Created on: 22 Apr 2007 | Last modified: 21 Jul 2025
The HE2000, is base professional contract of employment for academic staff in the "Post-92” university sector in Scotland as show below:
· University of Abertay Dundee
· Edinburgh Napier University
· Glasgow Caledonian University
· Glasgow School of Art
· Queen Margaret University
· The Robert Gordon University
· University of the West of Scotland
The following Scottish HEIs have different and bespoke contracts of employment for academic staff:
· SRUC
· UHI
· Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
The following advice and information relates to former group above.
Whilst HE2000 contract does not specify a national pay point for academic staff, it does specify the use of the New JNCHES nationally agreed pay scale that has over sixty pay points.
HEIs using HE2000 contracts use nationally agreed job family descriptions and job evaluation processes to ensure broad consistency across the sector.
Many of the contractual issues in HE2000 were described as “non-core” and to be agreed at a local level. This includes “activity planning” which sets out workload allocation and targets.
Since the introduction of the HE2000 over 25 years ago, many HEIs have negotiated diverging T&Cs – both on pay (i.e. using different national pay scale points for different roles), activity planning etc.
EIS ULA Branches negotiate these T&Cs with their employers. Any individual member seeking advice – should contact their EIS ULA Branch Secretary in the first instance.
HE2000: Branch Negotiators' Guide
HE2000, is base professional contract of employment for academic staff in the "Post-92” university sector in Scotland (and in the UK). The HE2000 contract has two distinct components, core and non-core contractual terms.
The core contractual terms were agreed through national collective agreement and are to be implemented by each institution in the bargaining arrangement (Conference of Centrally-Funded Colleges) – subsequently New JNCHES. The non-core contractual terms are to be agreed through local negotiation and agreement – i.e. at University level.
This means that whilst all academic staff in Scotland share core T&Cs, there are substantial differences that have evolved between HEIs since the introduction of HE 2000 in 2000.
This booklet was developed to assist local negotiators cope with the demands of local determination of large areas of HE2000 which were not resolved at the national negotiations.
All negotiators are advised to have the final outcome of negotiations sent to this office prior to final acceptance.
1. Duties.
The duties and responsibilities of a professional academic vary according to subject specialism. Duties include an appropriate balance of the following:
Teaching and related activity including direct teaching, Open and Distance Learning, and other tutorial guidance, examining and assessment, course and curriculum development, course leadership, development of learning support material, methods and applications.
Research, consultancy and other forms of income generation.
Related duties including educational management and administration; participation in relevant internal and external committees, working groups and project teams; mentoring, counselling and other forms of student support; participation in quality assurance procedures; recruitment, selection and admissions of students; staff appraisal; representing the Institution or profession on external bodies.
Scholarly activity and personal development.
2. Working Time.
Time devoted should be that which is reasonably necessary to fulfil the duties of the post and to achieve the appropriate balance for the individual and the institution.
Your duties and pattern of working will be set out in an activity plan agreed with your academic manager. Reflecting the changing nature of customer demand, the normal working week can include weekend and evening work.
Recognising that there are fluctuations of demand over the academic year, you will not be scheduled to work in excess of the normal working week, averaged over the year as a whole. Any additional working over and above that already covered by the activity plan will be agreed and be conditional on reasonable notice being given, having regard to the circumstances and appropriate compensatory arrangements.
Your plan should include the following;
An appropriate balance of teaching, research consultancy, scholarly activity, and personal development and other possible activities within the duties of an academic. (See ‘duties’)
Your activity plan will relate to a specific period, e.g. semester, term or year as appropriate, but should be updated and reviewed as necessary. Your plan will also form one element of staff development and career reviews. In developing your activity plan, regard will be given to the importance of family responsibilities and of ensuring an acceptable quality of life.
(A mechanism to resolve any failure or delay in reaching agreement on an activity plan or additional working shall be put in place locally.) SEE SECTION 2.1, 2.4 and 2.5.
5 days per year staff development is assured. SEE SECTION 2.2.
3. Part-time Contracts.
For administration purposes, in the calculation of pro-rata contracts, a nominal figure of 35 hours per week is to be used
4. Holidays.
Holiday entitlement is 46 days including allowances for other statutory public and general holidays.
A minimum of 15 days continuous leave may be taken in any one leave year. The University may designate the days between Christmas and New Year as annual leave days.
(other clauses relating to mechanisms for approval to be inserted locally.) SEE SECTION 2.3.
5. External Work.
It is expected that you will devote all of your working time to the work of the University. The University encourages the holding of appropriate external appointments which are of direct benefit to the University. You are expected to notify the University of any such appointments. External appointments will be permitted where
a) there is no conflict of interests and
b) where the activity does not interfere with the proper performance of your duties.
