Electrician transfer / rotation policy
Dear University of Dundee,
Questions 1 to 5 listed below all specifically relate to Electricians who are employed by the University in the Controls department of Estates & Buildings and who have received a contract of employment and who do not have any line management responsibility.
1) How many Electricians are employed and based within the Controls department of Estates & Buildings?
2) Have the Electricians who are employed and based within the Controls department of Estates & Buildings ever been required to work within one of the other electrical sections in Estates & Buildings as part of a rotation policy (yes or no)?
3) Have the Electricians who are employed and based within the Controls department of Estates & Buildings, ever been transferred to work within the Electrical Maintenance or the Electrical Operations sections of Estates & Buildings in the past five years (yes or no)?
4) If the answer to question number (3) is yes, can you please state how many electricians have been transferred in the past five years?
5) If the answer to question number (3) is yes, can you confirm how many Electricians as a result of this have been transferred from the Electrical Operations section or Electrical Maintenance section of Estates & Buildings to work within the Controls department during the past five years?
Questions 6 to 10 below all specifically relate to Electricians who are employed by the University in the Electrical Operations and Electrical Maintenance sections of Estates & Buildings and who have received a contract of employment and who do not have any line management responsibility.
6) Is there a policy within Estates & Buildings to rotate the Electricians between the Electrical Maintenance section and the Electrical Operations section (yes or no)?
7) If the answer to question number (6) is yes, can you please confirm if this policy has been equally applied to all of the Electricians in the Electrical Operations and Electrical Maintenance sections of Estates & Buildings in the past four years (yes or no)?
8) If the answer to question number (6) is yes, can you please confirm how many Electricians from the Electrical Maintenance section have exchanged places with those working in the Electrical Operations section as part of the rotation policy in the past four years?
9) If the answer to question number (6) is yes, can you please confirm how many Electricians from the Electrical Operations section have exchanged places with those working in the Electrical Maintenance section as part of the rotation policy in the past four years?
Yours faithfully,
A. Gibson
Dear Mr Gibson,
Thank you for your request for information from the University of Dundee.
Colleagues in Campus Services have provided the information below in
response to your questions.
1) How many Electricians are employed and based within the Controls
department of Estates & Buildings?
Zero. However, two Controls Electricians are employed who have a different
skill-set to that of Approved Electricians (employed for all electrical
work other than Controls).
2) Have the Electricians who are employed and based within the Controls
department of Estates & Buildings ever been required to work within one of
the other electrical sections in Estates & Buildings as part of a rotation
policy (yes or no)?
No. The University's Controls Electricians have a specialised skill-set,
different to that of Approved Electricians.
3) Have the Electricians who are employed and based within the Controls
department of Estates & Buildings, ever been transferred to work within
the Electrical Maintenance or the Electrical Operations sections of
Estates & Buildings in the past five years (yes or no)?
No. Please see (2) above.
4) If the answer to question number (3) is yes, can you please state how
many electricians have been transferred in the past five years?
N/A
5) If the answer to question number (3) is yes, can you confirm how many
Electricians as a result of this have been transferred from the Electrical
Operations section or Electrical Maintenance section of Estates &
Buildings to work within the Controls department during the past five
years?
N/A
Questions 6 to 10 below all specifically relate to Electricians who are
employed by the University in the Electrical Operations and Electrical
Maintenance sections of Estates & Buildings and who have received a
contract of employment and who do not have any line management
responsibility.
6) Is there a policy within Estates & Buildings to rotate the Electricians
between the Electrical Maintenance section and the Electrical Operations
section (yes or no)?
Approved Electricians are employed for all electrical work (excluding
Controls) and are rotated to provide experience of different settings as
resources allow.
7) If the answer to question number (6) is yes, can you please confirm if
this policy has been equally applied to all of the Electricians in the
Electrical Operations and Electrical Maintenance sections of Estates &
Buildings in the past four years (yes or no)?
The University does not differentiate in this way. Approved Electricians
are used for all electrical work (excluding Controls) and are classified
as Approved Electricians, rather than by section.
