We congratulate Rebecca Abrams and Alice Jolly on their court victory this week, following a six-year dispute over working conditions with Oxford University, undertaken with support from the Society of Authors.

As reported in the Guardian on Wednesday the pair were employed on fixed-term ‘personal services’ contracts on the university’s creative writing programme, on terms which denied them vital employment rights and protections.

In a decision that could have serious implications for other authors working on similar precarious contracts, the judge found that they should have been classed as employees.

Abrams told the Guardian, ‘Alice and I are skilled professionals teaching at one of the world’s top universities, yet we’ve been employed year after year on sham contracts that have denied us our employment rights and legal protections. With nearly 70% of its teaching staff on precarious contracts, Oxford is one of the worst offenders, but this is an issue that extends across UK higher education. Casualisation is a race to the bottom – bad for teachers, bad for students, and bad for universities.’

Commenting on the outcome, SoA Chief Executive Nicola Solomon said, ‘This judgment is an important victory for workers’ rights, and a move in the right direction to improve unacceptable working conditions for the many SoA members working in higher education. When Rebecca and Alice first approached us back in 2018 we wrote to the University asking for an acknowledgment that these were employment contracts.  We are sorry it has taken litigation and so many years for our analysis to be confirmed and we are disappointed that the University has chosen to drag it out for so long and still has not paid any compensation to Rebecca and Alice. But I am glad we were able to support them through the process, and it’s great to see the difference authors can make when they push back on poor contracts of any kind.’

If you are offered a contract of any kind or you have queries about issues you are trying to navigate in your work, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our advisors.