Staff Handbook

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Using this book This Handbook is a general guide to matters relating to your employment at Trinity Hall. It sets out the main policies and procedures that you will need to be aware of whilst working with us.

Unless otherwise stated, these policies and procedures apply to all non- academic employees (“staff”). You should familiarise yourself with it and comply with it at all times.

Unless otherwise stated, this Handbook does not form part of your contractual terms and conditions of employment. Please refer to your individual contract for specific terms relating to your employment.

The College reserves the right to vary this Handbook from time to time as necessary to reflect changes in legislation or policy.

Where policies have been updated the relevant pages will be circulated to all staff.

If you have any queries and concerns regarding this handbook, please refer to your Manager or the Bursarial Office.

Section Page 1 Introduction 3

2 Joining the College – general information 4 3 Staff Benefits 7 4 Hours of Work and Overtime 8

5 Salaries and Pensions 10

6 Holidays and Holiday Pay 12 7 Email, Internet and Electronic Communications

Policy

14

8 Social Media Policy 18

9 Family Friendly Policies 20 10 Sick Leave and Pay 43 11 Health, Safety and Welfare 46 12 Disciplinary Rules and Procedure 50

13 Grievance Procedure 55 14 Anti-Harassment and Bullying Policy 57 15 Equal Opportunities Policy 62

16 Incapacity and Incapability Policy 64 17 Data Protection Policy 66 18 Anti-Bribery and Corruption Policy 69 19 Retirement Policy 71

Appendix A – Housekeeping Manual 74

Appendix B – Time in lieu / overtime payment claim form

Appendix C - Notice of entitlement and intention to take Shared Parental Leave form

Appendix D – Shared Parental Leave eligibility flowchart

Appendix E – Self certification sickness form

Appendix F – Display Screen Equipment Certificate of

Recommendation form

CONTENTS

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Section 1

Trinity Hall is, and always has been, a friendly community. It is one of the prettiest colleges, reflecting many of the characteristics that one would expect of the Cambridge collegiate system: an interesting history, a strong academic record, and a boat club with its own distinguished past! As such, it exudes an atmosphere of intimacy, tradition and social spirit. Its alumni include such notable figures as Lord Howard, Robert Herrick, F D Maurice, J B Priestley, Lord Howe, Lord Runcie - and, more recently, Nicholas Hytner, Andrew Marr and Rachel Weisz.

Trinity Hall was founded by Bishop Bateman of Norwich in 1350, making it the fifth oldest surviving College of Cambridge University. It was originally founded, in the words of William Bateman himself, “for the promotion of divine worship and of canon and civil science and direction of the commonwealth and especially of our church and diocese of Norwich.” The rationale behind this stated purpose may well be attributed to the Black Death of 1349, a disaster which, among other things, had resulted in a shortage of clergymen and of lawyers.

Many have wondered about the use of the name “Hall.” In the early days of college foundations in Oxford and Cambridge, the Collegium only referred to the group of scholars who inhabited an Aula or Hall or, occasionally, a House Trinity Hall's room for manoeuvre in changing to College was, of course, restricted by King Henry VIII's foundation of his own College, Trinity College, next door, nearly two hundred years after Trinity Hall's foundation. So Trinity Hall remains Trinity Hall, or the Hall for short.

Trinity Hall comprises the Senior and Junior Members and those officially referred to in the statutes as Assistant Staff. The Senior Members are the Master and Fellows (who constitute the Governing Body) and other resident M.A.s, and the Junior Members are the undergraduate and graduate students. The Assistant Staff are those who assist the College Officers in the administration and day-to-day running of the College.

Trinity Hall consists of a central site on Trinity Lane and three residential sites; the largest being Wychfield, located on Storey’s Way and the two smaller sites on Thompson’s Lane and Bateman Street.

INTRODUCTION

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Section 2

Probationary Period You join the College on an initial probationary period of six months unless stated otherwise in your contract of employment. During this period your work performance and general suitability will be assessed and your performance will be reviewed monthly or bi-monthly during this period. If this is satisfactory, your employment will be confirmed. However, if your performance is not satisfactory, the College may either extend the probationary period in order that remedial action can be taken or take action to terminate your contract of employment.

Termination of Contract

On completion of your probationary period, your minimum notice period to be given by you and the College will be:

One month’s notice if you are monthly paid or salaried. Other employees should refer to their individual contracts of employment.

The minimum period of notice may be extended by an individual contract of employment. Please check the letter confirming your offer of employment.

Garden leave The College reserves the right to place you on garden leave during the period of notice. During any period of garden leave the College shall be under no obligation to provide you with any work. You may be excluded from College premises, be asked to return keys or other College property and your access to the College IT (or other) systems may be revoked. The right to place you on garden leave is a contractual right.

At all times during the garden leave period, however, you will remain an employee of the College and will remain bound by your terms and conditions of employment.

The College may terminate your contract of employment without notice in the case of gross misconduct (see Disciplinary Procedure).

Job Duties Your duties will comprise those that have been assigned to you in accordance with the demands of the job, your skills and experience. Your manager may allocate certain additional duties to you from time to time. Changes to your duties are usually in relation to the changing needs of the College and your capability.

Training You may receive training for your specific job as part of your induction or as an outcome of appraisal or performance review.

JOINING THE COLLEGE – GENERAL INFORMATION FOR

EMPLOYEES

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Annual Appraisals All employees with 12 months employment or greater will receive an annual appraisal. Appraisals are based on skills, competence and behaviour during the previous 12 months. Staff who have completed less than 12 months service will not be subject to appraisal. Appraisal is an opportunity to gain valuable feedback from your manager, identify training needs and reward exceptional contribution in a fair, transparent and consistent manner.

Job Flexibility It is essential that you are flexible and willing to transfer to alternative duties within the College when necessary. This may involve taking over some duties normally performed by colleagues. This may include covering for sickness, holiday periods, emergencies etc.

Mobility Although you are usually employed at one particular location, it is a condition of your employment that you are prepared, whenever necessary, to work at other College sites within Cambridge.

Standards of Dress As you are likely to come into contact with Fellows, students, visitors and members of the public, it is important that you present a professional image with regard to appearance and standards of dress. Where work clothing is provided, it must be worn and laundered by you on a regular basis. If work clothing is not provided, your clothing should be appropriate to your job and kept clean and tidy at all times.

Changes in Personal Details You should notify the HR Officer of change of name, address or telephone number in order that accurate information and correspondence can be maintained and contact can be made in an emergency or outside normal working hours.

Other Employment Please inform the HR Officer if you are employed or intend to work for other employers. This is to ensure that the College does not breach the Working Time Regulations and to avoid potential conflicts of interest.

Travel Expenses The College will reimburse you against receipts for reasonable travel costs incurred whilst employed on College business. At all times, you are required to choose the most economic means of travel.

Communications The College will aim to keep you informed about items of interest by means of staff emails from the Junior Bursar.

Employees’ Property The College does not accept liability for any loss or damage to property that you bring onto College premises. You are requested not to bring personal items of value to work or leave any items overnight. Lockers should be used where provided.

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Lost Property Articles of lost property should be handed to the Porters’ Lodge where they will be retained for three months whilst attempts are made to discover the owner. Items will be disposed of after three months.

Mail All mail received by the College may be opened, including that addressed to employees. Therefore, private mail should not be sent care of the College’s address unless you are prepared for it to be read by others. No private mail may be posted at the College’s expense except in those cases where a formal re-charge arrangement has been made. Staff should read and abide by the College’s e-mail and Internet policy.

Collective Agreements There are no collective agreements forming any part of your terms and conditions of employment.

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Section 3

The College offers a range of discretionary benefits. These include:

Pension Scheme Please refer to section 5.

Staff Meals Full time employees will receive meals on duty which can be purchased using your daily allowance from Cafeteria or the Coffee Shop, subject to opening times. An option of a packed lunch is available to those posted away from Central Site. This may be reviewed from time to time. Part time staff will receive a meal if their working day starts before 11am and finishes after 2pm.

Training and Development The College is committed to training and developing its employees into a skilled, motivated and enthusiastic workforce. Training needs will be identified during your annual appraisal and joint agreement made with your manager to meet these needs.

Staff Parking Vehicles may only be parked in designated parking areas with prior permission. No liability is accepted for damage to private vehicles, however it may be caused. Staff parking is limited. A waiting list is in operation, managed by the Head Porter. If you wish to be added to the list please notify the Head Porter.

Social Activities The College organises a Garden party, Christmas lunch and occasional sports matches on an annual basis for all employees.

Counselling Free, impartial and confidential counselling is available on site for all staff. The College Counsellor can be found in D7 Central Site.

Long Service Awards These are given to reward the loyalty of long serving staff. The Master usually marks the occasion with a gift. Long service awards are usually given at the following intervals: - 10 years, 20 years, 30 years, and 40 years.

STAFF BENEFITS

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Section 4

Hours of Work Employees’ hours of work depend on their particular jobs. The days and hours of work specific to your job are stated in your contract of employment. Your manager will discuss any temporary changes or adjustments with you. Permanent variations will be confirmed in writing. Meal breaks or rest breaks should be taken at times agreed with your manger or supervisor.

Overtime What is overtime?

During particularly busy periods or in case of an emergency you may be asked to work more than your normal contracted hours. Whenever possible, reasonable notice will be given. If you are a part-time employee, you will need to work the equivalent full time hours for your job before the overtime rate is payable.

Amount of overtime

Extra hours are compensated in one of two ways – overtime pay or time off in lieu. Time off in lieu is at the discretion of your manager. Overtime is paid at the rate of one and a half times your normal pay for Monday to Saturday and double time for Sundays and Public Holidays.

The College reserves the right to pay you overtime pay rather than give you time off in lieu where it deems it appropriate.

Eligibility

If you earn less than £23,970, you are eligible to claim overtime or time off in lieu if preferred. Please note that this will be in effect from 1 January 2015. Going forward this will come into effect as of 1 October, or the 1st of the month after the University has confirmed the cost of living increase; whichever is the later.

If you earn in excess of £23,970 you are routinely expected to work small amounts of overtime without expectation of pay or time off in lieu. However, in the week you may receive overtime pay (or time off in lieu) if you have worked in excess of 40 hours or have completed a block of three hours in excess of your contract hours. Please note that this will be in effect from 1 January 2015. Going forward this will come into effect as of 1 October, or the 1st of the month after the University has confirmed the cost of living increase; whichever is the later. Part-time staff will be paid normal daily rates until they have completed full time hours for their post. The overtime rate will be paid only thereafter. Alternatively, time off in lieu may be taken.

Procedure to claim overtime Overtime claim forms should be completed and countersigned by your Manager and sent to the Accounts Office for processing. A sample copy is

HOURS OF WORK AND OVERTIME

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provided in Appendix B. Further copies will be available from your manager or HR Officer.

Lieu time rules

Lieu time must be used (reclaimed) within 12 months of working it and taken no later than the expiry date of that lieu entry (1 year after);

E.g. in the example of an expiry duration of 12 months; this would mean if a record is added to an employee’s lieu time screen on Cascade with a date of 04/01/2014, the ‘Reclaim’ option would only be allowed until 04/01/2015. After this date, the summary section would show the record as ‘lost’ (duration).

Shortage of Work If there is a temporary shortage of work, the College will take all possible measures to maintain your continuity of employment. This may entail reducing hours of work or offering alternative work (possibly at another College site) in the short term until the situation improves. However this is dependent on the number and types of alternative work available at the time.

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Section 5

When are salaries paid? Normally you will be paid monthly directly into a bank or building society account on the 25th of the month or the nearest working day if the 25th falls on a weekend or Bank Holiday. However, for administrative reasons in your first or last month of employment, payment may be made by cheque at the end of the month.

Components of your salary You will receive a regular itemised monthly pay slip showing how the total net amount of your pay has been calculated. The main components of your gross pay are basic pay plus any overtime (See Overtime – Section 4). Deductions are generally in the form of income tax and national insurance. Other payments such as Tax Credits can be paid through your wages. For further details of any of these benefits please refer to the HMRC website: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/

Please note that it is your responsibility and not the College’s to contact the Inland Revenue with regard to these benefits.

Overpayments and deductions The College shall be entitled to deduct from your salary or other payments due to you any money which you may owe to the College at any time.

The College will recover any accidental over payments by making a series of deductions from pay. These amounts will normally be small enough to ensure that undue hardship is not caused and that the overpayment is recovered over a reasonable timescale. The right to make deductions from your salary is a contractual right.

The P60 At the end of each tax year, form P60 will be issued to you showing the total pay you have received and the total deductions during the year. In addition, you may be given form P11D showing non-pay benefits. You should keep these documents in a safe place, as you may need to produce them if making enquiries with the HMRC, or completing a self-assessment tax form. The College cannot make duplicate copies.

Salary Structure and Pay Increases The College aims to pay market related salary for all jobs. These are determined by on-going monitoring of local labour market salary levels. This ensures that demand for skills are balanced with the needs and priorities of the College. Rates of pay are reviewed annually with effect from 1 January taking into account, among other things, increases in the cost of living. Cost of living reviews are determined by the University but without guarantee of an increase as a result.

The College has a single salary scale for all staff. All jobs are allocated six steps on this scale. The optimum point on the scale for most staff is point 4,

SALARY AND PENSION INFORMATION

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which represents the market related pay for someone performing to a good standard. Exceptions may include trainee positions or where the post holder does not have the required experience or skill level.

The College operates a discretionary performance related bonus scheme, which allows for the payment of a bonus to staff whose performance is considered exceptional during the previous year (defined 1 July to 30 June). Decisions regarding performance related bonuses will be determined by a recommendation from your Line Manager and a review by the Employment Committee. Any bonus payment made in one year does not automatically entitle staff to a bonus payment or payments in any subsequent year.

Pensions The College offers defined contribution pension schemes for staff. From 1 January 2018, after 3 months continuous service, all eligible employees will be automatically enrolled into the Cambridge Colleges Group Personal Pension Scheme. This is a basic workplace pension scheme run by Aviva. Anyone automatically enrolled will be given the opportunity to opt out within one month of enrolment should they wish. Information about automatic enrolement, current eligibility criteria and minimum contribution levels is available from the Bursary. Staff who successfully complete their probationary period will be eligible to make enhanced contributions, should they so wish, and the College will match any additional contributions up to a maximum of 8%. Full details will be supplied on completion of the probationary period. For existing staff who are members of the Cambridge Colleges’ Federated Pension Scheme (CCFPS), the normal retirement age is 65 years. However, anyone who wishes to retire between the ages of 60 and 65 years will receive an actuarially reduced pension. This will only apply to contributions made after 1 April 2004 and not to contributions made prior to this date. The College reserves the right to vary, amend or withdraw the pension’s schemes at any time. Please see the College’s Retirement Policy for further information about the College’s retirement procedures.

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Section 6

The holiday year runs from 1st January to 31st December.

All staff receive an annual holiday entitlement of 25 days plus Bank Holidays (which is pro-rated for part-time staff). Extra holidays are linked to length of service. One extra day is awarded for every two years of service, up to a maximum of 30 days holiday in total.

During your first year of employment holidays will be pro-rata to the period employed. Details of individual entitlements should be clarified with the HR Officer.

The College reserves the right to ask you to take holiday at a time or times as notified to you in advance. This is a contractual right.

