Dear UCU members,
Please be aware that, to the best of our knowledge, there is no statutory time limit on declaring your strike days for pay deductions in UK law. For example, official guidance on pay deductions during a strike, makes it clear that these are matters largely internal to organisations. The law does state that you must declare all of the days that you participated in strike action once the action has been completed, but not how you inform your employer. You are therefore under no obligation to declare all of the days that you participate in the strike in one go.
GUCU’s understanding is that you are able to declare your participation in the strike in one pay period if you wish, but you can also spread it across a number of months and declare one day per month if you wish.
Please also be advised that there is no obligation to use the university HR self-declaration form. GUCU wishes to point out to you that you are able to use a variety of different formats for declaring strike days. You can use any of the following in any combination:
- A letter posted in the internal post
- An email
- A postcard
- The HR form.
Please be further advised that you are under no obligation to send your strike declaration to the email address indicated on any message from HR. You can also send your declaration to:
- Your Head of School
- A general HR address (hr@gold.ac.uk)
- The Warden, Frances Corner (f.corner@gold.ac.uk)
We will be holding a GUCU clinic where you can bring any questions you have about declarations – details to be emailed
In solidarity
GUCU Executive