Kingston University - Hiring Practices

In the fall of 2010, a well-respected researcher from New Zealand applied for and was offered a Senior Lecturer position at Kingston University.

In light of the fact that prospective employee in this case expressed dissatisfaction with the notion of moving from overseas to the UK to take up a post that was contingent on the receipt of satisfactory references before the University had received and confirmed that said references were, indeed, satisfactory, do you think it is possible that the University's decision to withdraw the offer may have been based on reasons other than "budget cuts?" Could it be that the University saw the prospective employee as a potential source of "dissent," based solely on his refusal to move to the UK under less than 100% certain conditions?

After reading the following timeline of events and supporting documentation, you will have to decide for yourself whether or not Kingston University is likely to breach an employment contract, and whether or not you are willing to spend the time applying for a position at the University in light of what you have learned about their recent hiring practices.

22/12/10: Kingston University makes candidate an offer as a Senior Lecturer, subject to "satisfactory" reference checks and immigration clearance. They required a start date of 31/1/11.

10/1/11: Candidate started the process of applying for a British passport, which required firstly getting a birth certificate. Candidate told Head of School that it is likely the passport would be ready in time, and received an email reply stating how he (Head of School) was pleased with the progress.

13/1/11: Candidate received a revised salary offer of £40,143 after he queried the lower amount.

15/1/11: Candidate received further correspondence from the Dean of Faculty, plus details of the papers (course modules) he would be teaching.

18/1/11: Candidate received offer of additional £500 for relocation expenses.

22/1/11: Candidate received official job offer as email attachment, but still subject to receipt of satisfactory references.

22/1/11: Candidate raised concerns with KU about the delays by HR in the process of checking references, despite their having had over a month to do so. Candidate made it clear to KU that he would not sign contract until KU confirmed that satisfactory references had been received, in order to avoid the possibility of KU using content of references as a basis for dismissing him after he had already arrived in the UK to begin work.

25/1/11: Candidate received email from Head of School that HR are now checking references.

26/1/11: Candidate received email from Dean of Faculty, revising start date and stating they have a reliever [substitute] until candidate can start.

1/2/11: Confirmation from KU that they have received candidate’s original PhD transcript, which he sent on 25/1/11.

2/2/11: Email received from one of candidate’s referees to state that KU had still not contacted her.

3/2/11: Email from candidate’s referee to state that she has just received a LETTER (not an email) from KU.

7/2/11: Email from KU stating that they are still waiting for a 3rd reference.

8/2/11: Candidate’s 3rd referee sent reference and told candidate he had received an acknowledgement from KU.

12/2/11: Candidate sent email to KU asking them to send him the unconditional contract, now that they have all the satisfactory references.

15/2/11: Still no word from KU so candidate rang Head of School, and he told candidate KU now have to cut back 10%. Instead of cutting positions in management, they are cutting teaching staff. Head of School said the decision [on exactly which positions will be cut] is yet to be made but he will email candidate when he knows.

21/2/11: Candidate sent message to KU indicating that he wants a reply [clarifying their position] within 5 working days or he would treat the matter as a breach of contract.

22/2/11: Email from KU stating that they would be arranging an emergency meeting of HR to discuss case.

23/2/11: Confirmation from Head of School that KU are breaching the contract, that it has nothing to do with candidate’s references, and offering some level of compensation.

The panel have now interviewed the other short-listed candidates. The upshot of this is that we would like to offer you the position (pending receipt of satisfactory references and you meeting the requirements of section 8 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999) at Kingston University as a Senior Lecturer in Environmental Management (post 10/290). Congratulations.

The teaching is due to start on the 31st January 2011. It is important to let us know if you feel that starting at this time is not feasible, as we have a need to fulfil our teaching commitments at that time. In the light of this we would suggest that you gain your UK passport as soon as possible and liaise with us on this matter. Can you let us know the date by which you anticipate gaining your UK passport. I have discussed the UK passport issue with HR and there is the possibility that the University could act as sponsor if needed, however each University is limited to only 10 work permit applications a year, so we would prefer to proceed via the passport route. If we can do anything to ease your transition into teaching with us – e.g. discussions with module leaders etc, please let us know.

