NUT GUIDANCE: UNATTACHED TEACHERS (OCTOBER 2013)

This document summarises the position in respect of pay and conditions for unattached teachers. It sets out the NUT's general concern over the treatment of unattached teachers and looks at issues relating to pay, performance management, conditions of service and redundancies.

UNATTACHED TEACHERS

Unattached teachers employed by local authorities are employed in accordance with the provisions of the School Teachers Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD) and the Burgundy Book agreement. However, unlike teachers employed in mainstream schools, unattached teachers do not enjoy the full protection of the STPCD pay provisions. Instead, the pay of unattached teachers is determined by reference to “whichever” pay provisions of the STPCD are considered appropriate by the “relevant body” which is therefore able to disapply provisions in the STPCD that would apply to all other teachers.

The NUT has repeatedly voiced its concern over the position of unattached teachers and continues to assert that there is no good reason to treat unattached teachers differently. As indicated, paragraph 32.1 of the 2013 STPCD provides that: “The remuneration of an unattached teacher shall be determined in accordance with whichever provisions of this Document the relevant body consider appropriate” (our emphasis), suggesting that what is appropriate for teachers in schools is somehow inappropriate for unattached teachers.

Most “unattached” teachers are, in fact, attached, albeit to services or units rather than schools. It is time that the disadvantages which they suffer in comparison with teachers employed in schools were ended.

HOW ARE UNATTACHED TEACHERS AFFECTED?

The NUT firmly believes that unattached teachers should be paid on the same basis as teachers in schools. Otherwise, they are being penalised because they have chosen to work in a particular sector of education.

According to a survey undertaken in 2007 by the then DCSF (now of course DfE),the most frequently cited problems faced by unattached teachers were: the reduced number of TLR payments; the unsocial hours worked; the use of temporary contracts; funding; and the transfer of some unattached teachers off STPCD terms and conditions and on to other pay and conditions schemes (eg Soulbury). Indeed, contrary to requirements, many schools did not have a pay or performance management policy for unattached teachers.

Evidence gathered from other sources has shown that rates of pay progression are lower among all groups of unattached teachers than among teachers in schools. In addition, unattached teachers are not as likely to receive additionalpayments such as TLR payments and SEN allowances as teachers in schools.

Pay Progression

The Government has made changes to teachers’ pay progression which affects unattached teachers. The 2013 STPCD makes it clear that the new pay Main and Upper Pay Ranges will take effect in relation to salary determinations from 1 September 2014. In the meantime, however, pay decisions for September 2013 including those relating to pay progression must be taken in accordance with the 2012 STPCD.

Pay progression in September 2013 should, therefore, be based on the existing criteria - including on the Main Scale - and teachers should get the same incremental pay increase they would get under the existing scales. Schools will in practice have to use the Main and Upper Pay Range “reference points” set out in Annex 5 on page 73 of the 2013 STPCD for pay progression determinations for September 2013. Teachers have, therefore, a legitimate expectation that they should still get the pay increases they have been working towards this year.

The proportion of unattached teachers on the top of the main scale going through the threshold hastended to compare poorly with attached teachers. Pay progression for those already on the upper scale is also lower.

The evidence on pay progression has shown that there are problems in applying the current STPCD statutory criteria and statutory guidance on pay progression to unattached teachers. The statutory criteria and statutory guidance have been drafted with a view to the circumstances of teachers employed in schools. They do not take into account the circumstances of those employed in central services or other situations in which unattached teachers find themselves.

In some cases, it appears that employers are genuinely concerned at the perceived difficulty in interpreting and applying the statutory criteria and statutory guidance to unattached teachers. In other cases, the NUT believes strongly that such arguments are a mask for attempts to deny pay progression on budgetary grounds.

The NUT does not accept that unattached teachers should be denied pay progression because the nature of their employment does not easily fit with the current requirements in relation to performance management or because of the absence of classroom observation systems. The statutory criteria must be applied in the light of the circumstances in which unattached teachers work. Employers are able to use flexibility to take decisions on pay progression. Any problems experienced by members should be raised with the NUT (see below).

Further information about changes to the 2013 STPCD, pay progression and other pay issues can be found at

Teaching and Learning Responsibility Payments

Unattached teachers should receive TLR payments which fairly reflect additional responsibilities undertaken. The NUT has been made aware of cases where unattached teachers have been told by their employers that they do not qualify for TLR payments at all or do not qualify for them at the higher TLR 1 level. This is not true. There are again problems in that the statutory criteria for TLR payments are also related too closely to the circumstances of teachers attached to and working in schools but this does not prevent their award to unattached teachers.

SEN Allowances

The NUT does not accept that unattached teachers should be unfairly denied SEN allowances either due to disapplication of the STPCD’s provisions orto unfair or inappropriate pay policies. The revised STPCD criteria for SEN allowances introduced in September 2010 make it clear that unattached teachersare entitled to receive SEN allowances where appropriate.

CONCLUSION

The NUT believes that many unattached teachers are being penalised because they have chosen to work in a particular sector of education. There is no justification for this.

The NUT continues to press for the removal of the explicit provision in the STPCD permitting such teachers to be treated differently. Unattached teachers should be subject to the same provisions as other teachers. They should no longer be treated in the casual way currently permitted by the present STPCD provisions.

If any NUT members employed as unattached teachers encounter difficulties with their pay or any other aspect of their employment they should contact their division secretary or NUT Regional Office for advice and assistance.

NUT SSEE Dept.

October 2013

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