A simpler and more up-to-date staff policy

The revised staff policy is the result of a thorough review process that involved employees and managers, who contributed their points of view through the liaison and occupational health and safety organisations and collegial bodies. The policy was approved by the Main Liaison Committee and the Main Occupational Health and Safety Committee on 12 May 2016.

Dean Thomas Pallesen from Aarhus BSS chaired the working group. He states:

“We now have a leaner and more-up-to date staff policy. The old staff policy was from 2010, and it represented the first university-wide staff policy to be adopted after the mergers of 2007. A lot has happened since then, especially in 2011 and since, and so the Main Liaison Committee’s assessment was that there was a need to revise revision of the staff policy.”

With regard to the changes to the policy, he says: 

“What’s new about the staff policy is that it’s shorter, it defines norms rather than lays down rules, and it’s formulated in a way that’s intended to make it more durable.”

The revised staff policy contains eight norms that provide a framework for employees’ day-to-day working lives. These norms are based on values such as trust, respect and decency. The norms are articulated through nine sub-policies, including ‘Recruitment and employment’ and ‘Competency and career development’.

In this version of the staff policy, the sub-policies have been shorted and updated, and policies regarding work environment and equality and diversity have been added. Descriptions of administrative procedures and citations from rules and legislation have been removed. Instead, these elements have been incorporated into the staff administrative guidelines on AU’s website. In addition, the policy has become easier to search online and can be accessed from smartphones and tablets.

Norms and policy translated into local practice

The staff policy applies to all employees at the university, and it constitutes a general framework for their day-to-day working lives at AU. Thomas Pallesen hopes that the revised staff policy will become a relevant and useful tool at the local level:

“Our vision is for the individual units to become familiar with the staff policy and apply it locally, in the sense that the staff policy’s values are normative guidelines that also permit local interpretation and adaptation,” he explains.

It is now up to the individual units to breathe life into the staff policy by applying it in practice and applying its norms and principles to concrete situations in their specific work context. It is up to the individual units to decide when and how to work with the staff policy.

A relevant occasion for considering the staff policy could be the psychological WPA follow-up process.

Facts about the revised staff policy

• The objective of the staff policy is to contribute to employee well-being and to give all employees the best possible conditions for the professional and efficient performance of the university’s tasks.
• Consists of eight norms and nine sub-policies supplemented by staff administrative guidelines.
• Has been simplified and shortened, and is based to a higher degree on values and attitudes, with room for local interpretation and adaptation.
• Now includes policies on the work environment, equality and diversity.
• Searchable and print-friendly versions of the staff policy are available on the website and can be accessed from smartphones and tablets.
• Is available in Danish and English.

Further information

• Read the staff policy at www.au.dk/staffpolicy
• If you have any questions about AU’s staff policy, please contact Deputy Director Anne Lindholm Behnk or Development Consultant Lizzi Edlich, AU HR.