51福利

This is where an individual has been asked to provide services by an outside organisation that does not make a significant call on university resources. It is usually delivered outside of workload, so does not affect the delivery of teaching, research or other key-role related duties.

This generally comes about through an enquiry to a department or generated by engagement staff. For many roles across the University, it is part of the core role description to deliver consultancy and other related income-generating opportunities for the University. University Consultancy will form part of your usual workload and may use University resource, facilities or intellectual property. Income for any University Consultancy will be returned to your department and faculty unless otherwise agreed by your Head of Department, Deputy Head of School or Director.

The Consultancy Service provides support for free. However, each Head of Department, Deputy Head of School or Director has the discretion to request a percentage is returned to the department for Individual Consultancy carried out within workload time. The percentage amount is dependent on the workload allowance requested and the use of University IP, facilities and equipment. Please discuss this with your Head of Department, Deputy Head of School or Director in advance, as it is not a calculation determined by the service.

The Consultancy Service reserves the right to charge a small fee where the complexity of the contracting arrangements mean that a significant amount of time is needed to set up and manage the project. Where this is the case, this will be agreed with you or the Lead Consultant.

Income can be transferred via salary payment (subject to all applicable tax, NI and employer deductions) and/or to a Personal Research Code (PRC) where these are available to you (spending from these is subject to normal University financial regulations). You may even choose to arrange a voluntary additional pension contribution to coincide with your payment. This can be a very tax efficient way to receive income. Some staff also opt to make a percentage donation to their department, school or division.

Payment will be made after the income for the consultancy services has been paid to the University from the client in the next available payment run dependent upon monthly payroll deadlines.

Yes, you will need approval from your Head of Department, Deputy Head of School or Director. Once you have submitted an application, this will be obtained on your behalf by the consultancy team. However, we recommend you have discussed the consultancy with your Head of Department, Deputy Head of School or Director in advance prior to submitting the application.

The University does not cap the number of days/hours you can work outside of your normal contract of employment, in recognition of the fact that individual’s circumstances differ.

However, it is a contractual obligation to seek Head of Department, Deputy Head of School or Director approval when you do, even if you choose to contract outside of the University rather than use the University Consultancy Service. The approval provides a check and balance around overall time commitments, as well as the ability to identify and mitigate any potential conflicts of interest.

The University’s HR policy entitled ‘Rules Governing Outside Professional Activities’ allows approvers (usually the Head of Department, Deputy Head of School or Director) to approve a workload time allowance of ‘up to’ one day a week. This is for individuals to undertake consultancy (or any other outside professional activity) where specific benefits can be demonstrated in terms of experience relevant to the individual’s career, relationship-building or other opportunities that can be beneficial for the department, school, division, faculty or wider university.

The allowance is project specific, and approval must be renewed each year for longer-term projects.

Overheads are estates costs, ISS costs and all the other costs of running the University wrapped up as part of the Universities cost recovery model. It is used, along with your salary costs, to calculate the actual cost to the University of your employment each day. It is a financial model set by government and used by all UK Universities.

We use this, plus a reasonable commercial uplift, to propose a fair consultancy rate to charge an external client for your time.

However, we are aware that some markets will bear much higher rates and some organisations such as charities may be unable to meet full commercial costs. This can be discussed and addressed as part of the fee negotiation, taking into consideration the other potential benefits of the consultancy.

The University’s HR policy entitled ‘Rules Governing Outside Professional Activities’ sets out the framework within which approvers (usually the Head of Department, Deputy Head of School or Director) grant approval for individuals to undertake outside professional activities. This is usually other paid work but also includes voluntary roles such as non-executive directorships, trustees and other positions of influence.

Approval in advance is a contractual requirement under University's terms of employment, to ensure an employee’s primary obligation remains to the University, and that no conflict of interest occurs between employment at the University and commitments or obligations for other organisations. A link to the approval form is provided within the policy.

5000 codes are only set up for consultancy projects, and typically only used for charging materials and expenses directly linked with the consultancy work. Although we do try to be flexible to accommodate different scenarios, 5000 codes are typically only open for the length of the consultancy work and act as a ‘pit stop’ for the funds before we pay them to salary, PRC, and/or department.

We can hold funds in a 5000 code for a limited period of time while it is decided how/where the remaining consultancy funds are allocated. However, they are not meant to be treated like 6000 codes and used for funding research activities from them directly. 6000 codes can be used for charging a range of research and other activities based on your department’s rules.

The Consultancy Service are not permitted to set up these 6000 codes, but we will create a 5000 code that we can invoice and receive income from and transfer it to the PRC 6000 code when available.

The University is keen to recognise and support staff with opportunities to undertake consultancy and offers a managed Consultancy Service that can support you with pricing, contracting and invoicing. This also provides you with cover under the University’s professional indemnity insurance policy. There is normally no fee for this service*.

*The Consultancy Service reserves the right to charge a small fee where the complexity of the contracting arrangements mean that a significant amount of time is needed to set up and manage the project for you. Where this is the case, this will be agreed with you in advance of set-up.

Consultancy is an effective tool for the delivery of knowledge exchange, but also in the long term supports further benefits including placement opportunities and collaborative research. Consultancy is also acknowledged within academic promotion criteria and all income generated is reported in the HEBCIS which drives the HEOF income the University receives. HEIF income is used to fund all Knowledge Exchange support that the University provides.

Where an individual is undertaking Individual Consultancy rather than University Consultancy it shall be completed in an individuals’ own time. This is unless the Head of Department, Deputy Head of School or Director agrees with the individual that it may be undertaken during university time, as part of the allowance for ‘Outside Professional Activities’.

1) Notwithstanding the principle that Individual Consultancy must not prevent the member of staff from fulfilling their full range of obligations to the University, authorisers may grant eligible staff a time allowance of up to one day a week (pro rata for part-time staff) to undertake Individual Consultancy where relevant benefits are identified, with no reduction of salary.

Relevant benefits include, but are not limited to, that the work:

• Contributes to professional development through interaction with industry, business, government or other institution
• Facilitates impact from research or knowledge exchange with business, public organisations or wider society
• Supports the development of contacts, networks or other relationships beneficial to the work of the University, Institute or Department

2) When Individual Consultancy is delivered, primarily outside of workload, without significant call on University resources, the University’s policy is to return the full income to the individual. When University Consultancy is delivered, primarily as part of workload with use of university resources, then the University’s policy is that the income be returned to the relevant department/s.

3) Where the fulfilment of Individual Consultancy requires support from the Department, School or Division such as flexibility in timetabling other activities, the individual is expected to agree an appropriate percentage return to the Department in recognition of that support. Equally, where fulfilment of University Consultancy places significant additional workload or time pressure on the individual staff member, then the Department is expected to agree an appropriate percentage return to the individual in recognition of the extra workload.