If you have any questions about work permits or other similar issues NAME REDACTED in HR (see email address above) will hopefully be able to point you in the right direction.

Once again, congratulations, and we hope to see you in the School in the near future.

I will need to speak to the Dean of the Faculty about moving expenses. He is on leave until after xmas. The University does nor normally pay moving expenses except for Executive staff. The Faculty sometimes though makes a contribution.

Thank you for the offer of employment, subject to passport and immigration approval. I am applying for my passport now, but it may not be ready by 31 January, since I also still need to get my full birth certificate from the UK. I will keep you informed of developments.

The New Zealand High Commission website mentions a telephone number for urgent travel enquiries, but even though I rang in the hours specified on their website, I just got a recording stating they were closed. I have found the Wellington office arrogant and unhelpful before, but I was wondering if you would be better able to arrange emergency travel

documents from your end. My other experience dealing with immigration was with the Japanese authorities. Their embassy staff were very unhelpful dealing with me, but when I mentioned getting back to my prospective employer, they capitulated quickly and gave me a visa.

Before accepting I would also like to know details of salary, and other benefits, including relocation allowance. Do you provide any assistance with finding accommodation?

thanks for your email. Glad to hear that progress is being made. I asked the Dean of the Faculty about a contribution towards relocation expenses. He wanted some time to consider this. I think he was concerned about setting a precedent as the University does not as a general rule provide such expenses*. I will press the Dean for a decision on this today.

I have received my Birth Certificate from the UK and will send off my passport form by tomorrow when the post office opens. The High Commission in Wellington told me it takes about 2 weeks, so I should still be able to make the 31 January deadline, as soon as I get the contract.

*=n.b. It is a fact that the University paid at least £3000.00 towards the cost of relocation expenses to Dr Howard Fredrics, when he accepted a Senior Lecturer post in 2002.

The Dean of the Faculty has emailed me to say that he is not willing to sanction covering relocation costs for you from New Zealand. I am sorry. He I think feels that doing so would set a precedent so I understand his decision.

In the light of this are you still interested in this post? Do you feel in a position to give me a definitive answer in terms of accepting the job offer or is there additional information that you would like?

will do. I will ask HR to make a recommendation tomorrow morning and get back to you.

Could you please let me know what the salary would be. The job description only gives a range. I will then be able to give a definite reply.

I have discussed the salary for the post you have been offered with HR and the Dean of the Faculty and the following is what is being offered:-

Senior Lecturer Spine point 37, £36,882 + £2,153(London Weighting) = £39,035.

I have discussed this with HR (i.e. salary) and having reviewed your CV again have revised the offer to spine point 38, which is 37,990 pounds with 2153 London weighting, total salary 40,143. They have pointed out that the requirements of SL levels vary from university to university, even in the UK, but or ok with the above increased offer.

Thank you for sending me the information about the salary and relocation expenses. I accept that you would not want to pay full relocation expenses as that would start a precedent, but I was thinking more about simply the airfare to the UK, as I will not be shipping anything, and I can stay with my sister in

Reading until I find accommodation. I would also like to know why you will be starting the salary at the bottom of the range. I thought that the range is in place to allow for different levels of experience, and I already have three years teaching at senior lecturer level at a Japanese university.

I would also like to know more about research opportunities. I have been looking at the biography of Dr Peter Hooda, and he seems like a very distinguished scientist with a world reputation, and one I would like to work with. I have some ideas for research, namely looking at how nitrogen isotope profiles change as one samples downstream of point and non point sources from different pollutants such as fertilisers, septic tanks, storm water and treated sewage. This would be very useful in pinpointing sources and causes of pollution in Tauranga Harbour and other waterways. I note from the departmental publication lists that Thames tributaries seem to be popular study sites.

I would therefore like to know how much time I would have allocated to research, and what the teaching load will be in terms of contact hours, marking, preparation etc. While I consider teaching to be my greatest strength, and something I enjoy doing, I would also like to be able to continue with research at the same time.

