Schools told to pay supply teachers during lockdown
Yesterday the Department of Education released clearer guidance on the financial support for supply teachers should receive during the national lockdown.
Schools and local authorities have been told to pay supply teachers 80 per cent of their wages during lockdown – even if their work is no longer needed and they were not on live assignments at the start of lockdown.
The new guidance provides clarity on who should pay them, after the NASUWT warned last month that they have been left with a sudden financial loss because supply agencies couldn't afford the added costs of the furlough scheme. The NASUWT says that, despite supply teachers being eligible for the furlough scheme, fewer of them are likely to receive the money than during the previous lockdown. This is because of changes to the rules that mean supply agencies now incur added costs such as employers’ pension and national insurance contributions.
An NASUWT national spokesperson for supply teachers said: "The fact that supply agencies and umbrella companies now have to pay these costs has resulted in many agencies saying they simply cannot afford to furlough supply teachers, and, as a consequence, they are not furloughing many of our hard-working and dedicated supply teacher members.”
But guidance says supply agencies should not now apply for furlough for their staff, and that schools should continue paying 80 per cent of wages for supply teachers – whether they were on live assignments or if schools just “expected” to employ them.
The guidance states: “Schools will continue to receive their budgets for the coming year as usual, regardless of any periods of partial or complete closure. This will ensure that they are able to continue to pay for staff and meet their other regular financial commitments.”
“We expect schools to ensure any employees funded by public money continue to be paid in the usual fashion from their existing staff budgets, and correspondingly not furloughed, in line with the HMRC guidance for public sector organisations."
Supply teachers are an invaluable source to schools for many reasons and should not be forgotten. Many schools rely on supply teachers and they proven to be an integral part of a school’s staffing needs.
Several unions including the NASUWT, the NAHT, NEU, GMB and Unison last month wrote a joint letter to Education Secretary Gavin Williamson calling for the government to “send a direction and provide adequate funding” to ensure that supply staff on live assignments continue to be paid from schools' budgets – and to ensure that those who had their assignments terminated are reinstated on the original terms.
And the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), a national body that represents supply teacher agencies, wrote a separate letter stating that agencies couldn’t afford to pay new costs of the furlough scheme, including the workers' national insurance and pension contributions.
Where schools are not the direct employer the guidance states “Where schools have agency staff on live assignments who can continue to work, either supporting face to face education or supporting remote education, they should continue to be paid in the usual way.”
“Where schools have agency staff on live assignments who cannot continue to work due to coronavirus (Covid-19), we encourage schools to continue to make previously agreed payments for the supply staff at 80 per cent of the agreed contract rate. Agencies who receive money in line with this guidance should pay their staff accordingly, and not furlough them."
And even where staff were not on live assignments when schools closed, they should continue to be paid – even if schools or local authorities only “expected” to employ them, according to the guidance.
The Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo), which represents supply teaching agencies, welcomed the updated guidance. However, a spokesperson said: “It is not a compulsory requirement, which leaves an element of uncertainty for supply teachers, agency workers and recruitment businesses alike.”
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