Some staff are required to take part of their holiday leave when the Kitchens are closed. They are required to consult their manager before arranging a holiday on certain Public Holidays in case they are required to work. You should note that there is no legal entitlement to a day off on a Public Holiday. However, if you are scheduled to work, you will receive a day off in lieu and payment at double time as compensation.

You are required to reserve part of your annual holiday for the Christmas closure.

Holiday leave must be agreed in advance with your manager. Departments need to ensure that adequate cover is maintained so you should check with your manager before booking a holiday. Requests will be considered on a ‘first come, first served’ basis.

You should not normally take more than two working weeks consecutively. For longer days please consult your manager.

Please note that the notice period for holiday requests should be a minimum of twice as long as the requested holiday period.

It is expected that all staff will take their full entitlement to holiday within the calendar year. If due to work commitments directed by your line manager or another exceptional circumstance, you may, subject to agreement with your Line Manager, carry forward a maximum of 5 days holiday into the next calendar year. Approval of any requests to carry over holiday is at your Line Manager’s discretion who may seek advice from the HR Officer.

If you have taken more holiday than your accrued entitlement at the date your employment terminates, the College shall be entitled to deduct any days owed from your final salary.

During any continuous period of absence due to sickness of one month or more you shall not accrue holiday under your contract and your holiday

HOLIDAYS AND HOLIDAY PAY

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entitlement for the holiday year in which such absence takes place shall be reduced pro rata save that it shall not fall below your statutory entitlement.

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Section 7

Trinity Hall permits staff who are provided with access to e-mail, Internet and other electronic communications systems to use them subject to the requirements set out in this policy. It is a condition of your contract of employment that you observe and comply with this policy at all times. Any amendments will be notified to you as and when they occur. Failure to comply with this policy will lead to disciplinary action.

Except as set out below, the e-mail and Internet system (including external e-mail) is solely for legitimate use relating to your employment. Personal use is only permitted provided you comply with the conditions relating to personal use set out below.

Equipment Security and Passwords You are responsible for the security of the equipment allocated to or used by you, and must not allow it to be used by anyone other than in accordance with this policy. You should use passwords on all IT equipment, particularly items that you take out of the office. You should keep your passwords confidential.

Systems and Data Security It is expressly forbidden for anyone to download or install software onto their PC (or any other electronic equipment provided to you) without the prior authorisation of the IT Department.

You should not delete, destroy or modify existing systems, programs, information or data (except as authorised in the proper performance of your duties).

You must not attach any device or equipment including mobile phones, tablet computers or USB storage devices to the College’s computer systems without the prior authorisation of the IT Department.

Accessing the Internet Direct access to the Internet may be provided from your desktop PC. Each time you visit an Internet site; there is a risk that the site might contain a virus, worm or other harmful stealth program, which could cause damage to the College's computer system. The risks involved in visiting Internet sites related to your work are normally acceptable risks, which we have to manage to minimise the danger. Risks involved in visiting inappropriate Internet sites which do not relate to your work are NOT acceptable risks. You could therefore be exposing yourself to disciplinary action if a virus or other damage is imported. Whenever you view material on an Internet site, you are downloading material onto the College’s computer system whether or not you take information off the site. When you visit an Internet site, that site extracts information from the PC about the user and other details. Therefore, you must be aware that you may be providing information to third parties which could be used for purposes that neither you nor the College would wish. You must NOT subscribe to any service or supplier, nor should

E-MAIL, INTERNET AND ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS

POLICY

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you enter into any individual subscriptions via the College's computer system without prior approval from the IT Manager. When you have finished an Internet session, you should close your web browser.

Visiting Internet sites and Internet content You must at all times be aware of the uncontrolled and unregulated nature of the Internet. It contains a vast amount of inappropriate and worthless material in addition to being a valuable and vital resource.

It is forbidden to access, download, transmit and/or distribute any image, file or material which is pornographic, offensive, abusive, defamatory, in bad taste or which could amount to harassment or intimidation. It is also forbidden to use the Internet to transmit or distribute material in breach of confidence or in breach of copyright or which is untrue or malicious.

As a general rule, if any person (whether intended to view the page or not) might be offended by the contents of a page, or if the fact that the College’s software has accessed the page, material or file might be a source of embarrassment if made public, then viewing it will be a breach of this policy.

The College may block or restrict access to some websites at its discretion.

Monitoring e-mail and Internet use All e-mail and Internet use within the College may be monitored. You should therefore be aware that, for business or legal reasons, your e-mails and your browsing of the Internet (including any personal use) may be continually monitored. See also the provisions regarding e-mail proxies below.

Browsing the Internet You are authorised to browse the Internet for work, research and other legitimate business use. Please be aware, however, that it is easy to browse from site to site without immediately realising that you may be straying into sites which are inappropriate. This should not be a problem when undertaking authorised work or research but you must be alert to the risks of 'random' browsing or surfing.

It is a feature of the Internet that material you have viewed or downloaded may still be available even if you have deleted it. Similarly, it is possible to track the sites you have visited on the Internet.

E-mail All e-mails should be treated as a formal document. Deleted e-mails can be retrieved from the IT system. E-mails can be produced as documentary evidence in Court.

You must at all times be aware of the public nature of e-mail messages. You should not put anything into an e-mail message that you would not write as a formal letter on Trinity Hall letter paper. The language used must be appropriate. Therefore all work related e-mails must be written in a business-like manner. They must be properly spelled and punctuated. Long e-mail messages must be in paragraphs and language should be appropriate.

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All attachments to incoming e-mail create the risk that they might contain a virus or other harmful stealth program. You must NOT open an attachment from an unknown address, even if apparently work-related. This should be deleted unread or referred to the IT Department.

Quarantining of e-mail E-mail may be quarantined by the IT system if it contains images/graphics and/or offensive/suspicious words.

In most instances you will be informed of a message that has been quarantined. You should contact the Head of IT for more details about the message and to request its release if appropriate. Messages will be held for three weeks and then deleted if no contact is made with the IT team. The quarantine also applies to sent e-mails.

Wrongly delivered e-mail From time to time external e-mail may be wrongly delivered into the College. Any external e-mail which is wrongly delivered to you must immediately be returned to the sender informing them that it was wrongly delivered. The confidential contents of a wrongly delivered e-mail must not be disclosed or used.

Personal use of e-mail, Internet and telephone systems You may use the College's IT, email and telephone systems for occasional personal use subject to the following:

The use of the system must not interfere with the proper performance of your duties and must take place substantively outside normal working hours (that is, during your lunch break, and before or after work).

The use must not be for personal gain.

You must not use the IT system to send, receive or distribute material, which is defamatory, intimidating, offensive, pornographic, explicit or abusive. It is also forbidden to send, receive or distribute any material which is in breach of confidence, or a breach of copyright or which is untrue or malicious.

Access to chat sites or chat lines is strictly forbidden.

If using the IT system for personal e-mail you must not encourage anyone to send you e-mails which have attachments. Any attachments received with incoming personal e-mails must NOT be opened. It is inevitable that you will receive unsolicited e-mails from friends and acquaintances. Non-work related attachments should be deleted unread.

It is forbidden for you to send mass mailings of personal e-mails to colleagues and friends, whether internally or externally. Such mass mailing affects the business efficiency of the IT system.

You should be aware that any payment or other transaction over the Internet, which involves you giving personal financial details, is at risk of fraud or other abuse.

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Your personal e-mails may be subject to monitoring as part of the College-wide monitoring system. They may also be accessible to others via the College's proxy policy. Therefore you should be aware that your personal e-mail might not be private. It is your choice whether or not you wish to make use of the College's computer system for personal e-mail and such use is strictly subject to your understanding that the system is not private.

If you are using e-mail for personal use, the e-mail system does not distinguish between personal and business e-mails. To the recipient, the e-mail is received from Trinity Hall’s computer system and the College could be liable for its contents in certain circumstances. Please always be aware that sending any personal e-mail is the equivalent of writing a personal letter on the College's letterhead. Any inappropriate personal messages you send will lead to disciplinary proceedings.

All communications must comply with the College’s policies including Equal Opportunities, Anti-harassment and Bullying, Data Protection and Disciplinary Procedure.

Misuse, or excessive personal use of the College’s telephone, email or IT systems or inappropriate internet use will be dealt with under the College’s disciplinary rules.

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Section 8

This policy is in place to minimise the risks to the College through use of social media.

This policy deals with the use of all forms of social media, including Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+, Wikipedia, Instagram and all other social networking sites, internet postings and blogs. It applies to use of social media for business purposes as well as personal use that may affect the College or its staff in any way (whether made during working hours or in your private time and whether using College or your own property).

Personal Use of Social Media Occasional personal use of social media is permitted so long as it does not involve unprofessional or inappropriate content, does not interfere with your employment responsibilities or productivity and complies with this policy and the Email, Internet and Electronic Communications Policy.

Prohibited Use You must avoid making any social media communications (either directly or indirectly) that could damage the College’s interests or reputation.

You must not use social media to: defame or disparage the College, its staff or Fellows or any third party; to harass, bully or unlawfully discriminate against staff, Fellows or third parties; to make false or misleading statements; or to impersonate colleagues or third parties.

You must not express opinions on the College’s behalf via social media, unless expressly authorised to do so by your manager. You may be required to undergo training in order to obtain such authorisation.

Any misuse of social media should be reported to the HR Officer.

Guidelines for responsible use of Social Media You should make it clear in social media postings, or in your personal profile, that you are speaking on your own behalf. Write in the first person and use a personal e-mail address.

Be respectful to others when making any statement on social media and be aware that you are personally responsible for all communications which will be published on the internet for anyone to see.

If you disclose your affiliation with the College on your profile or in any social media postings, you must state that your views do not represent those of the College (unless you have been authorised to speak on the College’s behalf). You should also ensure that your profile and any content you post are consistent with the professional image you present to colleagues and any third party.

SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY

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If you are uncertain or concerned about the appropriateness of any statement or posting, refrain from posting it until you have discussed it with your manager.

If you see social media content that disparages or reflects poorly on the College, you should contact your line manager or the HR Officer.

Breach of this policy may result in disciplinary action up to and including dismissal. Any member of staff suspected of committing a breach of this policy will be required to co-operate with our investigation, which may involve handing over relevant passwords and login details.

You may be required to remove any social media content that we consider to constitute a breach of this policy. Failure to comply with such a request may in itself result in disciplinary action.

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Section 9

This policy applies to employees only.

Maternity Leave All employees are entitled to take up to 26 weeks’ Ordinary Maternity Leave (OML) and then up to a further 26 weeks’ Additional Maternity Leave (AML).

Notice requirements

Please inform us as soon as possible if you are pregnant. This is important as there may be health and safety considerations.

Notice to take maternity leave should be given to the College by the 15th

week before the Expected Week of Childbirth (EWC). A certificate from your doctor or midwife (MAT B1) stating the EWC should be submitted to the HR Officer.

The earliest you can start your maternity leave is 11 weeks before EWC (unless your child is born prematurely before that date).

If you want to change the date on which your maternity leave is to start, please inform the HR Officer in writing giving as much notice as you can but at least 28 days before the original start date.

You will not be required to give any further notification if you intend to return to work at the end of your AML. However, you are requested to inform your manager if you would like to return earlier giving at least eight weeks’ advance notice.

Sickness trigger - your maternity leave will start automatically if you are absent from work for a pregnancy related reason during the 4 weeks before your EWC, regardless of when you have specified your maternity start date.

Statutory Maternity Pay

To qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP), you must have been continuously employed by the College for the previous 26 weeks before your Expected Week of Childbirth (EWC). Provided you satisfy the statutory eligibility requirements, you will be entitled to 39 weeks’ SMP (less tax and national insurance contributions) at the following rates:

1. 90% of normal weekly earnings during the first six weeks of OML; and

2. the prescribed rate set by the government each year for the remaining 33 weeks.

FAMILY FRIENDLY POLICIES AND TIME OFF

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Terms and Conditions during Maternity Leave You are entitled to receive all your contractual benefits except wages or salary throughout your OML and AML.

You will continue to accrue statutory holiday under the Working Time Regulations during your maternity leave. Requests for additional unpaid leave should be made in writing to the HR Officer. Please see the College’s Parental Leave Policy below.

Seniority, pension rights and similar rights are unaffected by maternity leave.

Returning to Work

You are normally entitled to return to work in the position you held before starting maternity leave, and on the same terms of employment. However, if you have taken AML and it is not reasonably practicable for you to return to the same position, we may give you another suitable and appropriate job on terms and conditions that are not less favourable.

If you decide not to return to work following your maternity leave, you must give notice in accordance with the terms of your employment contract.

If you wish to discuss any change in working arrangements in respect of your return to work, you should contact your manager/ HR Officer as early as possible. Any agreement to a change in working arrangements will be given full consideration but cannot be guaranteed.

If you are unable to return to work at the end of your maternity leave because of ill health, you should submit required medical certificates. Following this, you will be transferred from maternity leave to sick leave. Subsequently the normal absence procedures will apply.

Keeping in touch

We may make reasonable contact with you from time to time during your maternity leave although we will keep this to a minimum.

You may work (including attending training) on up to ten "keeping-in-touch" days during your maternity leave.

College Maternity Pay

Provided you satisfy the eligibility requirements for payment of SMP and you have acquired at least 24 months’ service with the College by the time your maternity leave commences, you will be entitled to College Maternity Pay (“CMP”).

CMP, which includes your entitlement to SMP, will be paid as follows:

The first eighteen weeks’ maternity leave at 100% of your basic salary;

The final twenty-one weeks at the prescribed statutory rate.

CMP is conditional upon you returning to work for at least three months after your maternity leave. If you decide not to return to work, or return to work for less than three months after your maternity leave, and subject to Trinity Hall’s absolute discretion, you will be required to repay CMP (less any SMP

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received) as follows:

If you do not return to work at all, or return to work for less than one

month, 100% of CMP;

If you return to work for at least one month but less than two months, 66% of CMP;

If you return to work for at least two months but less than three months, 33% of CMP.

Such repayment will be required on or before the Termination Date.

In accepting CMP you agree that, in the event you are required to repay part or all of your CMP, Trinity Hall may deduct these sums from the final salary due to you or from any other sums it owes to you.

In the event there are not sufficient sums owing to you to cover the repayment amount, Trinity Hall reserves its right to recover these sums from you as a debt.

If you are uncertain as to whether you wish to return to work after your maternity leave, you may opt to hold over any CMP (less your SMP, which will be paid to you) and to receive this pay in full once you have returned to work and completed the requisite three months’ employment.

Paternity Leave

Paternity leave is available on the birth of a child if:

you have been continuously employed by us for at least 26 weeks ending

with the 15th week before the Expected Week of Childbirth (EWC);

you are either the child’s biological father or the husband/partner of the biological mother; and

will have main responsibility (with the mother) for the child’s upbringing).

Paternity leave is also available where a child is placed with you for adoption by an adoption agency. In such cases, you may be entitled to take adoption leave instead (see the College’s Adoption Policy). However, adoption leave may only be taken by one adoptive parent. Paternity leave is available to the other adoptive parent (of either sex).

Eligible employees are entitled to:

Ordinary Paternity Leave (OPL) of one or two weeks’ consecutive leave

taken once the child is born (or placed with you for adoption); and

Additional Paternity Leave (APL) of up to 26 weeks’ provided that the child’s mother has returned to work after a period of maternity/adoption leave.

OPL must be taken within 56 days of the child’s birth or placement.

