2. Model Professional Experience Employment Contracts

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Employers Guide to Professional Experience - Introduction

Welcome to the section of the PEDR designed to help employers and students to arrange successful and effective professional experience employment. The aim is to clarify expectations and support individual practice frameworks for employing students during their mandatory periods of professional experience employment. Included here are:

1. RIBA Employment Policy

The RIBA is committed to promoting best employment practice and equal opportunities in the architecture profession and has adopted a policy statement on employment practice aimed at the profession as a whole. The policy statement, approved by Council in May 2004, is accompanied by four key commitments made by the RIBA towards achieving best practice, as well as aspirational guidance for employers and employees to help facilitate good employment practice.

The policy will be expanded upon in a new Employment Best Practice guide to be developed and published in association with Workplace Law Network towards the end of 2004. The guide will offer practical advice to employers and provide pragmatic and practical support to the application of best practice, offering tools such as model employment contracts, case studies, best practice checklists and where to find the most up-to-date information on employment legislation.

2. Model Professional Experience Employment Contracts

The Model Professional Experience & Development Employment Contracts indicate the range of issues employers and students need to consider when arranging professional experience employment.

There are two separate model contracts, providing guidance to employers of:

1. 'Year Out' students working at Stage 1 of Professional Experience & Development before returning to university to complete the Part 2 stage of their course,

2. Post-Part 2 graduates who have completed their academic studies and are working at Stage 2 Professional Experience and Development Employment towards their Part 3 Examination

Each model contract reflects the different levels of ability, learning expectations, work experience requirements and study commitments of these two stages.

The Model Professional Experience Employment Contracts have been drawn up for the RIBA Education and Practice Departments by the HR legal advisory service, Workplace Law Network, and organisation with specialist expertise in advising architectural practices on HR issues. They cover:

• RIBA professional body expectations of employers of student and graduate professional experience employees;

• RIBA professional body expectations of students and post Part 2 graduates undertaking professional experience employment under the RIBA PEDR;

• Current HR legal requirements on employing staff in this capacity.

Please note, when working with these documents that it is vital for both students and their employing offices to recognise that they are issued by the RIBA as guidance only.

Employers using the templates to draw up a contract covering a specific student or

graduate employment are therefore strongly recommended to seek additional legal advice, as they would in the case of a general employment contract.

Used on this basis the model professional employment contacts will provide a helpful toolkit for employers - including both those with little experience of employing students during their professional experience, and those who want to ensure their established procedures and contracts conform with professional body and employment law requirements.

Often, if things go wrong, it is because of a mismatch of expectations between an employer and their student or graduate employee about the responsibilities and entitlements involved in professional experience employment. Issues such as study leave entitlement to attend courses, opportunities to broaden experience through 'unproductive' work, confidentiality and access to documents for their professional casework, and repayment of course fees when moving to another job, have all featured in the arguments that can sometimes arise.

Whether you are an employer or a student/graduate employee, we hope that the model contracts and their linked information on planning work and learning activities will help YOU to avoid these problems, and lay a successful foundation for your professional experience employment.

If you are already employing architecture students or graduates, or already working your way towards your Part 3 Examination, we hope that it will help you to make the most of the learning opportunities presented by your practice and achieve your goal successfully.

For students and graduates, the model contracts indicate expectations on professional conduct and confidentiality of practice information, and suggest ways to balance Part 3 course and examination fees paid by their employer with a agreed period of continued employment post- Part 3

3. Arranging Professional Experience Employment

Professional experience employment enables students and graduates to learn from observing and participating in architectural practice, and to develop professional skills by working under the supervision of experienced architects. As with any employment, a clear job description and a mutually agreed contract of employment will help to ensure that all involved are clear about the commitments they are making and the responsibilities that they involve.

• Example professional experience job profiles

• Time off in lieu of overtime

• 'Part 3' Professional Casework

4. Does your practice have the resources to support student employment?

Employing students and graduates during their mandatory periods of professional experience can bring benefits to both the student and their employer, but will require time and commitment to ensure it is successful. The model contracts and professional experience matrix should help offices in deciding to offer professional experience employment, but other questions they need to ask are:

• Do we have someone in the staff team who can act as Professional Experience Mentor for student and graduate employees? The responsibilities have changed somewhat from the days of the old monthly tick box log sheets. To check what they involve see Duties and Responsibilies of the Employer

• Can we afford to pay current student salaries? Salary levels should reflect both the costs to the office of supervising and mentoring student and graduate employees, and the abilities a student or graduate contributes to the office. Students and Graduates will have fresh ideas and abilities requiring development in the workplace. Although they might not "pay" in the first few weeks, in most cases they will be worth more than their pay towards the end of their stay in the office.