If you have checked references, and you are happy with their findings, then perhaps the best thing would be to scan and send the employment contract. Could you please let me know when you need a decision by.

The High Commission has informed me that my passport will arrive within five working days, so there is no problem with meeting immigration requirements. I am a certified pom, and have the rights to come to the country, work, join the National Health, drink warm beer and complain about the weather :)

I am looking forward to coming to London, and I am pleased that the immigration requirements are not as time consuming as I first thought.

The revised salary appears more reasonable. I still have a few things to arrange before moving. When does the teaching actually start?

On 17.1.11, Kingston University, by way of a Head of School, offered the candidate £500 to cover relocation (airfare) expenses. On 18.1.11, they retracted this offer.

Was it right for the University retract an offer to pay relocation expenses after they promised it?

Should the Head of School have confirmed that he was permitted to make such an offer before making it?

Does this retraction of offer constitute a breach of contract?

What do YOU think?

I hope that we are getting to the stage of having sorted out all the bits and pieces that we need to.

I have spoken to our Faculty Finance Officer and she has said that she is happy for me to make a contribution to your relocation expenses from School funds rather than Faculty or University. I am ok to offer you a £500 contribution towards your air fare. There is a condition attached that the University applies which is if you leave within 2 years you should pay the £500 back. I appreciate that the contract is for 1 year but as stated previously it is on this basis because of the nature of funding for this post.

Assuming the contract and your reference check are satisfactory, would starting on 14 Feb be inconvenient? I could make things easier by preparing for classes while I am still in New Zealand, if you send the necessary course materials.

I have just been told that I cannot unfortunately offer you the £500 towards your travel as I thought I could due to the nature of the appointment. Finance were inflexible on this. However, all staff are

given the opportunity to bid for money to go to conferences, and we allocate around £250 per staff member per year for this. I would be happy to consider sanctioning a higher conference / training budget for you in the circumstances.

I am sure that will be possible. We tend to underspend on our training / staff development budget.

The news is disappointing, but best I know now rather than later. If the extra 500 pounds could be added to allowances for conferences then that would be an acceptable alternative.

Email of 21.1.11 from Human Resources Recruitment Administrator to Candidate

I have attached a copy of your offer. As soon as you have a UK address, please let me know so that I can send out the full pack with all the enclosures. In the meantime, if you have a personal email that might be helpful. If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact me.

I have emailed HR and told them to take up references asap. I am not sure why they want you to sign the contract here but it might be that they require to see proof of qualifications and passport etc. I have asked HR to clarify this.

I got a contract from Human Resources 2 days ago. I am not happy that they want me to come to the UK to sign the contract, and that they are still making the contract subject to satisfactory references. The references should have been checked a month ago. I contacted both my referees and both were available and waiting.

I will book my flight once I have a signed contract with no further conditions. We still need to sort out a start date. The delay with checking references means that 30 Jan, which I originally planned, will not be possible. If there are no further delays, then 14 Feb should be feasible.

Thanks Head of School. I can send a scanned copy of my qualifications and my passport, and they could have checked a month ago with university of Auckland, once I had given my permission. You can consider permission granted if they want to check now. I will also ring Auckland now and clear it with them. My UK passport number is ##########.

HR have quite set ways of doing things and the documents they require are usually originals rather than copies. Hopefully they will explain to me how they want to play things. I suspect that some of this is due to immigration rules etc which the University is very keen to follow to the letter. Regards,

Thank you for sending me the offer. I am just getting a legal opinion and will let you know my decision in the next few days. I will relocate to the UK once the contract has been signed.

What HR have said is that there appears to be an element of miscommunication here.

HR do not require you to come to the UK to sign a contract. Essentially because of the timescales involved Recruitment have sent you an electronic copy of the contract as a short term measure, and because the other attachments are not available in an electronic contract, these will be provided to you formally when you arrive in the UK.

With regard to references, all offers made by the University are subject to receipt of satisfactory references. In your case HR have not written requesting references yet but this will be done today. The delay in receiving these references in does not prevent you from starting on the original planned start date, as we can and normally do receive references after a member of staff has started at the University.

