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Working in an academy

Teachers in academies may not have the same pay or conditions as teachers in local authority schools. This may mean less favourable rights to sick or maternity pay, for example.

Your NUT

Many academy chains have agreed with the NUT to apply the terms of the STPCD and the Burgundy Book to newly appointed as well as transferring staff. Some single site academies also apply the national pay and conditions to their new teaching staff. Others, however, do not.

Your pay

School pay policies are applied by the academy governing body, so they may be altered when the school becomes an academy. Some academies have rejected NUT arguments for applying a single pay scale for all teaching staff and instead employ Tupe-transferred teachers on one contract and newly recruited teachers on another. Some academies operate separate pay scales for management posts. Others have increased pay for new recruits in exchange for additional responsibilities or alternative arrangements for directed and non-directed time.

Your working hours STPCD working time provisions include:

• a limit of 195 working days per year, of which five must be non-teaching days

• a limit of 1265 hours of directed time per year

• at least 10 per cent of timetabled teaching time as planning, preparation and assessment (PPA) time

• an entitlement to only rarely cover for absent teachers

• a break of reasonable length at lunchtime.

Academies that do not follow the STPCD for new recruits may apply different working hours.

All NQTs, however, irrespective of where they are undertaking their induction, should have a reduced timetable of 90 per cent of the timetable of other main scale teachers in the school.

Maternity and sickness absence

Newly appointed teachers in academies may lose their entitlement to Burgundy Book conditions or have to build up these entitlements from scratch. Such teachers will be entitled to enhanced maternity and sickness benefi ts only if agreed by the employer. In many cases they will have to build teaching service at the academy to qualify for these benefi ts and will have less generous statutory entitlements. Contractual and statutory maternity benefi ts are detailed in the NUT guidance Maternity Matters (www.teachers.org.uk/taxonomy/term/350)

The NUT protects members in all school settings, including academies. The Union is recognised to negotiate for teachers in many academies. NUT reps are key to this process. If you don’t have an NUT rep in your academy, you could become one yourself or jointly with a colleague. Visit www.teachers.org.uk/getinvolved to find out more or register interest – and read pages 26/27 too!

Where to find out more

If you have been appointed to work in an academy, your employer must provide you with a ‘statement of initial employment particulars’ including your scale or rate of pay and any terms and conditions relating to hours of work.

If you were transferred to an academy under Tupe, you and your colleagues should have received a written ‘statement of changes’ that your employer has altered. Details of your terms and conditions, known as ‘employee liability information’ will have been passed to your new employer.

Ask your employer or your school rep to confirm your terms and conditions if you are not sure.

You’ll find lots of information about teachers’ contracts, pay and terms and conditions of employment on the NUT website, www.teachers.org.uk Click ‘advice and guidance’ or ‘pay and conditions’.

For further information or support on terms and conditions of employment please contact your NUT rep or local NUT association or division secretary. Details are on your membership card or at www.teachers.co.uk/contactus

Go to www.teachers.org.uk/academies for more about the NUT academies campaign, and read Academies Toolkit: Protecting Members in Academies for guidance on how to promote teachers’ interests in academies.

Academies in numbers

In November 2012 there were 2,456 open academies in England. This represents:

• 46.6 per cent of all state funded secondary schools

• 5.1 per cent of primary schools

• 5.1 per cent of special schools.

• Sandra Bennett is NUT Employment Rights Officer.