Glossary

This is a question that Newham NEU will ask school reps to help in answering by surveying their NEU members. A simple over 50% of all NEU members at the school agreeing workload is reasonable would result in a YES answer.

There is a higher nationally agreed pay scale for teachers in Local Authority Inner London Boroughs to reflect the higher house prices and cost of living. Academies and Free Schools can set their own pay scales.

Support Workers don’t receive an Inner London Pay scale in the way Teachers do. We believe this is wrong and should be changed. Academies and Free Schools can set their own pay scales.

The Burgundy Book is a national agreement between the five teacher unions and the National Employer's Organisation for School Teachers (NEOST) in England and Wales. It sets out the conditions of service for school teachers, including: Pay and sick leave, Maternity leave and pay, and Notice periods. Academies and Free Schools can set their own conditions of employment, with some academies in Newham not paying sick pay for the first three days of absence for example.

The Green Book is a government guidance document that covers the pay and conditions of service for Support Staff in schools including things like sick pay entitlements. It is the Support Staff equivalent of the Burgandy Book. Academies and Free Schools can set their own conditions of employment, with some academies in Newham not paying sick pay for the first three days of absence for example.

The Standard Teachers Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD) is Statutory guidance on pay and conditions for teachers in England in Local Authority schools. Academies and Free Schools can set their own pay and conditions of employment, with for example some academies in Newham not paying sick pay for the first three days of absence.

All teachers in Local Authority Schools will automatically be opted in to the Teachers’ Pension scheme, an important cornerstone of your retirement. Teachers’ Pension is a more generous scheme than some other independent pension providers. Independent schools can choose to remove their staff from this scheme.

Continuous service is where moving from one school to another is recognised as continuous employment for the purposes of pay and conditions. For example, where sick pay entitlements change according to how long you have been an employee, this becomes a very important question. Academies can decide whether they do or don’t recognise continuous service previous teaching employment.

Current Newham LA policy is clear that all teachers including ECTs be given a permanent contract unless the position advertised is a maternity cover or similar. Academies set their own policies with relation to contractual arrangements including the use of temporary contracts.

Performance related pay (except for moving through threshold to UPS) was removed in the latest STPCD, and this change has been made to Newham LA policy. Academies can choose whether to follow this statutory framework or not and may set their own pay policies.

Local Authority Schools are covered by National Trade Union Agreements which also govern practice at local level. Academies and free schools are not covered and need to agree their own arrangements, which should be negotiated with relevant trade unions.

A Joint Consultative and Negotiating Committee (JCNC) is a forum where the employer and recognised trade unions meet to agree policies and practices. A commitment to regular JCNCs or JCCs will be within the Trade Union Recognition agreement, but does this happen? Without JCNCs, unions are unable to monitor and negotiate policies for their members.

Ok so your employer has a JCNC or a JCC but is it meaningful? Where JCNCs are just for consultation and not negotiation this hugely reduces the power of trade unions to being asked for their opinion rather than treating them as a negotiating partner. These are often called JCCs instead of JCNCs.

School policies have a huge impact on the conditions of your employment – they cover everything from sickness absence, to maternity, to disciplinary matter. We work hard as a trade union to win the best policies we can. We believe all schools should match those we agree at Local Authority level, or else we risk a situation where conditions are degraded and undermined for educators. (As a trade union the NEU has no problem when a school wishes to go beyond and improve on the Local Authority Policies – however, this cannot be used as an excuse eroding rights elsewhere.)

Facility time is paid release for trade union reps in their workplace so that they can carry out Trade Union duties. Without this they are unable to effectively carry out their role of supporting members. This is about the employer respecting and valuing the work of trade unions and the reps in the workplace.  

In the same way that facility time for reps is vital to their work, it is equally important that schools pay their fair share towards release time for Trade Union officers to carry out their roles. Schools that don’t pay in are doing their employees great disservice and prevent the proper functioning of Trade Unions.

One of the most important protections around workload that teachers currently have are our Directed Hours. However, these are only meaningful if they are honest and transparent and agreed with the Reps at the school. It also is immensely unfair to expect workers to begin a new year of work without even knowing the hours they will be expected to work. Therefore, it is only reasonable that Directed Hours are agreed and shared in advance of the Academic Year.

This question is about ensuring that employees can plan their lives, manage their working time effectively, and that there are not surprises as the year goes ahead.

This is important for checking how pay is being used fairly in schools and not unfairly being withheld from those with protected characteristics such as pregnancy.

Health and Safety Committees are essential for monitoring and ensuring best practice. H&S committees are so important in this role that having a H&S Commitee is a legal right. Insist on setting one up at your school.