Union staff members are employed to carry out work on behalf of the Trustee Board. In the first instance, staff members are accountable to a designated Line Manager who in turn is accountable to the Chief Executive who is accountable to the Trustee Board.
Staff duties and responsibilities are governed by job descriptions. The line of accountability is an agreed term of employment and should be respected at all times and in all settings when staff members are engaged in work on behalf of the Union.
In a democratic environment, elected Officers and/or staff members should feel able to critically appraise the work of the Union. However, any direct criticism of Union staff by a student or elected Officer should only be raised through the line management structure as outline above.
Members should never name individual staff, group of staff or "the staff of the Union" when criticising the work of the Union in public.
Other than acting as facilitators or Administrators, Staff will never directly take part in the democratic decision making of the Union; they will refrain from public comment on any outcome or decision of any democratic processes including elections, referenda and/or representative bodies. This will not prevent staff from supporting elected officers to carry out their duties as required by their line manager.