Work in which you have a financial interest (excluding external examining) requires the consent of the University, in addition to complying with (a) and (b) above.
Such consent will not unreasonably be withheld.
(External appointments which comply with (a) and (b) above and are not of direct benefit to the University are not the subject of this Clause, e.g. golf club secretary, kirk elder.)
6. Representation/Trade Union Recognition.
The University recognises for consultation and/or collective bargaining ............ Union(s) as a body/bodies appropriate for the representation of Academic Staff. The University welcomes Academic Staff becoming members of ......................, and taking part in its professional industrial relations and trade union activities. The University will also, however, respect the decision of a member of staff not to become a member of .................... and reserves the right to consult its employees individually.
(The institutions which do not have formal recognition agreements will be expected to negotiate with appropriate trade unions in order to fill the blanks.) SEE SECTION 2.9.
7. Contract Variations.
Variation to Salaries and Conditions for academic staff may be the subject of agreement by negotiation if the University and .................. so decide.
To be progressed locally
8. Progression through the Grade.
"The Conference recommends to each institution that it formulate a statement containing the following elements:
Branch negotiators should see SECTION 2.6 for alternative wording.
9. IRP/Copyright/Academic Freedom. SEE SECTION 2.7 AND 2.8.
2.1 A mechanism to resolve any failure or delay in reaching agreement on an activity plan or additional working shall be put in place locally.
It is recommended that a mechanism be agreed whereby all failures to agree relating to activity plans or additional working between individual staff and academic managers are jointly referred to the local Joint Consultative Committee (JCC) or another equivalent internal joint body. It is further recommended that matters of this nature must remain separate from local discipline and grievance procedures.
2.2 5 Days Staff Development.
It is recommended that these specific staff development days be identified at the start of the academic year and form part of the agreed activity plan. They should not undermine a member’s entitlement to continued professional development, sabbatical, etc.
2.3 A mechanism relating to holiday leave approval.
It is recommended that a mechanism which recognises the right of staff to take leave outwith the continuous summer holiday be put in place locally. The dates of statutory, public and general holidays and the institutional teaching calendar should be jointly agreed through local consultative/bargaining arrangements. Negotiators should seek to establish agreement that the 46 days annual leave is split between 11 statutory, public and general holidays and 35 days of annual leave. It is recommended that staff should have recourse to the grievance procedure in the event leave application/s are continually or unreasonably denied.
2.4 A mechanism for determining compensation for additional working outwith agreed activity plan.
It is recommended that where possible an annual arrangement for recompensing staff for additional working outwith the agreed activity plan be agreed. The arrangements will have regard to the circumstances of each individual institution and can take the form of pay or time off in lieu, dependent on the individuals requirements. Any time off in lieu must be granted within the academic calendar and cannot be carried over to another year. Local branches should monitor the practices developed across the sector and ensure that best practice is what prevails over time
2.5 The Activity Plan.
In order to protect staff against abuse it is recommended that guidelines on working time be introduced in each institution. The guidance to be used at Glasgow Caledonian University and Paisley University is commended as best practice and is attached as Appendix 1.
2.6 Progression through the Grade.
It is recommended that negotiators ensure a statement of the following nature appears in final contracts.
"It is the expectation that progression within the scales will be achieved by the award of annual increments until the top of the scale is reached. However, increments may be withheld in exceptional circumstances. When an increment is withheld staff will be entitled to a written statement of the reason/s for withholding the increment. The University will not unreasonably withhold incremental progression. Increments will only be withheld following consideration of the matter jointly between a departmental head and the University’s Head of Human Resources. Staff will have the right of appeal through the University’s grievance procedure against the withholding of incremental progression. Accelerated or discretionary increments may be awarded according to the guidelines of any local scheme agreed through the local consultative/bargaining process.”
2.7 Intellectual Property Rights/ Copyright.
This is a very complex area and acknowledgement of the appropriate sections of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 must be made. A separate booklet on this matter will be issued shortly. Pending receipt of this advice, branch negotiators are advised to seek to defer negotiations on these issues locally.
(Copyright Update
All findings, discoveries, records, drawings, documents, papers, books, computer programmes, computer software products or any other such material made by members of staff in the course of their employment shall be the property of the University, which shall retain copyright and other intellectual property rights therein, unless the University intimates in writing that it has decided not to do so or copyright is held by a third party.
The University hereby intimates that any notes for lecturers, tutorials, seminars or workshops created by a member of staff shall be the property of that member of staff and copyright of such notes will be held by the member of staff.
