Work on the cost reduction plans will now begin locally
During the course of the week, meetings have been held in Health’s local liaison committees. In the period leading up to 31 January, the specific cost reduction plans will be drawn up. Today and tomorrow the department heads and SKT’s head of school will inform their employees about the overall consequences of the budget cuts.
On Friday 10 January, each department plus SKT received the financial framework for the coming cutbacks. In connection with this the departments and SKT have received their performance targets, and the estimated expenditures for other faculty units and accounts, including the graduate school, have also been determined.
The dean determines the performance targets and estimated expenditures. They must, among other things, ensure that the main academic area can achieve the result that AU’s board has stipulated for Health on 18 December 2013.
Work on the budgets starts
The work that is now starting consists of the departments, SKT and the faculty units/accounts being required to prepare a budget, in which the performance targets and estimated expenditures are achieved. So it consists of budgeting for revenues and expenses and making adjustments in the revenues and expenses, which may be affected.
In most locations the budgeting will entail that it will be necessary to make significant cutbacks on the expenditure side, that is to say that significant savings will need to be achieved. This also means that payroll costs must be reduced. The budget cuts will not be equally noticeable in all locations.
The scope of the budget cuts have been discussed in Health’s local liaison committees (LSU) at the start of this week. The participants in the LSU meetings were also informed about the modified hiring freeze, postponement of salary negotiations for 2014, voluntary redundancy packages and senior schemes, which have all been initiated. Read more about the senior management team’s announcement on Initiatives to minimise the number of layoffs.
Health’s management is also following up on the situation on an on-going basis.
Employees will be informed locally
Today and tomorrow, Health’s heads of department and SKT’s head will inform all employees about the general consequences of the budget cuts for the relevant department/SKT. Once this has been done, work will begin on drawing up specific cost reduction plans for the departments and SKT. This will continue until 31 January. The consequences of the cost reduction plans will subsequently be addressed at the LSU meetings during the first week of February.
Further information
If you have any questions about the budget process, please contact your immediate supervisor or your union representative. You can find your local union representative via AU’s staff page.
At AU’s dedicated website on the University’s Finances 2014 you can stay up-to-date with news and debate: http://medarbejdere.au.dk/en/strategy/university-finances-2014/front-page/