APL cannot start until at least 20 weeks after the birth or placement of the child and must end within 12 months of the birth or placement.

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Notification Requirements

If you wish to take OPL written notice must be given to the College by the 15th week of EWC stating:

when you would like your leave to start; and

whether you intend to take one or two weeks’ leave.

You can change your start date by giving us 28 days’ written notice.

If you wish to take APL you must provide the College with at least eight weeks’ notice of the date you would like your leave to start. Please contact the HR Officer who will provide further details of the necessary notice requirements.

You can cancel APL or change the start or end dates by giving the College at least six weeks’ written notice.

Statutory Paternity Pay

Provided you have 26 weeks’ continuous employment with the College by the 15th week before the EWC and you earn not less than the lower earnings limited set by the government each tax year, you will be eligible for Ordinary Statutory Paternity Pay (OSPP).

Additional Statutory Paternity Pay (ASPP) may be payable during APL if you qualified for OSPP and the child's mother or co-adopter has returned to work with at least two weeks of their 39-week maternity allowance, maternity pay or adoption pay period remaining. ASPP is payable to you for the unexpired remainder of that period.

OSPP and ASPP are paid at a prescribed rate set by the government for the relevant tax year, or at 90% of your average weekly earnings (calculated over an eight week reference period) if this is lower.

Keeping in touch

The College may make reasonable contact with you from time to time during your APL although we will keep this to a minimum.

You may work (including attending training) on up to ten "keeping-in-touch" days during your APL.

Terms and Conditions during paternity leave

All the terms and conditions relating to your employment remain in force during OPL and APL, except for the terms relating to pay.

You will continue to accrue statutory holiday under the Working Time Regulations during your paternity leave. Requests for additional unpaid leave should be made in writing to the HR Officer.

Seniority, pension rights and similar rights are unaffected by paternity leave.

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Returning to work You are normally entitled to return to work following either OPL or APL to the same position you held before commencing your leave. The terms of your employment will be the same as they would have been had you not been absent.

However, if you have combined your OPL or APL with a further period of statutory leave and it is not reasonably practicable for you to return to the same job, the College will offer you a suitable alternative position.

If you decide you do not want to return to work following a period of APL, you should give notice of your resignation in accordance with your contract.

College Paternity Pay

If you have at least 24 months’ continuous service, you will be eligible to receive College Paternity Pay (CPP) at 100% of your basic salary, during your Ordinary Paternity Leave period.

Adoption Leave

This policy applies to employees who adopt or one partner of a couple where the couple adopt jointly.

You are entitled to adoption leave if you meet all of the following conditions:

You are adopting a child through a UK or overseas adoption agency.

The adoption agency has given you written notice that it has matched you with a child for adoption and tells you the date the child is expected to be placed into your care with a view to adoption (Expected Placement Date).

You have notified the agency that you agree to the child being placed with you on the Expected Placement Date.

You have been continuously employed by us for at least 26 weeks ending with the week in which the agency notifies you in writing of the match.

Your spouse or partner will not be taking adoption leave with their employer (although they may be entitled to take paternity leave).

The maximum adoption leave entitlement is 52 weeks, consisting of 26 weeks' Ordinary Adoption Leave (OAL) and 26 weeks' Additional Adoption Leave (AAL).

Notification requirements

Not more than seven days after the agency notifies you in writing that it has matched you with a child you must give the College notice in writing of the Expected Placement Date. Once you have received the matching certificate issued by the agency, you must provide us with a copy.

OAL may start on a predetermined date no more than 14 days before the Expected Placement Date, or on the date of placement itself, but no later.

If you want to change your intended start date please tell us in writing. You should give us as much notice as you can, but wherever possible you must tell us at least 28 days before the original intended start date (or the new start date if you are bringing the date forward).

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Statutory Adoption Pay

Provided you have at least 26 weeks’ service by the time the adoption agency notifies you of the match and you meet the other eligibility requirements set by the government from time to time, you will be entitled to Statutory Adoption Pay (SAP). SAP is payable for up to 39 weeks.

SAP is paid at a prescribed rate set by the government for the relevant tax year or at 90% of your average weekly earnings (calculated over an eight week reference period).

Keeping in touch

We may make reasonable contact with you from time to time during your APL although we will keep this to a minimum.

You may work (including attending training) on up to ten "keeping-in-touch" days during your APL.

Terms and Conditions during Adoption Leave

You are entitled to receive all your contractual benefits except wages or salary throughout your Adoption Leave.

You will continue to accrue statutory holiday under the Working Time Regulations during your adoption leave. Requests for additional unpaid leave should be made in writing to the HR Officer.

Seniority, pension rights and similar rights are unaffected by adoption leave.

Returning to work

You are normally entitled to return to work in the position you held before starting adoption leave, on the same terms of employment. However, if you have taken AAL and it is not reasonably practicable for us to allow you to return to the same position; we may give you another suitable and appropriate job on terms and conditions that are not less favourable.

If you decide you do not want to return to work you should give notice of your resignation in accordance with your contract.

College Adoption Pay

Provided you satisfy the eligibility requirements for payment of SAP and you have acquired at least 24 months’ service with the College by the time your adoption leave commences, you will be entitled to College Adoption Pay (“CAP”).

CAP, which includes your entitlement to SAP, will be paid as follows:

The first eighteen weeks’ adoption leave at 100% of your basic salary;

The final twenty-one weeks at the prescribed statutory rate.

CAP is conditional upon you returning to work for at least three months after your adoption leave. If you decide not to return to work, or return to work for less than three months after your adoption leave, and subject to the

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College’s absolute discretion, you will be required to repay CAP (less any SAP received) as follows:

If you do not return to work at all, or return to work for less than one

month, 100% of CAP;

If you return to work for at least one month but less than two months, 66% of CAP;

If you return to work for at least two months but less than three months, 33% of CAP.

Such repayment will be required on or before the Termination Date.

In accepting CAP you agree that, in the event you are required to repay part or all of your CAP, Trinity Hall may deduct these sums from the final salary due to you or from any other sums it owes to you.

In the event there are not sufficient sums owing to you to cover the repayment amount, Trinity Hall reserves its right to recover these sums from you as a debt.

Emergency Time Off for Dependents

This policy allows you to take a reasonable amount of unpaid time off work to deal with certain unexpected emergencies affecting your dependents. This may be necessary to:

provide assistance when a dependent falls ill, gives birth, is injured or assaulted;

make longer-term care arrangements for a dependent who is injured or ill;

take action required in consequence of a death of a dependent;

deal with the unexpected disruption, termination or breakdown for the care of a dependent; and/or

Deal with an unexpected incident involving your child during school hours.

A dependent, for the purposes of this policy, is a husband, wife, civil partner, child or parent or may include someone who lives in the same household (e.g. grandparent) but not a lodger, tenant, boarder or housekeeper.

“Reasonable” time off under this policy will not normally be more than one or two days and is only permitted where it is necessary to deal with an immediate crisis. If you know well in advance that you wish to have time off to care for a dependent yourself, rather than arrange for someone else to do so, this policy will not apply. You should take advice from the HR Officer in these circumstances.

Notification requirements

If you need to take time off under this policy you must, as soon as is reasonably practicable, tell your line manager or the HR Officer:

the reason for your absence; and

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how long you expect to be away from work.

If you fail to notify the College as above, you may be subject to disciplinary proceedings under the College’s Disciplinary Policy for taking unauthorised time off.

Where it is possible to do so in advance or when you return to work, we might ask you to provide evidence for your reasons for taking time off.

Any suspected abuse of this policy will be treated as a disciplinary issue.

Parental Leave

You are eligible for unpaid parental leave if you have had one year’s continuous employment with the College and have (or expect to have) responsibility for a child and will be taking the leave to spend time with or otherwise care for the child.

Parental leave can only be taken up to the child's fifth birthday, or in the case of an adopted child, within five years of the child being placed with you for adoption (and in any case by the child's 18th birthday).

Special rules apply if your child is disabled, which for these purposes means entitled to a disability living allowance. Please see the HR Officer for further details.

You are entitled to up to a total of 18 weeks’ unpaid leave for each of your children (qualifying under the above). Leave may not be taken in periods of less than one week. Where leave is taken for shorter periods this will count as one week’s leave.

You are only entitled to take four weeks’ parental leave each year in relation to each child. A year for this purpose begins on the date when you became entitled to take parental leave in relation to the child in question.

After taking unpaid parental leave you are entitled to return to your job or, if the period of unpaid parental leave is to exceed 4 weeks, a comparable job.

Notification requirements

You must give 21 days’ notice requesting unpaid parental leave, stating the date on which you wish the leave to begin and end.

If you wish to take parental leave immediately upon the birth or adoption of a child, you must give notice of this intention at least 21 days’ before to the expected week of childbirth or expected week of placement, together with the duration of the period of leave required.

The right to unpaid parental leave can be postponed if it would unduly disrupt the business of the College. In these circumstances the HR Officer will specify alternative dates (within 6 months of the original dates requested) on which leave can be taken.

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The College shall not postpone parental leave if your intention is to take parental leave on the birth or adoption of a child or if, in the case of an adopted or disabled child, the postponement would result in the leave being

taken after the child’s 18th birthday.

You will not lose your parental leave entitlement if, because of the College’s postponement of such leave, the leave remains untaken on your child’s fifth birthday (or on the fifth anniversary of the child’s adoption placement, if applicable).

Shared parental leave

About this policy This policy outlines the arrangements for shared parental leave and pay in relation to the birth or adoption of a child. It applies to all eligible employees (both male and female) and aims to inform you of your entitlement to contractual and statutory shared parental leave and to make sure those rights are understood.

For ease of reference, this policy deals with shared parental leave upon the birth of a child. Similar provisions apply to those who are adopting. If you are adopting, or considering adopting, please contact Human Resources for further information.

This policy does not form part of any employee's contract of employment and we may amend it at any time.

Frequently used terms The definitions in this paragraph apply in this policy.

"Expected week of childbirth (EWC)" means the week, beginning on a Sunday, in which the doctor or midwife expects your child to be born.

"Parent" means one of two people who will share the main responsibility for the child's upbringing (and who may be the mother, the father, or the mother's partner if not the father).

"Partner" means your spouse, civil partner or someone living with you in an enduring family relationship, but not your sibling, child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, aunt, uncle, niece or nephew.

"Qualifying Week" means the fifteenth week before the EWC.

What is shared parental leave? Shared parental leave ("SPL") is an optional form of leave that may be available if your child is expected to be born on or after 5 April 2015.

It gives you and your partner more flexibility in how to share the care of your child in the first year after birth than simply taking maternity and paternity leave. Assuming you are both eligible, you will be able to choose how to split the available leave between you, and can decide to be off work at the same time or at different times. You may be able to take leave in more than one block.

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Entitlement to SPL You are entitled to SPL if:

you are the child's mother and share the main responsibility for the care of the child with the child's father or with your partner;

you are the child's father and share the main responsibility for the care of the child with the child's mother/adopter; or

you are the mother's partner and share the main responsibility for the care of the child with the mother (where the child's father does not share the main responsibility with the mother).

The following conditions must also be fulfilled:

you must have at least 26 weeks’ continuous employment with the College by the end of the Qualifying Week, and still be employed by the College in the week before the period of leave is to be taken;

the other parent must have worked (in an employed or self-employed capacity) in at least 26 of the 66 weeks before the EWC and had average weekly earnings of at least £30 during 13 of those weeks; and

you and the other parent must give the necessary statutory notices and declarations as summarised below, including notice to end any maternity leave, statutory maternity pay (SMP) or maternity allowance (MA) periods.

The total amount of SPL available is 52 weeks, less the weeks spent by the child's mother on maternity leave (or the weeks in which the mother has been in receipt of SMP or MA if she is not entitled to maternity leave).

If you are the mother you cannot start SPL until after the compulsory maternity leave period, which lasts until two weeks after birth.

If you are the child's father or the mother's partner, you should consider using your two weeks' paternity leave before taking SPL. Once you start SPL you will lose any untaken paternity leave entitlement. SPL entitlement is additional to your 2 week paternity leave entitlement.

Early discussions If you are considering taking SPL, you are encouraged to contact your line manager to arrange an informal discussion as early as possible regarding your potential entitlement, to talk about your plans and to enable the College to support you.

Upon receiving a notification of entitlement to take SPL (see below), we may seek to arrange an informal discussion with you to talk about your intentions and how you currently expect to use your SPL entitlement.

This meeting will be held in private and be arranged in advance. If you wish, you may be accompanied by a work colleague.

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The purpose of the meeting is to discuss in detail the leave proposed and what will happen while you are away from work. Where it is a request for discontinuous leave (see below), the discussion may also focus on how the leave proposal could be agreed, whether a modified arrangement would be agreeable to you and what the outcome may be if no agreement is reached.

Opting in to shared parental leave and pay Not less than eight weeks before the date you intend your SPL to start, you must give the College a written opt-in notice giving:

your name and the name of the other parent;

if you are the child's mother, the start and end dates of your maternity leave;

if you are the child's father or the mother's partner, the start and end dates of the mother's maternity leave, or if she is not entitled to maternity leave, the start and end dates of any SMP or MA period;

the total SPL available, which is 52 weeks minus the number of weeks' maternity leave, SMP or MA period taken or to be taken;

how many weeks of the available SPL will be allocated to you and how many to the other parent (you can change the allocation by giving the College a further written notice, and you do not have to use your full allocation);

if you are claiming statutory shared parental pay (ShPP), the total ShPP available, which is 39 weeks minus the number of weeks of the SMP or MA period taken or to be taken);

how many weeks of available ShPP will be allocated to you and how much to the other parent. (You can change the allocation by giving us a further written notice, and you do not have to use your full allocation);

an indication of the pattern of leave you are thinking of taking, including suggested start and end dates for each period of leave. This indication will not be binding at this stage, but please give as much information as you can about your future intentions; and

declarations by you and the other parent that you both meet the statutory conditions to enable you to take SPL and ShPP.

An opt-in form is available in Appendix C.

Ending your maternity leave If you are the child's mother and want to opt into the SPL scheme, you must give us at least eight weeks' written notice to end your maternity leave (a "curtailment notice") before you can take SPL. The notice must state the date your maternity leave will end. You can give the notice before or after you give birth, but you cannot end your maternity leave until at least two weeks after birth.

You must also give the College, at the same time as the curtailment notice, a notice to opt into the SPL scheme or a written declaration that the other

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parent has given their employer an opt-in notice and that you have given the necessary declarations in that notice.

The other parent may be eligible to take SPL from their employer before your maternity leave ends, provided you have given the curtailment notice.

The curtailment notice is binding and cannot usually be revoked save in exceptional circumstances. Once you have revoked a curtailment notice you will normally be unable to opt back into the SPL scheme.

Ending your partners maternity leave or pay If you are not the mother, but the mother is still on maternity leave or claiming SMP or MA, you will only be able to take SPL once she has either:

returned to work;

given her employer a curtailment notice to end her maternity leave;

given her employer a curtailment notice to end her SMP (if she is entitled to SMP but not maternity leave); or

given the benefits office a curtailment notice to end her MA (if she is not entitled to maternity leave or SMP).

We will request that you provide us with a copy of the mother’s curtailment notice.

Evidence of entitlement You must also provide on request:

a copy of the birth certificate (or if you have not yet obtained a birth certificate, a signed declaration of the child's date and place of birth); and

the name and address of the other parent's employer (or a declaration that they have no employer).