The current plan is that we’ll have the previous incumbent in your post (Previous Incumbent), who has retired but is still willing and able!) delivering weeks 1, 2 and 3 of the two modules on an hourly paid basis. We hope that you would overlap with him in week 3 (beginning Feb 14) to make the transition smooth, and then you’d be in charge for the rest of the semester.

If you arrive and are contracted sooner, then I guess that would just make more overlap. Please let me know if it looks like you’ll be arriving later that Feb 14.

I have just received communication from Deputy Head of School that I can join on 14 Feb and there will be some overlap with the previous incumbent. This seems

satisfactory, as it means principal lecturer can help me with any questions, but I am not happy about the delay in contacting references. These should have been checked a month ago, and I do not wish to make a major move to the UK and have the position still subject to satisfactory references, and therefore still uncertain.

If you write to the referees by email you should receive a reply very soon. I will wait until your message confirming the references are satisfactory before making any further plans for departure.

In the meantime, if you send me more details about the modules I am teaching, it will help me prepare my material.

I note that in a previous email you stated that references would be checked on 25 Jan. It is disappointing to hear from my referees that this has not in fact been done. The extra delay means that I will not be able to start on 14 Feb, but will have to postpone my start date until 21 Feb, providing there are no more delays.

I have attached references that I have previously obtained from staff at Previous Employer and other institutions, as well as my most recent student evaluation. I hope these will meet the requirements for "satisfactory" references.

I note another requirement for a health clearance, but this made reference to an enclosed questionnaire, which was not in fact enclosed.

Perhaps you could clarify the health requirements so that delays can be kept to a minimum. I am quite prepared to get a note from my general practitioner to the effect that I am healthy enough to perform my role.

You will I hope appreciate that I wish to make sure all conditions of the contract are satisfied before I come to the UK, and that I therefore do not wish to start work before references have been finally checked. It would be most unsatisfactory for all of us if my contract had to be curtailed once I had gone to the considerable expense of relocating.

Thanks for this - I received a copy of your transcripts and this has been passed on to HR. I will also forward this email to HR and ask about the health forms.

Emails of 1.2.11 between Head of School, HR Adviser and Candidate

From: Head of School

See comments below and attached health questionnaire. To date we have 1 referee’s comments that I am happy with.

The University would normally only accept references which were direct replies from referees we had written to. For this reason it is common for academic and other staff to start at the University with out a complete set of references.

The health questionnaire is attached to this email, and I would be grateful if Candidate could sign and send a scanned copy back to HR.(The questionnaire was not attached originally due to the short notice associated with the offer, between appointment and proposed start date.)

Referee 1 is not available to be a reference, so could you please contact Alternate Referee 1, the Job Title at Previous Employer, who has offered to be a referee in her place.

Please find the scanned health questionnaire, which I filled out, scanned and sent as soon as I received it. Since I have been preparing to come to the UK and start at the end of January I have sold most of my equipment, including my good scanner, so I am only able to scan single pages, and the quality is not particularly good, but I hope it is satisfactory.

Please convey to HR my profound dissatisfaction at the way they have handled the reference checks. The first conditional job offer was received on 22 December. They have had over a month to check references, and it is not acceptable to expect me to go to the trouble and expense of relocating and only then check the references.

It is also unacceptable for them to state that they are contacting referees on 25 January, and then not do so by the fastest means, which in the 21st century means email.

Referee is not at his desk until next week, so will not receive a letter until then. But he checks emails every day

I need you to understand that I do not want to go to the expense of moving across the world and then risk being dismissed because somebody makes a unilateral decision that a reference is not "satisfactory". In all other workplaces in government and academia that I have worked, references have always been checked before the final job offer is made.

I note that you have received one satisfactory reference. Since you did not state which referee it was, I am chasing both of them up at my end, in the hope that there will be no further delays.

My offer to look over any class material before I come to the UK still stands, if you want to send me any.

Sorry about the health questionnaire. I have now attached the missing page. You should already have references from Referee 2 and Referee 3 at Previous Employer.

