Your hours of work should be agreed between yourself and your supervisor, Principal Investigator or line manager. If you are appointed to work part-time your total hours of work will correspond with the percentage of salary payable. 

As a guide, the General Board expects the average full-time working week to be in the region of 37 to 40 hours. Under the Working Time Regulations, 1998, you are not required to work more than 48 hours per week unless you sign an agreement to do so.

The University's Flexible Working Policy sets out the procedure to be followed when staff ask to work flexibly to achieve a better work/life balance.

Staff wanting to request a change to their existing working pattern permanently should read this policy and discuss their proposal with their immediate supervisor, Marita Walsh (Support Services Manager) or Kathleen Pickett (Welfare, Training and Development Adviser) before applying.

Permanent changes should be requested using the FLEXAF form.

Temporary changes should be requested by letter or email.

All requests for changes should be submitted to Marita Walsh or Kathleen Pickett.

Established Officers are required to complete form CHRIS/74 to temporarily work flexibly.

Annual Leave 

For contract research staff, holiday entitlement runs from October to September. If staff start work after the beginning of the leave year, entitlement for that year will be calculated pro rata to the proportion of the leave year remaining.

Holiday entitlement for full time contract research staff is 41 days, based on a five-day working week, inclusive of public holidays that fall in the normal working week. Part time staff are entitled to 41 days pro rata based on the numbers of days worked per week. Periods of University closure, other than public holidays will be taken as part of the annual leave. The remaining leave is taken at times that suit both the individual and his or her institution.

You are required to keep a record of your annual leave.  A ‘Leave record chart’ is provided on the Departmental website to assist you

Please note: There is no entitlement to carry over any holiday from one academic year to the next or to receive pay in lieu of holiday not taken.

Public and Bank Holidays - the days of public and bank holidays in England and Wales are:

With the exception of the public holidays around Easter and Christmas, the Department is open every public holiday as a normal working day.

For information on overtime and bank holiday compensation where the institution may require a member of staff to work follow the link. 

Staff seeking maternity leave are advised to follow the guidance set out in the University’s Maternity Policy.

Regardless of your length of service, an expectant mother may apply for a maximum of 52 weeks maternity leave. This period consists of 18 weeks' paid leave, then 21 weeks’ Statutory Maternity Pay, if eligible, followed by up to 13 weeks' unpaid leave. 

Notification of intention to take maternity leave - An employee should give notice of her intention to take maternity leave, and the intended start date, by the 15th week before her expected week of childbirth (using form CHRIS/60), unless this is not reasonably practicable, in which case she should give as much notice as is reasonably practicable. When submitting the CHRIS/60 form the applicant should attach a formal certificate from a doctor or midwife stating the expected week of childbirth (form Mat B1).

Notification of return to work from maternity leave - If an employee intends to return to work at the end of her full 52 week maternity leave period she is not required to give notice of her return. However, if an employee wants to extend her maternity leave, return earlier than a date previously specified or is planning not to return, she is required to give 8 weeks’ notice of this intention using form CHRIS/61.

Risk Assessment for Expectant and Nursing Mothers - Particular attention needs to be given to assessing any work-related risks to health issues during pregnancy. A Risk Assessment for Expectant and Nursing Mothers should be undertaken as soon as possible to ensure that working conditions are acceptable. For this reason, it is important to let your supervisor/line manager know as early as possible. If you would prefer to speak with someone other your line manager regarding the pregnancy risk assessment, please contact:

• Kathleen Pickett, Welfare, Training and Development Adviser
• Marita Walsh, Support Services Manager
• Occupational Health Service

Staff seeking paternity leave are advised to follow the guidance set out in the University’s Paternity Policy. 

Employees who apply for ordinary paternity leave and meet the University criteria (i.e. that satisfactory arrangements can be made to cover for the absence at no extra cost to the University) will receive up to 2 weeks leave at full pay.

Notification of intention to take paternity leave - An employee must provide notification, using Form CHRIS/65,no later than the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth or within 7 days of the date the adoption agency tell the person adopting the child they have been matched with the child.

All maternity related forms should be returned to: Kathleen Pickett, Welfare, Training and Development Adviser or Marita Walsh, Support Services Manager.