Fraudulent claims Any changes in your or the other parent’s circumstances may affect your continued eligibility to take SPL and ShPP and/or the remaining SPL and ShPP that is available to you.

Accordingly, you are required at all times to inform the College if there is any change in your or the other parent’s circumstances.

If you are uncertain whether a change in circumstances is relevant, please contact us in confidence.

Failing to inform the College of any change in circumstances, where relevant, may result in you or the other parent claiming SPL and ShPP fraudulently. Depending on the circumstances, this may be treated as a disciplinary offence in accordance with the College’s disciplinary procedure. Where the College has suspicion that fraudulent information has been provided to it, or where it has been informed by HMRC that a fraudulent

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claim has been made, it may investigate the matter further in accordance with its normal disciplinary procedures.

You may be required to repay any overpayment of ShPP, SMP or SAP made. Any overpayments will be repaid by way of a deduction from your salary or any other payments due to you or may be recovered from you as a debt.

Booking your SPL dates Having opted into the SPL system, you must book your leave by giving the College a period of leave notice. This may be given at the same time as the opt-in notice or later, provided it is at least eight weeks before the start of SPL.

The period of leave notice can either give the dates you want to take leave or, if the child has not been born yet, it can state the number of days after birth that you want the leave to start and end. This may be particularly useful if you intend to take paternity leave starting on the date of birth and wish to take SPL straight afterwards.

Leave must be taken in blocks of at least one week.

If your period of leave notice gives a single continuous block of SPL you will be entitled to take the leave set out in the notice.

If your period of leave notice requests split periods of SPL, with periods of work in between, we will consider your request as set out below.

You can give up to three period of leave notices. This may enable you to take up to three separate blocks of SPL (although if you give a notice to vary or cancel a period of leave this will in most cases count as a further period of leave notice) .

Procedure for requesting split periods of SPL In general, a period of leave notice should set out a single continuous block of leave. The College may be willing to consider a period of leave notice where the SPL is split into shorter periods with periods of work in between. It is best to discuss this with your line manager and/or the Human Resources in good time before formally submitting your period of leave notice. This will give the College more time to consider the request and hopefully agree a pattern of leave with you from the start.

If you want to request split periods of SPL, you must set out the requested pattern of leave in your period of leave notice. The College will either agree to the request or start a two-week discussion period. At the end of that period, the College will confirm any agreed arrangements in writing. If we have not reached agreement, you will be entitled to take the full amount of requested SPL as one continuous block, starting on the start date given in your notice (for example, if you requested three separate periods of four weeks each, they will be combined into one 12-week period of leave). Alternatively, you may:

choose a new start date (which must be at least eight weeks after your

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original period of leave notice was given), and tell the College within five days of the end of the two-week discussion period; or

withdraw your period of leave notice within two days of the end of the two- week discussion period (in which case the notice will not be counted and you may submit a new one if you choose).

There is no obligation on the College to agree to a discontinuous leave request. However, each request will be considered on a case by case basis, weighing up the potential benefits to you and the impact to the College. The request may be refused, granted in full or granted in part.

Agreeing to one request will not set a precedent or create the right for another employee to be granted a similar pattern of SPL. Matters that the College will take into account in considering each request may include the following (the list is non-exhaustive):

the effect it will have on work performance, quality and productivity; the ability to reorganise work amongst existing staff or to recruit additional staff to cover periods of absence;

cost to the College;

the overall needs of the department for which you work at the relevant time.

Changing the dates or cancelling your SPL You may be permitted to vary or cancel an agreed and booked period of SPL, provided that you advise the College in writing at least eight weeks before the date of any variation. Any new start date cannot be sooner than eight weeks from the date of the variation request.

A notice to change or cancel a period of leave will count as one of your three period of leave notices, unless:

the variation is a result of your child being born earlier or later than the EWC; the variation is at our request; or

the College agrees otherwise.

Please contact Human Resources for a notice of variation form.

Premature birth Where your child is born early (before the beginning of the EWC), you may be able to start SPL in the eight weeks following birth even though you cannot give eight weeks’ notice. The following rules apply:

If you have given a period of leave notice to start SPL on a set date in the eight weeks following the EWC, but your child is born early, you can move the SPL start date forward by the same number of days, provided you notify us in writing of the change as soon as you can. (If your period of leave notice already contained a start date which was a set number of days after birth, rather than a set date, then no notice of change is necessary.)

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If your child is born more than eight weeks early and you want to take SPL in the eight weeks following birth, please submit your opt-in notice and your period of leave notice as soon as you can.

Statutory shared parental pay You may be able to claim Statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) of up to 39 weeks (less any weeks of SMP or MA claimed by you or your partner) if you have at least 26 weeks' continuous employment with the College at the end of the Qualifying Week and your average earnings are not less than the lower earnings limit set by the government each tax year. ShPP is paid by employers at a rate set by the government each year.

You should tell the College in your period of leave notice(s) whether you intend to claim ShPP during your leave (and if applicable, for what period). If it is not in your period of leave notice you can tell the College in writing, at least eight weeks before you want ShPP to start.

College shared parental pay Provided you satisfy the eligibility requirements for SPL and ShPP and you have acquired at least 24 months service with the College by the EWC, you will be entitled to College Shared Parental Pay (CShPP). CShPP which includes your entitlement to ShPP will be paid as follows:

The first eighteen weeks’ Shared Paternity Leave at 100% of your basic salary (less any weeks taken at full maternity, adoption or paternity pay) provided that SPL is taken within the first 18 weeks following the birth/placement of the child and the leave is taken in one continuous block (if the SPL is taken after this period or in discontinuous blocks the enhanced rate will not apply):

The final twenty-one weeks at the prescribed statutory ShPP rate

CShPP is conditional upon you returning to work for at least three months after your last period of SPL. If you decide not to return to work, or return to work for less than three months after your last period of SPL, and subject to Trinity Hall’s absolute discretion, you will be required to repay CShPP (less any SMP/ShPP received as follows:

If you do not return to work at all, or return to work for less than one month, 100% of CShPP

if you return to work for at least one month but less than two months, 66% of CShPP

If you return to work for at least two months but less than three months, 33% of CShPP

Such repayment will be required on or before the date of termination of your employment.

In accepting CShPP you will be required to sign a confirmation to agree that, in the event you are required to repay part or all of your CShPP, Trinity Hall may deduct these sums from the final salary due to you or from any other

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sums it owes to you.

In the event there are not sufficient sums owing to you to cover the repayment amount, Trinity Hall reserves its right to recover these sums from you as a debt.

If you are uncertain as to whether you wish to return to work after your Shared Parental Leave, you may opt to hold over any CShPP (less the sum equivalent to ShPP, which will be paid to you) and to receive this pay once you have returned to work and completed the requisite three months’ employment.

Other terms during shared parental leave

Terms and Conditions of employment Your terms and conditions of employment remain in force during SPL, except for the terms relating to pay.

Annual leave entitlement will continue to accrue at the rate provided under your contract. If your SPL will continue into the next holiday year, any holiday entitlement that cannot reasonably be taken before starting your leave can be carried over. You should try to limit carry over to one week's holiday or less. Carry-over of more than one week is at your manager's discretion. Please discuss your holiday plans with your manager in good time before starting SPL. All holiday dates are subject to approval by us.

If you are a member of the pension scheme, we will make employer pension contributions during any period of paid SPL, based on your normal salary, in accordance with the pension scheme rules. Any employee contributions you make will be based on the amount of any shared parental pay you are receiving, unless you inform the Human Resources Department that you wish to make up any shortfall.

Keeping in touch The College may make reasonable contact with you from time to time during your SPL although it will keep this to a minimum. This may include contacting you to discuss arrangements for your return to work.

You may ask or be asked to work (including attending training) on up to 20 "keeping-in-touch" days (KIT days) during your SPL. This is in addition to any KIT days that you may have taken during maternity leave. KIT days are not compulsory and must be discussed and agreed with your line manager or the HR Officer.

You will be paid at your normal basic rate of pay for time spent working on a KIT day and this will be inclusive of any shared parental pay entitlement.

Returning to work The College will assume that you will return to work at the end of your SPL unless you notify us otherwise. However, you are urged to keep us informed of your intentions so that appropriate cover arrangements can be made and workloads can be planned.

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If you are unable to attend work due to sickness or injury, the College’s normal arrangements for sickness absence will apply. In any other case, late return without prior authorisation will be treated as unauthorised absence and dealt with under the College’s disciplinary policy.

Returning to work early If you want to end a period of SPL early, you must give us eight weeks' written notice of the new return date. If you have already given us three period of leave notices you will not be able to end your SPL early without our agreement.

Delaying return to work If you want to extend your SPL, assuming you still have unused SPL entitlement remaining, you must give us a written period of leave notice at least eight weeks before the date you were due to return to work. If you have already given us three period of leave notices you will not be able to extend your SPL without our agreement. You may instead be able to request annual leave or ordinary parental leave, subject to the needs of the College.

Non-return to work If you decide you do not want to return to work you should give notice of resignation in accordance with your contract.

Rights on return to work You are normally entitled to return to work in the position you held before starting SPL, and on the same terms of employment. However, if it is not reasonably practicable for the College to allow you to return into the same position, we may give you another suitable and appropriate job on terms and conditions that are not less favourable, but only in the following circumstances:

if your SPL and any maternity or paternity leave you have taken adds up to more than 26 weeks in total (whether or not taken consecutively); or if you took SPL consecutively with more than four weeks of ordinary parental leave.

If you want to change your hours or other working arrangements on return from SPL you should make a flexible working request. It is helpful if such requests are made as early as possible.

A SPL eligibility check flowchart is available in Appendix D.

Bereavement Leave

Staff will normally receive the following bereavement leave upon the death of a relative depending on the relationship.

3 days paid for Mother, Father, Husband, Wife, Partner, Son, Daughter

2 days paid for Brother, Sister

1 day paid for Grandparents, Grandchildren, Parents-in-Law, Brother or Sister-in-Law

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You are requested to inform your manager of your intention to take bereavement leave as soon as reasonably possible. Someone can do this on your behalf if necessary.

The College recognises that personal circumstances may differ and the description of ‘close relative’ may accordingly vary from family to family. In light of this, each case will be judged on its individual merits following contact with the HR Officer and in liaison with your manager.

Compassionate Leave

Compassionate leave may be granted at the College’s discretion if a close relative (i.e. child, parent or partner) is very seriously ill.

Compassionate leave may be paid or unpaid at the discretion of the College.

The College recognises that it may not always be possible to request compassionate leave in advance. However, where it is possible any application for such leave should be made to the HR Officer.

Where it is not possible to request leave in advance, you should contact the HR Officer as soon as possible to tell them the reason for your absence and the number of days you expect to be absent. Someone can do this on your behalf if necessary.

If you are unable to return to work following an authorised period of compassionate leave, you should contact the HR Officer. It may be appropriate to take a period of annual leave, subject to approval by the HR Officer or your line manager, or the College may, at its discretion, grant you further unpaid leave in those circumstances.

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Time off for public duties

Jury service You should tell your line manager as soon as you are summoned for jury service and provide a copy of your summons if requested.

Depending on the demands on the College and your role in particular at the relevant time, the College may request that you apply to be excused from or defer your jury service.

The College is not required by law to pay you while you are absent on jury service. You will be advised at court of the expenses and loss of earnings that you can claim.

Voluntary public duties Employees are entitled to a reasonable amount of unpaid time off work to carry out certain public duties, including duties as a tribunal member, magistrate, local councilor, member of an NHS Trust, prison visitor, police station lay visitor or school governor.

If you are unsure whether a public service that you perform is covered by this policy you should speak to the HR Officer.

As soon as you are aware that you will require time off for performance of a public service you should notify your line manager or the HR Officer in writing, providing full details of the time off that is being requested and the reasons for your request. In order that arrangements can be made to cover your duties in your absence you should make your request in good time.

Each request for time off will be considered on its merits taking account of all the circumstances, including how much time is reasonably required for the activity, how much time you have already taken, and how your absence will affect the College.

Flexible Working

The College is committed to providing equality of opportunity in employment and to developing work practices and policies that support work-life balance.

This Flexible Working Policy gives eligible employees an opportunity to formally request a change to their working pattern. Requests will be considered objectively and consistently and, where possible, facilitated unless they cannot be accommodated for business or operational reasons.

Fair Application of this Policy

Where the College receives more than one request to work flexibly from different employees, requests will normally be considered in the order they are received. It may not be possible to grant all (or even some) of the requests. In all cases, however, each request will be considered on its merits, balancing the business case against the impact of the refusing the request and taking into account the College’s Equal Opportunities policy.

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Forms of Flexible Working

Flexible working can incorporate a number of possible changes to working arrangements:

reduction or variation of working hours;

reduction or variation of the days worked; and/or

working from a different location (for example, from home).

Eligibility

To be eligible to make a request under the formal procedure set out below, you must:

be an employee;

have worked for the College continuously for 26 weeks at the date your request is made;

not have made a formal request to work flexibly during the last 12 months.

Making a formal flexible working request Any eligible employee interested in flexible working is advised to speak informally with their line manager or the Junior Bursar to discuss their eligibility, the different options and the effect of their proposed work pattern on colleagues and output, before submitting a formal or informal request.

You will then need to submit a written application if you would like your flexible working request to be considered under the formal procedure.

Your written and dated application should be submitted to the Junior Bursar and your request must:

state that it is a statutory request for flexible working;

state the reason for your request;

provide as much information as you can about your current and desired working pattern, including working days, hours and start and finish times, and give the date from which you want your desired working pattern to start;

identify the effect the changes to your working pattern will have on the work that you do, that of your colleagues and on service delivery. If you have any suggestions about dealing with any potentially negative effects, please include these in your written application;

provide information to confirm that you meet the eligibility criteria set out in this policy;

if applicable, state whether you are making the request as a reasonable adjustment for a disability or to assist in your recovery from a long-term health condition;

state whether you have made a previous formal request for flexible working and, if so, when; and

be submitted in good time and ideally at least two months before you wish the changes you are requesting to take effect.

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If the College is able to agree your proposal without the need for a meeting, the Junior Bursar will write to you, confirming the decision and explaining the permanent changes that will be made to your contract of employment.

Formal Procedure: Meeting

Where necessary, the Junior Bursar will arrange to meet with you as soon as possible and, in any event, normally within 28 days of your application being submitted. Your line manager may also be present at the meeting.

The meeting will be used to explore with you exactly what changes you are seeking and how these might be accommodated. You must be able to explain why you require the proposed arrangements and what impact these will have on your work, that of your colleagues and of your team. If the arrangements you have requested cannot be accommodated, discussion at the meeting also provides an opportunity to explore possible alternative working arrangements.

The Junior Bursar may suggest starting new working arrangements under an initial trial period to ensure that they meet your needs and those of the College.

Formal Procedure: Decision Following the meeting, the Junior Bursar will usually notify you of the decision in writing as soon as possible and, in any event, normally within 14 days.

If your request is accepted, or where the College proposes an alternative to the arrangements you requested, the Junior Bursar will write to you with details of the new working arrangements, details of any trial period, an explanation of changes to your contract of employment and the date on which they will commence. You will be asked to sign and return a copy of the letter. This will be placed on your personnel file to confirm the variation to your terms of employment. The letter may also include a review period (when your line manager and/or the Junior Bursar can jointly discuss how the new arrangements are working and make any adjustments as necessary) and some additional practical matters, such as arrangements for handing over work.

