• The health, safety and wellbeing – mental and physical – of our staff and students is our first priority.

• The University will continue to operate in accordance with the latest Public Health Agency (PHA) and Government advice/guidelines which are considered a minimum standard.

• The individual circumstances of staff members will be taken in to account when determining who is asked to return to work on campus. These circumstances may include, for example, shielding due to personal health concerns/those of a family member or childcare issues. More information is available in the manager’s guidance.

• Your manager will discuss the possibility of returning to work on campus with you in advance.

• Before any staff are asked to return to work on campus, a business need will need to have been identified, a full risk assessment carried out and relevant safety measures applied (e.g. spacing of furniture, provision of visors). More information is available in the manager’s guidance. A short training course; ‘Return to Work Induction’ is now available in the Courses & Requirements section of Queen’s Online. All staff should complete this before returning to work on campus.

• Additional cleaning protocols and consumables will be in place across campus. There will also be additional signage, hand washing/sanitising stations, one-way traffic systems and screens in place where appropriate to minimise the risk of spread of infection.

• Face-coverings will be made available to all staff (and students), free of charge. More details will be provided through normal management structures in due course. Additional equipment will be provided for staff working in specific areas. For example, laboratory, technical and operational staff will be provided with a face visor to supplement their normal personal protective equipment provision if necessary.

• The University childcare facilities will be available from 3 August. Due to restricted numbers the service will be provided on a pay per day basis in August with a full service planned from September. In addition, the feasibility of providing some childcare for school aged children post-September is being explored, in case it is required.

• A number of new ways of working have been developed through necessity over recent months and colleagues should consider how they can become more effective and efficient by adopting some of the innovative techniques for the longer term. For example, conducting some meetings virtually where appropriate.

• Conversely, colleagues should consider how we can modernise our provision of services to students based on what we have learned without eroding the pastoral care and support element that is so valuable to students and must often be delivered face-to-face.

• It is recognised that many staff have clearly shown how effective they can be when working remotely and this will be taken in to account by managers going forward. A review of the Flexible Work Policy was underway pre-covid and any further considerations or changes to the Flexible Work Policy, as a result of the experience during lock-down, will be reviewed in due course.  In the meantime, the University Operating Board has agreed a set of principles to support flexible working, as proposed by the Flexible Work Policy working group, and these can be viewed here.

• Although the advantages of remote working/virtual environments have been clearly demonstrated, there is an expectation that the majority of staff will return to working on campus to support the delivery of University business when it is safe to do so and in line with government/PHA guidelines.

• A significant proportion of staff have continued to deliver their work to a high standard on campus throughout lockdown. This includes staff working in student accommodation, security, coronavirus research staff and others. Accommodating the needs of these colleagues will be taken in to account when returning other colleagues to campus.

• In recent weeks, many research staff have returned to campus in a phased way, with the prioritisation determined by Faculty Executive Boards. This phasing of return for research will continue with FEB’s continuing to decide which researchers return and when, taking in to account a range of factors.

• We have a made series of clear commitments to students and we must plan for delivery against those commitments. Teaching begins on 21 September and we expect the majority of students to have physically returned to Queen’s by that date. In many cases, this will require face-to-face interaction between students and University staff and/or preparation of areas/facilities in advance for the student’s return. This is expected to require the return of many staff to campus over the coming weeks/months.

• In order to facilitate the delivery of services to students as outlined in our commitments to them, the following groups of staff will be prioritised to return to work on campus. It is anticipated that this return can begin in the near future once risk assessments, safety measures and relevant support mechanisms have been put in place. Specific decisions over which staff are asked to return and when will be taken at a local level.

Staff groups prioritised for return*:

• Staff who provide services directly to students/staff that comprise part of the ‘campus experience’ (e.g. teaching, student support offices, childcare, library, cafes, sports facilities etc.) and those who support them (and cannot do so from home).

• Those who are needed to prepare campus buildings, facilities and services for the return of students.

* If considered necessary by local management

• Taking account of the need for some staff to return to campus to continue research or deliver services to students as necessary, staff should be phased gradually back on to campus over time.

• Staff whose role does not involve or support the direct provision of services to students or research and who can work from home should continue to do so for the time being, in accordance with the NI Executive’s ‘Pathway to Recovery’.

• Although many staff will continue to work from home for the time being, there may be some occasions, tasks and business needs that will require them to come on to campus for short periods. This will be discussed in advance and all safety measures applied.

• The need for staff to return to campus will vary across the University and a one-size-fits-all approach is not appropriate. Variance in the numbers and proportions of staff who return to campus for work is expected and understood both across and within teams.

• Once Stage 5 of the NI Executive’s ‘Pathway to Recovery’ is reached and the public health advice has been updated to allow all staff to return to on-site work, then it is anticipated that the majority of staff will return to the campus. The Flexible Working Practice Guiding Principles will be applied and some staff may continue to work remotely if agreed by local management.

The University and its staff will need to be flexible and agile in approaching this challenge over the coming weeks and months as follows:

• PHA and government guidelines will continue to evolve and the University’s approach will be adjusted in accordance with that fluid environment. The Manager Guide will be regularly updated in line with PHA guidelines.

• It is likely that all teams will be required to show significant agility as colleagues may be required to self-isolate, either because they are displaying symptoms or have been contacted as part of the Northern Ireland test and trace programme. It is therefore necessary for teams to develop operational resilience to prepare for this and many staff may be asked to perform roles that are outside of their normal job specification for a temporary period of time.

• At a local level, managers should consider how to deliver this resilience without compromising the standard of services to students by utilising the skills and systems that have been developed over recent months. For example, this may include Team A/Team B models with one on campus and one working from home.

• Operational Recovery/Back To Campus Teams are devising a COVID-19 Management Protocol which will set out how further out-breaks and or isolated lock-downs will be managed across the University.

• Implementation of this framework will be done at a local level with managers empowered to decide who needs to be back on campus and when in order to provide students with necessary services come September and to deliver on the institutional research portfolio. Those decisions should be taken in accordance with this framework and manager’s guidance.

• Co-ordination of these local decisions will be provided via Operational Recovery Teams at a School/Directorate level with oversight by the Faculty/Professional Services Back To Campus Teams that have been established and ultimately by the Back to Campus PMO which reports in to UEB/UOB (See Figure 1).

• At a local level, all teams should develop their own plan within this framework and in accordance with the manager’s guidance. Each plan should include a clear request for the relevant support/resources that are needed from other departments (People & Culture, Estates, Safety Services, IS etc) to facilitate it and these requests will be co-ordinated via the relevant Operational Recovery/Back To Campus Team.

• Local plans will be collated by the relevant Back To Campus Team (in the case of Schools, at a Faculty level) and the PMO so the University can maintain an overview of how many people are on campus at any one time.

• If local management teams are unsure of how to apply this framework to their local area and/or have specific questions then they should be raised within existing management structures or escalated to the relevant Operational Recovery/Return To Campus Team as necessary.

• Trade Unions continue to be consulted on a regular basis on the institutional response to our recovery.