that the ‘Good Recruitment Guide’ is followed when recruiting casual staff for work which will last longer than one month
• Ensure that Immigration Checks are carried out within the Department for all casual employees
• Check and sign claim forms to ensure that the Departments budget is being utilized effectively. If appropriate, the Head of Department can nominate an individual with the correct signing authority to sign the claim forms. However, it is important to note that ultimate responsibility for the budget lies with the Head of Department
• Nominate an individual to act as Department contacts for the claims procedure

2.2 Managers/Supervisor Responsibility

It is the responsibility of the Manager/Supervisor of the casual employee to

• Follow University procedures and guidelines when recruiting casual staff
• Ensure that the individual is paid the appropriate hourly rate in alignment to Loughborough University’s pay spine
• Ensure that the individual has claimed accurately for the hours worked

2.3 Department Contacts Responsibility

It is the responsibility of the Department Contact to.

• Check that claim forms have been completed correctly and process them in a timely manner
• Allocate each claim form with a SOC code, or to ensure that others in the Department have access to the SOC codes to allocate a code to each claim
• Act as a point of contact for Payroll if a claim form has not been completed correctly

Casual staff employed for less than one month do not require a contract. If the individual works for longer than one month then Operations Sub-Committee approval of the position is necessary, and a contract must be raised by Human Resources.

3.1 The Asylum and Nationality Act (2006) requires all employers in the UK to make basic document checks on every person they intend to employ before that individual commences work. It is the responsibility of the Head of Department/Section or nominee to ensure that the necessary checks are carried out within the Department/Section for casual staff before they commence work (further details can be found in Section 7).

3.2 The Part Time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations (2000) have been implemented to ensure that part time workers are treated equally in comparison with full time workers doing the same type of work within the same organisation, (although fixed term part time workers can now claim unfair treatment in comparison with permanent full time workers). They are therefore entitled to the same hourly rate of pay, the same entitlement to annual leave and other leave (e.g. maternity), the same entitlement to sick pay and so on. Often, people employed to carry out a short term project are likely to be employed on a part time basis, and are therefore covered by these regulations.

3.3 The Fixed Term Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations (2002) provide protection for employees on fixed term contracts preventing employer’s abuse of such contracts. Staff employed on short term contracts are covered by these regulations. People employed on fixed term contracts have the right to the same terms and conditions and benefits as permanent employees. This includes, pay, annual leave, sickness entitlement, redundancy payments and so on. The University must have an objective justification for treating a fixed term worker differently from a permanent worker. In addition, from 2006 a fixed term worker can expect to be made permanent after a period of four years in post on successive fixed term contracts.

3.4 The University has a policy, agreed with the unions, that wherever possible the fixed term limits on posts should be removed and therefore this should also be considered when employing staff.

3.5 All workers are entitled to a minimum of 20 days paid annual leave per year (pro rata for the hours they work) as a result of the Working Time Regulations. However, with the Fixed Term Workers and the Part Time Workers Regulations, giving staff the statutory minimum is not acceptable, as they will not be being treated equitably with colleagues.

3.6 The gap between previously called ‘casual’ employment and more formal employment has closed significantly as a result of these pieces of legislation. Normal employment rules will therefore apply to most appointments within the University.

3.7 It is also worth noting that records on all casual staff now have to be reported to the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).

It is the Departments responsibility to recruit and select casual members of staff. If an appointment is to last for longer than one month, the University’s ‘Good Recruitment Guide’ must be adhered to.

Please note that it is University policy that posts that will last for between three months and one year must be advertised internally and positions that are to last for longer than one year must be advertised externally.

Staff employed on a casual basis must be paid a fair rate for the work they are undertaking to ensure that the University complies with Equal Pay legislation an other legislation protecting the rights of staff who work on a part time basis and on a fixed term basis. The following guide has been produced to assist departments in determining a fair rate of pay for the many different types of casual work undertaken in the University. The ‘Employment of Casual Staff Guidance’ document must also be consulted when employing staff on a casual basis.

Below is a list which has been designed to assist in deciding which grade the work is matched to. A spine point at any point in the grade may be used and factors such as previous experience and qualifications should be considered when deciding which point to select.

For detailed pay rate information please refer to the Salaries and Payscales.

Please refer to the worksheet that corresponds with the relevant grade.

If the duties below do not adequately describe the duties required of a casual member of staff, further analysis using the job families should be carried out. Please contact your HR Adviser for assistance or visit the job evaluation pages for further information

Staff employed over more than one academic year to carry out the same work are entitled to progress through the grade assigned to their role by receiving annual increments, Departments should ensure that in future years appropriate increments are awarded when issuing new contracts.

