Registering as a casual worker

Before you are able to start work on your first assignment, you need to be registered as a casual worker with the College Casual Worker Team and have received a Casual Hours Agreement.  You will therefore be set up following a process for Hiring Casual Workers prior to the start of your demonstrating work. In order to start the process, you have to contact the Physics Casual Worker team ph.casualworkers@imperial.ac.uk so that they can start the setting up process and then give the details to the Casual Worker Team (CWT).  You must never start work until the Casual Worker Team has requested you to attend an on bording and Right to Work check, set you up on ICS and issued you with a Casual Hours Agreement.  

Any student on a Tier 4 visa is only allowed to work the maximum hours per week (Monday to Sunday) specified by their visa for any work in the UK.  This is usually either 10 or 20 hours per week.  It is illegal to exceed the hours specified. 

We will not be able to arrange payment for your work unless you follow this procedure and are issued your Casual Hours Agreement.  A new agreement will need to be completed for any new activity you undertake.   This form only needs to be completed once during your time registered as a  Casual Worker for that activity.  Workers engaged last year will need to be issued with the new Casual Hours Agreement before their next assignment.  You may also be asked to re-confirm your Right to Work if necessary.   

This is a requirement even for students that were set up on the system in previous years!!!

Recording your work hours

Once you have being issued your Casual Hours Agreement, you will need be able to start recording your hours by completing a form on a monthly basis whenever you undertake any demonstrating work. This should be done through the Imperial College Casual Workers app.

Access the casual workers app

The hours that you work will then need to be confirmed by the Head of the activity and I will then be able to approve it for payment. If the hours and the confirmation from the approver are received before the 8th of the month at midday, you may be able to get the money into your account by the 24th of the month.

Please note that you must claim for the work done on a regular basis - within a month of completing the work, otherwise you will not be able to be paid. Do not stockpile the hours, as the system will not accept them. Therefore make sure that you have submitted the hours at the time the work takes place.

Rate of pay - from the 05/08/2024

Below, we list the current hourly rate of pay with indicative examples for the types of roles that would receive that pay.

  • Tier 1 - £19.63 - (£22.00 with holiday pay). Exam invigilation. Student support roles* e.g., note taking. Marking of assessed problem sheets. Undergraduate lab demonstrators.
  • Tier 2 - £24.02 - (£26.92 with holiday pay). Lab and Computing demonstrators. Seminar GTAs. Rapid Feedback roles. Marking with academic interpretation required (lab reports).
  • Tier 3 - £31.93 - (£35.78 with holiday pay). Leading educational activities. 

* Some student support roles may be paid at a higher rate based on an assessment of the needs of the role.

All the above will then have a 12.07% as part of the holiday pay that you get when you become a demonstrator.  You would be liable to pay N.I. contributions when your pay was above £1,048.00 p.m.

Demonstrating

Demonstrators - Approval Process

Claim forms for demonstrating must be approved  by the heads of the relevant activity, which are listed below. Claim forms for student support must be approved by the Senior Undergraduate Administrator (Room 308, Blackett Laboratory):

  • First Year Labs – Yoshi Uchida
  • First Year Seminars - Jon Fenton
  • First Year Electronics - Chris Carr
  • Second Year Labs - Michael Fox
  • Second Year Computing – Alex Richards
  • Second Year Seminars - Steve Kolthammer
  • Third Year Labs – James Mcginty
  • Third Year Computational Physics - Mark Scott
  • Third Year Microprocessors - Mark Neil
  • Third Year Seminars - Yvonne Unruh
  • Rapid Feedback - Yvonne Unruh
  • iExplore Module: Origins - Dave Clements
  • Lambda Feedback - Jon Fenton
  • Summer Projects - Yoshi Uchida
  • QFFF Rapid Feedback - Graziela de Nadai
  • Maths Analysis - Jonathan Halliwell
  • Student Support / Notetaking - Kayleigh Murphy
  • Audio Visual (AV) - Derryck Stewart
  • Physics and Coding Help Desk - Yasmin Andrew

National insurance number

To enable you to receive your payments you should have a National Insurance (N.I.) number. You can claim before you get the NI number but must sent it to Casual Pay as soon as you obtain it.   

To apply for your NI number, you have to contact your local Department of Work & Pensions office by calling 0845 600 0643. They shall be able to give you an appointment and arrange for further requirements to be sent to you. For further information on the process, please visit the Department of Work & Pensions site.