The Team managers / course coordinators / research group leaders / heads of section (sektionsledere) / administrative officers' (afdelingsledere) managerial responsibility and applicable delegation provisions are described here, in addition to what forms of decision-making power the Team managers / course coordinators / research group leaders / heads of section (sektionsledere) / administrative officers (afdelingsledere) may delegate.
A necessary precondition for delegation is regular briefing, coordination and communication between the person who delegates decision-making or signing authority,referred to as the delegator, and the person who receives decision-making or signing authority, referred to as the delegate.
The following delegation provisions establish the boundaries of decision-making authority and signing authority for managers at all levels at Aarhus University (AU).
These delegation provisions have been drafted within the framework of the University Act and AU’s by-laws.
The delegation provisions include both mandatory provisions (must) and discretionary provisions (can). The discretionary provisions allow for a degree of discretion or flexibility for the units in deciding whether to delegate from one level to the next.
Managers exercise financial decision-making authority on the condition that a budget has been delegated to them and that the expense can be incurred within the approved budget. Decision-making authority for each level of management is expressed in terms of approval limits for each level. Financial decision-making authority applies to purchasing decisions that involve a binding purchase or binding agreement for multiple purchases from the same supplier.
Financial transactions outside the approved budget can only be carried out after prior approval by the level of management immediately above. Decision-making authority applies to all financial transactions, regardless of whether they are made with AU’s institutional funding or with funds from an external grant.
Level-three managers can set a de minimus threshold for one-time transactions of up to DKK 2,000 for all employees or a group of selected employees at their own department/school (institut).
Overall and operational people management must at all times be conducted in accordance with the locally and centrally established guidelines and rules, including the rules in the collaboration agreement, frameworks established in the collective agreements and other relevant legislation in the area.
People management is defined as the decision-making authority to manage, hire, dismiss and take disciplinary action against employees, including decision-making authority to agree on the specific terms and conditions for employment as well as to assign specific tasks to employees.
Involuntary dismissal of employees with special protections against termination (union reps, occupational health and safety reps, members of liaison committees and the occupational health and safety organisation) is subject to the approval of the rector.
The delegation provisions distinguish between overall people management and operational people management.
Academic manager
Decision-making authority for operational people management of employees in their units with or without decision-making authority to appoint postdocs and research assistants and comparable functions, as well as decision-making authority for overall people management of postdocs and research assistants and comparable functions, can be delegated from level four.
Technical/administrative manager
Decision-making authority for overall or operational people management of employees in their unit can be delegated from level four.
Level-five managers can delegate the following to the unit’s academic managers:
Level-five managers can delegate overall or operational people management of employees in their units to the unit’s administrative managers.
When delegating authority, managers must complete a delegation letter for the delegate(s). It is important that the correct template is used, as the template contains a code that must be registered in mitHR so that it can be used in the administrative support of the provisions.
If you are missing a letter or if you have a question regarding filling out a letter, please send an email to Tove Bæk Jensen, the Rector’s Office, at legal@au.dk.
Template (Word document) for download:
Select the template which describes what the manager has been delegated
Can allocate capital expenditure for external grants. Has operational people management responsibility
Download the template here: Skabelon Leder VIP5_ØE_DP_EN
Has operational people management responsibility
Download the template here: Skabelon Leder TAP5_DP_EN