Complaints about heavy workloads in UK higher education are widespread.
Overworked academic and academic related staff are at risk of stress, burnout, and even shorter lives.
Recent surveys by the University and College Union (UCU) show that the average working week for academic staff is 51 hours—far above the legal maximum of 48 hours. UCU has long argued for better workload management, but progress has been minimal.
From my perspective, if university employees are consistently working more than 48 hours a week, their employers are potentially violating key UK Health and Safety (H&S) requirements. Workload management isn’t just a matter of institutional efficacy and well-being—it’s a pressing legal issue. Without reform, institutions and the individuals managing them could, and should, be held to account.
UK working time regulations (WTR)
Under UK law, employees are not generally permitted to work more than 48 hours a week on a regular basis. This protection stems from the Working Time Regulations (WTR 1998) that arose from the obligation to incorporate EU law. Importantly, employers are also required to “take all reasonable steps, in keeping with the need to protect the health and safety of workers” to ensure compliance. This explicitly includes keeping records that evidence managers have not required or allowed excessive work. These rules protect employees from exploitation and ensure they have a quantified, minimal ratio of work-life balance.
Crucially, employees can voluntarily choose to work beyond 48 hours a week, but this requires a formal opt-out process. The ambition of those with more capacity or willingness to work long hours therefore need not undermine protections for those with less.
University employers generally monitor working hour expectations for less senior employees, but this generally excludes academic and mid- to senior-level professional staff from these; where a reason is given, it is on the basis that these staff are “autonomous”.
This is a legitimate regulatory exception applying to those with “autonomous decision-making power”—such as managing directors—because they control their own schedules. However, not everyone in senior roles qualifies as “autonomous,” and determining who falls into this category requires honest, empirical analysis by the employer—and ideally, unions that represent their interests.
Although universities and unions have accepted the legitimacy of current practices for years, a closer look at the law and empirics raises serious concerns — pointing to serious legal risks.
The historical context
The roots of this issue go back to the 1990s, when a national academic contract was established. At that time, staff were expected to work “such hours as are reasonably necessary” to complete their duties. This contract predated the UK’s implementation of the EU’s Working Time Directive in 1998.
In 1999, the UK government introduced amendments that allowed employers to defer responsibility for work that could be delivered flexibly (such as the lesson planning and marking performed by university academics and school teachers), with only directed time being subject to the maximum limit. The government also advised employers that they were not required to inform staff of their rights. As such, HE employment practices were likely legally compliant.
However, in 2006, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that the UK’s implementation of working time protection did not comply with EU law, specifically pointing out that all working hours—both directed and flexible—must count towards the 48-hour limit. Moreover, employers were required to empower workers by making rights explicit. This ruling led to retraction of UK Government guidance and a further amendment to bring legislation into line with Europe in 2006.
Current risks
The relevant current question for stakeholders – given the epidemic of excessive working hours reported – is: are HE employers “taking all reasonable steps” to ensure compliance; and does this include undertaking the required empirical analysis to correctly determine if academics and professional service staff are legitimately excluded from protection?
My analysis finds a robust argument that generally they are not; moreover, institutions are at a range of legal risks, depending on their practices.
Low risk: A few universities have contracts that specify working hours somewhere below 48 per week, often around 37 hours per week; some also reference the WTR limits. These contracts empower staff to push back against longer working weeks, and undermine the position of others currently offering much worse arrangements. However, there is still elevated legal risk if the university doesn’t have an effective system to plan and track weekly working patterns.
Moderate risk: The majority of universities use contracts based on the old national model, which requires staff to work “as necessary” to complete their duties. While these contracts may include a vague statement about not expecting “excessive” hours, failure to acknowledge rights provided by the WTRs creates elevated legal risks where a case was successfully brought.
Higher risk: In some cases, institutions go so far as to actively deny staff the right to protection under the WTR, explicitly claiming they are “autonomous”.
Next we examine the explicit or implicit claim that autonomy justifies lack of protection. While a detailed empirical analysis is provided in my peer-reviewed paper – published in Journal of Further and Higher Education – a useful thought experiment can help clarify:
Imagine an academic(related) employee informs their manager that they will complete exam board duties, but at a time and date of their choosing, well outside the employer defined window. The likely ultimate response would be a reprimand, for choosing not to complete work according to the employer’s schedule (Otherwise, why would UCU members bother going on strike, when they could just do “business critical” work later, well within their standard Terms and Conditions (T&Cs)?)
This suggests that university staff do not enjoy the level of absolute freedom required for them to be exempt from protections of the WTR. The claim that academic and senior professional service staff are “autonomous” simply doesn’t hold up under empirical scrutiny. So there does not appear to be a justification for withholding an otherwise universal protection nor declining to take the necessary steps to promote this right.
What now?
Based on the above it feels clear to me that every single employee in HE, perhaps apart from vice chancellors, is entitled to the protection of the WTR. More importantly, university employers are bound to take “all reasonable steps” to ensure limits are not broken: specifically including, but not limited to, the obligation to keep weekly records of work done.
Now is the time to examine your institution’s employment terms and conditions (T&Cs). Senior academic and professional service managers should seek independent legal advice to assess the degree of legal risk their current T&Cs and workload modelling practices would create if a case of excessive work was upheld by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
Presuming my argument holds, and no legal professional has ever told me otherwise, universities must also invest in robust workload planning and staff resourcing to ensure compliance. Annualised workload models are tautologically unfit to discharge the legal obligation here. They need to be replaced by systems that plan and record weekly (which are entirely possible to create, and I’m happy to help). This shift is essential to safeguard employee health, institutional effectiveness and reduce legal risk and associated reputational damage. It is also necessary to ensure weekly working expectations set for students are also responsibly planned – but that is maybe a piece for another day.
What should unions do?
A good union plays a critical role in protecting employees. UCU should be pushing for work on changes to T&Cs of employment, starting with ensuring that the national contract is brought into line with available jurisprudence. Workload model negotiations must then acknowledge the necessity of the weekly unit of planning. If universities refuse to take action, the UCU and other unions could actively seek out and support members reporting violation of the maximum working week to take full legal action.
For individual staff members who believe they are working more than 48 hours a week, it’s time to start keeping a work diary. Whether through your union or independently, consider taking action to protect your rights under the WTR by completing this simple HSE form.
Effective workload management in HE is not just a matter of well-being or productivity—it’s a legal necessity. Universities that fail to comply with the WTRs are exposing themselves to significant legal risks. It’s time for institutions to take this issue seriously and ensure that staff are not working beyond the legal limits.
