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UCU has reported UoN to HSE re: workload and stress prevention breaches

Email sent to members on Friday 21st March 2025

Dear members

We wanted to let you know that after asking for stress prevention documentation for several months, the UCU Branch Committee made the decision to report UoN to HSE for workload and stress breaches. Below is the summary of what we told HSE:

  • Already over 30 requests for caseworker support this year, a sharp increase to the comparative time period in previous years.
  • High levels of “stress and worry regarding work” identified in the 2023-4 Specialist Wellbeing Services report.
  • Failure to produce stress risk assessment and business unit level stress risk assessments despite repeated requests from September 2024.
  •  A sloppy and hastily completed Institution Level Risk Assessment finally shared last week, without any dialogue with UCU.  It is inadequate as it needs to be supported by Business Unit Stress Risk Assessments, which are not in place. It includes Future Nottingham as a stress mitigating factor.
  • UCU workload reps were told that risk assessments have been delayed due to workload issues amongst administrative and professional staff
  • Most academic staff have a “workload model” which in many cases is calculated as over 100% i.e. a staff member contracted to work full time is required to complete more work than can be expected within their contracted hours. Within university policy, workload up to 120% is considered within normal range, with no rationale for this, despite numerous requests.
  • There is no evidence of equality impact assessment for workload models and no mitigations put in place for disabled colleagues, exacerbating increased vulnerability to stress.                 

The UCU branch considers that there is substantial unmitigated risk to workload-related health. The branch is also concerned by an anticipated increase in the number and severity of cases of work-related stress, stress-related ill health and serious mental health problems among employees.

We will keep you posted on developments with HSE. In the meantime, if you are struggling with work-related stress, ask your line manager for an Individual Stress Risk Assessment. Please come to the weekly workload support drop-ins, for advice and guidance on just saying ‘no!’ to unsustainable workloads. Check the weekly branch newsletter for dates and times of these. We will be in touch soon to ask for testimonials on your workload and stress experiences. You are not on your own with this. 

Your Workload Working Group

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Members meeting information – Wednesday 12th March, 1-2pm

Email sent to members on Monday 3rd March.

Dear members,

As promised I am emailing with further information about our branch meeting on Wednesday 12th March. This will take place online from 1-2pm using the following zoom link.

[Please see email dated Wednesday 3rd March from Nick Clare for Zoom details]

As well as important updates on the state of play here at UoN, the meeting has two main topics to cover.

No compulsory redundancies motion

The first is to debate and vote on a new motion (attached) that builds on one that we as a branch passed in late 2023 which made a commitment to defending jobs. Given the Vice Chancellor’s refusal to rule out compulsory redundancies this new motion makes our commitment to this clear and would begin the process moving towards a mandate for industrial action.

Congress preparation

The second is about our branch’s involvement with the 2025 UCU national congress. The motions proposed for the branch to submit can be found at this link. A total of three motions have been received which we will debate and vote on.

Members are invited to submit any amendments by 12.00 noon Friday 7 March. You can make proposals to add to or change the wording of these motions. Please ensure you clearly identify which motion you are proposing amendments for. Note that any amendments cannot change regular motions to exceed the word limits of 10 for the title and 150 for the motion text. Rule change motions have no word limits, meaning amendments to them do not either.

Please also remember the deadline for Congress delegate nominations. We have received one nomination so far, meaning there are still three open delegate spots. Please submit your nomination by email to uonucubranch@gmail.com by Monday 10 March at 12 noon, indicating whether you would wish to attend on site in Liverpool (UCU will provide accommodation and reimburse reasonable travel expenses) or online, as well whether you are willing to be on the reserve list as an alternate (should one of the delegates elected on 12 March become unavailable unexpectedly).

In solidarity,

Nick, branch secretary 

Motion on UoN No Compulsory RedundanciesDownload
UoN UCU Motions for 2025 Congress & HESCDownload
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Workload campaign – 95 so we can thrive!

In recent months, many of us have felt the weight of increased pressures, whether due to staff reductions, new systems (Unicore), or unrealistic demands. We know the toll this takes, not only on our professional lives, but also on our health and well-being.

This campaign is about more than workloads—it’s about demanding respect for staff and ensuring safe, fair conditions for all. Your input and engagement are crucial as we move forward.

Please see attached documents for more information on what your union is doing to combat excessive workloads and how to effectively resist being asked to do more. Also below are the slides from the presentation at our branch meeting on the 5th of February.

Workload campaign – 5th February Branch meetingDownload
Why saying ‘no’ is an act of solidarityDownload
Just say NO – scriptsDownload
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First branch meeting of 2025 – 5th February, 1-2pm

Dear UoN UCU members,
We would like to invite you to our first UoN UCU branch meeting of the year. We will present and discuss our two campaigns for sustainable workloads and the incoming national ballot.

This meeting is a chance to come together, share experiences, and take collective steps toward addressing the challenges we face, linking our local activity into wider national campaigns. Links with information about the sustainable workload campaign are attached.

Date: 5 February

Time: 1-2 pm

Location: Hybrid meeting.*

In solidarity,

Nick

Nick Clare (new UoN UCU branch secretary)

*Please see newsletter dated 27th January for zoom link and location.

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Wollaton Hall parkrun, in memory of Agnes Flues

On Saturday 9 November 2024, colleagues and friends of Agnes Flues were joined by her partner Manuel Peña Prieto at Wollaton Hall parkrun to celebrate her life and social justice, within UCU and beyond.

Photo credit Chris Tregnza https://tregenza.com/ucu-uon-parkrun-for-agnes/

Agnes was a regular runner, and Wollaton was her local parkrun. We were honoured that Manuel could join us and see our show of love and respect for Agnes.

Manuel leading the way with a UCU flag in hand – Photo credit Chris Tregnza https://tregenza.com/ucu-uon-parkrun-for-agnes/

Agnes was a tireless activist taking a number of roles on the UoN UCU branch committee, as well as having been elected to UCU’s National Executive Committee. In memory of all that she did, UoN UCU hope to gather in future years at Wollaton Hall parkrun on the nearest Saturday to her birthday. We therefore invited runners and their supporters to contribute to branch fundraising, which remains open.

A post-run collection – Manuel Peña Prieto photo credit

Participants and supporters wore UCU colours (pink and purple) and we also had a number of handheld UCU flags that caught the attention of fellow parkrun participants (642 finishers). The results are available on the Wollaton Hall parkrun website.

Further images from the day can be seen on Chris Tregnza’s website.