Unless otherwise agreed (and subject to any agreed trial period) changes to your terms of employment will be permanent. You will not be able to make another formal request until 12 months after the date of your most recent request.

If the Junior Bursar needs more time to make a decision, he will ask for your agreement to delay the decision for up to a further two weeks.

There will be circumstances where, due to the business and operational requirements of the College, it is unable to agree to a request.

In these circumstances, the Junior Bursar will write to you:

giving the reason(s) for turning down your application;

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explaining why the business reasons apply in your case; and

setting out the appeal procedure.

The eight reasons for which your request may be rejected are:

the burden of additional costs;

detrimental effect on ability to meet College demands;

inability to reorganise work amongst existing staff;

inability to recruit additional staff;

detrimental impact on quality;

detrimental impact on performance;

insufficiency of work during the periods that you propose to work; and

planned changes.

Formal Procedure: Appeal

If your request is rejected, you have the right to appeal.

Your appeal must:

be in writing and dated;

set out the grounds on which you are appealing; and

be sent to the Bursar within 14 days of the date on which you received the written rejection of your request.

The Bursar will arrange for a meeting to take place normally within 14 days of receipt of your appeal.

You will be informed in writing of the appeal decision within 14 days of the date of the appeal meeting.

If your appeal is upheld, you will be advised of your new working arrangements, details of any trial period, an explanation of changes to your contract of employment and the date on which they will commence. You will be asked to sign and return a copy of the letter. This will be placed on your personnel file to confirm the variation to your terms of employment. There may also be some additional practical matters, such as arrangements for handing over work or review periods that your line manager will discuss with you.

You should be aware that changes to your terms of employment will be permanent and you will not be able to make another formal request until 12 months after the date of your original application.

If your appeal is rejected, the written decision will give the reason(s) for the decision and explain why the reason(s) apply in your case. You will not be able to make another formal request until 12 months after the date of your original application.

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Breaches of this Procedure

The College will make every effort to complete this procedure (from your application through to appeal) within three months from receipt of your flexible working request. However, there may be exceptional occasions when it is not possible to complete a stage of the procedure within the expected time limits. Where an extension of time is agreed with you, the Junior Bursar will write to you confirming the extension and the date on which it will end.

If you withdraw a formal request for flexible working, you will not be eligible to make another formal request for 12 months from the date of your original request. In certain circumstances, a request made under the formal procedure will be treated as withdrawn. This will occur if:

you fail to attend two meetings under the formal procedure without

reasonable cause; or

you unreasonably refuse to provide information we require to consider your request.

In such circumstances, the Junior Bursar will write to you confirming that the request has been treated as withdrawn.

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Section 10

This policy applies to employees only

It is essential that ALL employees personally inform their manager or HR Officer as soon as possible (and no later than 30 minutes after the time when they are normally expected to start work) on the first day of sickness, giving the reason for absence and how long he or she expects to be absent together with an indication of the likely return to work date. Text message or email is not an appropriate form of communication for these purposes.

If you are sick for one day or more, you must complete a self-certificate when you return to work. A copy is available in Appendix E. It must be countersigned by your manager and then sent to the HR Officer’s Office.

If you are sick for 7 calendar days or more (including non-working days), you must provide a medical certificate, covering the whole of your period of absence. This must be sent immediately to the HR Officer’s Office.

If your doctor provides a certificate stating that you “may be fit for work” you should inform your line manager or the HR Officer’s Office immediately.

You should expect to be contacted during your absence by your line manager or the HR Officer’s Office who will want to enquire after your health and be advised, if possible, as to your expected return date.

Unauthorised absence Cases of unauthorised absence will be dealt with under the College’s Disciplinary Procedure.

Absence that has not been notified according to the sickness absence reporting procedure will be treated as unauthorised absence.

Sickness While at Work If you feel unwell at work, you are welcome to see the Nurse. She is based at Trinity College and can be contacted by telephoning 38471.

Medical and Dental Appointments You should try to arrange for medical and dental appointments to be carried out outside of normal working hours. Where this is not possible, you should arrange for these appointments to be at the beginning or end of the working day.

SICK LEAVE AND PAY

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Medical Reports The College may, at any time in operating this policy, require you to consent to a medical examination by Occupational Health (who may request details from your GP with your permission) or from a doctor nominated by the College. This is a contractual right.

Please note that refusal to attend Occupational Health or give permission for an Occupational Health or other medical report to be disclosed to the College may mean that a decision in relation to your employment or ongoing suitability for your role will be based on the facts available and without the benefit of medical advice.

Where a report is requested from your GP or treating physician (rather than an independent medical adviser engaged by the College) you may request a copy of the report and request amendments before it is sent to the College.

Return to work interviews If you have been absent on either short or long-term sick leave we may arrange for you to have a return to work interview with your Line Manager or the HR Officer.

A return to work interview enables the College to confirm the details of your absence. It also gives you the opportunity to raise any concerns or questions you may have, and to bring any relevant matters to the College’s attention.

Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) You may be entitled to Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) if you satisfy the relevant statutory requirements. SSP is paid on the basis of ‘Qualifying Days’. These are days when you would normally have worked had you not been sick Please note that SSP is paid only for Qualifying Days.

The rate of SSP is set by the government in April each year. No SSP is payable for the first three consecutive days of absence. It starts on the fourth day of absence and may be payable for up to 28 weeks.

College Sick Pay Your eligibility for College Sick Pay (CSP) (which includes any entitlement to SSP) will depend on your length of service with the College. It is calculated on a 12 month rolling basis as follows:

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Total number of weeks in any period of 12 months

Period of continuous service Full Pay Half Pay

During Probation 3 days Not applicable

Up to 1 year 8 weeks 8 weeks

Over 1 year and up to 3 years 12 weeks 12 weeks

Over 3 years and up to 5 years 20 weeks 20 weeks

Over 5 years 26 weeks 26 weeks

After 28 weeks’ SSP, payment should be claimed directly from the DSS. The required form (SSP1) is available from the Accounts Office.

Sick leave and holiday During any continuous period of absence due to sickness of one month or more you shall not accrue holiday under your contract and your holiday entitlement for the holiday year in which such absence takes place shall be reduced pro rata save that it shall not fall below your statutory entitlement.

If your period of sickness absence extends into the next holiday year, or if there is not enough time left in the current holiday year to make it practicable to take your remaining holiday entitlement, you can carry any unused holiday entitlement over to the following leave year (subject to carrying over a maximum number of 20 days only). Any annual leave not taken within 15 months of the end of the holiday year in which it accrues (whether or not you have returned to work) will be lost. Bradford Factor The College assesses the impact, frequency and impact of absences using a recognised method of recording absences called the Bradford Factor. The Bradford Factor assigns a score to every period of absence, making an assessment on the frequency and period of absence. For example, someone absent for 10 days once in 12 months, will have a lower score than someone absent for 1 individual day 10 times in 12 months. The Bradford Factor looks at the previous 12 months of employment and the College has the following trigger points and actions, if certain scores are reached; 100 – Discussion with your line manager. 160 – 249 Discussion with your line manager and the HR Officer (to

discuss any mitigating factors). 250 – 499 Disciplinary Proceedings – potential warning letters. 500+ Disciplinary Hearing, potential dismissal.

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Why short-term absence matters It is often easier to make arrangements to cover staff who are going to be off for long periods, and which are more likely to be caused by genuine illness. However, employees taking odd days off here and there are more problematic, can have an immediate impact, and, if repeated, are likely to arouse suspicions over how genuine they are. If unchecked, this type of absence can send out the wrong signals to colleagues who, in some jobs, are likely to have to cover for those absent. Frequent short-term absence may have serious repercussions where staff are employed in customer-facing roles or employed on production lines. The impact of absence may be most directly felt and the need to arrange cover at short notice may be paramount

Some reservations about Bradford A criticism of the Bradford factor is that it can appear unnecessarily complicated and that it is a non-scientific and ‘crude’ method, giving certain types of absence an extreme weighting. This may be the case but so long as it is not used in isolation, it can be a useful indicator and gives managers information on which to open up their conversation with the absentee. Taking account of legitimate absence Sometimes concerns are expressed that many cases of short-term, frequent absence are legitimate and employees are wrongly being put under suspicion. But this can be dealt with by excluding certain types of absence from the calculations. By applying a modicum of common sense, absence related for example, to pregnancy, a disability or underlying illness will, after a conversation with the employee concerned, be quickly eliminated from the points total. The investigation into the causes may in fact lead to changes to work arrangements that can help alleviate or remedy the situation. Not relying on Bradford in isolation The safest approach is to make sure that any important decisions, such as disciplinary action, are not based around Bradford scores alone. The scores act best as a trigger to prompt line managers to investigate a case further – when consistency and fairness have to be applied and where each individual case may be different.

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Section 11

Please see the Health and Safety handbook for details of the health and safety policy.

It is your duty to take reasonable care of your own health and safety and that of others around you. In doing so, you should follow the health and safety procedures and cooperate fully with the College in these matters. The Health and Safety handbook can be found on the College intranet.

In order to comply with your responsibilities:

Please make sure that you are familiar with the College Health and Safety handbook and your own duties.

Be aware of workplace hazards and emergency procedures.

Report any health and safety concerns immediately to your line manager or to the HR Officer;

You must co-operate with management on health and safety matters, including the investigation of any incident.

Premises and Housekeeping Ensure cleanliness of your working environment. General tidiness and cleanliness of premises can contribute greatly in reducing the risk of accidents. You should dispose of any waste materials appropriately. Any spillages should be cleaned up immediately using appropriate materials. Any electrical or machinery faults should be promptly reported to your manager.

Slips, trips and falls are the single most common cause of injuries at work. Please remove any items that are likely to cause obstructions.

You should not attempt to repair any equipment unless qualified or authorised to do so.

Appropriate ladders must be used to gain access to heights.

Personal Protective Equipment Personal protective clothing and other safety equipment appropriate to the nature of your job is issued by the College and must be worn or used in accordance with any instructions issued to you. You are required to make use of any safety equipment issued.

HEALTH, SAFETY AND WELFARE

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Fire Fire prevention is everyone’s responsibility and all staff should familiarise themselves with fire safety instructions. The College will provide fire safety training.

General fire regulations and precautions are publicised throughout the College through notices.

Regular fire alarm testing and fire drills are held.

If you hear a fire alarm, leave the building immediately by the nearest fire exit and go to the fire assembly point shown on the fire safety notices. Do not stop to collect your belongings. Do not re-enter the building until told to do so.

If you discover a fire do not attempt to tackle it unless it is safe and you have been trained or feel competent to do so. You should operate the nearest fire alarm and, if you have sufficient time, call the Porters Lodge and report the location of the fire.

You should notify your line manager if there is anything (for example, impaired mobility) that might impede your evacuation in the event of a fire.

All fire drills must be taken seriously.

Accidents and First Aid First aid boxes are available at the Porters’ Lodge. Most Porters are trained in First Aid. The names of qualified first aid staff are included on the College telephone list.

All accidents, however minor, should be reported as soon as possible to the Porter’s Lodge. These will be recorded in the Accident Book.

A health and safety inspection is carried out on an annual basis.

Hygiene This section is part icularly, but not e x c l u s i v e l y , r e l e v a n t t o K i t c h e n and other catering staff.

You are expected to maintain a high standard of personal hygiene.

All work areas including refreshment making facilities and kitchens should be kept clean and tidy.

If suffering from an infectious or contagious disease such as rubella or hepatitis you should not report for work without clearance from your doctor.

Contact with any person suffering from an infectious or contagious disease must be reported before commencing work.

Any cut or burn on the hand or arm must be covered with an approved dressing.

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Computers and Display Screen Equipment If you use a computer screen or other display screen equipment (DSE) habitually as part of your work:

You should try and organise your activity so you take short breaks from

looking at the screen; You are entitled to a work station assessment;

You are entitled to an eye test at the College’s expense.

You should contact your line manager or the HR Officer’s Office to request a workstation assessment or an eye test.

Staff using Display Screen Equipment will be reimbursed for eye tests, currently to a maximum of £22.00.

Currently, a maximum of £60 will be paid towards a basic pair of glasses or contact lenses where these are specifically required and designed for the display screen distance. The College will only contribute towards an eye test and/or glasses once in any 24 month period unless specific recommendations have been received from your Optometrist.

A DSE Certificate of Recommendation (see Appendix F) must be completed by the specialist conducting the eye test. Staff wishing to have their eyes tested can obtain further copies from the Intranet before going to the opticians.

Claims, with full receipts should be sent to the HR Office together with the Certificate of Recommendation stating that the glasses are specifically needed for Display Screen Equipment work.

Risk assessments The College carries out general workplace risk assessments periodically. The purpose is to assess the risks to health and safety of staff, students, visitors and other third parties as a result of our activities, and to identify any measures that need to be taken to control those risks.

Smoking Smoking is not permitted in any of the College’s premises or on any of its sites. This ban applies to anything that can be smoked and includes, but is not limited to, cigarettes, pipes, cigars or electronic cigarettes.

Anyone using College vehicles, whether as a driver or passenger, must ensure the vehicles remain smoke-free.

You may only smoke outside in designated smoking areas during your breaks. When smoking outside, you must dispose of cigarette butts and other litter appropriately.

Smoking in smoke-free premises or vehicles is a criminal offence and may result in a fixed penalty fine and/or prosecution.

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Stress According to the Health and Safety Commission, ‘Stress is the adverse reaction people have to excessive pressures or other types of demands placed upon them’.

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Each job has its own demands and pressures and these are an unavoidable aspect of work. Excessive stress arises when demands of the work exceed the employee’s ability to cope or control it. There is an important distinction between working under pressure and experiencing stress. Certain levels of pressure are acceptable and normal in every job. They can improve performance, enable individuals to meet their full potential, keep motivation high and provide a sense of achievement or job satisfaction.

Stress by itself is not an illness or disease but if intense and over a prolonged period it can lead to mental and physical ill health. Some of the symptoms can include:

Constant tiredness;

Difficulty in making decisions;

Inability to relate/ communicate with work colleagues;

Poor concentration.

All of these reduce efficiency, motivation and result in poor work quality and reduced output.

If you feel that you are suffering from excessive stress, please do not keep it to yourself. One of the best ways of beating excessive stress is prevention. The College provides a confidential service by which you can talk to your line manager, the HR Officer or the College Counsellor or Nurse for advice and support.

For detailed procedures and information on all of the above topics as well as guidelines on HIV and Visual Display Equipment please refer to your Health and Safety handbook.

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Section 12

These procedures apply from the first day of your employment.

The College disciplinary procedures have been established to achieve high standards of conduct, attendance and performance. It is emphasised that the purpose of these procedures is not to punish, but to help and encourage improvement where conduct or standards of work are unsatisfactory, and to ensure consistent and fair treatment.

If your standard of work or conduct falls and, after repeated warnings, remains at a level which is unacceptable, you may be dismissed.

Gross misconduct is a serious breach of contract and includes misconduct which, in the College’s opinion, is likely to prejudice its business or reputation or irreparably damage the working relationship between us. Gross misconduct will normally lead to dismissal without notice or pay in lieu of notice (summary dismissal).

