Oversight of resourcing requirements can be applied to the recruitment of all temporary and permanent posts, secondments [1] and apprenticeships in the academic University [2], including workers [3] and self-employed individuals – subject to local arrangements.  It can also apply to recruitment to all new and amended posts arising out of organizational change/restructures.  Extensions to existing fixed-term contracts and open-ended contracts with limited funding can also regarded as ‘recruitment’ for the purposes of the protocol, as well as extensions to existing agreements with workers and self-employed individuals, and are therefore within scope.

The following recruitment is out of scope and does not therefore need to follow the process set out in this protocol:

1. appointments that are directly and wholly funded from an external research grant [4] or the NHS;
2. short-term assignments that do not exceed £5,000 in total over the course of the 12-month period;
3. staff transferred into the University under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations (TUPE); 
4. student internships; and
5. where funding has been agreed via the Career Support Fund or Teaching Support Fund.

[1] This refers to secondments that are used to cover or fill vacant posts on a temporary basis. It does not include short-term, ad hoc and informal arrangements that are put in place for individual development purposes and for which backfill and an advertisement are not required.
[2] The protocol does not apply to Cambridge University Press, Cambridge Assessment, University of Cambridge subsidiaries or to the Colleges.
[3] This includes TES and UPS workers and the use of external recruitment agencies and consultants.
[4] This applies to new contracts or extensions to existing contracts that are 100% and directly externally grant funded for a defined project. It also covers replacement teaching where the terms of the grant explicitly stipulate that funding must go towards backfill. Recruitment and contracting in these cases may proceed as normal in line with HR processes. Grants must have been officially secured and awarded (not pending) and must cover the length of the contract within the funding duration. The proposed work must be achievable during the course of the contract and not affected by the Covid-19 crisis e.g. in the case of fieldwork, travel, data collection. Institutions must ensure that the work can be completed within the given contract dates. Please note that all backfill contracts where the grant terms do not stipulate that the funding must be used for replacement teaching and all posts funded by block grants require approval. Institutions are asked to apply extra scrutiny to the costing and operation of grants to ensure that they are not adding additional costs to the institution’s budget.

It is expected that, where work cannot be covered by existing staff with the School or Non-School Institution [5] or by the redeployment of staff from elsewhere in the University [6], requests to recruit will satisfy one or more of the following criteria:

1. the post is funded from sustainable external trading sources, College funds, trust funds, donations, endowment funds or other non-Chest sources [7] (confirmation of the funding must be evidenced);

2. there are safety risks to the University if the post is not filled, including essential security and maintenance of buildings or the post is essential to provide care to animals, plants or human samples or there is a legal requirement to fill the post (e.g. in a regulated services environment) or there is a demonstrable need for highly technical specialist skills that cannot be found elsewhere in the University;

3. the hiring manager (or equivalent) confirms that the post involves activities aimed at promoting BAME participation and achievement in the area in question [8]; and/or

4. there are clearly-evidenced and overwhelming academic or operational imperatives to fill the post.

Cases to replace a leaver must also set out why the work in question cannot be stopped, delayed or absorbed within the existing staff complement in the relevant institution.

In all cases, the hiring manager (or equivalent) must confirm that: (i) the recruitment can be undertaken in a demonstrably fair and transparent way; and (ii) no unreasonable demands will be made on support staff.

[5] Institutions should first consider whether there are any staff coming to the end of a fixed-term contract or otherwise at risk of redundancy who meet the essential criteria for the role or who could do so with reasonable re-training or on-the-job experience. Before the role is advertised, any such candidates should be interviewed and, where their suitability for the role has been sufficiently demonstrated, offered the role.
[6] A full internal redeployment process for the academic University is in development and will be launched in Michaelmas Term 2020.
[7] This excludes funds generated through internal trading.
[8] The advert will need to state that the successful applicant will have a genuine interest in, and commitment to, developing the role of BAME staff, and an interest in supporting innovative, evidence-based programmes that will target BAME staff at all levels. In addition, the successful candidate will need to demonstrate the potential to be a strong role model to BAME staff.

Requests should be submitted by completing the relevant online form below. Cases should be submitted by 5pm each Wednesday to be reviewed by the School Exceptions Approval Group (EAG) each week. Outcomes will be communicated by early the following week.

• FORM A: Recruitment Protocol Exception Form: Recruitment
• FORM B: Recruitment Protocol Exception Form: Worker/Self-Employment
• FORM C: Recruitment Protocol Exception Form: Contract / Engagement Extension

Guidance on submitting a case can be found here.