Northumbria University currently offers academics 4 weeks full pay maternity leave (1 week paternity). Senior managers in the university will only improve this if staff accept detriments to sick leave, sick pay and probation, as part of what they call 'give and take'. A letter signed by politicians, women's groups, maternity campaigners, prominent researchers, and faith leaders says this is a bad idea. Here's the letter:
FAO:
Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson (Chancellor, Northumbria University)
Dr Roberta Blackman-Woods (Chair of Board of Governors, Northumbria University)
Professor Tom Lawson (Acting Vice-Chancellor, Northumbria University)
Jane Embley (Director of HR, Northumbria University)
Northumbria University has one of the worst maternity leave entitlements in the sector at 4 weeks full pay for academic staff. We note that the university has offered to improve the length of the full pay Occupational Maternity Pay and Adoption Pay period to 20 weeks followed by 19 weeks of Statutory Maternity or Adoption Pay.
However, we also note that the university insists that any improvements can only be made if academic staff accept worse terms and conditions on sick pay, sick leave, and probation periods. On 3/5/22, the University’s Director of HR wrote to staff to say that this trade-off is part of the ‘give and take’ of negotiations.
We affirm that making things better for vulnerable staff with caring responsibilities should not be part of such ‘give and take’; indeed, ‘give and take’ makes clear an approach whereby things can only get better for some if things get worse for all.
We call on Northumbria University to do the right thing by all staff, by ensuring negotiations about parental leave are separated from negotiations about reducing academics' sick pay, worsening terms of sick leave entitlement, and increasing probation for early career academic colleagues from 22 to 36 months. While these issues might need addressing, we do not agree with improving rights in some areas and weakening terms and conditions elsewhere.
We also call on Northumbria to be more ambitious and sector-leading in order to champion gender equality, noting the joint formal claim from the campus unions (UNISON and UCU) for 30 weeks, and the unions' stated willingness to compromise on that claim. Such willingness, as with UCU’s accepting of changes to notice periods also proposed in the ‘bundle’, shows real ‘give and take’. Even if this ambition cannot be met, compromise and agreement would be achievable if improvements were not bundled up, as they currently are, with these detrimental changes.
Now is the time for Northumbria to promote gender equality and to be sector leading, rather than risk further reputational damage by insisting on detriments to allow improvements.
We the undersigned agree that parental leave is a fundamental part of gender equality and as such should be improved in its own right. It should not be bundled into negotiations with sick pay, sick leave, and probation terms and conditions.
We stand together with all those seeking to maintain and improve terms and conditions for all, regardless of gender, health and career stage.