The University accepts the moral rights of academic authors always to have their names associated with their works; to be able to prevent unauthorised changes that may damage the integrity of their works, and thus affect their honour or reputation; and to have an absolute right to information about the further exploitation, sales and marketing of their works. The University in their actions in relation to works made by members of staff during the course of their employment of which the University owns copyright will do nothing to infringe these rights.
Notwithstanding the provision of section 79 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, the University will respect the right of any member of staff to assert their right to be identified as the author or director of any work produced in the course of their employment of which the University owns the copyright. In the event of the University assigning the copyright of any such work to a third party, the University will ensure that in the instrument effecting the assignment there will be included a statement that the author or director has asserted in relation to that work his/her right to be identified.
For the purpose of this section "in the course of employment” will be taken to mean "during the normal working week”)
2.8 Academic Freedom.
The following text is recommended for inclusion in local agreements.
"The University acknowledges and accepts the intellectual and academic freedom of academic staff to think, write, act, speak and teach, in order to be able to contribute to their subject areas and the advancement of knowledge. Academic freedom is defined as ‘freedom within the law to question and test received wisdom and to put forward new ideas and controversial and unpopular opinions, without [academic staff] placing themselves in jeopardy of losing their jobs’ (Dearing Report). The University commits itself to sustain an environment within which academic freedom might be effectively exercised and therefore to support research or publication even where this is controversial or unpopular, so long as it is within the law. Within their institution or discipline, academic staff should be bound by proper regard for their colleagues and by the usual rules of professional academic engagement.”
2.9 Representation/Trade Union Recognition.
It is recommended that all negotiations on recognition are on the basis of EIS-ULA being granted sole recognition for academic staff. A draft Recognition and Procedures Agreement is attached as Appendix 2 to aid local negotiations. The original Recognition Agreement between Conference Institutions and the three trade unions, which may prove useful when establishing length of recognition etc., is attached as Appendix 3.
Agreement should be reached, if necessary, on an amount of money accruing to a Department/Faculty for the "buying-in” of teaching expertise etc. in recompense for the time off agreement reached with individual branch officers/negotiators.
2.10 Retrospection.
In order to ensure all staff accrue the same financial benefit from a transfer to HE2000 it is recommended that local negotiations establish the right of retrospection to 1 February 2000 for all transferees, regardless of when the decision to transfer is taken.
2.11 Retention of FE(64).
It is recommended that local agreement be established on the right of all staff appointed to FE(64) terms and conditions to continue on the same terms unless they volunteer to transfer to HE2000. Local agreement should also safeguard the continuation of FE(64) status on promotion, renewal, etc.
2.12 Assimilation.
It is recommended that transfer from (FE(64) pay scales to HE2000 pay scales be on the basis of across and up one. Calculation on this basis ensures that there is a year on year benefit to those staff agreeing to transfer. Up-to date salary scales are attached as Appendix 4.
Appendix 1: Guidance on Working Time
"As you know the contact is a professional contract and therefore starts with the notion that the working time is the necessary time to fulfil the requirements of the job. The intent, however, of the proposal is to ensure that staff cannot be asked to work in excess of what would amount in an academic year to an aggregation of normal weeks. A normal week refers to a quantity of working time which does not exceed 5 days although this time can be distributed over evenings and weekends, i.e. 5 days out of the 7 days per week. The fluctuating demand of academia is such that throughout a year, a member of staff will work some weeks which are less than this amount. We believe that those weeks in excess are balanced by those under and hence the notion in the text of a "normal working week, averaged over the year as a whole”. Over time the working weeks will change in the light of activity.
In the activity plan the academic manager will agree with staff what work they will undertake and over what kind of week. For many staff it will be a week consisting of 5 days, Monday through Friday; for some staff it will be a week which may include some evening and/or weekend working but will not amount to more than the equivalent of 5 days in total, unless the member of staff agrees to work more that the totality of 5 days. If he or she does so then compensatory arrangements either money or time off in lieu will be agreed.
At institutional level the detailed mechanisms of activity plans will have to be worked out in consultation with staff and unions. So too will a mechanism to resolve situations where the academic manager and the member of staff cannot agree. It does not follow from all this that activity plans will be produced forcing staff to work evening and weekend; activity plans are by agreement and the contract enshrines the notion of having regard to "family responsibilities” and an acceptable "quality of life”. The opportunities presented to universities for business are varied; they require some staff to work some evening and weekends but not all staff to work in this way.
The term "scheduled” refers to the balance of teaching, research, consultancy and administration which makes up a workload.”