Disciplinary Rules Whilst working for the College you should at all times maintain professional and responsible standards of conduct. In particular you should:

Observe the terms and conditions of your contract,

Observe all the College’s policies, procedures and regulations which are included in the Staff Handbook or notified to you from time to time by means of notice boards, e-mail, the intranet or otherwise;

Take reasonable care in respect of the health and safety of colleagues, students and third parties and comply with the College’s Health and Safety Policy;

Comply with all reasonable instructions given by your superiors; and

Act at all times in good faith and in the best interests of the College, its staff and Fellows, students and visitors.

Failure to maintain satisfactory standards of conduct may result in action being taken under the Disciplinary Procedure.

Examples of misconduct and gross misconduct are listed below. Please note that these lists are intended as a guide and are not exhaustive.

DISCIPLINARY RULES AND PROCEDURE

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Misconduct

Contravention of minor safety regulations;

Disclosure of confidential information;

Disruptive, obscene, offensive and/or objectionable behaviour or language;

Poor timekeeping and time wasting;

Refusal to follow instructions;

Negligence in the performance of your duties;

Inappropriate standard of dress;

Smoking in no-smoking areas of the College;

Unauthorised or persistent absence;

Unauthorised or excessive use or misuse of the telephone, Internet, email or other electronic communications systems for personal use;

Damage to or unauthorised use of College property;

Accepting a gift which could be construed as a bribe;

Poor absence levels;

Failure to devote the whole of your time, attention and abilities to the affairs of the College during your normal working hours;

Minor breach or breaches of the College’s policies and procedures;

Minor breaches of your contract.

Gross misconduct

Bullying, harassment, discrimination or victimisation;

Physical violence, abusive or intimidating conduct;

Indecent behaviour;

Consistently poor performance;

Sleeping on duty;

Serious insubordination;

Incapability whilst on duty brought on by alcohol or illegal drugs;

Possession, use and supply (or attempted supply) of illegal drugs;

Serious breach of terms or conditions of employment;

Unauthorised use or disclosure of confidential information;

Bringing the College into serious disrepute;

Deliberate damage to property;

Dishonesty, theft, fraud, criminal convictions or any activity which cause the College to lose trust and confidence in your integrity;

Serious breach of confidence (subject to the Public Interest (Disclosure) Act 1998);

Refusal to allow a search to be carried out;

Serious negligence which causes or might cause unacceptable loss, damage or injury;

Serious infringement of health and safety rules;

Undertaking unauthorised private or alternative work (whether paid or unpaid) on College premises and/or in working hours or whilst absent;

Serious breach or breaches of the College’s policies and procedures.

Investigations Where necessary and prior to disciplinary action being taken, an investigation will be held into the allegations made against you.

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The purpose of an investigation is to establish a fair and balanced view of the facts before deciding whether to proceed with a disciplinary hearing. The amount of investigation required will depend on the nature of the allegations and will vary from case to case. It may involve interviewing and taking statements from you and any witnesses, and/or reviewing relevant documents.

You do not normally have the right to bring a companion to an investigative interview.

You must co-operate fully and promptly in any invesgitation. This will include informing us of the names of any relevant witnesses, disclosing relevant documents to us and attending investigative interviews if required.

Suspension On some occasions temporary suspension may be necessary in order that an uninterrupted investigation can take place into allegations made against you. Suspension of this kind is not a disciplinary penalty and does not imply that any decision has already been made about the allegations.

During any period of suspension:

You will continue to receive your full basic pay and benefits;

You may be excluded from any College premises and be required to return all keys, College documents and other relevant items of property belonging to the College that are in your possession or control;

You may not be permitted to contact any of the College’s staff, Fellows, students, visitors or other third parties unless you have been authorised to do so by the HR Officer.

The suspension will be for no longer than is necessary to investigate the allegations made against you.

Disciplinary Hearings Following any investigation, if we consider there are grounds for disciplinary action, you will be required to attend a disciplinary hearing. We will inform you in writing of the allegations, the basis for those allegations and what the likely range of consequences will be if we decide, after the hearing, that the allegations are true. We will give you written notice of the date, time and place of the disciplinary hearing. The hearing will be held as soon as reasonably practicable, but you will be given a reasonable amount of time to prepare your case.

You must take all reasonable steps to attend the hearing. This will be attended by yourself, your representative (see below), your manager and the HR Officer.

Other than for an ‘off the record’ informal reprimand, you have the right to be accompanied to any disciplinary hearing by a work colleague or a trade union official.

If your chosen companion is unavailable at the time the hearing is scheduled and will not be available for more than five working days afterwards, we may ask you to choose someone else.

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At the hearing, you will be given a reasonable opportunity to present your side of the case before any disciplinary action or decision is made.

If a disciplinary warning is issued, the outcome will be confirmed in writing. You will be given an explanation of the penalty imposed and of your right to appeal.

Disciplinary Penalties Disciplinary penalties will normally be issued by your manager with the knowledge of the HR Officer.

You will not normally be dismissed for a first breach of discipline, except in the case of gross misconduct.

The usual penalties for misconduct are set out below. However, the College retains discretion to take account of your length of service and previous disciplinary record when imposing a disciplinary penalty and may vary the procedures accordingly.

Oral Warning For minor breaches of discipline or failure to achieve satisfactory standards, your line manager may give you an oral warning. A note of this will be added to your file but will be disregarded for disciplinary purposes after six months.

Stage 1 - First Written Warning For more serious offences or in the event of further misconduct, a first written warning will be issued. Details of the misconduct, the improvement or change in behaviour required and the timescale allowed for this will be given. This warning will be kept on your file but disregarded for disciplinary purposes after 12 months.

Stage 2 - Final Written Warning

If there is further repetition of the misconduct or failure to comply with a requested improvement, or if the misconduct is sufficiently serious to warrant it even though there are no other active warnings present on your file, a final written warning will be issued. This will specify that the consequences of failure to comply will normally be dismissal. This warning will be kept on your file but disregarded for disciplinary purposes for 12 months.

Stage 3 – Dismissal

Further misconduct or failure to achieve satisfactory standards will normally result in dismissal.

Acts of gross misconduct will result in summary dismissal. This means that you will not receive notice or pay in lieu of notice.

Appeals You may appeal against disciplinary decisions. An appeal will review the original disciplinary decision.

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Appeals must be made in writing within five working days of the date on which you were informed of the disciplinary decision.

If you are appealing against dismissal, the date on which dismissal takes effect will not be delayed pending the outcome of the appeal.

Appeals should be addressed to the appropriate person named in the warning, which will normally be the Bursar or, the HR Officer (where the HR Officer has not been involved in the disciplinary matter to date). It should give full details of the grounds for your appeal including why the penalty imposed is too severe, inappropriate or unfair in the circumstances.

You will be invited to an appeal hearing, which will be dealt with as impartially as possible. You must take all reasonable steps to attend. You may be accompanied by a colleague of your choice or a trade union representative.

The outcome of the appeal will be confirmed to you in writing as soon as possible.

The appeal decision is final and there is no further right of appeal.

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Section 13

In any organisation, staff may have problems or concerns about their work, working environment or working relationships that they wish to raise and have addressed. A formal grievance procedure provides a mechanism for these to be dealt with fairly and speedily, before they develop into major problems.

Stage 1

Resolving grievances informally It is in everyone’s interest that grievances are dealt with quickly and fairly and at the lowest level possible at which the matter can be resolved. Most routine complaints and grievances are best resolved informally through discussion with your line manager. Dealing with grievances this way can often lead to speedy resolution of problems. If you feel unable to speak to your line manager, for example, because the complaint concerns him or her, then you should speak informally to another manager.

Where the grievance cannot be resolved informally it should be dealt with under the formal grievance procedure outlined below.

Stage 2

Formal grievance Procedure If your grievance cannot be resolved informally, you should put it in writing and submit it to your line manager (or to the HR Officer if the grievance is about your line manager).

Your written grievance should contain a brief description of the nature of your complaint including any relevant facts, dates and names of individuals involved. In some situations you may be asked to provide further information.

It may be necessary for the College to carry out an investigation into your grievance. The amount of any investigation required will depend on the nature of the allegations and will vary from case to case. It may involve interviewing or taking statements from you and any witnesses, and/or reviewing relevant documents.

You must co-operate fully and promptly in any investigation. This may include informing us of the names of any relevant witnesses, disclosing any relevant documents to us and attending interviews, as part of the investigation.

We may initiate an investigation before holding a grievance meeting with you where we consider this appropriate. In other cases, we may hold a grievance meeting before deciding what investigation (if any) to carry out.

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You will be asked to attend a meeting to discuss the grievance. This will normally be within five working days of the College receiving your written grievance.

You may be accompanied to the grievance meeting by a colleague or trade union representative.

You should take all reasonable steps to attend the grievance meeting. If you or your companion cannot attend at the time specified, you should inform the College immediately and we will try, within reason, to agree an alternative time, which will usually be no more than five working days later than the original date.

After the initial grievance meeting we may carry out further investigations and hold further grievance meetings as we consider appropriate.

We will write to you, usually within one week of the final grievance meeting, to inform you of the outcome of your grievance and any further action that the College intends to take to resolve your grievance.

Stage 3

Appeal If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of the grievance meeting, you may appeal in writing to the Bursar within five working days of the date on which the grievance decision was sent to you. Your appeal should be in writing and set out the full grounds for your appeal.

You will be invited to a further meeting to discuss your appeal. You must take all reasonable steps to attend the meeting and you have the right to bring a companion (work colleague or trade union representative) with you. After the appeal meeting, you will be informed of the final decision in writing, usually within one week of the appeal hearing. The Bursar’s decision will be final and there will be no further right of appeal.

Confidentiality Any issues raised by the grievance procedure will be handled in confidence and must be respected as confidential by all the parties concerned.

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Section 14

The College is committed to providing a working environment free of bullying and harassment and ensuring that all staff are treated, and treat others, with dignity and respect.

All forms of harassment are unacceptable and will not be tolerated. This policy covers harassment or bullying which occurs at work and out of the workplace such as business trips or at work-related events or social functions. It is the College’s policy to take any incidents seriously and to act appropriately.

Harassment is defined as unwanted physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct that has the purpose or effect of violating dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment. A single incident can amount to harassment.

Unlawful harassment may involve conduct of a sexual nature (sexual harassment) or it may be related to gender, sexual orientation, marital or civil partnership status, gender reassignment, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, disability or age.

What is harassment? Harassment may include, for example:

unwanted physical conduct or "horseplay", including touching, pinching,

pushing and grabbing;

continued suggestions for social activity after it has been made clear that such suggestions are unwelcome;

sending or displaying material that is pornographic or that some people may find offensive (including e-mails, text messages, video clips and images sent by mobile phone or posted on the internet);

unwelcome sexual advances or suggestive behaviour (which the harasser may perceive as harmless);

racist, sexist, homophobic or ageist jokes, or derogatory or stereotypical remarks about a particular ethnic or religious group or gender;

outing or threatening to out someone as gay or lesbian;

offensive e-mails, text messages or social media content; or

mocking, mimicking or belittling a person's disability.

A person may be harassed even if they were not the intended "target". For example, a person may be harassed by racist jokes about a different ethnic group if the jokes create an offensive environment.

In deciding whether or not the conduct has the effect as referred to above, the perception of the employee, any other circumstances of the case and whether it is reasonable for the conduct to have that effect will be taken into account.

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Individual staff members may in some cases be legally liable for harassment of colleagues or third parties and may be ordered to pay compensation by a court or employment tribunal.

Bullying and harassment may also be criminal offences.

What is bullying? Bullying is offensive, intimidating, malicious or insulting behaviour involving the misuse of power that can make a person feel vulnerable, upset, humiliated, undermined or threatened.

Bullying can take the form of physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct and may include:

Physical or psychological threats;

Overbearing and intimidating levels of supervision;

Inappropriate derogatory remarks about someone’s performance.

Legitimate, reasonable and constructive criticism of your performance or behaviour, or reasonable instructions given to you in the course of your employment, will not amount to bullying on their own.

Bullying and harassment may create serious problems including poor morale, poor employee relations, loss of respect for managers and supervisors, poor performance, absence, resignations, damage to the College’s reputation, and lead to costly litigation.

Bullying and harassment may provide grounds for disciplinary action against individuals up to and including dismissal. Complaints should not be made with mischievous or malicious intent as this may result in disciplinary action being taken against the complainant.

Complaining About Harassment It is important not to allow the behaviour to come to a point where it becomes intolerable. By taking early action it is often possible to prevent the problem from becoming more serious. If you are being subjected to any form of bullying or harassment, please do not think that it is your fault or that you have to tolerate it.

In some cases it may be possible to rectify matters informally. Sometimes people are not aware that their behaviour is unwelcome and an informal discussion can lead to greater understanding and an agreement that the behaviour will cease. It may be that you choose to do this yourself or approach the HR Officer, a manager, a colleague or the College Counsellor for additional support.

Making an Informal Complaint You may wish to seek support from a colleague or friend within the College.

You may wish to approach the person directly (possibly with your colleague/ friend) and explain that their behaviour is unwelcome and unacceptable and ask them to stop.

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You may ask your colleague/ friend to approach the harasser on your behalf.

If you feel that you cannot make a direct approach, it would be helpful to keep a record of incidents that distress you and how they may have caused a change in your pattern of work or social life.

The College Counselling Service can provide a vital avenue for an informal approach and perhaps the opportunity to resolve the complaint without the need for any further or formal action. Counselling may help support the person accused as well as the complainant.

Making a Formal Complaint If a complaint cannot be resolved informally or you feel it is too difficult or embarrassing to make a direct approach, you are advised to submit a formal grievance to the HR Officer. If your complaint concerns the HR Officer, it should be submitted to the Bursar. You should set out full details for the conduct in question, including:

the name of the alleged harasser;

the nature of the alleged harassment;

the dates and times when the alleged harassment occurred;

the names of any witnesses; and

any action already taken by you to stop the alleged harassment.

As a general principle, the decision whether to progress a complaint is up to you. However, the College has a duty to protect all staff and may pursue the matter independently if, in all the circumstances, it considers it appropriate to do so.

All complaints will be taken seriously and treated confidentially. They will be investigated promptly and objectively before any decisions are made.

The College will arrange a meeting with you, usually within one week of receiving your complaint, so that you can give your account of events. You have the right to be accompanied by a colleague or a trade union representative of your choice, who must respect the confidentiality of the investigation. You may be invited to further meetings throughout the investigation as appropriate.

Where your complaint is about a fellow member of staff, we may consider suspending them on full pay or making other temporary changes to working arrangements pending the outcome of the investigation, if circumstances require.

The investigator will also meet with the alleged harasser or bully to hear their account of events. They have a right to be told the details of the allegations against them, so that they can respond.

Where your complaint is about someone other than a member of staff, such as a student, supplier or visitor to the College, we will consider what action may be appropriate to protect you and anyone involved pending the outcome of the investigation, bearing in mind the reasonable needs of

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College and the rights of that person. Where appropriate, we will attempt to discuss the matter with the third party.

We will also seriously consider any request that you make for changes to your own working arrangements during the investigation.

It may be necessary to interview witnesses to any of the incidents mentioned in your complaint. If so, the importance of confidentiality will be emphasised to them.

Once the investigations are complete the College will normally arrange a further meeting with you to discuss the outcome and what action, if any, should be taken. You have the right to bring a colleague or a trade union representative to the meeting.

Anyone who deliberately provides false information or otherwise acts in bad faith as part of an investigation may be subject to action under the College’s Disciplinary Procedure.

