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Around two-thirds of researchers at universities have “precarious” contracts, according to a freedom of information request from the University and College Union (UCU).
UCU issued FOI requests to 103 higher education institutions in the UK that employ 20 or more researchers or have researchers making up at least 5% of their academic staff. It cross-references these responses with employment data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).
About 88% of researchers at the University of Oxford have fixed-term contracts, 96% at King’s College London, 80% at the University of Manchester and 96% at the London School of Economics.
Its report on support for researchers found that only one employer – the University of Manchester – offered longer paid notice periods to researchers on fixed-term contracts.
Most employers who responded to the request only paid statutory redundancy pay to researchers who were made redundant at the end of a fixed-term contract.
UCU general secretary Jo Grady likened the use of fixed-term contracts to “gig-economy-style short-term contracts for staff supporting university research departments”, noting that researchers play a role in activities such as developing and building vaccines plays a key role. University ranking in the Research Excellence Framework.
The unions also asked researchers to rate the support offered by employers for fixed-term or unstable contracts out of 100. Only eight universities scored above 50 points, while 39 universities scored below 30 points.
The University of Leeds has the highest support score of 64/100. Four of the bottom five institutions are in London: University of London (Institutions and Activities); University of Greenwich; University of East London and School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London.
Ninety percent of respondents said they did offer some form of redeployment, most commonly three to four months within the contract’s notice period. However, nearly a third of employers are unable to say what proportion of their staff have been successfully redeployed at the end of their contract.
59% of companies offer some form of transition period to support researchers at the end of the contract, but in most cases this is not part of formal policy and is not supported by central funding and is therefore decided on a case-by-case basis – Case basis.
Grady said: “Poor scores across the board in areas such as fixed-term contracts, appropriate redeployment processes and decent redundancy provisions illustrate the urgent need for the industry to update its approach to employment practices.
“Crucially, the worst practices are not limited to the most financially insecure institutions, as one might think. Far from it: five of the 24 Russell Group universities are in the bottom half of the table.”
UCU made a series of recommendations for universities in the report, including working with unions to establish “more sustainable employment models” for researchers and committing to reducing the use of fixed-term contracts; through measures such as increasing redundancy pay and extending notice or transition periods. , to provide greater support for staff on expiring externally funded fixed-term contracts.
Grady added: “The current funding model for much of the UK research allows employers to blame the system for their chosen hiring practices. But we should be clear that it is a choice. Better workload management by employers coupled with appropriate redeployment It can help employees achieve more sustainable employment.
“Universities need to work with UCU to build a more sustainable model for researcher employment. They need to commit to reducing the use of fixed-term contracts and moving researchers towards truly secure contracts.
“They need to put in place systems that support continuity of employment and minimize the risk of redundancies at the end of funded research projects.”
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