UniWorkforce administer casual work assignments for the University of Southampton, ensuring workers have the right to work in the UK, are set up for payment through the payroll and are paid equitably.
UniWorkforce administer casual work assignments for the University of Southampton, ensuring workers have the right to work in the UK, are set up for payment through the payroll and are paid equitably.
Casual work assignments can be either:
Casual work assignments are processed by UniWorkforce and agreed in the terms of engagement for each authorised assignment.
Assignments for longer than 12 weeks need to go through the University’s standard staff recruitment process. Requests to extend an existing assignment beyond 12 weeks will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, this is due to assignments lasting longer than 12 weeks triggering additional rights for the worker including equal pay and automatic pension enrolment.
It is a criminal offence to engage a worker who does not have the right to work in the UK. The law requires us to verify all workers have the right to work by checking and retaining copies of certain documents. The right to work check must take place before work starts. This requirement applies to all workers, irrespective of their nationality. A follow-up check will be required if an individual’s right to work in the UK is time-limited and the work is continuing.
Casual workers must be registered with UniWorkforce and their worker status will be set in eRecruit (initially this will be red until a right to work check has taken place) showing the worker and manager if they are ready to work and any visa restrictions which apply.
See Manager information - Home (sharepoint.com)
Email: recruitment@soton.ac.uk
Telephone: +44 (0) 23 8059 2750 (ex: 22750)
Signing up for casual work does not mean you are ready to work yet.
Signing up and registering gives you access to the University’s eRecruit system and once you've joined a mailing pool, allows UniWorkforce to send you assignments that you have been named on or that you may wish to apply for.
Only by accepting an assignment offered to you via email, and having a right to work in place, can you undertake work.
UniWorkforce offers temporary short-term and ad hoc assignments in a variety of roles, across diverse departments and faculties. Assignments provide flexibility depending on what you are looking for, and can be a great opening to a more permanent role at the University.
If you are studying with us register with UniWorkforce to receive information on student friendly jobs. Enjoy some financial freedom and independence, all whilst gaining valuable work experience to help you kick start your career after graduation.
If you are a PGR student and will be demonstrating take a look at our information pages PGR Student Demonstrator with UniWorkforce - Home (sharepoint.com)
Registering for UniWorkforce pools does not mean you are ready to work. You need to have a right to work in the UK check completed prior to any assignment taking place, and you must accept the offered assignment by completing a short form online, via a link emailed to you, which provides details for your payroll record.
To organise a right to work check, once you have an assignment offer, see UniWorkforce - Right to Work
For instructions on how to view your casual worker status, please see Guidance - Accessing your information in eRecruit
Bank details and NI number
You will receive a confirmation email with all the information about your assignment from UniWorkforce using the Serviceline system. This will include a payroll checklist which you need to complete, including your pay reference number, and email directly to payroll detailed on the form.
Without this your pay will not be credited to your bank account. Do not send this form until you have your employee number/pay reference number, as Payroll will not be able to process this until your record has been set up and pay reference number created.
Any queries you have on pay and deductions please email payroll@soton.ac.uk including your pay reference number.
If you don’t have a national insurance (NI) number, then you can apply online. Details are on the GOV.UK website Apply for a National Insurance number - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Fill out a timesheet each month you work, this can be accessed via the Documents area. Follow the instructions on the timesheet and remember to save it with your casual worker permit pay number, last name, and claim period (eg 2345678 – Smith - Jan.xlsx). Once complete forward by email to your hiring manager/supervisor for authorisation. If you work on more than one assignment you will need to complete a separate timesheet for each one.
If you hold a visa, you must enter all the hours you have worked, both paid and unpaid, for the University and other employers, for the whole period you are claiming.
It is essential that you complete and submit your timesheet(s) for authorisation each month you work, so that we can pay you correctly and on time. Breaks are unpaid, so you should ensure that claimed hours reflect this.