Staff seeking ordinary parental leave are advised to follow the guidance set out in the University’s Ordinary Parental Leave Policy.

Notification of parental leave - The member of staff should give notice, using CHRIS/66 form  at least 21 days' before the requested date of leave.

Shared Parental Leave - staff seeking shared parental leave are advised to follow the guidance in the Shared Parental Leave policy. For further departmental advice please contact Kathleen Pickett.

Adoption leave - Staff seeking adoption leave are advised to follow the guidance set out in the University’s Adoption Leave Policy.

Notification of adoption leave - An employee must give notice of his/her intention to take adoption leave within 7 days of being notified by their adoption agency that they have been matched with a child for adoption, unless this is not reasonably practicable. This notice, using CHRIS/64 form should state when the child is expected to be placed and when the adopter wants their adoption leave to start. A 'matching certificate' which will be provided by the adoption agency should be submitted. 

The Sickness Absence policy is available online.

A day of sickness is defined as a day or part of a day on which you are incapable of your normal work because of a specific illness, disease, or disability. This term covers injury at work, and precautionary reasons as advised by a doctor e.g. convalescence, contact with infectious diseases. It does not, however, cover time off work because you have to care for a member of your family. 

Sickness absence procedure - All staff must report incapacity for work. 

You should notify your supervisor or line manager on your first day of absence. This includes half days. If you are unable to contact a member of your team you can call 01223 762828 on the day you are unwell, and leave a message on the answer phone providing the following details:

• Your name
• The nature of the illness or injury
• The expected approximate length of absence from work
• Contact details
• Whether the absence may be due to an injury at work or otherwise perceived to be related to work
• Any outstanding or urgent work that requires attention.

On or before your return to work you must submit a Sickness Self Certificate (form CHRIS/62) to cover any sickness that has lasted for up to seven calendar days in a row to the Personnel Administration Office. If the sickness lasts longer than seven days you must also submit a doctor's statement/s to cover all further absence to the Personnel Administration Office. If you do not do this, your pay may be withheld.

You should keep in regular contact with your line manager so that s/he knows when to expect you back and it is important that details of your absence are supplied to the Personnel Administration Office to ensure that you receive the correct sickness pay. 

Completed CHRIS/62 forms should be returned to: Emma Graham, Personnel Administrator or Kathleen Pickett, Welfare, Training and Development Adviser or Marita Walsh, Support Services Manager.

Rates of pay during absence due to sickness

If you are absent from work on account of sickness you will normally receive a payment in lieu of salary, which is equal to your normal salary, for a period which depends on your length of service (see below).

For contract research staff, the rates of pay during absence due to sickness are: 

Employed since 1 January 2004 and subject to agreement of sponsor

Employed before 1 January 2004 and subject to agreement of sponsor

If you are absent through sickness at the date at which your entitlement to payment would increase, you will not gain the new entitlement until you have returned to work and have worked for a continuous period of one month.

The rate and period for which payment may be made is calculated according to the sick leave which you have taken during the 365 days before the first day of sickness. This means that any sick leave taken during that time will count as part of your sick leave entitlement for the current period of sickness.

If you are frequently absent through sickness or have a single prolonged absence, you may be referred to the University's Occupational Health Service for a medical opinion. You may also be asked to authorise the Director of Human Resources to approach your own doctor for further information about your health. Your Head of Department may also ask you to produce a doctor's statement for all absences however short if there is concern about your level of sickness absence.

Attending Medical Appointments

Attending routine medical appointments is not normally regarded as sickness absence. Members of staff should consult their line manager where such attendance would entail taking time off work.

The University recognises that there may be occasions when employees need to take time off work for reasons that do not necessarily fall under normal leave provisions. A range of special leave options are summarised below. For further details please consult the University’s Special Leave policy.

Temporary Flexible Working

Payment of salaries for all staff is monthly and in arrears on the 26th of each month or the Friday before it if the 26^this a non-working day.  Exceptions may occur during the Christmas and Easter months. 

Each post is assigned to a specific grade, within the grading structure 1–12. Each grade contains a number of salary points, some of which are service-related, with others designated ‘contribution points’. 

