A significant number of authorities continue to offer promoted posts (usually at PT level) on a "temporary" basis.
- Salary attached to temporary promoted posts, i.e "acting up", should be the appropriate salary as per the current post or, if it is a new post, it should be appropriately job-sized before advertising.
Although the salary attached to any promoted post can only be established by jobsizing it is common to see posts advertised as being payable at scale point 1 without any reference to jobsizing. The post has probably not been jobsized. If the teacher accepts a post knowing this, the salary is now probably contractual. - Any teacher who is offered a post should have the right to know the attached salary before accepting the post. If the teacher has any doubt as to the attached salary when the post is offered, acceptance of the post should be delayed until the salary is identified. This may not be a major issue in those cases where the teacher is prepared to accept the post regardless of the attached scale point. The authority may, however, need to be reminded that the post should be properly jobsized.
- Notice periods
All contracts should specify notice periods (on either side). This is often overlooked. However, "notice" is generally regarded as the period required for notification that the employee wishes to leave the service of the employer altogether. If the teacher suspects for any reason that he/she might wish to return to his/her previous unpromoted post prior to the date of expiry of the temporary contract, the teacher should ensure that this is clearly understood and may require to write to the employer seeking written confirmation that this is what the term "notice" does mean. As with all appointments, it is important that the teacher retains all correspondence relating to any acting position. - Right to conservation
Any teacher who accepts a temporary promoted appointment and who is at that time entitled to any form of conservation or who would be entitled to conservation (under the "23/24 month rule") should have his/her conservation rights protected by a statement in the written particulars. The form of conservation and relevant salary grade must be specified.
