The University of Birmingham has been criticised over plans to more strictly enforce immigration controls for international staff, with unions and campaigners accusing it of pursuing draconian and discriminatory monitoring of non-EU academics.

This week, the university issued guidelines stating that non-EU staff will be required to “record their attendance in the new system each day, by completing a time card. At the end of the week their line manager, will be required to validate the time card.”

The briefing also said that if managers found that “any of the details are incorrect they will need to ensure they are raised with the individual [non-EU academic] and resolved”.

James Brackley, the president of the Birmingham branch of the University and College Union (UCU), said the system would affect hundreds of overseas staff.

“Under the current system, administrators compile attendance reports on non-EU staff every week in line with Home Office requirements,” he said. “It appears that the proposed system is a significant escalation of that monitoring and will put them under much greater scrutiny, and give their line managers a lot more power over them.

“The affected staff feel discriminated against. Some have said they think it’s a racist policy comparable to going through a border checkpoint simply to do their daily work. It makes them feel like outsiders and that they’re not trusted by their employer. This is causing an enormous amount of stress.”

The new monitoring regime covers both long-term and temporary non-EU staff sponsored by the university in order to work in the UK, who are on tier 2 and tier 5 visas respectively. The HR briefing states that it is being introduced in order to comply with the university’s sponsor duties.

A spokesperson for the university said: “The University of Birmingham is not introducing a new attendance monitoring system for non-EU staff and is not expecting non-EU staff to check in on a daily basis. As with all organisations that employ staff on tier 2 and tier 5 visas, the university is required by the Home Office to confirm that staff are regularly attending work.

“Like many other universities, businesses and organisations we are implementing a new finance, HR and payroll IT system to provide self-service to staff. [This] replaces outdated, often paper-based systems and processes and gives staff control of things like booking leave, accessing payslips and changing personal details.”

Last year, the University of Sussex mooted introducing a similar policy requiring non-EU staff to submit daily reports to their line manager and to HR regarding their whereabouts at all times, both on and off campus, but the plans were abandoned after opposition by lecturing unions and campaigners.

Three years ago, the University of Edinburgh said it would require all employees, not just overseas staff, to tell management if they left their “normal place of work” for half a day or longer, partly to avoid potential discrimination.

Under the hostile environment policy, pursued by the government since 2010, universities are required to inform the Home Office of any breaches in the visa or immigration status of an international student or member of staff.

Sanaz Raji, an independent researcher and founder of the campaign group Unis Resist Border Controls (URBC), said: “Non-EU staff and students find themselves perpetually precarious because of the xenophobic atmosphere that shrouds immigration policy in this country.”



Dr Gareth Edwards, of International and Broke, which campaigns for universities to cover the immigration costs of non-EU staff, said: “This proposal sends a clear and unfortunate message that non-British staff are not welcome at the University of Birmingham.”

The Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran, who has called for the Home Office rules that have led universities to monitor the whereabouts of overseas staff to be scrapped, said: “It is terrible that the University of Birmingham feels like they are under this obligation from the government. It is another reminder of the cold shoulder that the UK is giving to the brightest talent from across the world.”