HR policies for Fixed Term Researchers

Overview of HR policies for Fixed Term Researchers

On this page you will find information on a selection of the most common HR policies. These policies are intended for all staff including fixed term researchers. All University’s HR policies can be found on the HR Support page.

However, you might find that your circumstances are not covered by the standard policies. If that is the case, please do get in touch with the HR team in your department or faculty.

Work-life balance

Holiday entitlement

The University of Oxford offers an allowance of 38 days’ holiday per year (including public holidays) – pro-rata if you are part-time. There is also long-service leave starting from five years of continuous employment.

Find out more about holiday entitlement.

Flexible working

Flexible working is a variation from the standard full-time working pattern, so anything like working reduced hours (part-time), staggering working hours (early or late finish), term-time only working, working from home and so on. Applications to request this can be informal or formal and should be discussed with your line manager or the HR team in your department or faculty in the first instance.

Visit this page for more information about flexible working.

Family

Family leave

The University has generous family leave benefits that are available to all staff groups. Family leave includes maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental leave (SPL), as well as fertility treatment leave. 

Read more about all types of family leave.

There is some specific guidance aimed at academic staff (for example sabbatical leave), but please note that this is supplementary to the main guidance above, so make sure you have read those documents before.

If you have any specific questions that are not answered on the pages above, we encourage you to get in touch with the HR team in your department or faculty.

Childcare

The University of Oxford offers a broad range of childcare resources, including subsidised nursery places and discounted holiday playschemes.

Details on how to access childcare schemes can be found here.

Health and wellbeing

Health

The University’s Occupational Health Service supports staff and their managers with health and wellbeing. You can visit the Occupational Health Service page for more information. 

Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)

The University has recently launched an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) through Health Assured. It offers a confidential employee benefit designed to help you deal with any personal and professional problems that may affect your home or work life, health and general wellbeing.

For further information about the programme, visit the Health Assured page.

Staff benefits and discounts

The University offers a wide range of benefits, along with learning and development opportunities. These include free eye tests, special rate health insurance, preferential membership rates on University’s sports facilities, as well as bus and train pass schemes and bicycle loan schemes and much more.

For a complete list of benefits, visit the University of Oxford staff benefits page.

Thriving at Oxford

This brand-new strategy has been developed to support staff to feel and perform at their best. There are wellbeing events including accessible yoga, a variety of resources for mental health including online courses to help you look after yourself, a pilot Staff Counselling Service for which you can self-refer, and much more.

See the latest initiatives and explore resources on the Thriving at Oxford page.