How much do you know about AU’s staff policy?
AU HR is performing an evaluation to find out how and how much the staff policy is used at AU’s departments and centres.
The purpose of the evaluation is to help ensure that the staff policy can be applied on a day-to-day basis at AU. The evaluation asks how and when the policy has been applied locally, as well as whether it is perceived as being meaningful and relevant, and whether there are any special requests for adjustments.
The evaluation will involve all local liaison committees as well as the occupational health and safety committees at central, faculty and administrative levels. Representatives from the LSUs and local occupational health and safety committees will be invited to workshops on the staff policy.
A staff policy staff are familiar with and use
Department Head Thomas Pallesen will participate in the committee’s work. He hopes that the discussions in themselves will promote awareness of AU’s staff policy among those staff members who are to use it in their daily work:
I believe that this process can contribute to making the staff policy more visible where this would really make a difference - among department heads and union representatives. The majority of employees know nothing about the staff policy, but it’s important that it can be brought into play when there’s a need for it.”
Joint Union Representative Aase Pedersen shares Pallesen’s hope that the evaluation will pave the way to greater awareness of the staff policy, so that it is applied in the situations in which it is relevant:
“During the recent round of cutbacks, it became clear that many aren’t familiar with and don’t use the policy - this applies to both managers and staff. For example, according to the policy, an effort must be made to redeploy or retrain employees at risk of redundancy. But many people don’t know that it says that.”
The overall framework - the details are up to us
What is a staff policy - and why do we have one? Pallesen explains that it’s a question of general principles and visions:
“The staff policy describes the general principles. But realising the visions and applying the principles takes place where the policy is actually applied. There are major differences in what’s needed at the various departments at AU, and so it’s important that the staff policy doesn’t become to detailed and complex.”
Aase Pedersen emphasises that a staff policy can function as a set of shared values and can be useful in different situations - not just the difficult ones:
“There are a lot of positive things in the policy, for examples about competence development, but there’s probably a tendency
not to pull out the policy unless you’re dealing with a problem.”
Hopefully, the current evaluation will contribute to ensuring that the staff policy is viewed as relevant in the day-to-day life of the university.
What’s your opinion?
The evaluation of the policy is intended to reflect employees’ experiences. Please contact your local liaison committee or occupational health and safety committee representative in, if you have any comments on how AU's staff policy is applied.
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