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Hourly-paid and Fixed-Term Staff
Who are we?
In 2010 there were 386 Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs), 206 Guest Teachers and 123 Teaching ('LSE') Fellows in the School. {1} Together, these 715 temporary contract staff delivered the overwhelming majority of LSE's teaching. Precarious teaching work is not an exception. It is the norm. Whether hourly-paid GTAs or fixed-term Fellows, staff on these contracts face a particular set of problems: difficulties getting their contracts issued in time, confusion and ambiguity over how much they should be paid for what work, disjointed working hours, expectations from students that they will be available to the same extent as permanent staff and high teaching loads which prevent significant research progress.
In the past, staff on temporary contracts have lacked sufficient representation. The high turn-over in these roles means that staff are often unaware of their rights and do not know who to approach with any problems. The LSE UCU is trying to change this.
Why join UCU?
The UCU has been instrumental in lobbying for, and monitoring the implementation of, the fixed-term employees' regulations that prohibit temporary staff being treated less favourably than their permanent colleagues. The regulations also restrict the successive use of fixed-term contracts and the UCU, nationally and locally, is campaigning and lobbying hard to ensure that staff are moved to permanent contracts as appropriate and that fixed-term contracts are only used in specified and agreed circumstances.
In 2004, UCU negotiated the framework agreement with universities, which for the first time established that hourly-paid staff are entitled to the same fairness and equality of treatment as non-hourly-paid staff. We continue to campaign and negotiate on these issues at national and local levels.
A survey conducted last year by UCU found that 34% of GTAs at LSE who had previously worked as teachers in the School had received no increase in pay. We also found that some Fellows had been placed on lower pay bands than the LSE norm. UCU remains committed to campaigning on these important issues.
As well as being the UK's leading academic union UCU is also the only union representing hourly-paid and fixed-term staff at LSE. There are two dedicated GTA representatives (Paul Kirby and Vlad Unkovski-Korica) and one dedicated Research Staff and Fellows officer (Andrew Sanchez) who sit on the UCU Committee and are involved in discussions with the school over pay and conditions.
How much should you be paid?
GTAs should usually be paid for the class hours in which they teach, but also for class preparation (usually two hours), office hours, marking time, administration time and lecture attendance (on the first year that they teach a course). These different tasks and accompanying hours should be listed on your contract.
There is also a requirement that previous experience be recognised. If you have taught at LSE before, you should be paid on a higher point in the pay scale. If you have taught at another higher education institution before, you should also be paid higher on the scale. Recognition should also be given to relevant non-teaching experience (for example, if you are teaching a course on an industry in which you used to work).
It is usual for new GTAs with no previous experience to be placed on Band 5, Step 18. Those with more experience should be placed at least one step higher for each year of experience, so that a GTA who had previously taught at LSE should be placed on Band 5, Step 19, and a GTA with two years of teaching experience (whether at LSE or elsewhere) should be placed on Band 5, Step 20.
Any GTAs teaching on Masters-levels courses should be placed on Band 6 rather than 5, although this is increasingly rare.
LSE Fellows are paid on a salary basis, on the assumption of a 35 hour working week that comprises a combination of teaching, administrative and research responsibilities. New LSE Fellows should be placed either on Band 5, or on Band 6, Step 24.5 depending on qualifications, responsibilities and experience. There are important differences between different LSE Fellow appointments, which relate to the types of work expected of employees
Band 5 appointments are usually those of employees currently completing PhD research. These appointments should not require employees to act as personal tutors, supervise dissertations or set exam papers.
As for all appointments, LSE Fellows with previous teaching experience should be placed on a higher step of the salary scale, commensurate with their experience
Contacting Us
If you have any questions or concerns about your working arrangements, would like to discuss problems of precarious work with sympathetic colleagues, or want to get more involved in UCU activities, do get in touch.
Research Staff and Fellows Officer
Dr Andrew Sanchez a.sanchez1 [at] lse.ac.uk
GTA Reps
Paul Kirby p.kirby [at] lse.ac.uk
Vlad Unkovski-Korica v.unkovski-korica [at] lse.ac.uk
{1} Human Resources figures, July 2010.
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Page last updated 25 October 2011