Action following the investigation If the College considers that harassment or bullying has occurred, prompt action will be taken to address it.

Where the harasser or bully is an employee the matter will be dealt with as a case of possible misconduct or gross misconduct under the College’s Disciplinary Procedure. If the harasser or bully is a third party such as a student, supplier or visitor, we will consider what action would be appropriate to deal with the problem.

Appeals If you are not satisfied with the outcome you may appeal in writing to the Bursar stating your full grounds of appeal, within one week of the date on which the decision was sent or given to you.

The College will hold an appeal meeting, normally within one week of receiving your written appeal. You may bring a colleague or trade union representative to the meeting.

The College will confirm its final decision in writing, usually within one week of the appeal hearing. This is the end of the procedure and there is no further right of appeal.

Protection and support for those involved Staff who make complaints or who participate in good faith in any investigation must not suffer any form of retaliation or victimisation as a result. Anyone found to have retaliated against or victimised someone in this way will be subject to disciplinary action under our Disciplinary Procedure.

Confidentiality and record keeping Confidentiality is an important part of the procedures provided under this policy. Details of the investigation and the names of the person making the complaint and the person accused must only be disclosed on a "need to

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know" basis. Breach of confidentiality may give rise to disciplinary action under the College’s Disciplinary Procedure.

Information about a complaint by or about member of staff may be placed on the relevant individual’s personnel file, along with a record of the outcome and of any notes or other documents compiled during the process.

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Section 15

The College is committed to promoting equal opportunities in employment. You and any job applicants will receive equal treatment regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marital or civil partner status, pregnancy or maternity, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation ("Protected Characteristics").

Discrimination You must not unlawfully discriminate against or harass other people including current and former employees, job applicants, Fellows, students, suppliers and visitors to the College. This applies in the workplace, outside the workplace and on work-related trips or events including social events.

The following forms of discrimination are prohibited under this policy and are unlawful:

Direct discrimination: treating someone less favourably because of a Protected Characteristic. For example, rejecting a job applicant because of their religious views or because they might be gay.

Indirect discrimination: a provision, criterion or practice that applies to everyone but adversely affects people with a particular Protected Characteristic more than others, and is not justified.

Harassment: this includes sexual harassment and other unwanted conduct related to a Protected Characteristic, which has the purpose or effect of violating someone's dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for them. Harassment is dealt with further in the College’s Anti-harassment and Bullying Policy.

Victimisation: retaliation against someone who has complained or has supported someone else's complaint about discrimination or harassment.

Disability discrimination: this includes direct and indirect discrimination, any unjustified less favourable treatment because of the effects of a disability, and failure to make reasonable adjustments to alleviate disadvantages caused by a disability.

Recruitment and Selection Recruitment, promotion and other selection exercises such as redundancy selection will be conducted on the basis of merit, against objective criteria that avoid discrimination.

Vacancies should generally be advertised to a diverse section of the labour market. Advertisements should avoid stereotyping or using wording that may discourage particular groups from applying.

Job applicants should not be asked questions which might suggest an intention to discriminate on grounds of a Protected Characteristic. For

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example, applicants should not be asked whether they are pregnant or planning to have children.

Job applicants should not be asked about health or disability before a job offer is made, except in the very limited circumstances allowed by law. Please check with the HR Officer before asking any such questions.

Disabilities If you have a long-term health condition or are disabled, you are encouraged to tell the College about this so that it can consider what reasonable adjustments or support may be appropriate.

Part-time and fixed-term workers Part-time and fixed-term employees should be treated the same as comparable full-time or permanent employees and enjoy no less favourable terms and conditions (on a pro-rata basis where appropriate), unless different treatment is justified.

These principles of non-discrimination and equality of opportunity also apply to the way in which staff treat visitors, students, Fellows, suppliers and former staff members.

If you believe you have been discriminated, harassed or victimised in breach of this policy, you are encouraged to raise the matter through our Grievance Procedure or Harassment and Bullying policy.

Breaches of this policy Anyone who is found to have committed an act of discrimination, harassment or victimisation in breach of this policy will be subject to disciplinary action.

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Section 16

Introduction The College recognises that during your employment your capability to carry out your duties may deteriorate. This can be for a number of reasons, the most common ones being that either the job changes over a period of time and you fail to keep pace with the changes, or you change (most commonly because of health reasons) and you can no longer cope with the work.

Incapability The College will make clear to every staff member the level of performance expected of him/her in performing their role. The College will provide such training, supervision and support as appropriate or necessary at the outset of the appointment and on an ongoing basis, as appropriate.

If the nature of your job changes the College will make every effort to ensure that you understand the level of performance expected of you and that you receive adequate training and supervision.

If the College has concerns regarding your capability these will normally be discussed in an informal manner in the first instance. Such discussions may result in the setting of performance objectives and timescales for improvement. These will generally be set out in writing to avoid misunderstandings.

If your standard of performance does not then reach the required standard within the set timescale, or if the performance failure is judged by the College to be sufficiently serious to warrant formal action straight away, a formal meeting will be arranged (to which you may be accompanied by a colleague or trade union representative) at which formal performance standards and timescales for improvement may be set. You will be warned in writing that a failure to improve (within the set timescale) and to maintain the performance required could lead disciplinary action or to your dismissal. The College may also consider with you the possibility of a transfer to more suitable work if possible.

If your standard of performance does not reach the required standard within such timescales, a further formal meeting will be arranged (to which you may be accompanied by a colleague or trade union representative) at which further formal performance standards and timescales for improvement may be set. You will be issued with a final written warning that you will be dismissed unless the required standard of performance is achieved (within the set timescale) and maintained.

If such improvement is not forthcoming within the agreed period of time, a further formal meeting will be arranged (to which you may be accompanied by a colleague or trade union representative) to discuss whether your employment with the College is to continue and, if so, what standards and timescales are appropriate. If the College's decision is that your employment should not continue, you may be dismissed with notice or pay in lieu of notice.

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Incapacity If you are having difficulty coping with your work due to health reasons, you should notify the HR Officer, who will discuss with you whether there is any action that the College could take that would help you to do the work to the required standard.

When an employee is ill for a long time or frequently, the difficulties of continuing without that employee become increasingly apparent. The College may eventually have to terminate employment but such a decision will only be made once all the circumstances of the individual case have been taken into account.

If you have frequent absences or a single prolonged absence due to sickness you may be asked to consent to the College authorities or an Occupational Health Consultant writing to your doctor or treating physician to seek further information from them in relation to your condition(s). You may also be asked to consent to disclosure of relevant medical records to the College or to the College’s appointed Occupational Health adviser and/or to attend a medical examination by a doctor nominated by the College and at its expense.

The purpose of this is for the College to assess what measures or adjustments can be put in place to help you achieve the standards expected of you and/or rehabilitate you back into the workplace. If you do not consent, the College will make these decisions without the benefit of medical advice.

A meeting will normally be held with you before the College decides what action may be necessary to address your continued or frequent short-term absences. Such action may include disciplinary action in accordance with the College’s Disciplinary Procedure.

Where your health or absence levels have not improved and there are no adjustments or no further adjustments that can be made to help you, you may be at risk of dismissal. The College will hold a meeting with you to consider the possible termination of your employment. Before we make a decision, we will consider any matters you wish to raise and whether there have been any changes since the last meeting.

Appeals You may appeal against the outcome of any stage of this procedure. If you wish to appeal you should set out your appeal in writing to the Bursar, stating your grounds of appeal, within five working days of the date on which the decision was sent or given to you.

If you are appealing against a decision to dismiss you, we will hold an appeal meeting, normally within two weeks of receiving the appeal.

We will confirm our final decision in writing, usually within one week of the appeal hearing. There is no further right of appeal. The date that any dismissal takes effect will not be delayed pending the outcome of an appeal. However, if the appeal is successful, the decision to dismiss will be revoked with no loss of continuity or pay.

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Section 17

During the course of its activities the College will process personal data (which may be held on paper, electronically, or otherwise) about its staff and the College recognises the need to treat this data in an appropriate and lawful manner, in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA). The purpose of this policy is to make you aware of how the College will handle your personal data.

Data protection principles The College will comply with the eight data protection principles in the DPA, which say that personal data must be:

processed fairly and lawfully;

processed for limited purposes and in an appropriate way;

adequate, relevant and not excessive for the purpose;

accurate and where necessary kept up to date;

not kept longer than necessary ;

processed in accordance with individuals' rights;

kept in a secure manner; and

not transferred to people or organisations situated in countries outside of the EAA without adequate protection.

"Personal data" means recorded information the College holds about you from which you can be identified. It may include contact details, other personal information, photographs, expressions of opinion about you or indications as to the College’s intentions about you. "Processing" means doing anything with the data, such as accessing, disclosing, destroying or using the data in any way.

Fair and lawful processing The College will usually only process your personal data where certain conditions have been met. These may include, among other things, a requirement that you have consented to the processing or that the processing is necessary to comply with the College’s legal obligations or to protect its legitimate interests or the interests of others.

When the College processes "sensitive personal data" (i.e data about ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or similar beliefs, trade union membership, health, sex life, criminal proceedings or convictions), more than one of these conditions must be met. Usually this will mean that your explicit consent to the processing will be necessary or that the processing is legally required for employment purposes.

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How we are likely to use your personal data The College will process data about staff for legal, personnel, administrative and management purposes and to enable it to meet its legal obligations as an employer, for example to pay you, monitor your performance and to confer benefits in connection with your employment.

The College may process sensitive personal data relating to staff including,

as appropriate:

information about an employee's physical or mental health or condition in order to monitor sick leave and take decisions as to the employee's fitness for work;

the employee's racial or ethnic origin or religious or similar information in order to monitor compliance with equal opportunities legislation;

in order to comply with legal requirements and obligations to third parties.

Processing for limited purposes We will only process your personal data for the specific purpose or purposes notified to you when it was collected or for any other purposes specifically permitted by the DPA.

Adequate, relevant and non-excessive processing Your personal data will only be processed to the extent that it is necessary for the specific purposes notified to you.

Accurate data The College will keep the personal data it stores about you accurate and up to date. Data that is inaccurate or out of date will be destroyed. Please notify the HR Officer immediately if your personal details change or if you become aware of any inaccuracies in the personal data the College holds about you.

Data retention The College will not keep your personal data for longer than is necessary for the purpose. This means that data will be destroyed or erased from our systems when it is no longer required.

Processing in line with your rights You have the right to:

request access to any personal data the College holds about you;

prevent the processing of your data for direct-marketing purposes;

ask to have inaccurate data held about you amended;

prevent processing that is likely to cause unwarranted substantial damage or distress to you or anyone else;

object to any decision that significantly affects you being taken solely by a computer or other automated process.

Data security The College will ensure that appropriate measures are taken against unlawful or unauthorised processing of personal data, and against the accidental loss of, or damage to, personal data.

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The College has in place procedures and technologies to maintain the security of all personal data from the point of collection to the point of destruction. The College will only transfer personal data to a third party if they agree to comply with those procedures and policies, or if they put in place adequate measures himself.

Maintaining data security means guaranteeing the confidentiality, integrity and availability (for authorised purposes) of the personal data. Security procedures include:

Entry controls. Any stranger seen in entry-controlled areas should be

reported to the Porters’ Lodge.

Secure lockable desks and cupboards. Desks and cupboards should be kept locked if they hold confidential information of any kind. (Personal information is always considered confidential.)

Methods of disposal. Paper documents should be shredded and CD- ROMs should be physically destroyed when they are no longer required. Documents stored on any form of memory device (USB stick etc.) should be irretrievably deleted.

Equipment. You must ensure that individual monitors do not show confidential information to passers-by and that you log off from your PC when it is left unattended.

Providing information to third parties The College will not disclose your personal data to a third party without your consent unless it is satisfied that it is legally entitled to the data. Where the College does disclose your personal data to a third party, it will have regard to the eight data protection principles.

If you deal with enquiries from third parties, you should be careful about disclosing any personal information held by the College. In particular you should:

Check the identity of the person making the enquiry and whether they are legally entitled to receive the information they have requested.

Suggest that the third party puts their request in writing so the third party's identity and entitlement to the information may be verified.

Refer to your line manager or the HR Officer for assistance in difficult situations.

Where providing information to a third party, do so in accordance with the eight data protection principles.

Subject access requests If you wish to know what personal data the College holds about you, you must make the request in writing to the HR Officer.

Breaches of this policy If you consider that this policy has not been followed in respect of personal data about yourself or others you should raise the matter with your line manager. Any breach of this policy will be taken seriously and may result in disciplinary action.

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Section 18

It is the College’s policy to conduct all of its business in an honest and ethical way. We take a zero-tolerance approach to bribery and corruption and are committed to acting professionally, fairly and with integrity in all our professional dealings and relationships.

Any member of staff who breaches this policy will face disciplinary action, which could result in dismissal for gross misconduct.

What is bribery? Bribe means a financial or other inducement or reward for action which is illegal, unethical, a breach of trust or improper in any way. Bribes can take the form of money, gifts, loans, fees, hospitality, services, discounts, the award of a contract or any other advantage or benefit.

Bribery includes offering, promising, giving, accepting or seeking a bribe.

All forms of bribery are strictly prohibited. If you are unsure about whether a particular act constitutes bribery, raise it with your manager or the HR Officer.

Specifically, you must not:

give or offer any payment, gift, hospitality or other benefit in the expectation that a business, professional, academic or other advantage will be received in return, or to reward any business or other advantage received;

accept any offer from a third party that you know or suspect is made with the expectation that the College will provide a business, professional, academic or other advantage for them or anyone else;

give or offer any payment (sometimes called a facilitation payment) to a government official in any country to facilitate or speed up a routine or necessary procedure;

You must not threaten or retaliate against another person who has refused to offer or accept a bribe or who has raised concerns about possible bribery or corruption.

Gifts and hospitality This policy does not prohibit the giving or accepting of reasonable and appropriate hospitality for legitimate purposes such as building relationships, maintaining the College’s image or reputation, or for authorised fund-raising purposes.

A gift or hospitality will not be appropriate if it is unduly lavish or extravagant, or could be seen as an inducement or reward for any preferential treatment.

Gifts must be of an appropriate type and value depending on the circumstances and taking account of the reason for the gift. Gifts must not

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include cash or cash equivalent (such as vouchers), or be given in secret. Gifts must be given in the College’s name, not your name.

Record-keeping You must declare and keep a written record of all hospitality or gifts given or received. You must also submit all expenses claims relating to hospitality, gifts or payments to third parties in accordance with normal procedure and record the reason for expenditure.

All accounts, invoices, and other records relating to dealings with third parties including suppliers and customers should be prepared with strict accuracy and completeness. Accounts must not be kept "off-book" to facilitate or conceal improper payments.

How to raise a concern If you are offered a bribe, or are asked to make one, or if you suspect that any bribery, corruption or other breach of this policy has occurred or may occur, you must your line manager or the HR Officer as soon as possible.

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Section 19

Background Having consulted with the ICE Forum, the College has decided to retain a fixed retirement age of 65 for its support staff. The reasons for this are as follows:

There are a number of roles and posts within College that may become increasingly difficult to perform as employees become older;

During consultation, employees identified fixed retirement as a means of achieving a dignified exit to remove the risk of terminations on the grounds of capability/poor performance.

Fixing a retirement age of 65 provides certainty for employees and the College, allowing both sides to make plans for the future.

