Manager and department information

To meet the requirements of employment law and to safeguard the University’s position as an employer, the University expects most individuals engaged to work for the University to be employed in accordance with standard employment arrangements (i.e. on a contract of employment approved via the eSR1 process).

The casual claims process should only be used for engagements which are ad hoc, or very short in duration (less than 3 months) and in conjunction with the 'Business Rules for Engaging Workers'. Assignments could include:

• Casual bar, catering or cleaning work in Campus Services
• Short-term/ad hoc academic roles such as an Occasional Teacher, Guest Lecturer, External Examiner or  Postgraduate Teaching Assistant
• Students engaged on a casual basis for work in Campus Services, Student Ambassadors etc
• Exam invigilators
• Students engaged through the Student Campus Partnerships programme

Please note: a University of Exeter employee cannot have two jobs at the University (including casual work) where the hours together would be greater than full time i.e. 36.5 hours.

In exceptional circumstances and where the additional role is significantly different from the employee's substantive role, there may be circumstances where this is allowable. The employing unit (for the additional work) will be required to write a business case for offering the employee additional work, explaining why they need to engage this individual over and above any other casual worker. Written consent should also be sought from the individuals substantive line manager. The business case and written consent should be sent to the Director of HR Services for approval. Please contact your HR Business Partner for more information.

Terms and conditions for claims can be found of the Information for casual workers page.

Workers should only be engaged for periods of work for less than three months in duration, as set out in Phase one of the 'Business Rules for Engaging Workers' from the 1st March 2018. All appointments Casual, Temporary and Permanent must follow these rules with the exception of the following who will continue to apply current arrangements pending further review of processes/systems (Phase 2):

• Casual Teaching Staff/Drama Practitioners used to cover vacancies/gaps in curriculum delivery   
• Visiting Lecturers                 
• Post Graduate Research Supervisors  
• External Examiners/Exam markers/ Exam invigilators
• Demonstrators – ad hoc requirements              
• Student Ambassadors/Marshalls
• Community/Health Workers
• Campus Services: Catering, Housekeeping, Events, Sports and Swim Coaches, Retail outlets
• Transcribers

Please be aware that we may remove casual worker details from our payroll system if they do not work for 6 or more months, or if they no longer have the right to work in the UK.

Please review information on the Global Mobility webpages before engaging a casual worker to conduct work overseas.

If you are unsure whether your worker is already registered with us, please contact the Temporary Resourcing Team (TemporaryResourcing@exeter.ac.uk), who will be able to confirm. They can also confirm whether a right-to-work check has been completed.

Please review the Business Rules for engaging workers.

If your worker is overseas please review the Global Mobility information before any work starts.

If your worker does need to register, the Casual Claims Process Steps should be followed in chronological order. It is the line manager's responsibility to ensure their worker has been sent the link to and works through these steps. Please be aware that steps 1 & 2 must be completed before the work begins.

The worker will be asked to include their line manager’s details on the Casual Claims Registration Form. The individual they put on the form will receive email correspondence as a result.

Overseas Workers

If your worker is carrying out University of Exeter work whilst based overseas please ensure they let the Temporary Resourcing Team know at the point of registration.

Please be aware that all workers are subject to UK tax and national insurance deductions for short-term work. However, they may also be liable to pay tax and social security in the country they are working and there may be penalties for non-compliance. All cases for overseas work must be reviewed by Global Mobility before any work starts.

You must submit a TR2 Request Form for every piece of work, at least 1 week (ideally 2 weeks) before the work is due to start. 

Once processed an Assignment Confirmation will be sent to the allocated worker, line manager and timesheet approver.

You can enter up to 5 workers' names on the TR2 Request Form. If you need to submit a form for more than 5 workers at a time, please request a TR2 request batch file from the Temporary Resourcing Team.

Hourly rates

Details on hourly rates can be found here. All temporary workers, if paid on an hours basis, must be provided with an hourly rate that is aligned to the University's grading structure. If you are unsure what hourly rate to pay your worker, please contact your HR Business Partner.

Try our PS Connect Portal, your starting point for Professional Services Support.

All casual workers require an Associate (staff) IT account in order to access iTrent Self-Service, to submit their claims.

The associate IT account will be automatically created when the worker's TR2 has been fully processed. Once generated, the account details will be sent to the person indicated on the TR2 as the 'line manager'.

We can only process the TR2 in full once the worker has registered and completed a RTW check.

This IT account will not give the worker access to the Microsoft Office Suite, as this is a chargeable addition.

If your worker requires access to the Microsoft Office Suite, please ensure that the 'Premium IT Account' option is selected on the TR2 form.

Try our PS Connect Portal, your starting point for Professional Services Support.

All new claimants will require an Associate IT account to access Mandatory Training which should now be completed on their first day. 

RTW Information

Once your worker has completed the registration form they must supply evidence of their right to work in the UK, before they start working.

They can find a list of acceptable right to work documents on the Right To Work pages .

Full details on how your worker can supply their right to work to us can be found under Step 2 of the Casual Claims Process Steps for Workers.

