FE BRANCH OFFICERS UPDATE
14 December 2012

In this issue:

•	HE in FE Briefings
•	Joint unions bulletin regarding the FE England sick pay agreement

HE in FE Briefings
Further to last Friday’s email to branch officers, which gave advanced notice of a rolling programme of HE in FE seminars, this circular will confirm the meeting arrangements and provide you with registration details.  

The purpose of the seminars is to give branches the opportunity to;

•	Receive and discuss the findings of internal UCU research 
•	Confirm findings reflect existing practices
•	Gather further information from attendees
•	Explore barriers to and arguments for improvements for FE staff delivering HE courses
•	Explore which are the most important areas to seek improvements for FE staff delivering HE courses 
•	Discuss the impact on FE and HE terms and conditions

For the full circular and registration details please see:
http://www.ucu.org.uk/circ/html/ucu478.html 
http://www.ucu.org.uk/circ/rtf/ucu478.rtf 

FE England Sick Pay Agreement

Dear Colleague 

Please find the following joint union bulletin with very important information regarding the national sick pay agreement for England FE.

Barry Lovejoy
National Head of FE

AoC withdraw from national joint agreement on guidance for sickness leave in FE colleges (England) – joint unions’ reaction.
The Association of Colleges (AoC) has written to the FE trade unions stating that it is withdrawing from the national agreement on guidance for sickness leave in FE colleges.
This vital agreement sets out the minimum entitlements to paid contractual sick leave, that the AoC ‘recommends’ colleges implement for their staff locally.  It is an agreement that has been adopted by the overwhelming majority of colleges throughout England.
The AoC has informed the unions that they are no longer prepared to recommend the entitlement to paid sick leave as set out in section 3 of the national agreement.   This section of the agreement calls on colleges to pay contractual sick pay from day one of absence and for a maximum entitlement of 6 months full and 6 months half pay after 5 years of service -to protect the seriously ill.  This level of entitlement is the standard minimum found across public services.
The AoC has stated that they are prepared to talk about a new agreement – but they would obviously be looking to cut the level of recommended sick leave.
Joint unions’ reaction
The joint unions are appalled by the AoC’s decision, which comes at a time when the health and wellbeing of staff is already being badly affected by the cuts. Many members are being forced to take on additional unpaid responsibilities and work longer hours.
We are clear that there is no justification for this move by the AoC. At no point have they presented credible evidence of a problem with sick leave in the sector.
In addition, we are clear that cuts to sick pay (i.e. removing the right to be paid for first three days of sick leave and reducing the overall number of months of paid sick leave) would be counterproductive.  
If a college cuts its sick pay, staff who are unwell will be forced to come into work when ill.  They could infect other staff which would drive up overall sickness levels in the workplace, hitting productivity and leading to longer term and more serious levels of sickness, ultimately driving up costs.  Further cuts in sick pay would also mean that hardworking staff who fall seriously ill, sometimes with life threatening conditions such as cancer, could be forced into poverty. This is no way to treat sick people who have given years of dedicated service to their college.   
Cuts in sick pay will also have a greater impact on women and disabled employees.  Women who have caring responsibilities often have more short term illnesses as a result of their children’s illnesses.  Pregnant women often require more sickness leave and some disabled employees may need to have more sickness leave related to their disability.  
 
For these reasons the unions will resist any attempt by colleges to use the AoC’s decision as a justification to try and cut sick pay locally.  Where any college attempts such a move we will campaign together and are prepared to take coordinated industrial action.
What local reps need to know.
Firstly, whilst the AoC decision is extremely unwelcome it changes nothing in your college. The AoC in withdrawing from the national agreement has not called on colleges to cut sick pay locally.  In addition, in the majority of colleges the right to sick pay will be incorporated into employment contracts. 
 In their letter to the unions even the AoC has stated that:
“ ... where a college has adopted the April 2000 joint agreement as a local collective agreement, the arrangements for paid sick leave will have become incorporated into individual employee’s contracts of employment, and thus cannot be unilaterally changed without collective consultation and agreement to any proposed variation”.
However, clearly the decision to withdraw from the national agreement may be taken as a signal by some colleges to attack sick pay.  We therefore need to be ready to defend members’ entitlements.
What you should do next
Union reps should immediately take the following steps:
1 	Check if the right to sick pay is contained in your local employment contracts.
2 	Speak to the other unions locally about the AoC decision to withdraw from the national agreement and put in place initial plans to defend sick pay in your college if necessary.
3	Contact your regional office immediately if you get any hint that your college is looking to cut sick pay.   
Finally in the next week few weeks we will be producing a joint union campaign guide and checklist to help reps deal with any attempt by their employer to cut sick pay.