I have been trying to get hold of another manager at Previous Employer but he is not at work at the moment and is often busy and takes a long time to return phone calls. So I have asked Alt. Referee 1 instead.

I hope this will be satisfactory. I have worked closely with Alt. Referee 1 on student projects and have taken classes to the water treatment centre that Alt. Referee 1 is jointly in charge of. I also taught Alt. Referee 1’s son so he is quite able to provide you with information about my teaching and research ability, and my ability to liase with industry (in this case local government).

For your info and record. Kingston have acknowledged receipt of the reference below.

Please give your opinion of the candidate’s suitability for the post below, together with any other comments you consider relevant

The above named has offered the above position and has given your name as a referee.

I would be grateful for your opinion of the candidate’s suitability for the post, with any other comments you consider relevant. Details of the post are attached.

Please reply using the form below, which you may email to recruitment@kingston.ac.uk or post to the address above.

I understand from Alt. Referee 1 that he has sent you the third reference and you have acknowledged receiving it. Could you therefore please confirm that all references are satisfactory and scan and send the signed contract. Once this is done I can send back the contract with my own signature and start making arrangements for my flight to the UK.

Any news about the contract. Could you please let me know one way or the other. Also please note that this is my new email address, though the old one should still be forwarding email here for a month.

Is there any further news about the position? You indicated on the phone that the management will be making a final decision soon. Pulling out at this stage after all the references have been sorted has made things very inconvenient for me. I am presently exploring my legal options and taking advice from others who have had similar experiences, and it is possible I have a case for a breach of contract. I have kept the two offers that were made conditional on "satisfactory" references, and I have kept the references, which are certainly more than "satisfactory". At the very least I should get back my expenses in moving and loss of opportunities looking for other positions.

Anyway please let me know of further developments. Your management may choose to save 10% by trimming some of the dead wood at the top, rather than skimping on those who actually do the work. If so, then it is possible I may still be joining you at a later date.

Candidate

Emails of 22.2.11 between HR Adviser, Candidate and HR Recruitment Manager

From: HR Adviser

To: Candidate

Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2011 08:57:21 +0000

Subject: RE: position at Kingston

Dear Candidate

Thank you for your email which has been referred to me by my colleague Recruitment Manager.

In light of your comments I have left messages for Head of School and have requested an urgent meeting to discuss his response to your email.

If I receive any further information in the meantime, I will naturally pass this on.

Best wishes

HR Adviser

From: Candidate

Sent: 22 February 2011 08:27 

To: Recruitment Manager 

Cc: Head of School;  Deputy Head of School

Subject: FW: position at Kingston

Dear Recruitment Manager

Please find attached a message I sent to Head of School last week. I would appreciate a reply. I have not been impressed with your professionalism or honesty so far, but it is possible you may be able to redeem yourself and honour the contract, given that my references are satisfactory.

If you do not reply to this message in 5 working days I will consider you to be in breach of your contract, and I will proceed accordingly.  

Yours sincerely   

Candidate

Kingston University revokes its offer of employment, while noting that references were, indeed satisfactory.

From: Head of School

To: Candidate

CC: HR Adviser

Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2011 16:53:13 +0000

Subject: Statement from KU

Dear Candidate

Thank you for your email.

Further to our recent conversation, it is with regret (after consulting further with HR and the Faculty) that I must confirm Kingston University’s decision to withdraw the post of Senior Lecturer in Environmental Management with immediate effect due to funding.

I appreciate this will be a significant disappointment to you, but I must stress this decision was not related to your application and the associated references. The decision of the University is to withdraw the post, and therefore relates solely to the University’s ability to fund the post in the light of budget cuts and the reallocation of funding at a strategic level.

The Dean of the Faculty of Science and the new Dean of the combined SEC Faculty (Science, Engineering, Computing) are in agreement, that there should be recognition of the associated administrative expenses and the cost of securing a British Passport, which you will have incurred. As a result I would be grateful if you could provide me with an itemised list of costs incurred, so I can request for reasonable costs to be reimbursed in accordance with University regulations. This list can be sent by email to the above address by return.

