In the midst of a chaotic restructuring process, confused communication from university leadership, and increasing workloads, we want to offer members some practical guidance for navigating the coming months. This includes protecting your own wellbeing, documenting your interactions, and strengthening your boundaries against unreasonable demands.

Documenting Interactions with Management

We are increasingly hearing reports of members being told critical information about their role, employment status, or working conditions in informal settings — such as while passing someone in a stairwell. These are formal matters and must be documented.

If you receive information verbally — whether in a meeting, Teams call, or hallway — take notes immediately after the interaction. Then email a summary of what was said to all relevant attendees/participants for confirmation “for accuracy and to ensure shared understanding.” This creates a paper trail and protects you against later denials or gaslighting.

For all scheduled meetings (e.g. consultation meetings, line manager updates), take your own notes or ask your UCU rep or a trusted colleague to do so. Afterwards, follow the same process of emailing a summary to participants. Let us know if you need help with language.

Final Payments for VR Takers

When VR payments are made, including:

• Voluntary Redundancy pay
• Payment in Lieu of Notice (PILON)
• Accrued holiday pay

…the university processes all of it as one lump sum, in the same payroll month. This inflates your apparent income for that month, often pushing you into the 40% tax bracket; even if you normally pay only 20%. For some members, this has meant £10,000–£20,000 in surprise deductions.

This is not clearly explained in any of the university’s VR documentation or calculators. And because the estimates provided were gross figures, many members had no warning that they would walk away with so much less than expected.

If you are still in the application process for VR, you can:

• Request that your VR estimate includes net figures (i.e., after estimated tax/NI)
• Ask for an illustrative breakdown showing typical post-deduction outcomes
• Request that PILON and VR payments are made separately, avoiding an overestimation of income and thus excessive tax
• Request BU apply an averaging method for NI, which is within employer discretion, especially for lump sums paid in lieu of notice

If you are through the process, can you get it back?

Maybe. Overpaid tax may be claimable through HMRC, but:

• You’ll likely need to wait until the end of the tax year
• You may have to submit a self-assessment tax return
• There is no guarantee of full reimbursement

The issue of National Insurance (NI) overcharges is also unclear. Employers can use an averaging method to reduce NI charges on PILON, but we have not been told whether BU chose to do this.

Protecting Your Intellectual Property

Concerns are being raised that the external partnerships BU is entering into under the current VC may involve taking teaching materials from our BrightSpace units to use at external sites. The current BU Intellectual Property policy permits this (as does the IP policy at most universities). If you want to protect your work, we recommend exporting and downloading your BrightSpace units’ contents (YouTube guide) and then wiping the content and replacing it using the following approach.

For current and future unit content on BrightSpace, we recommend hosting your materials elsewhere (your own site if you’re technologically inclined, or cloud services such as Proton, Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.) (YouTube tutorial). Technically, BU will still own the IP, but it makes it much more difficult for them to use it in an unethical manner.

Taking Time for Your Wellbeing

Your health matters. Take your annual leave (especially if it is already approved!). Take sick leave if you need a break. If you ask a manager about meetings called during planned leave, and they say “don’t be on leave” or recommend you cancel your leave in order to make things more convenient for the university, document the exchange, report it to BU UCU, and take your leave.

If you are struggling, please consider taking time off. If you take sick leave for mental or emotional health reasons (or if, indeed, the stress of the current situation is causing physical symptoms), ask your doctor to specify “work-related stress” on the fit note. This explicitly signals that the cause is institutional, not personal, and places accountability where it belongs. This is also useful documentation for future action, such as grievances or tribunals.

You do not need to justify yourself beyond that. You are not failing by stepping back. You are protecting your health in the face of unacceptable institutional pressure.

Strategising Your Workload Now and for Autumn

The workload system is in chaos. The 2019 agreed workload model is in place, and the university must follow it until our Trade Dispute is resolved, but with the current state of things it is not likely to be feasible or functional. But that’s not your job: your job is to keep yourself safe.

Start with your contracted hours (usually 1626 annually for academic staff) and determine what you can sustainably and safely deliver within those hours. Document this for yourself. If you need a template, you may use this one: Google Sheet Workload Drafting Template.

Do not work weekends. Do not stay up late marking. Do not over-deliver out of misplaced loyalty. The university is no longer functioning in a way that deserves or rewards your sacrifice.

If you’re asked to “deliver the same with fewer staff,” that is a management problem, not yours. It is okay to say: this is what I can safely deliver within my hours.

Responding to “Volunteer” Requests (e.g., clearing)

With a shrinking staff body and the VC’s insistence that we are “doing more with less,” you may be asked to “volunteer” for additional responsibilities: clearing, open days, additional marking, recruitment activities, or committees.

We advise the following:

• Refuse to take on any “voluntary” or additional duties. This is well within your contractual rights, especially if you already have a workload in place.
• If management pushes back, ask for the workload allocation (in hours) for any additional work.
• If none is offered, respond that you are unable to take on additional duties without workload recognition.
• If the task is new or unusual, ask for written confirmation of how it relates to your existing duties.
• If you feel pressured, please contact BU UCU.

This also applies to “voluntary” uptake of workload in advance of a model. You are not required to design your own demise. If something sounds like work, feels like work, and takes time like work — it’s work. It should be accounted for.

Reaching Out to BU UCU

We are here to support you. If you’re confused, overwhelmed, frustrated, or being pressured into unreasonable decisions, talk to us.

We are also collecting reports for ongoing negotiations and dispute actions. You can:

• Use the member feedback form: https://forms.office.com/e/ER63FQtFyb
• Email the branch office directly: UCUBUOffice@bournemouth.ac.uk 
• Speak to your faculty rep: https://ucubournemouth.uk/departmental-representatives/ 

You are not alone. We’re in this together.

Solidarity, always.

BU UCU Executive