A to Z

ACAS

ACAS is a non-departmental government body that gives advice and support to employees and employers on workplace rights, rules and best practice. Further guidance on disciplinary and grievance procedures, on the university releasing information to trade unions, on paid time for union representatives, settlement agreements, and on flexible working, can be found at the ACAS website.

Branch Rules

The branch rules can be found on the rules, agreements and forms page.

Casework

If you are having problems at work, you can talk to one of our trained caseworkers for advice.  We can help with all kinds of problems, including (but not restricted to): bullying & harassment, unreasonable workloads, problems with a manager, sickness policy, performance monitoring including CDSA, probation, disability issues, disciplinary cases, grievances, redundancies and severance. 

More information about casework, including the form to request a caseworker, can be found on the get help page.

Expenses

We have a process for claiming expenses for attending OU branch of UCU meetings and events. The expenses claim form can be found on the rules, agreements and forms page.

Hardship funds

The hardship funds support staff who are taking strike action. If you would like to donate to our Branch Hardship fund, we would be very grateful. Here is how you can donate:

1. Send an email to ucu@open.ac.uk pledging the amount you wish to donate then,
2. Make a payment direct to the Hardship Fund bank account:
   • Sort code: 60-83-01
   • Account number: 20392138
   • Bank: Unity Trust Bank
   • Account name: UCU the Open University LA064 Hardship fund

Alternatively, you can donate to UCU's national fighting fund. 

Home Working Conditions

The OU's main policies concerning homeworking are in the People Services A-Z page (opens in a new tab). Some important ones are 'Homeworking', 'Overseas Working' or 'Agile working'.

UCU's work focuses on employment issues and our main relationship is with the OU as our employer, however, the branch has a particularly high number of homeworkers. To collaborate on housing issues in an OU context, including renters rights, reducing energy bills, or health, safety and wellbeing aspects of warm homeworking in winter and safe heat in summer, join the 'Sustainability and Community Wealth Building' working group. 

For homeowners, an increasing number of groups exist to provide advice on renovations and reliable local contractors, and many are not-for-profit (opens in new page). A database of cooperative providers can be found on this page, or an online search for ‘home retrofit’ and your location will often find a local Community Interest Company. See the Energy Saving Trust website for various government retrofit grants available.

For Renters, your rights vary depending upon where you live. The Energy Saving Trust website has advice on actions tenants can take on home energy, heating and cooling. For more specialist help on Rental issues, including issues with your landlord, try Living Rent (Scotland), Community Action Tenants Union (CATU) (Island of Ireland), and Acorn (England and Wales).

Motions

Motions passed at all our branch meetings can be found on the motions pages.

Open Saver: The Open University Employees' Credit Union

Open Saver is a credit union, membership of which is exclusive to employees of The Open University. It is a small, not-for-profit and co-operative ‘bank’, set up and run by OU employees for OU employees. UCU is not directly linked to Open Saver, but we share many members and values. To find out more visit the Open Saver intranet page (OU staff only) or the Open Saver credit union history page (opens in a new tab). 

OU Club

UCU encourages membership of the OU Club, which cultivates a thriving social and civic environment inside the OU by providing social and recreational facilities to staff and retired OU staff. 

Past campaigns

Leaflets and newsletters associated with our past campaigns, such as the Four Fights campaign, the fight to save the USS pension, and the campaign against 1.3+ FTE, can be found on the leaflets and newsletters page.

Recruitment materials

We have a range of posters, flyers and leaflets to help you promote UCU in your workplace. They can be collected from Room 015, Wilson C Block or downloaded from our recruitment materials page.

Retired membership

You are welcome to remain a member after you retire. You can change your membership type to be "retired" on the MyUCU website or you can complete the form below.  We prefer members to tick the option to remain part of the OU branch of UCU, rather than to be part of the regional (Eastern and Home Counties) retired members branch.

Retired membership application form 2024-2025 (links to Word document, 81kb)