Personal cases are one of the most important parts of the work of DUCU. Members can contact the committee if they have encountered a problem at work and believe they need representation or support. We are currently supporting over forty DUCU members.

Past personal cases have included

  • contractual status
  • grievance & disciplinary matters
  • harassment
  • changes to contracts
  • redundancy
  • changes to HERA grading
  • maternity rights

The DUCU Committee has a Personal Cases Co-ordinator who reports to the Committee. He/she is assisted by other members of the Commitee who will represent and accompany members to meetings with management.

All information provided by members is kept in confidence.

If you have a work issue or concern which you feel needs to be addressed, please contact the personal cases email helpline help@durhamucu.org.uk .The email helpline is confidential and checked every day. Alternatively, if you require immediate advice on counselling, one-to-one coaching, information, advice and support material or financial assistance you can call Recourse (which used to be called the College and University Support Network) on 0808 802 03 04.

Your email to help@durhamucu.org.uk will be forwarded to the Personal Cases Co-ordinator or his/her deputy, who will aim to deal with your concerns as quickly and efficiently as possibly, primarily using the resources and procedures within the University. When necessary, we will refer to regional or national UCU and its legal advisors.

You will be contacted by telephone or email to discuss the matter further. If the matter cannot be dealt with at this stage, a meeting with a local personal cases representative will be arranged. This meeting can either be at the Durham site or the Queen’s Campus site.

PLEASE NOTE – UCU is not a charity, all our local representatives are volunteers, and their time is precious. As a result we cannot get involved in casework if the problem occurs prior to joining UCU, or within three months of joining. In such cases. Durham UCU may at its discretion provide a measure of support which will consist only of a telephone call or brief meeting, and we will not attend formal meetings or arrange free legal advice. In such cases we would strongly advise non-members to contact the Citizens’ Advice Bureau, and/or a solicitor.

In short we would advise members to recommend to non-member colleagues that they join UCU.