ATL

Pay for support staff

There are no national pay rates for support staff employed in the state sector.

Most LEA schools use the local government pay scales to pay their support staff in conjunction with National Joint Council (NJC) terms and conditions. However, this can vary between local authorities, which means it is not possible to be prescriptive about the rate of pay support staff will receive.

An employee's contract should state their rate of pay, the point on the local government pay scale that refers to, and how the rate will increase on an incremental basis to a certain point.

The maintained sector (England, Wales and Northern Ireland)

The current pay spine and London Weighting rates can be found on the pay scales page.

Pay Claim – 2012/13

The recognised local government trade unions (Unison, GMB and Unite) have tabled a pay claim for April 2012 for "a substantial increase on all pay points that recognises the financial hardship being suffered by local government workers – in particular the lowest paid – as a consequence of inflation and the failure of the Local Government Employers (LGE) to award £250 to those earning below £21,000, as embodied in government policy."

In a letter of 23 February, the LGE said it would not make a pay offer for 2012/13. The letter stated:

"At the Regional Pay Consultation Briefings last November it was clear that a significant majority of councils across the country were of the view that they could not support a pay increase from 1 April. There was genuine sympathy for the position of the lower-paid but councils told us that the economic situation is such that any pay award could only be met through further job losses and cuts to services. The National Employers are clear that the priority must be to continue to seek to protect jobs and services in light of the huge budgetary pressures councils are facing."

"This will be the third consecutive year that the local government workforce has not received a pay offer. This is unprecedented in the public sector. With this in mind, the National Employers have informed the unions that they would wish to avoid a situation of not being able to make a pay offer for a fourth year in 2013/14 and have therefore invited the unions to commence discussions immediately on a range of related issues covering pay, terms & conditions and reform of the national negotiating machinery with a view to reaching agreement for implementation on 1 April 2013."

The recognised unions have approached ACAS with a request to enter into binding arbitration. The LGE are resisting this move.

Independent schools

Some independent schools use the local government pay scale as the basis for paying support staff, and also increase salaries by the local government pay award each year. However, the incremental annual salary rise which is mandatory in the state sector is not always incorporated into contracts.

Other schools have their own salary rates but as with teachers, details of support staff pay should be included in a written pay policy.

In autumn 2011, ATL carried out a survey of support staff and teachers in independent schools on pay and working conditions. Read a press release about the survey, or see the detailed findings for support staff.

Term-time-only contracts

A term-time-only contract means that an employee is only employed when the school is open - in most cases, for 38 or 39 weeks a year.

Employees on term-time-only contracts are entitled to paid leave, and this entitlement is usually added on to the weeks worked to establish the overall salary. For example, if a school is open for 39 weeks and there is a leave entitlement of five weeks, it would add these figures up to make 44 weeks' work in a year.

This would be worked out as a proportion of the number of weeks in the year, so the annual salary would therefore be 44/52 of the full-time salary for the post. Schools tend to use broadly similar formulas to calculate salaries which take into account the proportion of full time hours worked as well as the term-time-only aspect.

The salary is usually divided by 12 and paid in equal monthly instalments throughout the year to ensure that the employee receives regular payments.

Pay for term time workers should reflect their contractual working arrangements. If term time workers are required to undertake work outside of their contracted hours they must be appropriately remunerated. Any such additional hours should be incorporated into contractual arrangements if they are an ongoing feature of the post.

Schools particularly should take steps to identify the hours required of support staff and to pay for all such hours. Again for school-based term time staff, it is recommended that individuals should be paid if required to attend INSET training days.

For more information about term-time pay, see the section in ATL's advice on part-time pay.

Concerns over term-time pay

Support staff are often unsure about how their salary is calculated, especially if they are paid on a term-time-only basis. Some schools do not make clear exactly how salary calculations are made, and can be reluctant to provide information about it.

Whatever method is used, however, calculation of salary should be fair and accurate, and ensure that term-time workers are not penalised compared to their full-time colleagues. The chosen calculation method should be made clear in the statement of particulars of employment.

One of the problems with term-time-only posts is that the salary is often quoted at the full 52-week rate when vacancies are advertised. The successful applicant then has a nasty surprise when the actual salary is revealed. To ensure that there is no confusion, ATL believes that term-time-only posts should be clearly marked as such, and the actual salary quoted.

Term-time-only contracts also create a disparity in schools because teachers as well as other support staff such as nursery nurses are paid all the year round and therefore receive a far greater leave entitlement. ATL believes that schools and local authorities should begin to address this issue, and work towards full-year contracts for all staff.

Single status

The Single Status Agreement was signed in 1997 by the local government employers and the local government trade unions (Unison, GMB and Unite).

Local authorities in England and Wales were given until 31st March 2007 to implement single status, but many have yet to do so.

The term 'single status' is shorthand for the harmonisation of pay and conditions across a local authority for comparable posts, including all non-teaching posts in schools. The main features are:

• one pay spine, on which all employees are included

• harmonisation of conditions of service

• equal status for part-time employees

• a standard working week of 37 hours or less

• grading reviews using one job evaluation scheme.

ATL's general advice to support staff members on any job evaluation process introduced as part of the roll-out of single status is as follows:

• make sure that the job evaluation is based on your current job description, and that it includes all of your current duties

• once the initial outcome of the evaluation is communicated to you, and if you are unhappy with it, raise any queries with your line manager, and ask for the decision to be reviewed

• if in spite of this, you remain dissatisfied with the job evaluation, you will have a formal right of appeal against the decision - contact your branch immediately for advice.

Where jobs are evaluated at an equal or higher pay rate to other comparable rates predominantly undertaken by a different gender, there may be a case for pursuing an equal pay claim. If you believe that you may have the basis for a claim, email national officer for support staff Peter Morris, providing as much detailed information as you can.