Time Limited Visa holders

It is the responsibility of the visa holder to ensure the University has a verified copy of their current right to work documents at all times. As their line manager, please ensure your worker is aware of this responsibility.

If your worker's visa is due to expire whilst they are working for the University, and they have applied for an extension or change to their visa, they must let the Temporary Resourcing Unit (TRU) know before the visa expires.

If they have made an application to extend or change their visa, they must present the TRU with their visa application letter and reference number. The TRU will then perform a check via the Home Office which will confirm their right to work status.

They must not undertake any work once their visa expires, until the TRU have conducted and confirmed receipt of a Home Office right to work check, or they are able to present the TRU with their new visa.

If they continue to work after the visa expiry date, without having provided the TRU with updated information regarding their right to work status, they will not receive payment for that work and consideration will be given to disciplinary action and/or they may be excluded from undertaking further work for the University.

Once the casual worker has been issued their Assignment Confirmation they can log in to iTrent Self Service to submit their claims.

Approvers will log in to iTrent (People Manager) to approve claims.

User guides for workers and approvers can be found here.

Please be aware of the monthly approval deadlines.

Important Information on Student working:

Under current immigration rules Tier 4 students can work up to 20 hours a week in term time (or 10 hours if they are on a foundation course) and full time in vacation time. The hours will be detailed on their visa.

Vacation dates

What counts as vacation time for postgraduate taught students and postgraduate research students in the UKVI regulations is less clear than it is for undergraduate students. The University of Exeter has outlined our in house guidance to ensure that we are giving students a clear steer on the balance of dedicated time to enable them to study (their primary focus of being in the UK) and the freedom to support themselves during these years. To ensure consistency across the University, these explanations to our students are the ones used by both Student Services and People Services. The University of Exeter guidance is outlined in the International Student pages. Please do take the time to read them.

Working hours and term dates

The hours stated on their visa are the UKVI limits for students, however the University strongly advises that students work no more than 15 hours per week (undergraduate) and 6 hours per week (full time postgraduate), as extra work may adversely affect their studies.

We understand that these two factors can cause confusion as to when a student may have breached their working visa conditions and when the University needs to report this.

For the avoidance of doubt, we wish to clearly set out that provided students (UG,PGT and PGR) do not work more than the hours stated on their visa there is no breach of visa conditions and therefore no report will be submitted to UKVI. However, any working above the hours stated on their visa in term time is a breach which will be reported. This is likely to have serious repercussions for both the student and the University and must always be avoided.

It is really important that all term time dates are noted: even where a student finishes their exams earlier than the end of term they must not work more than term time hours until the beginning of the vacation.

If you have any questions please contact TemporaryResourcing@exeter.ac.uk before the student carries out the work. Try our PS Connect Portal, your starting point for Professional Services Support.

Some casual workers may be restricted to the number of hours they can work per week. All casual workers are entitled to rest breaks.

Students:

The University recommends that undergraduate students should not work more than 15 hours per week during term time as this may adversely affect their studies. They can work full time during University holidays.

The University recommends that postgraduate students should not work more than 6 hours per week as covered by the Code of Good Practice - Employment of Postgraduate Students and may not be able to work full time hours during normal University holidays, as their courses do not necessarily follow the usual University calendar.

All: Casual workers should not work more than 36.5 hours per week. If they are required to exceed this number of hours approval must be requested from an HR Business Partner. Under no circumstances should a casual worker regularly work more than 48 hours per week.

Young workers: Young workers are those above school leaving age and under 18. The following guidelines should be considered if you assign casual work to young workers:

• A 30 minute rest break must be taken if they work more than 4.5 hours in 1 shift (if possible this should be 1 continuous break)
• Daily rest break of 12 hours
• Weekly rest break of 48 hours
• Maximum working day of 8 hours (excluding breaks)
• Maximum working week of 40 hours (excluding breaks) over 5 days

Over 18s: All casual workers over the age of 18 have the right to the following:

• 1 uninterrupted 20 minute rest break in their working day, if they work more than 6 hours a day
• 11 hours rest between working days e.g. if they finish work at 20:00, they shouldn’t start work again until 07:00 the next day
• Weekly rest: should be considered as either an interrupted 24 hours without any work each week, or an uninterrupted 48 hours without any work each fortnight

The requirements of employment law and to safeguard the University’s position as an employer, the University expects most individuals engaged to work for the University to be employed in accordance with standard employment arrangements (ie on a contract of employment approved via the eSR1 process). The casual workers payroll should only be used for engagements which are ad hoc or of very short duration (less than three months). Please see why and when to use a casual worker (add link to page above).

If you require additional short term/ad hoc administrative or clerical help please contact the  Temporary Staff Bank who will be more than happy to help.

