2 comments by 2 or more people

1. Remembering of course that some of the staff, even though we have been here for years, didn't even get a Pulse survey to express our views – see the comment (below) on the Pulse FAQ where the university admits that it has employed staff on casual contracts for years on end – and those of us who have complained about the lack of a proper contract are seen as a threat "to the university as a whole" (quoted from anonymous source in HR) because we might force them to pay everyone fairly????

   "We have limited the survey distribution to all permanent staff and those on fixed-term contracts, whether they work full time or part time. If you are a casual, or employed by Unitemps, you will not receive a survey. This is because we have thousands of people on casual contracts, but no reliable way of distinguishing between the large number of people who may work only several days a year for the University, and those who may have worked every day for a year or more. We do appreciate there are casual staff who have given excellent and loyal service to the University but unfortunately we have not been able to include them in the survey." (Pulse website)

   18 Jun 2005, 11:19

2. Julie Moreton

   Blimey this really is quite serious isn't it? I bet you feel quite overlooked and insignficant especially as you've been here for so long.

   I can emphathise a little as I was on temporary contracts for about 5/6 years before finally getting a permanent position. It's a horrible place to be as you're never sure where you are or how long you're going to be there and very difficult to plan anything long term – such as buying a house for example.

   Sometimes though the university is not always responsible in these situations, as it could depend upon short term (outside) funding arrangements for particular projects as to whether peoples' contracts are renewed or not. I guess they have to have a cut-off point for including people in the survey somewhere.

   I do agree however that it's not particularly healthy for such a large organisation to have so many people employed on a casual or temporary basis. I don't know how they can't distinguish between those who only work a few days a year from those who work continually – surely there must be record with Unitemps or even within the department itself. Yes if all these staff had received a survey, I guess the feedback would be quite different!

   20 Jun 2005, 13:29

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