We are concerned about the risks that Trans staff will be facing with the rolling out of New Core in June

The problems with New Core are numerous and have been spoken about by the Union previously. There is also one issue that while not affecting all staff, will massively negatively impact those it does. The new HR & Payroll system is going to use and display staff member’s legal names (rather than preferred names, which the current HR system uses). This causes problems for transgender staff whose legal name may not match their gender identity, especially if they are not out as transgender to their colleagues.  The system cannot be changed to display preferred names, and legal names cannot be replaced with preferred names in the system (as legal names are required for the payroll functionality). Staff with different legal and preferred names were invited to a meeting with HR in December if this was likely to cause them significant issues, but it is unclear what resolution is being offered to these staff. Changing one’s legal name comes with its costs and it is unfair to expect a person to change their name, for the sake of one system that seems discriminatory at worst and faulty at best. Also there are people who cannot change their names for various reasons (visas, etc), where does this leave them?

I for one am extremely angry and disappointed at the University for not thinking about our transgender staff and potentially putting them at risk.

Please also read this article published in Redbrick, the UoB student newspaper:

https://www.redbrick.me/trans-staff-at-risk-from-new-database/

This article focuses on New Core’s effects on international and disabled staff: https://uobunison.org.uk/a-few-thoughts-on-the-new-core-postponement