Universities under fire for outsourcing low-paid campus jobs

Universities in the United Kingdom have been criticised for ‘tearing away’ wages, pensions and rights from low-paid staff amid a steep increase in the number of outsourced cleaning, security and maintenance staff working on campuses, write Molly Blackall and Mattha Busby for The Guardian.

Data released by 42 universities in England, Scotland and Wales to the Guardian under freedom of information laws revealed their spending on outsourced workers – often employed on zero-hour contracts by separate companies to work on campuses – has more than doubled in seven years, increasing by almost 70% from 2010 to 2017.

Employing staff via third parties means that workers are not entitled to the same rights as people hired directly by the university, generally resulting in outsourced workers having vastly inferior pension schemes, as well as inferior hourly, sick, maternity and holiday pay. Unions have criticised the ‘exploitative’ practice and called for workers to be brought in-house, making them direct university employees.
Full report on The Guardian site