There are no RIBA recommended professional experience employment salary scales,

but the RIBA supports the minimum salary levels set out by the architecture student

organisation: ARCHAOS for Stage 1 (Year Out) students and these are listed in the

RIBA Policy on pay and conditions for Stage 1 students

An indication of average salary levels for post-Part 2 graduates during professional experience employment can be found in the regularly updated "salaries" section of www.riba-jobs.com. Employers who are not able to match these salary levels should think very seriously about offering student and graduate employment. Bear in mind that students enter professional experience employment carrying a heavy burden of student debt. If they are forced to make up an inadequate salary by taking on other evening work it is likely that both the quality of both their learning and their work in practice will suffer - a situation where no one will benefit.

• Will we offer other financial support? Who pays costs such as: Part 3 course and examination fees payable towards the end of Stage 2 professional experience; 'Year Out' recall day fees payable during Stage 1 of professional experience; and the Professional Experience & Development Record monitoring fee now charged by most architecture schools, should be decided between individual employers and their student/graduate employees. Such agreements can then be included in the contract drawn up between the office and the student/graduate at the beginning of their employment.

5. Activities that will broaden professional experience - or how to make the most of learning opportunities in your practice.

In clause 16 of both contracts there is reference to providing opportunities for students to learn by observing on projects or activities where they are not 'productively' employed, but which will 'broaden their professional experience'. Both the PEDR and the model contracts refer to a maximum number of hours/days that employers should expect to allow for this type of 'on the job' learning through observation.

In the past the RIBA has issued brief general guidance on this subject, in terms of allowing students during Stage 1 Professional Experience opportunities to 'shadow' more senior employees, and to learn by accompanying them on visits to sites or by sitting in on site and client meetings. At Stage 2 Professional Experience, where graduates are developing their professional experience towards the Part 3 Professional Practice Examination, 'learning through observing' might involve expanding on their own 'hands on' contract running experience by sitting in on meetings for other projects.

Further information on the range of professional experience activities appropriate to Stage 1 and Stage 2 of professional experience, and whether this might be as a 'participant' or an 'observer', is now provided as a guidance matrix of professional experience and development activities designed to help employers and students make the most of the learning activities provided by their practice. The aim help practices to support student development through professional experience employment, whilst avoiding activities beyond their level of competence.

Duties and Responsibilities of the Employer

During professional experience, whilst the status of the student is that of an employee first and foremost, the office should also create an environment where the student can learn new skills and develop his/her professional abilities within a structured setting.

As a guide, there are four undertakings that should be regarded as setting a minimum standard when engaging a student completing professional experience:

a. To give a student reasonable opportunities to gain an adequate breadth and depth of experience from the range described in the Professional Experience and Development Scheme.

b. To nominate an experienced architect (or other professional in non-architectural work settings), who will be personally responsible for directing the student's work, and supervising and guiding the student's professional experience so that the range, quality and depth of activities undertaken shall be such as to satisfy the objectives of

professional experience. This person is known as the Employment Mentor.

c. Stage One Professional Experience: To allow 6 paid working days in total for

professional activities which have the educational objective of broadening the student's professional experience and up to 4 days paid leave in total for attendance at Stage One study/recall days at the student's school of architecture. This will be matched by an equivalent amount of the student's own unpaid time to broadening their professional experience.

Stage Two Professional Experience: To allow 10 paid working days in total for

professional activities which have the educational objective of broadening the student's

professional experience and 10 working days paid leave in total for attendance at Part

Three courses and examinations. Not more than 10 paid working days to be taken in one calendar year.

d. To sign, date and comment upon the student's professional experience and

development record in a fair, accurate and timely manner at the end of each 3-month period of professional experience.

The following table describes what is expected of the Employment Mentor, with support from the office, during a student's professional experience, and what you can expect from the student in return for providing a suitable work placement.

