Guidance Notes on Appointing & Paying Sessional Lecturers and Postgraduate Demonstrators

Forms

1.    Introduction

The information and guidelines which follow are to assist Schools/Departments in operating the procedures for the appointment of Sessional Lecturers and Postgraduate Demonstrators and the associated payment procedures. Whilst every attempt has been made to ensure that they are as comprehensive as possible, situations may arise which are not covered. In these circumstances, please contact your HR Advisor.

2.    Authorisations

a)    Appointments

It is the responsibility of Executive Deans/Departments to ensure that the individuals who are appointed as sessional lecturers, postgraduate demonstrators are suitably qualified for the duties involved. All such appointments should, therefore, be authorised by the Executive Dean/Head of Department, or by someone authorised by the Head to act on his/her behalf.

All appointments are made by the University, as the employer, and therefore, all formal appointment letters should be signed by the Executive Dean/Head of Department. There should be no variation in the content of the standard letters (Appendix 3), other than where optional sections have been indicated, without prior consultation with Human Resources.

b)   Payments

All pay documents passed to the Payroll Office for payment must be certified by a signatory approved by the Director of Human Resources to act on his behalf.

Ordinarily, the signatory will be the Executive Dean/Head of Department, but the Dean/Head may wish to nominate another member of staff to do this on their behalf.

The signature of the account holder, if this is not the Executive Dean/Head of Department, will also be required.

A form for submitting a specimen of the Executive Dean/Head of Department's signature, and one other person designated by the Head to act as his/her nominee, will be issued annually.

(A specimen form is attached at Appendix 1.) These forms should be returned to Cliff Vidgeon, Director of Human Resources.

It will be the responsibility of Schools/Departments to ensure that full employment costs can be met from the source of funding identified for each appointment.

(Guidance on calculating employment costs is given at Appendix 2)

3.    Payroll Deductions

All payments to sessional lecturers, postgraduate demonstrators will be made through the university monthly payroll, and will be subject to deductions for income tax and national insurance.

4.    Employed v Self-Employed Status

It is important that Schools/Departments seek advice from Human Resources before entering into commitments with any individual who wishes to be treated as self employed and submit invoices.  The question of whether an individual should be treated as an employee or as self-employed is a complex one and it is difficult to provide a precise or exhaustive set of guidelines. In the event of any doubt Human Resources will determine, in the light of the nature of the work being undertaken, whether a particular job should be treated as employment.  Where it is not possible to resolve the matter in this way, individual cases will be referred to HM Revenue and Customs for a decision.

There are significant implications for the University, and for the employing School/Department, in incorrectly treating individuals as 'self-employed' and failing to operate PAYE and national insurance procedures. The HM Revenue and Customs may recover, from the employer, the tax and National Insurance which the employer should have been collecting from the individual, possibly with interest and penalties, and this can be applied retroactively for six previous years.

For further information please see the guidance notes at appendix 8.

5.    Redundancy Payments

Statutory redundancy payments are payable to employees who have worked for more than two continuous years and the amounts due are based on service and weekly pay. The number of years service is calculated in whole (completed) years and entitlement is calculated for each completed year within age groupings:

• 0.5 week’s pay for each full year of service where age during year less than 22

• 1.0 week’s pay for each full year of service where age during year is 22 or above, but less than 41

• 1.5 weeks’ pay for each full year of service where age during year is 41+

There is an upper limit on the weeks pay that is taken into account which is currently set at £400.

You are advised to take account of these payments in your budget. Assistance in the calculation and the administration of redundancy payments is available from your HR Advisor.

6.    Holiday Pay

Sessional Lecturers and Postgraduate Demonstrators are entitled, pro-rata, to 5.6 weeks (28 days) paid holiday each year. They are required to take their holiday on days when they are not scheduled to teach or undertake other work. For convenience, proportionate holiday pay, for each period worked, will be paid with salary. This method of payment means that holiday pay will be paid in advance and no further payment will be due at the time when holiday is taken or for payment in lieu.

For these staff holiday pay represents 10.7692% of the basic hourly rate of pay.

In terms of the total hourly rate (which includes holiday pay) the holiday pay can be identified as follows:

Hourly Rate x 0.0972 (ie. 10.7692/110.7692 rounded)

For sessional employees paid on 'a rate for the job' basis the holiday pay entitlement can be identified by multiplying by 0.0972 (as per the formula in 4.3 above).