As previously stated, I am sorry for the inconvenience and worry this process has caused you, and would like to thank you in anticipation of your providing the itemised list of costs.

Regards,

Head of School

Email of 23.2.11 between Candidate and Head of School

From: Candidate

To: Head of School

Subject: RE: Statement from KU

Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2011 11:58:53 +1300

Dear Head of School

thank you for your offer. I have forwarded it to my legal adviser and will let you know my decision. The biggest expense for me was the opportunity cost of missing other job opportunities after I stopped looking upon receiving your offer. I also had the expense of selling much of my furniture and renting out my house. this means I now have to find alternative accomodation. It is difficult to quantify these costs so I am taking legal advice on what would be reasonable.

Regards

Candidate

Email of 2.3.11 between Candidate and Head of School

From: Candidate

To: Head of School

Subject: breach of contract

Date: Wed, 2 Mar 2011 14:25:02 +1300

Dear Head of School

I have made an appointment for a skype consultation with my legal adviser later in the week. I will then be in a better position to advise you as to a fair and reasonable compensation package that takes into account all my costs, including stress and loss of earnings.

Regards

Candidate

Emails of 8.3.11 between Candidate and Head of School

From: Candidate

To: Head of School

Sent: 08 March 2011 01:59

Subject: reimbursement

Hi Head of School

Thank you for your offer to pay for costs incurred as a result of Kingston University having to cut funding for my position. As you can imagine the decision to cut the post, and especially the timing of communicating it to me, has caused considerable wasted expense.

Because of my commitment to working for Kingston, I have not worked and have not been able to work for any other employer from 23 December 2010 until 23 February 2011, during which time I was occupied with arrangements to move to the UK, such as getting documentation, chasing referees, renting my house, selling and storing my goods and moving.

After renting my house I drove to Wellington on 15 Feb, with plans to stay for a few days with a friend and then fly to Auckland and then London. After learning about the decision informally on 16 Feb I had to organise a permanent move to Wellington, as my own place in Tauranga had already been rented out for 12 months. The costs of obtaining documentation and moving have been significant and I would like to be reimbursed for these.

Also, given the contractual entitlement to 3 months notice, I believe I am entitled to payment in lieu of notice.

Costs are shown in the currency in which they were incurred, with an indicative total in Sterling: The exchange rate is currently 2.2 NZD to 1 GBP, although I will accept an amount in Sterling at the exchange rate that prevails on the day of payment.

Description	Amount NZD	Amount GBP
3 months salary (gross, w/o London weighting)		£9497.50
Obtaining birth certificate from home office		£25.00
Obtaining passport from UK High Commission	$334.00
Passport photos	$24.00
Renting out home
Advertisement	$99.00
New curtains to make house rentable	$644.08
Loss on sale of furniture and appliances	$300.00
Removals
New appliances to replace those in Tauranga	$1369.00
Trailer hire to move	$60.00
Petrol and mileage consumed looking for flat	$200.00
Moving furniture from Tauranga to Wellington	$1000.00
Loss of earnings
23 Dec 2010 to 23 Feb 2011) based on my previous gross salary of $63000 p.a	$10500.00
Total NZ Dollars	$14530.00
Total GB Pounds (2.20 NZD = 1 GBP)	(£6604.54)	£9522.50
Grand total	£16127.00

Please could you pay this as soon as practicable. I will make arrangements with my bank to accept foreign currency. My bank account details are Bank Name branch, account number Account Number

Regards

Candidate

From: Head of School

To: Candidate

Date: Tue, 8 Mar 2011 12:33:56 +0000

Subject: RE: reimbursement

Dear Candidate,

I have passed your email on to the Dean of SEC and HR and they have advised me that they are reviewing the contents and will come back to you by the end of the week.

Regards,

Head of School

Email of 14.3.11 between HR Client Partner and Candidate

From: HR Client Partner

To: Candidate

CC: Head of School

Date: Mon, 14 Mar 2011 15:36:29 +0000

Subject: Response to reimbursement request

Dear Candidate,

Further to Head of School's email of 8th March 2011 we have had the opportunity to peruse the emails between us and you over the past few months and to consider our position.

