Outside activities an asset for the University – if done right

If you take on extra work as an employee, hold a position of trust, or operate your own business or pursue some other activity alongside your permanent position, in all likelihood it will be seen as an outside activity.
Dag Linde, Chief Negotiator in the University Administration, stresses that it is important for public confidence in the University that the employer knows what its employees are engaged in alongside their main employment.

“As a general rule, Uppsala University is generous when it comes to assessing outside activities, and in most instances outside activities are assessed as permitted. But it is important that outside activities do not pose any problems for the University. For example, that the University’s resources are used for the outside activity, that the employee spends their time on the outside activity instead of working during their paid working hours, or that there is a risk that the outside activity could damage the University’s reputation,” says Linde.

Permitted outside activities

Specifically, a permitted outside activity could be a position of trust or an academic role, which are often part of a teaching position at the University. But it could also be a political or union role. More substantial roles, such as being on the board of another higher education institution or a research funding body; or a more substantial editorial role for an academic journal, are usually also permitted as outside activities.
However, there may be consequences if an outside activity is not declared.

“If you are engaged in an outside activity and have not declared it, regardless of whether you are required to declare it or not, there is a risk that the employer will then assess your outside activity as prohibited. It is therefore always in your interests as an employee to declare an outside activity in order to be on the safe side,” says Dag Linde.

Prohibited outside activities

Supervisory authorities such as the Swedish Higher Education Authority (UKÄ) and the Swedish National Audit Office regularly check that the University knows what outside activities its employees are engaged in and, as mentioned above, there are also outside activities that are prohibited.

Prohibited outside activities fall into one of three categories: those that undermine public confidence, those that affect job performance by interfering with duties, and competing outside activities. An outside activity that undermines public confidence could be a business connection with Uppsala University of not insignificant financial implications. An example of an outside activity that interferes with the performance of your duties could be – even if declared as an outside activity – a teacher whose outside activity is scheduled in such a way that the employee is unable to fulfil their teaching duties at Uppsala University.

A competing outside activity could be a teacher offering a course in the same subject area and specialisation as contract education offered by the University, thus competing with Uppsala University’s contract education activities.

Consequences of prohibited outside activities

The following is an example of the consequences of not declaring an outside activity. The employer learns that an employee is engaged in an outside activity. After a number of reminders, the employee is notified that unless their outside activity is declared, the employee risks losing their position. In similar cases at Uppsala University, the employee has then declared their outside activity.

“However, there are a number of examples from other employers where a prohibited outside activity that was unknown to the employer has led to immediate termination of the employee’s position in more serious cases,” says Dag Linde.

Each year, the University produces data on the declaration rate for those who are required to declare outside activities. Dag Linde also says that the University regularly informs and reminds employees and managers about the importance of declaring their outside activities, if any.

“This is done in regular training sessions targeting managers, business-related HR (in Swedish, VHR) and new employees, in which the Human Resources Division and the Legal Affairs Division participate, as well as in regular advice to managers. The employment contract for teaching staff states that they must declare whether they are engaged in outside activities or not within one month of starting their employment. To support managers, the template for employee dialogues developed by the HR Division includes questions about outside activities,” says Linde.

The University’s internal audit of outside activities

The Internal Audit’s report “Bisysslor – Uppföljande granskning” (UFV 2022/804) (Outside activities – Follow-up audit) published in 2022, followed up on the audit of Uppsala University’s management of outside activities conducted in 2018. The purpose of the report was not only to follow up on whether the University Board’s decisions made in accordance with the Vice-Chancellor’s statement of opinion had been implemented, but also whether the decisions can be seen as having had the desired effect.

The report found that compliance with the rules and procedures for outside activities varied widely between departments, and that internal governance and control in the handling of this matter could be improved.

“One reason for the variation between departments may be that follow-up has not always been sufficiently prioritised in the chain of responsibility from the Head of Department, Dean, Vice-Rector and Vice-Chancellor,” says Sven Jungerhem, Chief internal auditor at Uppsala University.

However the report also points out that the decisions have in fact been implemented and that the declaration rate has improved. The University has taken a number of steps to comply with the legislation that regulates employees’ outside activities.

“For example, there are now clearer internal rules and a less complicated declaration procedure. It is now also easier for managers and employees to discuss outside activities annually as a question about this has been included in the template for annual employee dialogues,” says Jungerhem.

Sven Jungerhem also stresses that outside activities are not a bad thing. In fact quite the opposite.

“Outside activities are one of several ways to share the knowledge generated at the University, and for this reason they should be facilitated. The important thing is that they are not assessed as interfering with duties, competing with the University, or undermining public confidence in the University,” he says.

Recommendations for improved support

The recommendations from Internal Audit’s report included the need to update and strengthen the rules and information on outside activities and that the Vice-Chancellor should ensure that the rules are fully applied; and to further improve support to the heads of department regarding information and follow-up. Follow-ups should also cover both the departmental level and the University as a whole, and measures should be taken to shorten the long processing times.

Sven Jungerhem also argues that public confidence risks being undermined if the University does not have an adequate system for managing and registering outside activities. Consequently this issue remains as one of several areas to monitor in Internal Audit’s risk analysis.

“A well-functioning register of outside activities is also an important instrument for reducing the risk of corruption. Internal Audit will continue to review the quality of the University’s outside activities register. You could say that a database of this kind is like a refrigerator: what’s in there needs to be fresh,” he says.