Author: Leo Scott Blankenship

You can sign the open letter here

Dear Helen McNamara and Sandra Taylor,

We, the undersigned University of Nottingham staff, write in solidarity with casually engaged workers at the Language Centre.

Like casual workers across the University, casual staff at the Centre face serious challenges, including late and incorrect payments, poor communication, and cumbersome administrative processes. Casual engagements also offer lower pay, fewer benefits, and less job security compared to fixed-term or permanent contracts. Casual staff at the Centre convene, deliver, and assess undergraduate modules. Others teach evening classes. Some staff do both and have worked full-time equivalent hours for years—yet remain on precarious contracts.

The introduction of Unicore has worsened administrative difficulties. Submission deadlines for timesheets have been unclear and frequently changed. Staff have received conflicting instructions and struggle to navigate the system with errors in account access, multiple payroll codes with no explanation, and difficulties in claiming payment for marking work. These issues are compounded by often poor communication, putting the onus on staff to chase after missed payments. 

The financial and personal impact of these failings has been immense. Some staff have had to borrow money to cover essential bills due to delayed wages. The stress of financial uncertainty and administrative inefficiency is taking its toll on staff well-being. It is unacceptable that staff who are dedicated to delivering high-quality teaching should be left struggling to manage their own livelihoods due to an employer’s failure to meet basic contractual obligations. 

Staff at the Language Centre have been raising the above concerns since at least October 2024. Meanwhile, the Principles for Casual Engagements —which aim to limit casualisation at the University—were agreed in October 2023. Promises to explore moving Language Centre workers onto more secure, fixed-term contracts—including a promise from the HR Business Partner for the Faculty of Arts—have not been followed by action. Instead, the only response has been emergency bank transfers, which fail to address the underlying issues. Meanwhile, poor work conditions are not only hurting casual staff but also undermining the Language Centre’s ability to recruit and retain talent; workers are choosing to leave rather than tolerate unacceptable treatment.

We call on the University to take immediate action:

• Apologise to casual staff across the University for administrative failures, particularly pay delays. 
• Ensure all outstanding payments are made without further delay and establish clear, robust systems to prevent future issues.
• Implement the transition of eligible casual staff—as per the Principles—to fixed-term or permanent contracts, with a clear and transparent timeline.

As an institution committed to fairness, integrity, and academic excellence, the University of Nottingham has a moral and contractual duty to treat its staff with dignity and respect. We urge you to act now to address these concerns and request a formal response outlining the steps that will be taken.