8) If the answer to question number (6) is yes, can you please confirm how
many Electricians from the Electrical Maintenance section have exchanged
places with those working in the Electrical Operations section as part of
the rotation policy in the past four years?
N/A
9) If the answer to question number (6) is yes, can you please confirm how
many Electricians from the Electrical Operations section have exchanged
places with those working in the Electrical Maintenance section as part of
the rotation policy in the past four years?
N/A
I trust that this information is helpful.
Yours sincerely,
Alan Bell
Records Manager and
Information Compliance Officer
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On 15/11/2012 17:42, "A. Gibson"
<[FOI #138558 email]> wrote:
The University of Dundee is a registered Scottish Charity, No: SC015096
Dear Freedom Of Information,
Thank you for your response, however I would be grateful if you could clarify some of your responses. I have a concern that some of the answers provided appear contradictory, vague and somewhat evasive although I fully appreciate that this is down to the quality of information provided to you by others. However I would like to make you aware that some of the responses that you have provided would appear to contradict the actual written "findings of fact" which were recorded in a recent Employment Tribunal judgment against the University.
In question number (1), I had asked "How many Electricians are employed and based within the Controls department of Estates & Buildings?"
In your response you have stated "zero", but have contradicted this by adding that there are two electricians who work in the Controls department. I did not ask about any "skills set" that they have, however for the removal of any doubt and to fully clarify the issue, I would be grateful if you could answer the following;
1) Can you confirm that the Electricians in the Controls department are both Approved Electricians?
2) Can you confirm that the two Electricians in the Controls department are employed as "Approved Electricians" and that this is recorded as such in their Contract of Employment?
3) Define what the Controls department Electricians "skills set" actually consists of?
4) Please state what if any essential qualifications are required by the two Electricians in the Controls department in order to meet the required "skills set" other than a basic Approved Electrician qualification?
5) Please state what if any essential qualifications the University required the two Controls department Electricians to have when they applied for the post in the Controls department other than a basic Approved Electrician qualification?
6) Have the two Electricians obtained any additional specific qualifications in the course of their employment which has enabled them to meet the "skills set" required?
6) As all Approved Electricians have the same basic electrical qualifications, what if any qualifications do the two Electricians in the Controls department have other than the basic Approved Electrician qualification?
7) Is it the formal position of the University (either Yes or No) that an Approved Electrician from the Operations or Maintenance Section of Estates & Buildings (who also have specialised skills) will be unable to be rotated with one of the Approved Electricians in the Controls department as they are unable to learn what you have referred to as a different "skills set", albeit one which does not require any specific qualification?
8) Can you confirm the job title of the person who has supplied you with the information on my request to date?
Yours sincerely,
A. Gibson
Dear Mr Gibson,
Thank you for your new requests for information, which I have passed on to
colleagues. The University will respond to your request in due course (and
in no more than 20 working days).
Regards,
Alan Bell
Records Manager and
Information Compliance Officer
On 12/12/2012 17:24, "A. Gibson"
<[FOI #138558 email]> wrote:
The University of Dundee is a registered Scottish Charity, No: SC015096
Dear Mr Gibson,
Thank you for your email. I am sorry that you found our reply to your
previous request unclear. The University was trying to contextualise the
information provided in a way which would help your research. However,
colleagues in Campus Services have provided answers to your new requests
below, which I trust provides the clarity you seek.
1. Can you confirm that the Electricians in the Controls department are
both Approved Electricians?
No. One is an Approved Electrician. The other has a background in Industry
where the SJIB grading system is generally not applied. He has a
Electrician's certificate dating from the completion of his apprenticeship.
2. Can you confirm that the two Electricians in the Controls department
are employed as "Approved Electricians" and that this is recorded as such
in their Contract of Employment?
They are employed as Controls Electrcians (Approved). 'Approved' status
(in respect of the SJIB grading system) is not viewed as relevant to the
section. Typically, experience with complex control systems is required.