Appointment is at a specific salary point in the range for the grade of post and your letter of appointment and contract tell you where your salary falls on that scale. 

The University reserves the right to withhold payment of salary for any days when you are absent from work without permission or medical certification.

Details of the grading structure and single salary spine can be found online.

Annual pay review

The annual pay review date for all staff is 1 August. The salary spine is then adjusted to take account of nationally agreed pay settlements.

Salary progression within grades

Progression through the service related points on each grade will normally be by automatic annual progression, with the possibility in most grades of accelerated incremental progression in recognition of outstanding and sustained contribution. Progression to and through these ‘contribution points’ will not be automatic and will be based on assessment of the contribution of individuals in their roles. 

Service-related Increments - Incremental progression through the service-related points in grades 1 to 10 occurs on the incremental date. 

For Academic, Academic-related and Research staff this is the anniversary of appointment. 

Contribution Increments – Additional increments and discretionary payments are awarded where an employee's performance is considered to be at an outstanding level, over and above the level normally required for the grade, and this performance has been maintained over a long period of time. In considering recommendations, the criteria include: outstanding performance, the specialist nature of the work undertaken, the rarity value of skill involved, the output of work achieved, and any other factors which may make the award appropriate.

Most salary scales contain discretionary points which are marked with an asterisk on the published scales. You will not move automatically to these points. If you are at the top of the normal scale you may be considered for progression to a discretionary point in recognition of exceptional performance in the post. If you are not at the top of the normal scale you may be considered for an award of an additional increment in recognition of exceptional performance in the post. Heads of Institution make recommendations for contribution payments and additional increments to Awarding committees.

An annual increment may be withheld, or a discretionary payment or additional increment withdrawn, if a staff member is subject to a disciplinary procedure because of his or her performance or conduct.

Contribution Reward Schemes - To recognise outstanding and sustained performance, the following contribution reward schemes are available: 

• Contract research staff - Research Assistants, Associates and Senior Research Associates are appointed to grades 5, 7 and 9 respectively and are eligible for discretionary awards under the scheme for research staff. Requests are considered termly. 

Additional pay 

If you carry out any work that falls outside the scope of your normal responsibilities and duties, you may be eligible to receive an additional payment. Details are set out in the regulations on Stipends in Statutes and Ordinances.

All staff have certain defined responsibilities and duties. 

For those holding a University office, these are set out in general terms in Statute D (in particular D,II,4) and in any special regulations for the office held. More specific details are set out in the role description for the post and in any further particulars received during recruitment.

For academic and contract research staff, generic role profiles have been developed, in consultation with members of the University and employee representatives. In addition to the generic role profiles, contract research staff should meet with their supervisor or line manager regularly to ensure that the requirements of their role are clear. 

Academic and research staff guides can be found on the University HR website. 

Staff also have a duty to observe the University's required practice and behaviour relating to: health and safety; bullying and harassment; unlawful discrimination; use of IT; conduct in research, public interest disclosure etc.

Intellectual Property

You are required to observe the University's policies on intellectual property rights as may be decided by the Regent House from time to time. This includes, if your duties include externally funded research, any procedures and conditions agreed between the University and the sponsor funding your work and, if appropriate, in relation to any intellectual property rights arising from the research. You are reminded that, under UK patent legislation, applications for patent protection must be made before the research results supporting the application are publicly disclosed.

If your research is funded by any UK Research Councils or any other sources of external funding, any results of potential commercial interest must be submitted to Cambridge Enterprise as soon as possible. This is to ensure that your interests and those of the University are properly safeguarded and that any procedures and conditions previously agreed between the University and the sponsor funding your research are followed.

It is important that you are aware of the commercial potential of your research results. Cambridge Enterprise can help you with feasibility studies and market research in areas of potential interest. It is also vital that you protect your intellectual property before publishing any research results. You can get advice on intellectual property rights, and on sponsors' requests for delays in publication of your results while patents are applied for, from Cambridge Enterprise who also manage the commercial development of University intellectual property.

You should also consult the policy statement of ownership and intellectual property rights generated by externally funded research that you will have received with your contract of employment.