Due to the nature of academic work, but also due to the increasing emphasis universities and employers are placing on engagement and impact outside academia, increasing numbers of researchers in the humanities, arts and social sciences disciplines are moving in and out of academic roles. Even within academia, early and mid career academics in humanities, arts and social sciences may move between teaching-only casual roles, research-only casual/fixed term employment, and teaching-focussed and general academic roles. The ROPE criteria need to remain sufficiently flexible to recognise the increasing complexities of individual researchers’ career paths and life choices.