You will agree that notwithstanding Head of School's suggestion that you sign the contract and return it to us it was always your position that you wished to make sure all conditions of the contract are satisfied before you were prepared to come to the UK including references. As the position was withdrawn before this was completed and you did not at any time return a signed contract to us, the contract did not come into being and as such no rights and obligations arise from it.

Nevertheless, purely as a gesture of goodwill and in consideration of the costs of your obtaining a British passport, we will reimburse you for your passport, passport photos and birth certificate. The funds will be wired to your bank account by International Wire Transfer in the coming days.

Yours sincerely,

HR Client Partner I Human Resources

Email of 21.4.11 between HR Client Partner and Candidate
From: HR Client Partner

To: Candidate

Date: Thu, 21 Apr 2011 15:46:05 +0100

Subject: FW: Response to reimbursement request

Dear Candidate,

As I have not had a response from you to my email below, I am going to instruct our Accounts Department to transfer a total of £187.75 to your account to reimburse you for your passport, photos and birth certificate in full and final settlement of this matter.

In order for us to make the transfer to you, I have been advised that the information you have provided is not sufficient and you are required to provide the following information:

Account holders name(s)

Bank Address

Account Number

SWIFT code

If you can provide this information by Thursday 28^th April 2011 I can then arrange for the money to be transferred to you within 2 working days. If I do not hear from you by this date, I will consider the matter closed.

Regards

HR Client Partner I Human Resources

Email of 29.4.11 between Candidate and HR Client Partner

From: Candidate

To: HR Client Partner

Subject: RE: Response to reimbursement request

Date: Fri, 29 Apr 2011 09:55:10 +1200

Dear HR Client Partner

My bank details for transfer are:

Name of account holder: Candidate

Account no. Account Number

Bank: Bank Name

Branch: Branch Location.

Branch Address: Branch Address

Branch physical address: Branch Address

Branch fax: +Fax Number

Swiftcode: Bank Swiftcode

Regards

Candidate

Candidate attempts to arrive at a reasonable solution that benefits all parties and communicates his ideas to the Head of School

Email of 4.5.11 between Candidate and Head of School

From: Candidate
Sent: 04 May 2011 22:38 
To: Head of School 
Subject: contract

Hi Head of School

I am exploring legal options over a breach of contract action. I have not yet decided on the best strategy, but it will no doubt mean a great deal of wasted time and inconvenience for me, and a lot of wasted money and bad publicity for you.   I would therefore like to propose an alternative which should provide a win-win solution, and that is that you re-offer the contract for a year, with the same option of renewal. Presumably you still require someone to teach your classes, a contractor is a more expensive option, you would gain a dedicated teacher and researcher, and you would save money in the long term. For my part I would prefer to be paid for doing work I am good at than for doing nothing.  Please let me know your thoughts as soon as possible.   

Yours sincerely  

Candidate 

Kingston University rebuffs Candidate’s attempt at resolving the matter informally

Email of 9.5.11 between HR Client Partner and Candidate

From: HR Client Partner

To: Candidate

CC: Head of School

Date: Mon, 9 May 2011 14:39:36 +0100

Subject: FW: contract

Dear Candidate,

I have been sent a copy of your email of 4th May addressed to Head of School requesting that we provide you with a contract for 1 year.

I refer to my email of 21st April in which I requested your bank account details in order to transfer to you £187.75 in full and final settlement. You provided this information without comment thereby accepting the terms on which payment was made. This payment has already been processed and will be in your account in the next couple of days, so the matter is now closed. In addition, I can confirm that the original reasons as to why the contract was withdrawn still stands and we are unable to offer you any form of employment.

Regards

HR Client Partner I Human Resources

Email of 10.5.11 between Candidate and HR Client Partner

From: Candidate

To: HR Client Partner

Subject: RE: contract

Date: Tue, 10 May 2011 22:20:11 +1200

Dear HR Client Partner

I refer to your e-mail of 9 May 2011. Thank you for clarifying that you are unable to offer me any form of employment.