All employees at the College have a right to request to work beyond this retirement age. All requests will be given proper consideration on an individual basis taking into account the hours and duties of the employee and the needs of the College.

The College is not obliged to agree to a request.

Procedure

1. Employees will receive a written notification of you intended retirement

date no later than 6 months before that date. This notification will remind you that you may request to work beyond this date.

If, as a response to that notification, you wish to work beyond the intended retirement date, you must send your request in writing to your manager at least 3 months before that date. If you do not make this request within this time frame, the College does not have to consider the request and you will retire on the notified intended retirement date.

Your request should specify whether you wish to work indefinitely, for a stated period or until a stated date.

2. The College may write to you as soon as reasonably practicable after

receiving the request, agreeing to that request and informing you that your employment will continue indefinitely, for a stated period, or until a new retirement date.

Alternatively, you may be invited within a reasonable period after receipt of the request, to a meeting to discuss the possibility of working beyond the intended retirement date. You may be accompanied at this meeting by a work colleague or trade union representative.

You will receive written confirmation of the outcome of this meeting from the College as soon as reasonably practicable after the meeting. In the event that a request is granted, your new retirement date (if any) will be

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confirmed in that written confirmation or the fact that the employment will continue indefinitely or for a stated period. Where a request is refused, the College will confirm that it wishes to retire you and the retirement date. There is no legal right to reasons for a refusal.

3. In the event that your request is refused or approved on the terms other

than those requested, you will be informed in the written confirmation of your right to appeal this decision. If you wish to appeal, you should write to the Bursar requesting an appeal and setting out in full your grounds for appeal within 10 working days of receipt of the written confirmation.

The Bursar will then write to you within a reasonable period, to invite you to a meeting to hear your appeal. You may be accompanied at this meeting by a work colleague or trade union representative.

You will receive written confirmation of the outcome of the appeal meeting as soon as reasonably practicable after the meeting. In the event that the appeal is upheld, your new retirement date (if any) will be confirmed in that written confirmation, or the fact that the employment will continue indefinitely or for a stated period. Where your appeal is rejected, the College will confirm that it wishes to retire you and the retirement date. This decision will be final.

4. If it is not practicable to hold either the initial or appeal meeting within a

reasonable period of the initial request or request for an appeal, you will be asked to make written representations. The Bursar will properly consider the request in the light of those representations (if any) and will communicate the decision in writing to you.

Once a meeting has been scheduled you must make all reasonable efforts to attend that meeting. In the event that you cannot attend, you must inform the Bursar as soon as reasonably practicable. Depending upon the reason for your failure to attend, the meeting may be rescheduled once. After this, in the absence of a good reason for not attending, the College reserves the right to take a decision without you being present.

5. If your request to work beyond the intended retirement age is

approved, the extension granted may be for a fixed term or be open- ended. In either case, the College may review the position at any time and give notice to you to retire in accordance with the procedure set out in this policy.

6. The College may also offer you the option of varying your hours of work

or going part-time if this is appropriate taking into account your needs and the business needs of the College.

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Expiry of Extension Period Where applicable, prior to the expiry of your extension period, the College will write to you to give you notice of the intended retirement date.

You may request a further extension in line with the procedure set out above.

Please direct any questions about this policy to the Bursar or HR Officer.

Appendix B

TIME IN LIEU / OVERTIME PAYMENT CLAIM

Name:…………………………………………………………

Date(s) of overtime:…………………………………..……...

Reason for overtime:

Start time:………………………………….. Finish time:……………………….

Total hours worked at standard rate:………………………… Total hours worked at time and a half:……………………….

Total hours worked at double time:…………………………..

Total overtime hours………………………………………… ...

Overtime payment / time off in lieu? Please circle your choice

Signed:……………………………….. Signed:……………………………... (Employee) (Line Manager)

Action: 1. If an overtime payment is claimed, please send to Accounts Dept. 2. If time in lieu, Line Manager to retain as a record.

Payroll:…………………………………. Date:……………………….………... (Signed)

Appendix C

Notice of entitlement and intention to take

Shared Parental Leave (“SPL”)

This form should be completed by eligible employees who wish to opt-in to the

statutory SPL scheme following the birth or adoption of a child and the curtailment of

their/their Partner’s maternity or adoption leave.

Important: If you or your Partner is taking or intending to take maternity or

adoption leave (and/or claim statutory maternity pay, maternity allowance or

statutory adoption pay), you/they must formally write to the College to bring

these entitlements to an end either before or at the same time as you submit

this notice of entitlement and intention to take SPL. The letter will be regarded

as your curtailment notice.

Please see our Shared Parental Leave Policy for more information.

In this notice, "Partner" means a spouse, civil partner, or someone (of either sex)

living with someone in an enduring family relationship, but who is not their sibling,

parent, child, grandparent, grandchild, aunt, uncle, niece or nephew.

Section A: Basic information

A1 Employee's name

A2 Child's name (if known)

A3 I am the child's mother*/

child’s adopter*/ child’s father*/

mother's Partner*/ adopter’s

Partner*

(*delete as appropriate)

A4 Child's expected week of

birth/adoption placement

A5 Child's actual date of birth/adoption

placement (if known)

Appendix C

Section B: Dates of maternity or adoption leave and/or pay

Guidance notes

If you are the child’s mother or the child’s adopter, please give the start and end

dates of your maternity or adoption leave (ML/AL).

If you are the child's father, the mother's Partner or the adopter’s Partner, please

give the start and end dates of the ML or AL of the child’s mother or adopter*.

*Note that if you or they are not entitled to ML or AL, please instead give the start

and end dates of any entitlement to statutory maternity pay (SMP), maternity

allowance (MA) period or statutory adoption pay (SAP).

B1 ML/AL start date

B2 ML/AL end date

B3 Total number of (whole) weeks

ML/AL

Section C: Shared parental leave

Guidance notes

The total SPL available is 52 weeks minus the period of ML/AL (or if not applicable

the period of SMP, MA, SAP) taken by the child’s mother’s or adopter - see the

figure in B3.

SPL cannot start until after the child is born/placed for adoption and at least eight

weeks after you submit this opt-in notice.

C1 Total SPL available (whole weeks).

C2 Number of whole weeks' SPL

intended to be taken by you.

C3 Number of whole weeks' SPL

intended to be taken by the person

with whom you will share SPL.

C4 Indication of the dates on which you

would like to take SPL.*

Appendix C

*Note that these dates will be

treated as non-binding until you

submit a separate “period of leave

notice”.

If however you would prefer to

make these dates binding at this

time please tick here.

Section D: Statutory shared parental pay

Guidance notes

The total statutory shared parental pay (ShPP) available is 39 weeks minus the

period of SMP, MA or SAP taken by the child’s mother or adopter - see the figure

in B3.

D1 Total ShPP available (whole

weeks).

D2 Number of whole weeks' ShPP

intended to be received by you.

D3 Number of whole weeks' ShPP

intended to be received by the

person with whom you will share

ShPP.

D4 Indication of the dates on which you

would like to receive ShPP.*

*Note that these dates will be

treated as non-binding until you

submit a separate notice to take

ShPP.

If however you would prefer to

make these dates binding at this

time please tick here.

Appendix C

Section E: Employee's declaration

(Delete as applicable.)

Either

I am the child's mother/adopter and I am entitled to statutory ML/AL.

I have submitted a separate notice to curtail my ML/AL or will submit it:

a) at least eight weeks before the first date on which I intend to take SPL; and

b) before the person with whom I am sharing SPL takes any SPL.

or

I am the child's father.

or

I am the Partner of the child's mother.

or

I am the Partner of the child’s adopter.

I have had (or will have had) at least 26 weeks' continuous employment by the end

of the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth (EWC) or by the end of the

week the adoption agency notified me that I had been matched with a child for

adoption and have remained continuously employed since then.

My normal weekly earnings in the eight-week period ending with the 15th week

before the EWC or the week the adoption agency notified me that I had been

matched with a child for adoption were not less than the lower earnings limit set by

the government each tax year.

I expect to share the main responsibility for the care of the child with the person

who has completed Section F.

I intend to care for the child during each week that I am on SPL and receiving

ShPP.

I will immediately inform [POSITION] if I cease to share the main responsibility for

the care of the child, or to otherwise satisfy the conditions for entitlement to SPL or

ShPP.

The information I have given in this notice is accurate.

I acknowledge that any abuse of this SPL scheme will be dealt with under my

employer’s disciplinary procedure and may be regarded as an act of gross

Appendix C

Section F: Declaration by person taking shared parental leave with employee

Name

Address

National Insurance

number

Your employer's name

and address:

Trinity Hall

Trinity Lane

Cambridge

CB2 1TJ

(Delete as applicable)

Either

I am the mother/adopter of the child and I am entitled to statutory ML/AL. I have

curtailed my entitlement to ML/AL (or will have done so before your employee

takes any SPL).

or

I am the child's father.

or

I am the Partner of the child's mother.

or

I am the Partner of the child’s adopter.

I expect to share the main responsibility for the care of the child with your

employee.

I have worked in an employed or self-employed capacity in at least 26 of the 66

misconduct. I also agree that any overpayments of ShPP made to me may be

recovered by my employer as a deduction from my salary or from any other sums

owed to me.

Signed ……………………………………………………………….

Date ………………………………………………………………….

Appendix C

weeks immediately before the EWC / the week the adoption agency notified me

that I had been matched with a child for adoption.

My gross average weekly earnings are at least £30, taking the 13 highest-earning

weeks in the 66 weeks immediately before the EWC / the week the adoption

agency notified me that I had been matched with a child for adoption.

I consent to your employee taking SPL and claiming ShPP as set out in this notice

and will immediately inform them if I cease to satisfy any of the conditions in this

declaration.

I consent to the information in this declaration being used for the purposes of

administering SPL and ShPP.

Signed ……………………………………………………………….

Date ………………………………………………………………….

Shared Parental Leave Eligibility

Key principle of SPL: After two weeks’ compulsory maternity/adoption leave, eligible mothers may choose to take remaining

50 weeks’ leave (and 37 weeks’ pay (ShPP)) as SPL with the other parent.

Start here

Is the applicant an employee? Is the employee either the child’s mother, the child’s father,

the mother’s partner/civil partner or an adopter of the child? No

Not eligible for

SPL/ShPP

Yes

Is the employee sharing the main responsibility for the care of the child with the other

parent (i.e. the child’s mother or father, their partner/civil partner or adopter)? No

Not eligible for

SPL/ShPP

Yes

Is the mother/adopter entitled to maternity/adoption leave or pay? No Not eligible for

SPL/ShPP

Yes

Has the employee worked for 26 continuous weeks for the same employer at the 15th

week before the expected week of childbirth/adoption matching date? And is the employee

still working for the same employer when the SPL is due to be taken? No

Not eligible for

SPL/ShPP

Yes

Has the other parent been employed or self-employed in Great Britain for any 26 weeks out

of the 66 weeks preceding the week of the child’s due date/adoption matching date? And

has the other parent earned an average gross salary of least £30 per week (currently) in any

13 of those 66 weeks?

No Not eligible for

SPL/ShPP

Yes

Has the employee been earning an average weekly salary of at least the lower earnings limit

(currently £111 per week) in the eight weeks up to the 15th week before the expected week

of childbirth/adoption matching date?

No

Eligible for SPL and ShPP - please go to ‘The Process - requests’

Eligible for SPL but

not ShPP—please

go to ‘The Process -

requests’

Yes

Shared Parental Leave The Process - requests

Has the mother/adopter given at least eight weeks’

written notice of intention to end maternity/

adoption leave and pay? (Curtailment notice)

Note - mother/adopter must still take two weeks’ compulsory

maternity/adoption leave.

No

No need to consider SPL/ShPP until this notice is served. Note - mother can revoke a curtailment notice given before birth in the six

weeks following the birth (and other limited circumstances).

No

Yes

Wait for

parent to give

notice of

entitlement

or if incorrect

seek

clarification

Has the employee requested ‘continuous’ SPL? Yes You must agree to the request

No

Within 14 calendar days of receiving the notice to book pattern of ‘discontinuous’ SPL, you can either:

(1) agree the pattern of leave SPL begins on the date agreed

(2) discuss and agree alternative pattern of leave SPL begins on the date agreed

(3) refuse the requested pattern of leave

If you refuse the pattern of leave, the parent must by default take the leave requested in one single ‘continuous’ block

(starting on the date of the first period of ‘discontinuous’ leave requested) unless:

(1) they withdraw the request before the 15th day after the request was made (in which case the request will not count

towards the cap of three notices to book leave); or

(2) within five days of the end of the 14 day discussion period, they choose a new start date for the single continuous

block, provided that they still give eight weeks’ notice before the new period of leave starts.

Yes

Has the parent given at least eight weeks’ written notice setting out: their entitlement and intention

to take SPL; how much SPL/ShPP is available to them and the other parent; a “non-binding”

indication of pattern of leave; signed self declarations from both parents? (Notice of entitlement)

Wait for parent to

give notice to book

leave or postpone

start of leave if less

than 8 weeks’ notice

given

Has the parent given at least eight weeks’ notice of any specific SPL dates they wish to take?

(Notice to book period of leave) Note - the number of notices an employee can give to book, vary or cancel

a period of leave is capped at three (except in limited circumstances such as early birth).

No

Yes

Appendix E

SELF-CERTIFICATION SICKNESS FORM

This form is to record sickness absence information and is to be completed by the employee and countersigned by your Line Manager.

It must be completed for all periods of sickness absence of one day or more. If you are sick for more than 7 calendar days, you must also obtain a doctor’s certificate. You should immediately give or send this your Line Manager. It the doctor’s certificate expires before you return to work, you must obtain further certificates to cover the period until you return.

Full name of employee:

Date on which you became unfit for work:

Date on which you resumed work:

Total number of working days absent:

Please give full details of your sickness or injury – “sick”, “illness” or “unwell” is insufficient:

Did you visit your doctor in relation to this period of sickness or injury?

YES / NO

If you did not visit your doctor, please give the reason why not:

Doctor’s certificate attached?

YES / NO

I declare the above information to be correct and confirm that I am now fit to resume work. I understand that it is a serious disciplinary offence to provide false information on this form. I accept that this form will be placed in my employee record and retained.

Signed by Employee: Signed by your Line Manager:

………………………………… …………………………………

Date: ………………………….. Date:…………………..

Action: Send to your Line Manager

SURNAME

Appendix F

Display Screen Equipment

Certificate of Recommendation For Trinity Hall

Action: Please ask your optometrist to complete this form. You should pay for the eyesight test and spectacles/ contact lenses and take receipts and this form to the Junior Bursar’s PA. Please ensure your line manager has also signed this form.

Patient……………………………….…………………………….…………… I confirm that I have examined the above Patient’s eyes and I recommend the following as appropriate. a) Spectacles solely for use with DSE □ b) Type of spectacles if needed Single vision □ Bifocals □ c) No spectacles required specifically for use with DSE □ d) Spectacles for general use including use with DSE □ e) Re-test recommended……………………………. Months Signed (Optometrist)……………..……………………………….……….……….…………………. Date…………………………………………………………………………………..…………………….……. Signature (Line Manager of Patient)………………………………………...…………………. Date …………………………………………………………..…………………………………….………….

The College will only contribute towards an eye test and/or glasses once in any 24 month period unless specific recommendations have been received from your Optometrist.