Please take note of the timesheet submission dates published on the Documents area. Timesheets received after the submission date will be processed in the following month.
Any purchases that you are required to make during your assignment should be requested through the Purchasing team (buy@soton.ac.uk). If, for any reason, you need to incur personal expenses (agreed by your line manager in advance), add details to your timesheet on the “Expenses” tab along with receipts.
Purchases that are made outside the University’s policy will not be reimbursed. If you are claiming for expenses through a research grant this must be accompanied by original receipts.
Subject to the steps above, payment is made at the end of the month following the claim period. For example, work carried out in October will be paid at the end of November. Please refer to the timesheet submission dates for more details, in the documents tab. Any work carried out prior to your right to work check will not be paid.
The cut off for timesheets to be paid is three months following the work being carried out. If you submit a timesheet prior to your right to work check you will not be paid. All claims must be made within three months of the work being undertaken.
If you meet the criteria for auto enrolment you will be enrolled in NEST. Further details are available Nest Casual Worker Information.
Terms of engagement apply to all casual workers and you will be asked to agree these when you register with UniWorkforce. A copy is available from the Documents tab.
If you are a visa holder there may be limitations on the type of work and/or weekly hours you can undertake. Specific restrictions are detailed on your visa and will show on your casual worker status in eRecruit. You and your line manager are responsible for ensuring you do not breach your visa restrictions as this may invalidate your visa and the Home Office could request you to leave the country.
Any breach by students will be reported to Student Services following the Tier 4 / Student Visa Breach Guidelines.
Under the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act, the University can only engage workers who are legally permitted to work in the UK. The law requires us to verify all workers’ right to work in the UK by checking and retaining copies of certain documents, and by undertaking re-checks if an individual’s right to work in the UK is time-limited. This requirement applies to all workers, irrespective of nationality. Casual workers cannot work until they have provided documents which prove their right to work in the UK.
There are two types of right to work checks depending on your nationality. Details are below with links for booking a check.
In-person check:
You can visit Highfield Campus, Building 26, with your original documents. Click on the link University of Southampton Identity Verification to book an in-person check.
Online check:
If you would prefer to do a check remotely using an in-date passport or Irish passport card, use this link https://forms.office.com/r/UUF5YCyEUq to provide us your details in Option 2. We will email you a secure link for you to verify your documents; once complete we will confirm your identity via a Teams video call.
You will need to use this option if you hold any of the following:
You will need to prove your right to work using the Home Office online right to work check service, available via Prove your right to work to an employer - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Contact the gov.uk email if you have any problems obtaining your share code.
Click on the link https://forms.office.com/r/A7kg5hXJ1Y to provide details required to book a Teams Video call as part of this online check. Remember to include the share code you are provided with by the Home Office service, which should start with ‘W’ for ‘Work’.
When UniWorkforce receive your details, you will be asked to send a scan of your passport to verify your date of birth and nationality before the Teams Video call. This may take up to 5 days.
If you are unable to use the Home Office online check system, please advise UniWorkforce by emailing Recruitment@soton.ac.uk as soon as possible.
To assist managers with completing the Casual Worker Request OSRF form, we have provided two short video guides:
Video 1 – demonstrates how to access the casual worker request form (OSRF)
Video 2 – demonstrates how to complete the casual work request form (OSRF)
To assist workers and managers with timesheets and expense forms we have provided four video guides which can be accessed here:
If you are unable to open the timesheet and you are using Chrome, please try an alternative browser such as Edge or Firefox. If the problem persists, please contact UniWorkforce via email uniworkforce@soton.ac.uk.
Please ensure all timesheets are accurately completed and submitted by email directly to your line manager for authorisation. If you need any assistance written instructions can be found on the first tab of your timesheet, alternatively you can watch the video below.
Time sheet completion video guide Timesheet and Expenses video guide
Timesheet Submission Dates 2022-2023
UniWorkforce Terms of Engagement
Please familiarise yourself with the policies below: