How to other HEIs deal
with recruitment of support workers such as note-takers and study
facilitators?
At UCN we have been
emplyoying note-takers and study facilitator via payroll, as casual/temporary
staff, to avoid the problems associated with self-employment or asking the
student to act as employer. I advertise for such staff on a relatively
informal basis, and keep details on a register after an informal interview, to
enable us to respond quickly to requests from students for such support. This
overcomes the difficulty predicting requirements in advance and allows me to
appoint individuals quickly, as required.
Students often ask to
continue using a support worker with whom they have built up a good working
relationship, and I want to be able to re-appoint people who have
developed the required skills. This has been particularly important if we have
provided training, eg note-takers for deaf students.
However Human Resources
has now introduced a maxium 12-month time limit for temporary/casual
staff, to prevent them acquiring employment rights such as redundancy
pay. Apparently subsequent contracts can count as continuous
employment, despite breaks in contract during the summer vacation. The
recruitment process for staff on longer-time contracts, takes a minimum of 4
months and it is difficult to obtain senior management approval for such
appointments.
I would appreciate
information about how other disability support services have dealt with
similar siuations.
Clare
Davies
