Secondary employment of staff

As of spring 2013 secondary employment is to be reported via Primula web

Based on changes to the wording of the Higher Education Ordinance and the introduction of the reporting function in Primula Web, LU Human Resources has revised the University’s regulations and memorandum on secondary employment. A new Vice-Chancellor’s decision dated 15 November 2012, Reg. no PE 2012/620, on the regulations and memorandum, replaces previous regulations established on 15 May 2008, Reg. no PE 2008/333.

Any questions concerning secondary employment are to be addressed to the appointed contact person at each faculty.

Overview – secondary employment at Lund University

What is secondary employment?

In principle, secondary employment is any work which is carried out temporarily or permanently alongside one’s regular employment and which is not attributable to private life. There is no requirement for the work to have a particular scope in order to be considered secondary employment and it is of no significance whether the secondary employment is gainful or not. Even extra work for Lund University or for another public agency can count as secondary employment.

What is not considered secondary employment?

Activities of various kinds that are typically part of a person’s private life, such as practising a hobby or taking care of family property and private affairs, are not considered secondary employment.

Why is secondary employment regulated?

The main reason for regulating the right of public servants to hold secondary employment in addition to their main employment is that it is in the public interest to ensure objectivity and impartiality in the exercise of public authority, in order to maintain trust in public agencies and their employees. The rules on conflict of interest also serve to guarantee objectivity and impartiality within public agencies.

It is in the interest of the state and, ultimately, the general public that public servants do not have secondary employment that negatively affects their regular work or the activities of the public agency that employs them.

What types of secondary employment are not permitted?

As a general rule, public servants are free to dispose of their leisure time and secondary employment is permitted.

Secondary employment that is not permitted is traditionally divided into three categories: work that undermines trust, impairs the employee’s work or constitutes competition. In addition to this, there may be other circumstances that render secondary employment not permissible. Secondary employment that undermines trust is prohibited by law. The prohibition on the other types of secondary employment is regulated in collective agreements.

It is the responsibility of the employee him/herself to ensure that his or her secondary employment is not prohibited.

Permitted secondary employment and work at the University are always to be clearly distinguished and any secondary employment is to be conducted completely outside the person’s position at the University.

What are the rules concerning the extended rights of academic staff to secondary employment?

In order to facilitate cooperation between universities/university colleges and wider society, academic staff at higher education institutions have more extensive rights to secondary employment connected to research and development work (R&D) in addition to their position at the university and within the field of their employment, as long as academic staff do not damage the public’s trust in their employer. However, the rule only covers the research and development work of academic staff and not pure teaching assignments or other engagements.

As for other cases, secondary employment in R&D must not undermine trust, impair regular work or constitute competition.

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