Academics who decline to cover for colleagues who are boycotting marking in protest at job cuts face having their pay docked in the latest sign that universities are resorting to “extreme” measures to stop disruption to the exam season.
Amid widespread job cuts across the sector, several universities are facing the prospect of having to delay graduations because of union members refusing to grade students’ work.
Mirroring tactics seen during more widespread boycotts in 2023, the universities of Edinburgh and Nottingham – as well as Goldsmiths, University of London – have told staff that they will have 100 per cent of their pay deducted for any involvement in the action, even if academics continue to carry out other duties.
Edinburgh’s response goes even further. Any staff member not partaking in the boycott but who refuses to take on extra marking will have their pay deducted by 100 per cent.
Staff in the School of Literature, Languages and Culture have also been told that those who refuse to take on other forms of reallocated work outside of the marking boycott – for example, dissertation supervision – could also have pay deducted.