Example:

If rate for the job = £1,500 then holiday pay = £1,500 X 0.0972 = £145.80

Therefore the information to be shown on the revised Form 2 would be:

The total payment for the session is: £1,500 (ie. £1,354.20 Plus £145.80 holiday pay)

Please bear in mind that in assessing a rate the holiday pay should be considered as an additional entitlement over and above the normal rate for the job.

The revised hourly rates for sessional lecturers and Postgraduate Demonstrators are shown in Appendix 5 and you are asked to ensure that the holiday pay entitlement is indicated in the appropriate sections of Form 1.

7.    Rates of Pay

a)    Sessional Lecturers

Sessional Lecturers are engaged to give a lecture, or series of lectures, on specified dates and at specified times. Normally, they are paid only if the work is actually carried out.

Three standard hourly rates of pay operate in the University. These are attached at Appendix 5.

It is for the Executive Dean/Head of Department to determine the appropriate hourly rate of pay for any individual sessional lecturer.

Sessional Lecturers can be appointed in either of the following ways:

              i.        The "hourly-paid" system

An hourly rate is paid only for the hours worked (ie if an individual does not carry out the work required, no payment is made). The hourly rate includes an entitlement to 28 days paid holiday (see number 6. Holiday Pay above). The system operates on the basis of monthly timesheets, completed by the sessional lecturer to confirm the hours worked, and submitted at the end of each month. Payment will usually be made in the month following that in which the work is carried out (eg. payment for work carried out in February is made in March).

Subject to approval being given in advance by the Executive Dean/Head of Department, sessional lecturers paid under this system may claim reimbursement of travelling and subsistence expenses incurred in travelling to and from the University.

These payments are subject to tax and national insurance, where applicable.

            ii.        The "rate for the job" system

One payment, covering the complete job required, is agreed between the School/Department and the individual. This is based on a schedule of duties to be carried out over a given period of time, defined in the schedule, (say, between October and March, or over two terms). The payment takes account of any element of travelling expenses incurred in travelling to and from the University and includes an entitlement to 28 days paid holiday (see number 6. Holiday Pay above). Payment is not adjusted to take account of pay awards occurring during the term of the commitment. The total payment is paid in monthly installments in arrears, commencing in the pay month following that in which the work is commenced.

b)   Postgraduate Demonstrators

Postgraduate demonstrators are usually students engaged to undertake demonstrating or similar duties on specified dates and times. They are paid an hourly rate and are only paid for the hours actually worked. The hourly rate includes an entitlement to paid holiday (see 7. a) i. above).

Two standard hourly rates of pay operate in the University. These are attached at Appendix 5.  It is for the Executive Dean/Head of Department to determine the appropriate hourly rate of pay for any individual but it is customary for the higher rate to be paid only to postgraduate students who have completed one year of postgraduate study.

An hourly rate is paid only for the hours actually worked and the system operates on the basis of monthly timesheets completed by the demonstrator, and countersigned by the member of staff responsible for the work, (to verify the hours worked).

8.    Immigration Checks

It is now not only a civil offence to knowingly employ a person aged 16 or over who has no permission to work in the United Kingdom, or who works in breach of their conditions of stay in the United Kingdom, but it is also a criminal offence to do so knowingly and any breaches could jeopardise our Tier 2, 4 and 5 licences.

In order to avoid liability, we need to be able to demonstrate that for all sessional staff and Postgraduate Demonstrators certain prescribed documents were checked and copies retained, before the employee commenced work.  Staff who have only limited leave to remain, then need to be rechecked periodically.

Many Sessional Lecturers and Postgraduate Demonstrators will be UK or EEA nationals and so will be able to work without restriction, but where appointees have a student visa, they will only be able to work for up to 20 hours per week.

Even though they are from within the EEA, casual workers from Accession countries (Bulgaria and Romania) have to register for work before they can be employed.  This can be a lengthy process, and they may not start work even if they are students, until they can produce a Registration Certificate.

Due to the University’s need to demonstrate that it complies with immigration legislation, immigration checks will usually be carried out by staff in Human Resources.  If the immigration check is carried out by the local contact within the School/Department please refer to the ‘Immigration Checking Flowchart’ (Appendix 7) for details of how to do this.  List A and List B attached to Form 7A and Form 7C give details of which documents are acceptable for an immigration check.  In the event of any problems in this respect, HR staff will liaise with both the School/Department and the appointee.

Because Sessional Lecturers and Postgraduate Demonstrators are appointed by Schools and Departments, in order to have a robust procedure, an immigration check will need to be carried out for each new appointment unless a Form 7C is completed which assumes that the immigration documents held on file are valid, in date and any visas have been checked within the last twelve months

9.    Appointment Procedure

For each individual to be appointed, complete either of the following forms depending on which type of appointment is chosen.

• Form 1: Details of Appointment (if hourly paid)

• Form 2: Schedule of Duties (if fixed payment)

Prepare a formal appointment letter for issue to each individual and enclose with it:

• Principal Statement of Terms (1 copy)

• Form 1 (2011) or Form 2 (2011) (as appropriate) 2 copies (1 copy to be signed and returned to the Employing School/Department and 1 copy to be retained by the individual) and 1 signed copy to Payroll.

• Form 3 (2011) Payroll Details Form 1 copy (complete section C and instruct appointee to complete the remainder and then either the School/Department should do the immigration check following the guidelines in Appendix 7 or the appointee should take the form, together with the documents needed for their immigration check to Human Resources before starting work.  Please note, no payment will be made for any work done until this form has been received and the immigration check carried.

• Form 5 (2011) Monthly Timesheets 1 copy

Some employees have more than one appointment. If the second appointment is in another School/Department, there is no need for you to take any action about this additional appointment.

If the second appointment represents additional work in the same School/ Department, repeat all the steps above using Form 3C instead of Form 3 which should be used when engaging a Sessional Lecturer/PG Demonstrator/Sports Instructor that holds more than one appointment within the University or may be taking up a further period of sessional work within three months of the end of their last appointment..

You should not process any payments for any individual until he/she has confirmed acceptance by returning a signed copy of FORM 1 or 2.  No contract exists between the university and the individual until an acceptance has been received.  When the relevant form has been returned to you, it should be retained within the School/Department:

10.Procedure for Processing Payments

a)    Completed attendance sheets (Form 5), recording the hours worked, should be handed in to the School/Department at the end of each month.

b)    Check each attendance sheet against the Details of Appointment (Form 1) to ensure that the hours entered match those specified. Follow up and resolve any discrepancies at the time they are identified in order, as far as possible, to avoid any necessity for dealing with over- or under-payments at a later date.

c)    Check that individuals appointed by the fixed payment system are continuing to carry out the commitments satisfactorily.

d)    Gather together all attendance sheets received into alphabetical order, together with any expenses claim forms for hourly-paid sessional lecturers. (It is not necessary to sort the sessional lecturers from the demonstrators).

e)    Assemble separately the details of monthly payments due to individuals employed on the fixed payment method.

f)     Complete Form 6 (2011): Payroll Input Document as follows:

i.        Enter School/Dept, Payment Month, Name and Initials (use more than one line if the payment for any individual relates to more than one month. This can happen if timesheets were returned too late for payment in previous month(s). It is important that the Payroll Section know to which month each particular payments relates to (for calculating National Insurance deductions)

ii.        The Payroll Number Column is for Payroll Use only

iii.        First Appointment Column - enter only the number of hours worked.  (Payroll will know the hourly rate and the account code from the Form 3)

iv.        Second Appointment Columns - only use these columns if any aspect of the appointment is different from the FIRST APPOINTMENT i.e. if either the hourly rate or the account code is different. Complete all columns in this section.

v.        Additional Pay - Enter here the details of any sums payable in respect of any additional work carried out (e.g. for which a lump sum is payable).  Use this column to enter the monthly payments due in respect of fixed payment appointment.

vi.        Expenses - Enter here the details of any expenses claimed and approved by the Executive Dean/Head of Department.

vii.        Send it directly to the Payroll Section.

Please note:

• That the Payroll Office must receive payment instructions by the due date each month in order for payment to be made on 26th of the month. (A list of payroll deadline dates will be issued annually. Those currently in use are attached at Appendix 4).

• That the payment being made will be for work done in the preceding month(s). 

11.Network User Accounts

With effect from 1 August 2011, all network user accounts will be generated through entry of new appointments onto the HR system.  Once HR knows that a new member of staff is starting (i.e. on receipt of a correctly completed Form 3 or 3C and successful immigration check) their details will be put on to the HR/Payroll System which will trigger the creation of a network user account, details of which will be given to the individual and/or their manager.

02.08.11