Consultation on proposed reform of Statute 18

Statute 18 lays down procedures for dealing with certain aspects of the employment of academic staff, such as separate and additional grievance, discipline, dismissal and appeal processes. It is now however seriously out of date having largely been overtaken by modern employment law.

The UCL Council committed to a review of Statute 18 in last year's white paper. The proposed reform of the Statute is intended to develop a unified modern employment code for all staff whilst recognising the special condition of academic freedom for all staff involved in academic work.  

On the website staff can access a copy of the current Statute 18, a staff discussion paper on its proposed reform, a copy of the proposed revised Statute and a comparison table showing the main changes. The staff discussion paper outlines the need for reform and aims to initiate a discussion process with staff on the proposed changes. Staff can provide feedback on the proposed amendments via the website through until the end of the consultation period on 26 June 2012.

Feedback received through all these channels will be considered by the Senior Management Team and the final proposed changes will be submitted to UCL Council for approval. Subject to UCL Council approval, the reforms will then be submitted to Privy Council before they can be formally adopted at UCL. It is anticipated that the changes will be implemented in February 2013.

Nigel Waugh, Director of Human Resources