People & Organisational Development

One day of Strike Action has been called by Unison and Unite the Union. 

Unison and Unite have announced that they are asking members to take part in one day of strike action on Friday 10^th April 2026.

Colleagues participating in the action should notify their line manager if they have taken strike action on or after the event and record their participation in Industrial Action via People XD no later than Monday 13^th April 2026. 

This can be done by:

• Accessing ‘Book Time Off’ from the Employee Dashboard
• Selecting the leave type ‘Industrial Action – Strike’
• Entering the relevant date

Hourly-paid colleagues should:

1. Notify their line manager of their participation in strike action
2. Record their participation by:

• Accessing ‘Book Time Off’ from the Employee Dashboard
• Selecting the leave type ‘Industrial Action – Strike’
• Entering the relevant date

 3. Submit timesheets as normal to allow Payroll to process the appropriate deductions.

As a manager you will receive notification when a member of your team (including hourly paid colleagues) has recorded their participation Industrial Action in People XD.

Upon receiving this notification, you should:

• Access the People XD Manager Dashboard
• Select ‘Approve’ to acknowledge the entry

This action notifies the Pay and Pensions team so that the appropriate pay deductions can be applied.

Please note that Hourly-paid colleagues should continue to submit timesheets as normal to allow Payroll to process the appropriate deductions.

On the day of action, you should ensure that you collate and share information of participation with your local People & OD Business Partner to allow for an initial assessment of impact to be undertaken.

If you are unsure if a colleague is participating (or has participated) in strike action, you may ask them to confirm. Colleagues are obliged to answer truthfully when asked if they have participated beyond any period of strike action and experience suggests that colleagues tend to respond accordingly. If required, their participation can be entered manually in People XD beyond 10^th April 2026.

Any participation in strike action must be recorded and acknowledged in People XD by Friday 24 April 2026 at the latest.

Salary deductions will be actioned in May 2026 salaries.

Colleagues who participate in strike action should record their participation directly into People XD no later than Monday 13^th April 2026. 

The action is connected to Unison’s formal dispute over the 2025/26 pay award. Unite have also indicated their intention to take strike action.

No. If you are not participating in the action then you do not need to record this anywhere.   

Yes. Whilst colleagues have been asked to declare their participation in advance, they may not do so.

Once the action has started however, colleagues are obliged to answer truthfully if they are asked if they are participating. Whilst colleagues must answer truthfully in relation to current or past participation, they may not willingly share future intentions therefore it may be appropriate to ask more regularly over a period of time in order to effectively monitor the situation. 

All staff in scope will receive an e-mail before a notified strike day/period requiring them to confirm if they intend to take strike action. Each employee who participated in strike action will be asked to record it in People XD to ensure accurate recording and payroll processing. If you are working away from your normal base for any reason (e.g. attending a conference) on a strike day you should notify your Manager of your absence. If you are on annual or other leave Payroll will be aware of this through the HR System. If you are not at work and your Manager is not aware of the reason for your absence, it will be assumed that you are taking part in the strike and salary deductions will be made.

Strike action is a breach of contract and in line with University policy for those involved in strike action there will be a deduction from salary as follows:

Full-time members of staff:

• a deduction equivalent to 1/365th of annual salary for each day on which strike action takes place.
• a deduction equivalent to contractual hours that should have been worked on each day on which strike action takes place.

Part-time members of staff:

• a deduction equivalent to contractual hours that should have been worked on each day on which strike action takes place.

Any member of staff taking part in any form of industrial action, including participation in  strike action of less than a day, will typically be committing a breach of their contract of employment. University policy requires all staff to perform and undertake all aspects of the work for which they are paid. The University fundamentally rejects the partial performance of any member of staff, including partial performance due to a part-day strike and is entitled to withhold a full day’s pay in respect of each day on which partial performance occurs. In this event, where a member of staff participates in a part-day strike and chooses to attend work and carry out their normal duties during the remainder of that day it will be considered that they are doing so on a voluntary basis. The University is not obliged to make payment in respect of any such work undertaken.

On occasion, the University may choose to vary the amount of pay withheld. If this is the case, it will confirm its intention regarding salary deductions in advance of each instance of legal strike action. Failing any such communication, employees should assume that (as outlined above) no payment will be made in respect of any work during the remainder of the strike day.

Time lost due to strike action will not count as time worked. If you work extra hours, these will be paid at plain time until you reach the number of hours required for overtime rates.

The University is not obliged to make pension contributions for scheme members when they are on strike, but will inform you of its position on pensions when it writes to you about each instance of strike action.

Picketing of workplaces is protected by law and, any such past activity at the University has generally been undertaken peacefully and courteously. Pickets may try to persuade you peacefully to support the industrial action; however, staff who wish to work have the right to do so and will be allowed to cross the picket line. If you decide not to cross the picket line, you will be considered to have joined the industrial action and pay will be deducted accordingly.

Leave approved through the HR Self Service Portal prior to the date that strike action was notified to the University will be honoured. It is unlikely that any new request for annual leave on the day of action will be authorised. If, due to unforeseen circumstances, you need to request to take leave, you should discuss the reasons for this with your line manager. A new leave request will only be approved if there are exceptional circumstances.

Colleagues who are members of a different trade union to that which has a mandate (and has given notice) to strike, may not lawfully participate in strike action. This would constitute taking part in unofficial strike action for which consequences could include disciplinary action up to and including dismissal.

Non-union members can participate in strike action and have the same rights as union members, providing the strike action itself is lawful.

If you are off sick on a strike day, you must notify your manager of your sickness absence before your normal starting time or, where this is not reasonably practicable, within one hour of it, as required by the University’s Managing Attendance Policy.

Day(s) on which legal strike action is taken do not break continuity of employment. However, strike days are excluded for the purposes of accruing statutory entitlements e.g. qualification for maternity pay etc.

Yes, work can be temporarily reallocated to other staff not on strike. 

Migrants sponsored under a Skilled Worker or Government Authorised Exchange Visa are permitted to take unpaid leave to take part in legally organised strike action without impact to their visa.

Casual workers are not obliged to accept work, therefore a casual worker can opt to turn down work on planned strike days and in turn the University will not process payment for any hours not worked.