A message from Professor Stuart Croft, Provost and Ken Sloan, Registrar to staff at or above FA Grade 5

Dear Colleague,

UCU has notified the University that its members will be taking industrial action on 10 February 2014 in support of its national dispute about the 2013/14 pay claim. The action will take the form of a two-hour strike from 9am to 11am.

You will appreciate that we do not know who will be taking strike action, so we have had to write to all staff who may be involved. We hope that you will continue to work normally.

So that we can plan properly and safely we are asking you to confirm to us in advance if you intend participating in this strike action on 10 February 2014.

UCU members were warned on their ballot papers that taking industrial action might constitute a breach of their contract of employment. Any member of staff who takes two-hour strike action will be committing a breach of their contract of employment. It is the policy of the University of Warwick to withhold pay of staff who participate in the industrial action. The University of Warwick will not accept the partial performance of the contract of any member of staff, including partial performance due to a part-day strike. The University is entitled to withhold a full day’s pay for partial performance in the form of a part-day strike.

On this occasion, the University of Warwick has taken a view about the likely impact of employees’ participation in this industrial action on the institution and the appropriate amount of pay to be withheld in the circumstances. For action on 10 February the University will withhold two hours’ pay (27.5% of daily remuneration). However, this is without prejudice to the University’s legal right to withhold full pay in the future for partial performance. The amount withheld will be kept under review, in which case staff will be advised in advance of any future action.

You are asked to complete the attached pro-forma in respect of action on 10 February 2014. While the University normally relies entirely on self-declaration in respect of strike action, we shall be backing this up with departmental observations.

If you are a member of a pension scheme, UCU will advise you on the implications for your pension cover if you decide to take part in the industrial action.

Please note that although, if you do take strike action, the pay to be withheld for 10 February 2014 applies to the March 2014 payroll.

We do realise that many staff will not wish to participate in this action and deeply regret having to write in this way to staff who do not intend to take part. The actions of UCU require us to ensure that we have fully communicated the University’s position to all staff, and we hope that you will understand why it is necessary.

If you have any queries about this letter please contact Julia Strong or Emma Brown in HR on extension 74380.

Yours sincerely,

Professor Stuart Croft, Provost and Ken Sloan, Registrar

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Useful information

Download the Pay Deduction pro-forma.

The University’s process for self-declaration, form and statement on pay deductions can be found on the Payroll webpage.

Download the University’s process for self declaration and statement on pay deductions