Absent staff members

Can a member of staff who is away from the office receive requests for information?

As requests for information can be made by email or letter a member of staff can receive a request even if they are away from the office. So if a member of staff is absent from the University for more than a week, arrangements should be made to ensure that any freedom of information requests they may receive are appropriately rerouted.

A colleague should open any mail that arrives, except for mail that is marked as being:

• private, confidential or personal, or
• a circular, such as a copy of a book from a publisher, or a publishers' catalogue

The Information Compliance Services guidance on managing your email provides guidance on the arrangements you should make for your email when you are away from the office for more than a few days.

I work in a very small department/subject group/section and sometimes, unavoidably, we have to shut the office for several days. Is the time that we are shut included in the response time calculation? What arrangements should we make to monitor our mail?

The response time is calculated from the day that the University receives the request even if no-one is available to read the request and act on it.

Colleges and Support Groups are responsible for ensuring that there is appropriate cover when their small units have to shut for more than a few days.

I need to access an absent colleague's computer account. What is the procedure for doing so?

Access to an individual's computer account will only be sought in exceptional circumstances, when the individual cannot be contacted and when there is an urgent need, for example to respond to a freedom of information request or a subject access request.

The procedure is:

1. Send a written request to the head of your IS support team asking to be granted access to the user's account. Explain the situation and provide a copy of the correspondence between yourself and the user's unit head. This correspondence will be added to the Call Management System by your IS support team to provide an audit trail. University Computing Regulations
2. Send a written request to the head of your IS support team asking to be granted access to the user's account. Explain the situation and provide a copy of the correspondence.
3. Your IS support team will arrange for the necessary access controls to be set for a limited time and will send you instructions on how to gain access.
4. Write to the user to inform them that you are going to be accessing their computer whilst they are away.
5. Only look at the account with another colleague by your side, so you can act as witnesses for one another.
6. Only look for the information you need. Avoid looking at anything marked 'personal'. Respect the confidentiality, integrity and security of the information contained in the account.
7. When you have found the required information, forward it to your own account.
8. When you have finished, tell your IS support team that you have finished so that they can remove your access permissions.