► A.4 Guidlines for Sabbatical Officers

A.4                          GUIDELINES FOR SABBATICAL OFFICERS

 

A.4.1                       Sabbatical Officers are elected to serve for one calendar year from 1 August to 31 July in the following year.

 

A.4.2          The Sabbatical Office is whole-time.  That means Sabbatical Officers cannot during duty hours, without the permission of the Union Council, engage in duties unrelated to their Office and outside the Union; whether the Officer receives payment for those other duties or not.  Sabbatical Officers shall receive a net allowance, the level of which is approved by CSAM, whereby the formula for calculation is reviewed every five years or more frequently by a body independent of the Staff and Executive Officers of the Union.  The Senior Treasurer shall co-ordinate the work o the independent Remuneration Review Body and shall take advice from both the Finance Committee and the Union Council.  Remuneration for the Sabbaticals and the formula by how it is calculated shall be approved, from time to time, by the Union Council.

 

A.4.3             Sabbatical Officers are expected to be engaged in their duties Monday to Friday during ULU Office hours – normally 10am to 6pm.  But the nature of the work is that these hours can vary and duties may be required outside the normal hours and on other days.  Averaged over the year, however, the duties expected of a Sabbatical Officer should not be more than about 50 hours per week.  There will be a mechanism where Sabbatical Officers can claim time off in lieu during term time.

 

A.4.4          With the agreement of the other Sabbatical Officers and normally not in the University term-time, Sabbatical Officers may take a total of 20 days leave of absence from their duties in addition to the Union Closure Days without their allowance being reduced.  In exceptional circumstances (for example for compassionate reasons) Sabbatical Officers may be granted leave from their duties in excess of 20 days by the Senior Treasurer.  The Senior Treasurer may then rule that their allowance should accordingly be reduced for each additional day of absence, taking into account any extenuating circumstances and whether the absences can be made up by duties undertaken at other times.

 

A.4.5             Sabbatical Officers are required to keep an Office Diary of their engagements which must be available for examination.  If they expect to be unavailable during ULU office hours they must leave with their Personal Assistant or post on their door either a means of contact or where and when they expect can be contacted.

 

A.4.6             Sabbatical Officers are required to inform their support staff if they are unable to carry out their duties on any day because of ill-health.  They should contact their support staff as soon as possible if they are unable to attend their duties, and if appropriate, suggest what alternative arrangements could be made to cover important duties, and when they expect to return to their duties.  If the number of days of sickness (inclusive of weekends) is seven or more, then a letter from a doctor will be required by the Senior Treasurer if the days are not to be counted as normal leave of absence or the allowance is not to be reduced.

 

                   Matters of health and other personal matters concerning individual Officers will be dealt with in strict confidence on a “need to know” basis but each Officer’s support staff will keep a public record of absences doe to leave and sickness which will be recorded on the Sabbatical Log Book and open to inspection by any Full Member of the Union.

 

A.4.7          Any Sabbatical Officer who has failed to maintain contact with the Union for 20 consecutive days (including weekend days but excluding Union closure days) without good reason, will be deemed to have resigned, subject to approval by the Union Council or Senior Treasurer.  This will be subject to the Appeals procedure laid out under Section A.3.2 for Motions of No Confidence.

 

A.4.8             Sabbatical Officers are free to belong to a Trade Union.

 

A.4.9          All Sabbatical Officers will carry out the duties prescribed by the Union Council.  Prior to taking up Office, they are required to spend a period of ‘Handover’ with the retiring Officer by mutual arrangement, during which time an allowance will be received at the same rate as the allowance received by the retiring Officer.

 

A.4.10       Before the end of their Term of Office, retiring Officers are required by mutual arrangement to spend a period of ‘Handover Training’ with their successors.  Failure to do so will render them liable to disciplinary action under Section A:5 of the Regulations.

 

A.4.11       In carrying out their duties Sabbatical Officers must abide and act in accordance with the Union Constitution, Regulations and Policies and must fulfil to the best of their ability any Senate Mandates.  The duties required by Union Council must be reasonable both in their nature and extent and not infringe University Statues, the ULU Constitution, other Regulations or the law.

 

A.4.12       Except where appointed ex-officio, Sabbatical Officers on University Committees are appointed in a personal capacity.

 

A.4.13       If a Sabbatical Officer has a grievance, complaint or problem relating to their Office they should raise the matter with the Senior Treasurer, who will take whatever action appears to him/her to be necessary.  If this relates to a member of staff of the Union, the General Manager must immediately be informed.

 

A.4.14       The Staff Protocol Agreement must be observed.  A copy can be obtained from the General Manager on request.

 

A.4.15             Sabbatical Officers may resign at any time on giving one month’s notice in writing to the Senior Treasurer, who will immediately inform the Union Council and acknowledge receipt.  A shorter time may be agreed by the Union Council, or in exceptional circumstances by the Senior Treasurer (e.g. during Vacations, when Council Meetings cannot be convened within a reasonable amount of time).  Once delivered and acknowledged, written notice of resignation may only be withdrawn with the consent of Union Council.

 

A.4.16       Any Officer who for whatever circumstances finds that their Status as a Full member of the Union (as under 3.2a of the Constitution) will change before the conclusion of their period of Office must inform the President and the Senior Treasurer of the Union.  Who will, in conjunction with the Executive Committee, recommend a course of action to the next Council meeting.