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IMPORTANCE NOTICE FOR PART-TIME TEACHERS
The government has recently decided to implement changes, recommended by The School Teachers’ Review Body, to the way that pro-rata salaries for part time teachers are calculated. These changes will come into effect from 1st September 2008. The government’s stated aim for the changes is to ensure consistency and fairness in the calculation of part-time teacher pay across all employers subject to the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document.
The main change will be the establishment of a clear measure for calculating part-time teachers’ pay and working time on the basis of their full-time teacher equivalents for any school in question. This will be achieved by reference to the school’s timetabled week.
Each school will calculate the proportion of time a part-time teacher works against the school’s timetabled teaching week (STTW). The STTW refers to the school session hours that are timetabled for teaching, including PPA time and other non-contact time but excluding break times, registration and assemblies. The STTW is to be used as the figure for calculating the percentage of the STTW for a part-time teacher at the school.
It is important to emphasise that the exclusion of break time, registration and assemblies from this figure does not mean that teachers are not being paid for these duties but only that they are not taken into account when calculating the percentage of the school day.
As an example, if the school day, excluding registration and assembly, runs from 9.00am to 12.15pm and again from 1.15 to 3.30pm with one 15 minute break in the morning session and one 15 minute break in the afternoon session, the school’s timetabled teaching week would be calculated as; morning session =3 hours, afternoon session = 2 hours, whole day = 5 hours, STTW =25 hours.
If a part-time classroom teacher in the example above (including excellent teachers and unqualified teachers) were employed at the school in question for mornings only, working 9.00am to 12.15pm every day, their percentage of the STTW would be calculated as 15 hours per week, 60% of full-time (15/25). Such a part-time teacher on M5 (proposed England and Wales full-time salary rate of £27,939, Sept 2008) working at 60% of full-time would be entitled to a part-time salary of £16,763 (60% of £27.939).
The same percentage is used to calculate the ‘directed time’ hours, so 60% of the 1265 directed time hours of a full-time teacher amounts to 759 hours directed time for the part-time teacher. A straightforward deduction of the ‘directed time’ hours required for the STTW across the school year (585 hours,or 15 hours per week multiplied by 39 weeks) provides the remaining available ‘directed time’ for the part-time teacher in the school year (759-585=174 hours).
In those cases where this new method of calculating part-time teachers’ pay results in a fall in salary, the fall in salary will be safeguarded up to a maximum of three years.
The NUT’s guidance can be found at www.hearthcommunity.teachers.org.uk/files/NOTICE%20-UNQUAL-TCHRS-PAY_AM.doc
If you have any questions about how this may affect you please contact us on 024 7667 0182 during school term time or the NUT’s Regional Office on 01785 244 129 outside of term time.
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