The law on employment status is complex. Generally, where there is no ‘mutuality of obligation’ – ie the organisation is not obliged to provide work, and the individual is not obliged to accept any work which is offered – then a worker will not be able to claim statutory employment rights. Where the work undertaken by an individual is genuinely ad hoc/irregular and small scale, then no mutuality of obligation is likely to arise. However, where the work is more regular/ongoing and more substantial, then it is more likely that an Employment Tribunal may treat it as an employment relationship. Similarly, if the individual is promised work over an extended period and is expected to attend work, then this is unlikely to be treated as a casual arrangement, even though this is paid on a claims basis.

It should also be noted than a number of statutory rights apply to any person who performs or undertakes work or services for an employer, whatever the nature of the relationship between them (referred to in the legislation as ‘workers’). The Working Time Regulations (which include the right to paid holidays), the Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations, the National Minimum Wage and anti-discrimination legislation all apply to ‘workers’, not just to ‘employees’.

Individuals will be treated as ‘workers’ (with tax and National Insurance deducted at source) unless the Director of Human Resources is satisfied that the arrangement is genuinely one of a contract for services (ie self-employed) rather than a contract of services (see engaging self-employed workers information).

The government now requires employers to enrol their workers into a pension scheme. There are various eligibility requirements; if the worker meets these they will be automatically enrolled into our workplace pension scheme for individuals on a casual basis and be notified of this. They can choose to opt out of the scheme if they want to, but if they stay in they will have their own pension which they can get when they retire. They can also choose to opt-in at any time if they meet the eligibility criteria. Further information can be found on automatic enrolment or they can contact the Pay and Benefits Office.

Colleges/Services are reminded that claims can only be submitted for hours actually worked. Knowingly providing false information is a serious disciplinary offence which may lead to dismissal. Under no circumstances should a payment be made to an individual from petty cash or any another account. It is not permissible for a member of staff to pay an individual from their own resources and seek reimbursement via an expense claim.

Expenses will only be paid if they are approved in advance, reasonable and supported by receipts and allowable under the University of Exeter's Expenses policy. Please note that the University would not normally pay expenses for any worker travelling to the University for work. All expenses will be paid in line with HMRC guidance. However, it is recognised that there may be exceptional circumstances why a College/Service would consider that travel expenses should be paid to (for example) a specialist travelling a long distance to undertake a short assignment at the University. In such circumstances, a College/Service may exercise its discretion to make such a payment, but any such payments will be taxed and National Insurance will be deducted in accordance with HMRC regulations.

Overseas Workers

If your worker is carrying out University of Exeter work whilst based overseas please ensure they let the Temporary Resourcing Team know at the point of registration. Please be aware that all workers are subject to UK tax and national insurance deductions for short term work. However, they may also be liable to pay tax and social security in the country they are working and there may be penalties for non-compliance.

Rates of pay

Casual workers Rates of pay can be found on the  Information for casual workers page.

The University has published recommended rates of pay for Occasional Teachers, which are updated annually following national pay awards. Rates of pay for other types of work should be discussed with your  Human Resources Business Partner and should normally be based on the first point of the grade which most closely matches the value of the work. To take account of workers’ rights to paid leave under the Working Time Regulations, hourly rates should include payment for pro-rata paid leave entitlement.

Work offered on a casual basis is subject to the terms and conditions for  casual workers.

The Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 requires the University to check the validity of the document(s) and satisfy itself that the worker is the person named in the documents they present and that the document(s) allow them to do the work in question. The worker must bring in their documents in person.

If they are a settled worker or a member of an EU/EEA member state (excluding Croatians), then producing their passport will meet the requirements. If they cannot do this or are a Croatian national please refer to the exhaustive list of documents they can produce from List A.

If they are a member of a non EEA state* then producing their passport endorsed to show that the holder is allowed to stay in the United Kingdom and is allowed to do the type of work in question is sufficient (please see below for what to copy). If they cannot do this please refer to the exhaustive list of documents they can produce from List B.

If they are a student who is a member of a non EEA state* they should produce their passport complete with visa; If the visa reads:
‘Work (and any changes) must be authorised by the Secretary of State’ or ‘Able to work as authorised by the Secretary of State’ 
they can work a maximum of 20 hours per week during term-time and up to 40 hours per week during holidays.

If visa reads ‘No work’, then they must not work while they study.

For further information see our  Right to Work and Immigration information.

You must check the following:

• that any photographs contained in the documentation are consistent with the appearance of the employee
• the consistency of dates of birth across documents and
• that the expiry dates of any limited leave to enter or remain in the UK have not passed

If the worker presents documents which have different names, you will need to ask them for a further document (eg marriage certificate, divorce decree, deed poll document or statutory declaration) to explain the reason for this. All original documents presented should be copied, in particular the following parts:

• All the pages which give the potential worker’s personal details. In particular the page with the photograph and the page which shows his or her signature
• Any page containing a United Kingdom Government stamp or endorsement which allows the potential worker to do the type of work on offer

*If the worker does not have the right to settle permanently in the UK and has produced document (s) from List B, you will need to check the documents again one month before the current permission expires  until they can produce a document from List A.

Note: Photocopies should be signed (by the person checking) and dated to verify that the original documents have been seen. Failure to do so could result in a fine and the University losing its right to employ international staff.