Duties and Responsibilities of the Employment Mentor

You are responsible for: In addition, you must: You can expect the student to:

a establishing an

organisational framework which will facilitate the provision of high quality professional experience

comply with the code of

professional conduct set by the RIBA

b overseeing the educational and professional

development of the student in the work place,

supervising his/her daily work and reviewing the student's achievements for each professional

development period

provide the student employee with a detailed job description and contract of appointment providing information about hours of work, the time allocated for study and opportunities for educational and professional development

take responsibility for their own learning, so that by the end of their period of professional experience the student will be ready to accept the responsibilities of a registered architect and continue with CPD

c ensuring that the student employee is not

overburdened by

responsibilities inappropriate to his/her experience, or overwhelmed by tasks of limited or repetitive educational value

ensure safe working arrangements for the student employee and proper supervision of the student at all times, including

arrangements for cover in times of absence

contribute fully to, and take responsibility for, his/her own work within the office, subject to supervision by the Employment Mentor

d discussing with the student employee at the start of each 3-month period of professional experience, the work objectives and learning opportunities within that period

sign, date and comment on the student's achievements for each 3-month period of professional experience, within a reasonable time frame (not unreasonably withholding permission to include work produced in the office to supplement the PEDR)

complete the professional experience and

development record in a fair, open and timely manner, agreeing with you in advance the inclusion of any material generated in the office

e providing systematic professional training which should include first hand experience of a range of general procedures and tasks as well as some which are speciality specific

ensure that the student employee is obtaining the necessary experience of practical procedures and contractual arrangements to compliment studies for the Part 3 Examination

f ensuring that the student employee is not routinely expected to undertake tasks of no educational value or required to work hours that are in excess of their contract.

facilitate and encourage the students attendance at professional practice Part 3 programmes.

not undertake a task for

which they have not been

adequately prepared.

What Professional Experience are we expected to give a student?

It is not always possible to give a student every kind of experience outlined in the Professional Experience and Development Record. However, with careful planning, it is possible to make the best of time and opportunities available as well as the abilities of the student. Also, it is not intended that every student should necessarily obtain all the different kinds of experience in each office, which would clearly be impracticable in most cases. However, the employer and the Employment Mentor should ensure that students are given exposure to a wide range of professional activities undertaken by the office so that he/she is given an opportunity to satisfy the objectives of the scheme. The Employment Mentor should thoroughly check the Professional Experience and Development Record at regular intervals to see that as broad a coverage of activities as possible is being maintained within the circumstances of the office. If coverage is being limited, every effort should be made to increase the variety, by moving the student to another project, for example.

The student should be seen as a contributor to the office and a balance needs to be struck between the requirement to run a business efficiently and the educational needs of the student.

However, students should not be expected to regularly undertake routine activities of no educational value. It should also be noted that most schools charge a fee for their students in the professional experience period (and students may be involved in paying back a government student loan) and this may need to be taken into account when determining the salary level.

Students will have fresh ideas and abilities and although they might not 'pay' in the first few weeks, in most cases they will be worth more than their pay towards the end of their stay in the office.

The Professional Experience and Development Record gives an opportunity for the student and Employment Mentor to reflect on the achievements of the 3-month periods of professional experience. These discussions should be an opportunity for an open and frank conversation and permit both parties to understand each other's expectations of professional experience.

Comments from these discussions can then be recorded on the record sheet for future reference. Frequent informal chats are also advisable, to give students a regular assessment of their progress and review their performance.

Students will be asked by their school to reflect on their professional experience in practice in

the form of an essay, case study or report, as part of final Examination in Professional Practice

and Management, (Part 3). These may be shown to an RIBA Visiting Board, but remain strictly

confidential and not for publication. Students should feel able to be honest in what they say, but

before it is finalised, the Employment Mentor should be given an opportunity to check it for

factual accuracy, even if the student's opinions remain personal and subjective. Material is also

often collected by students for their submission for the final Examination in Professional Practice

and Management, (Part 3). Employers should advise students if they might purchase or collect

copies of drawings they have prepared in the office. Spare or superseded copies of drawings

should be allowed within reason for this purpose. Employers should not unreasonably withhold

material from students; however, the student should ensure that the employer agrees to material

being released to ensure that professional confidences are not endangered.