In your e-mail of 21 April you indicated that the £187.75 was to reimburse me for my passport, photos and birth certificate. I agree that the £187.75 is the amount I spent on those items and that once you have repaid me, that matter will be settled. Thank you.

Just so you are clear about it, I do not consider that £187.75 begins to reimburse me for any other losses I have sustained as a consequence of the events that have taken place, for example, the refusal to pay me in lieu of 3 months notice, in breach of contract. I reserve the right to take action to recover the money through the courts, if necessary.

If you pay a further £10,035.75 into my account within the next 3 days then, subject to mutually agreeable terms, I will regard that as full and final settlement of the matter. This proposal is made without prejudice and I reserve the right to recover any and all costs consequent upon Kingston’s breach of contract.

Regards

Candidate

But before taking any legal action, the Candidate attempts, again, to resolve this dispute by contacting the University’s chief executive, its Vice-Chancellor.

Email of 11.5.11 between Candidate and Executive Assistant to Vice-Chancellor

From: Candidate

To: Executive Assistant to Vice-Chancellor

Subject: FW: contract

Date: Wed, 11 May 2011 11:32:00 +1200

Dear Executive Assistant to Vice-Chancellor

Please arrange for me to make a telephone appointment with Vice-Chancellor. As you will understand from my message below, I am not at all satisfied with the attitude of the HR department. I would like to discuss a more mutually satisfactory arrangement directly with Vice-Chancellor.

Mornings are best for me, since your afternoons are in the middle of the night here.

Yours sincerely

Candidate

Emails of 12.5.11 between Candidate and Executive Assistant to Vice-Chancellor

From: Executive Assistant to Vice-Chancellor

To: Candidate

CC: HR Client Partner

Date: Thu, 12 May 2011 09:26:14 +0100

Subject: RE: contract

Dear Candidate

I have asked our HR Team to prepare a brief for the VC re your circumstances and I am speaking to him about it this afternoon when he is in. Once he is fully updated we can arrange a phone call.

Kind regards

Executive Assistant to Vice-Chancellor

From: Candidate

Sent: 12 May 2011 01:09

To: Executive Assistant to Vice-Chancellor

Subject: FW: contract

I am resending this in case you did not get the last message. Please contact me soon.

Candidate

After Candidate provides bank details to enable Kingston University to transfer a small reimbursement for costs of obtaining a Passport, photos and copy of birth certificate, Kingston University insists that by providing those bank details, Candidate has somehow accepted the reimbursement as settlement in full for all claims. Do you think this is fair and/or accurate?

Email of 17.5.11 between HR Client Partner and Candidate

From: HR Client Partner

To: Candidate

Date: Tue, 17 May 2011 09:54:21 +0100

Subject: RE: contract

Dear Candidate,

Thank you for your email of 10 May 2011.

My email of 21st April 2011 is clear: the University offered to pay you £187.75 in full and final settlement of your whole claim for compensation set out in your earlier correspondence. You accepted this without question, supplied your bank details and payment was made. The University does not consider itself liable to you for any other sums claimed as you accepted payment from us on terms which precludes you from further action.

However, if you persist with your threatened course of action you should be aware that these emails will be shown to the presiding judge to support an order that you bear the University’s legal costs in full.

Please direct any further correspondence to our in-house legal adviser, Legal Adviser, whose email is email address.

Regards

HR Client Partner

Emails of 23.5.11 between HR Client Partner and Candidate

From: HR Client Partner

To: Candidate

CC: EA to VC; Legal Adviser

Date: Mon, 23 May 2011 09:56:56 +0100

Subject: RE: contract

Dear Candidate,

We have received a copy of your claim to the Employment Tribunals and therefore I would ask that all communications with the University must now be directed to our Legal Advisor and not with any other individual.

Regards

HR Client Partner

Following the filing of a claim with the Employment Tribunal, the Candidate and Kingston University resolved their dispute.

The fact of this resolution does not, however, alter the above facts, which are presented in the wider public interest.

Kingston University Hiring Practices

Kingston University
Hiring Practices