Grade 1
• Assisting with bulk mailings (filling envelopes, bulk photocopying)

Grade 2
• Routine typing or data entry
• Receiving, sorting and delivering mail
• Making routine arrangements and bookings
• Preparing of straightforward materials
• Student Guide
• Making telephone calls for fundraising/admissions initiatives

Grade 3
• Making and receiving telephone calls for fundraising/admissions initiatives and dealing with queries as they arise
• Creating documents from a clear brief
• Updating databases
• Filing documents
• Routine reprographic work
• General clerical duties such as arranging meetings, distributing information and contacting customers
• Reception work

Grade 4
• Conducting straightforward experiments, recording test results and reporting findings
• Analyzing data and producing summaries and reports
• Taking minutes
• Keeping diaries
• Composing routine letters and documents from a general brief
• Screening telephone calls and answering queries

Grade 5
• Assisting with the activities of a particular research project, such as conducting experiments and fieldwork
• Conducting literature and database searches
• Producing complex statistical and financial analysis
• Maintaining departmental information and documentation
• Maintaining website

Grade 6
• Operating specialist equipment
• Preparing project specifications
• Developing research proposals
• Writing up research for publication
• Providing and disseminating specialist knowledge and advice
• Develop processes, procedures or systems

6.1 When employing staff, whether short or long term, it is important to consider the additional costs involved.

6.2 The additional annual leave costs for very short term or casual contracts can be found in 8.1.4.

6.3 As all employees who are employed for more than three months are entitled to join a Pension scheme, the Department will incur an additional cost of 14% pension contributions if, for example, a casual academic or academic related employee opts to join the pension scheme. The Department will incur a 9.9% pension contribution for any other casual members of staff who opt to join the relevant pension scheme.

6.4 Employer's National Insurance costs for the 2006-7 tax year are as follows:

• Salary up to £5035 = 0%
• Salary £5035.01 and above = 12.8% (or 9.3% if either of the pension schemes used by the University)

NI is not calculated cumulatively, so each pay period stands in isolation.
This means that NI will be deducted on any payment above £419 in a particular month, regardless of whether the casual employee’s pay to date is within the tax-free allowance.

7.1 The Head of Department/Section or nominee must ensure that the necessary checks are carried out within the Department/Section to ensure that the individual has permission to work in the UK before (s)he starts work at the University. A copy of the relevant documentation should be attached to the request for offer of appointment form for casual staff who will receive a contract. If the individual is not issued with a contract of employment, then the department should retain a copy of the necessary documentation.

7.2 The Head of Department/Section or nominee should see and take a copy of either one original secure document from list one, or a specified combination of two other documents from list 2 below. The individual must not work before these documents have been checked.

LIST 1 – ORIGINAL SECURE DOCUMENTS

	A passport showing that the holder, or a person named in the passport as the child of the holder, is a British citizen or a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies having the right of abode in the United Kingdom, or
	A passport or national identity card showing that the holder, or a person named in the passport as the child of the holder, is a national of the European Economic Area or Switzerland, or
	A residence permit, registration certificate or document certifying or indicating permanent residence issued by the Home Office or the UK Border Agency to a national of a (European Economic Area country or Switzerland, or
	A permanent residence card issued by the Home Office or the UK Border Agency to the family member of a national of a (European Economic Area country or Switzerland, or
	A Biometric Immigration Document issued by the UK Border Agency to the holder which indicates that the person named in it is allowed to stay indefinitely in the UK, or has no time limit on their stay in the UK, or
	A passport or other travel document endorsed to show that the holder is exempt from immigration control, is allowed to stay indefinitely in the UK, has the right of abode in the UK, or has no time limit on their stay in the UK, or
	An Immigration Status Document issued by the Home Office or the UK Border Agency to the holder with an endorsement indicating that the person named in it is allowed to stay indefinitely in the UK or has no time limit on their stay in the UK when produced in combination with an official document giving the person’s permanent National Insurance Number and their name issued by a Government agency or a previous employer, or
	A full birth certificate issued in the UK which includes the name(s) of at least one of the holder’s parents, when produced in combination with an official document giving the person’s permanent National Insurance Number and their name issued by a Government agency or a previous employer, or
	A full adoption certificate issued in the UK which includes the name(s) of at least one of the holder’s adoptive parents, when produced in combination with an official document giving the person’s permanent National Insurance Number and their name issued by a Government agency or a previous employer, or
	A birth certificate issued in the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or Ireland when produced in combination with an official document giving the person’s permanent National Insurance Number and their name issued by a Government agency or a previous employer, or
	An adoption certificate issued in the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or Ireland when produced in combination with an official document giving the person’s permanent National Insurance Number and their name issued by a Government agency or a previous employer, or
	A certificate of registration or naturalisation as a British citizen, when produced in combination with an official document giving the person’s permanent National Insurance Number and their name issued by a Government agency or a previous employer, or
	A letter issued by the Home Office or the UK Border Agency to the holder which indicates that the person named in it is allowed to stay indefinitely in the United Kingdom, when produced in combination with an official document giving the person’s permanent National Insurance Number and their name issued by a Government agency or a previous employer.

LIST 2 – OTHER DOCUMENTS

	A passport or travel document endorsed to show that the holder is allowed to stay in the UK and is allowed to do the type of work in question, provided that it does not require the issue of a certificate of sponsorship, or
	A Biometric Immigration Document issued by the UK Border Agency to the holder which indicates that the person named in it can stay in the UK and is allowed to do the work in question, or
	Evidence of a certificate of sponsorship or other approval to take employment issued by the Home Office or the UK Border Agency when produced in combination with either a passport or another travel document endorsed to show the holder is allowed to stay in the UK and is allowed to do the work in question, or a letter issued by the Home Office or the UK Border Agency to the holder or the employer or prospective employer confirming the same, or
	A certificate of application issued by the Home Office or the UK Border Agency to or for a family member of a national of an European Economic Area country or Switzerland stating that the holder is permitted to take employment, which is less than 6 months old when produced in combination with evidence of verification by the UK Border Agency Employer Checking Service, or
	A residence card or document issued by the Home Office or the UK Border Agency to a family member of a national of an European Economic Area country or Switzerland, or
	An Application Registration Card issued by the Home Office or the UK Border Agency stating that the holder is permitted to take employment, when produced in combination with evidence of verification by the UK Border Agency Employer Checking Service, or
	An immigration Status Document issued by the Home Office or the UK Border Agency to the holder with an endorsement indicating that the person named in it can stay in the UK, and is allowed to do the type of work in question, when produced in combination with an official document giving the person’s permanent National Insurance Number and their name issued by a Government agency or a previous employer, or
	A letter issued by the Home Office or the UK Border Agency to the holder or employer or prospective employer, which indicates that the person named in it can stay in the UK and is allowed to do the work in question when produced in combination with an official document giving the person’s permanent National Insurance Number and their name issued by a Government agency or a previous employer, .

7.3 Further information on immigration can be obtained from your HR Adviser. You may also find the following link  to the Home Office useful:

Different contractual requirements exist for casual appointments which last for less than one month and for appointments in excess of one month.

Please note: if you are employing a Bought in Teacher, these requirements differ considerably.

8.1 Appointments for less than one month

8.1.1 If the planned employment will last for less than one month, Human Resources do not need to be informed. However, in order to ensure that equal pay legislation is adhered to, the employee’s salary should be based on the appropriate salary scales. When deciding on the spinal point to be used, consideration should be given to the duties involved and the employee’s skills and experience for the work required.

8.1.2 The Head of Department is responsible for ensuring that the employee is entitled to work in the UK. This is a requirement of the Asylum and Immigration Act (1996) which makes it a criminal offence to employ an individual who is not eligible to work in the UK. Further information is available in Section 7.

8.1.3 The employee will be paid via the Claims Payroll. Please see Section 9 for further details of the Claims Payroll procedure.

8.1.4 It is the responsibility of the Head of Department to ensure that the correct annual leave entitlement is paid in addition to the hourly rate. The relevant annual leave rates are:

• Academic and academic related staff: 16.92%
• All other staff: 13.07%
• Staff with no comparator post 8.6%

These rates are based on the annual leave entitlement for staff employed on a full time permanent contract within the University and includes an allowance for bank holidays. This entitlement requires the employee to take annual leave when they are not required to work for the University.

8.1.5 Sometimes it is not known at the commencement of employment whether the job will last for four weeks or more. If someone is employed on a casual basis and it becomes apparent that the employee is likely to be required to work in excess of four weeks, an application to the Operations Sub-Committee should be made without delay. It should be made clear on the paperwork that the employee is already working so that the submission can be considered urgently.

8.2 Appointments of more than one month

8.2.1 Any appointments in excess of one month should be treated in the same way as any other appointment. Approval must be sought in advance from the Operations Sub-Committee. The University’s Good Recruitment Guide also applies; in particular it means that any appointments in excess of three months should be advertised.

8.2.2 There are two types of contract that can be issued in this instance:

• Fixed hours contract
• Variable hours contract

A) Fixed Hour Contract

Those employed on fixed hours contracts are likely to be employed to complete a very short piece of work, or, for example, to cover another employee’s absence. They will have set hours for each day and will be required to work those hours for the duration of the contract.

Such casual staff should be paid on the grade appropriate for the job, (e.g. someone employed to carry out secretarial duties should be paid at the appropriate level within the Administrative Grades).

The spinal point offered should be paid after considering the nature and duties of the work. The employee will not be paid an hourly rate, but will receive a pro-rata salary for the hours they work through the Monthly Payroll and not via the Claims Payroll.

If the Payroll section receive a claims form for an employee for two consecutive months from the same Department, they will not process the second payment without a copy of a Contract of Employment.

The Request for an Offer of Appointment Form should therefore be completed before the employee starts (or as soon as possible after it becomes apparent that the initial one month contract is to be extended and approval has been granted) and sent to Human Resources along with either an Application Form or CV. The Offer of Appointment Form can be found at: http://www.lboro.ac.uk/admin/personnel/olguide.html

Human Resources will generate a contract of employment based on the information provided in the offer form and the approval from Operations Sub-Committee. The contract of employment will refer to the appropriate conditions of service, dependent on the nature of the work.

The employee will also be entitled to annual leave, which will be specified in the contract of employment. For part time posts of less than three months duration, a supplement will be paid to the employee to cover annual leave accrued. The annual leave calculations are the same as stated in 8.1.4.

If an employee is employed full time and/or for a period in excess of three months, wherever possible, they shall be entitled to a pro-rata annual leave entitlement, which they can take when operationally possible.

If you wish to extend or terminate the contract, please contact the relevant HR Advisor. Periods of notice as laid out in the appropriate conditions of service will apply.

B) Variable Hours Contract

Sometimes the University may require people to work on a more flexible basis. They will not have specific hours and may be asked to work as and when required. An example might be a Relief Recreation Assistant, who may be be asked to cover for the absence of permanent staff.

Usually in these situations, there is no mutuality of obligation. This means that the University is not obliged to offer this person work, and the person is not required to accept any work offered to them.

It is important that these employment situations are monitored very carefully, as regular periods of working or a pattern of working can result in the employee having continuous service and therefore gaining certain employment rights. The Employment Rights Act (1996) stipulates that there is a statutory presumption in favour of continuous service and unless an employer can prove that there was no continuous service, the employee will be presumed to have continuous service. In these instances, a regular working pattern or a reasonable expectation of work can result in an employee being classed as having continuous service.

The Request for Offer of Appointment Form should be completed before the employee starts (or as soon as possible after it becomes apparent that the initial one month contract is to be extended and approval has been granted) and sent to Human Resources along with either an Application Form or CV.

The Offer of Appointment Form can be found at: http://www.lboro.ac.uk/admin/personnel/olguide.html

A contract of employment will then be sent out to the employee, confirming that there are no set hours and that there is no requirement on the University to provide work and no requirement on the worker to take on work. It is important that this is made explicit before the employee commences. Human Resources will also indicate what entitlement to annual leave should be paid (see 8.3).

The contract of employment will state the following in the ‘Hours’ section:

‘The University is under no obligation to provide work for you and you are under no obligation to accept work offered to you by the University.’

An hourly rate of pay will be calculated by Human Resources from the grade and spinal point indicated on the request for Offer of Appointment Form and entered on the contract of employment. The payment due should be calculated using the salary scales appropriate for the type of work undertaken. Where the casual worker is a relief worker, who is employed to cover for absences, the grade for the permanent job should be used as a starting place. The reduced level of duties and responsibility should then be considered and usually a lower spinal point will be agreed as the appropriate rate for the relief job.

Each fortnight, if the employee has worked, a Claim Form should be submitted to Payroll who will make the necessary arrangements to pay the employee and will ensure that the annual leave supplement is included.

It is important to note, that Payroll will not be able to authorise payment for an employee who has submitted two claims forms from the same Department within the previous three months, without a copy of the Contract of Employment.

The employee will be subject to the Conditions of Service specific to their job type. However, in the Special Circumstances Section of the Contract of Employment, it will be made clear that the notice period on either side will be one week only.

9.1 Casual staff should claim for work undertaken using the First Claim Form and the Subsequent Claim Form.

9.2 Casual employees should submit their first claim using the First Claim Form. This form requires the individual to submit personal information and equal opportunities information as well as details of their claim. All sections of this form must be completed for the form to be accepted. If the individual has already completed the First Claim Form in academic year 2006/07, they do not need to complete this again.

9.3 The second claim in an academic year and all subsequent claims must be made using the Subsequent Claim Form. This will only ask claimants to provide details of the work undertaken.

9.4 Each Department will have one nominated individual who is responsible for checking all claims. If you are unsure who this person is, please speak to the Departmental Administrator. This individual will ensure that all claim forms are provided with a Standard Occupational Code and that a record of the claim will be kept for the purposes of Departmental budgeting.

9.5 Claim forms will not be actioned unless the following information is completed:

• Full name
• Number of hours worked
• Total amount claimed
• Departmental signatures including Head of Department
• SOC code [to be completed by Departmental Contact

9.6 As from September 2006, the Casual Payroll will changed from a fortnightly payroll to a monthly payroll. From October 2006, Payments will be made on the 15th of each month, or the last working day before the 15th of each month.

• Casual/Temporary staff: First Payment Claim Form
• Subsequent Claim Form

Failure to complete the form fully will result in a delay in paying the Casual Employee.