3. Define what the Controls department Electricians "skills set" actually
consists of?
Predominantly, an ability to troubleshoot and repair complex, programmable
control systems.
4. Please state what if any essential qualifications are required by the
two Electricians in the Controls department in order to meet the required
"skills set" other than a basic Approved Electrician qualification?
The University's intention is that the Controls section staff will all
have at least Controls Technician status, relative to the increasing
complexity of the control systems and Life Sciences Labatories. When a
post in Controls was last advertised in 2009 it was for a Controls
Technician, with a desire for the individual to be qualified to at least
HNC level in an appropriate discipline. The successful candidate was, in
fact, appointed at the level of Controls Electrician.
5. Please state what if any essential qualifications the University
required the two Controls department Electricians to have when they
applied for the post in the Controls department other than a basic
Approved Electrician qualification?
6. Have the two Electricians obtained any additional specific
qualifications in the course of their employment which has enabled them to
meet the "skills set" required?
7. As all Approved Electricians have the same basic electrical
qualifications, what if any qualifications do the two Electricians in the
Controls department have other than the basic Approved Electrician
qualification?
The University is unable to release the qualifications of individual,
identifiable, members of University staff. To do so would breach the
principles of the Data Protection Act 1998 insofar as the University's
staff have no expectation that the University will place the information
it holds about them into the public domain. As such the University claims
the exemption in S.38(1)(b) of the Freedom of Information Scotland Act
2002 (FoI(S)A). I am sure you appreciate the University's rationale in
this regard, but for your records and in accordance with S.16 of FoI(S)A
the University confirms that:
a. It holds information on the qualifications of its staff
b. It claims that this information is exempt from disclosure under S.1 of
FoI(S)A
c. It claims the exemption in S.38(1)(b) of FoI(S)A (satisfied by
S.38(2)(a)(i))
d. The University asserts that the release of this information into the
public domain would be neither fair nor lawful. The members of staff
concerned have no expectation that their information will be placed into
the public domain and the University suggests that none of the conditions
in Schedule 2 of the Data Protection Act apply.
However, in general terms, the University requires appropriate experience
and persons capable of working safely on complex conrol systems with an
ability to look at sytems holistically (ie to understand the overall
engineering aspect, as well as the controls aspect of any given
circumstance).
8. Is it the formal position of the University (either Yes or No) that an
Approved Electrician from the Operations or Maintenance Section of Estates
& Buildings (who also have specialised skills) will be unable to be
rotated with one of the Approved Electricians in the Controls department
as they are unable to learn what you have referred to as a different
"skills set", albeit one which does not require any specific qualification?
The position of the University is that any member of University staff must
have an appropriate combination of skills, qualifications and experience
for their role. Ordinarily, the specialised nature of the Controls section
means that it is unlikely that other electricians without controls
experience would be rotated into this section.
9. Can you confirm the job title of the person who has supplied you with
the information on my request to date?
The responses to your requests have been managed by me, with information
from Campus Services. This has involved the Director of Campus Services,
the Practice Manager, Estates and Buildings, the Facilities Manager,
Estates and Buildings, and the Controls Section Manager, Estates and
Buildings.
Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.
Yours sincerely,
Alan Bell
Records Manager and
Information Compliance Officer
--
Message sent on behalf of the
University of Dundee by the
Information Compliance Officer
Archive, Records Management and Museum
Services (ARMMS)
Tower Building
University of Dundee
Dundee DD1 4HN
Tel: 01382 384441
Fax: 01382 345523
http://www.dundee.ac.uk/armms
Opinion given in this email does
not constitute legal advice and should not be
relied on in that way.
Should you wish to appeal any decision concerning
the release of information by the University please
respond to [University of Dundee request email].
The University will then review your appeal according
to the procedures at
http://www.dundee.ac.uk/recordsmanagemen...
ures.pdf
On 12/12/2012 17:24, "A. Gibson"
<[FOI #138558 email]> wrote:
The University of Dundee is a registered Scottish Charity, No: SC015096
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