On Thursday 7 March the SNCT Teachers’ Side Negotiators (SSTA and EIS) met Government Officials in an attempt to find a resolution to the 2018 Pay Claim. Following long discussions a revised pay arrangement for teachers was prepared. The Deputy First Minister, on behalf of the Government, intervened in the dispute and made a revised proposal on 8 March. The detail of the DFM proposal can be found here . The letter highlights a commitment to address teacher workload and other issues that are a broader concern for members.

As you are aware, the SNCT Teachers’ Side had rejected the previous offer. The EIS is recommending the proposal to its members and we await a formal offer from COSLA on behalf of the employers later in the month. The formal offer will then be considered by the SNCT Teachers’ Side with the expectation that the new offer will be accepted. Please note: As this proposal is an improvement to the previous offer going forward the SSTA will not be consulting members.

The latest proposal is for an increase of 3% April 2018, 7% April 2019 and a further 3% in April 2020.  This would take a teacher at the top of the main grade to £40,206 from April 2019 and to £41,412 at April 2020. (See draft pay scales here)

The SSTA will keep members updated on developments

Working Time Agreements (WTA); must be adhered to and any changes can only be made to reduce teacher workload. All changes must be negotiated with the recognised trade union representatives.

Staff, Department and Working Group Meetings; the school should ensure that all meetings of staff must be allocated on the school calendar, have an agenda circulated in good time, action points recorded and are time constrained. Meetings should not go beyond the allocated time.

Formal assessments; schools should ensure sufficient time is allocated for teachers to carryout formal assessments (including work required for National Qualifications). All subject teachers should be encouraged to quantify the workload demanded by SQA early on in the school year and the school should make arrangements to identify measures and adequate time required to manage this workload within the WTA.

Monitoring and Tracking; the school should ensure that tracking and monitoring systems prevent the duplication of teacher input and should be capable of generating a report to parents. It is sufficient for teachers to track and monitor all pupils twice a year. Recording systems that collect information but do not add to teaching and learning should be discontinued.

Parent meetings; the school should ensure there is only one meeting per year group in the course of the year. The parent meeting should be managed not to coincide with the reporting process as parent teacher dialogue is crucial in supporting learning.

Reporting to Parents; schools should ensure that all reports are meaningful and do not include educational jargon. Where schools provide computer generated reports it is not necessary to produce any other report to parents. Where teachers are required to produce subject reports the time allocated within the WTA will determine the length of the report (after monitoring and tracking time has been accounted for). If a teacher teaches a number of classes within a year group the report submitted will be far less than another colleague with a limited number or a single class. The school needs to manage the parental expectation in terms of engagement within the school.

Administrative and non-teaching duties; schools should ensure that tasks that do not require the skill and expertise of a teacher should be undertaken by support staff. This includes bulk photocopying, filing, ordering of materials and equipment, arranging meetings, and duplication required in completing risk assessments and accident report forms. Tasks which do not require the professional expertise of a teacher should not be undertaken.

IT Systems; schools should ensure IT systems are ‘fit for purpose’ and are a good use of teacher time. Teachers should be encouraged to use statement banks and other time saving systems to complete reports.

E-mail Communication; schools should ensure that an email communication policy is in place that focuses on the passing of essential information and requires limited responses. It is unreasonable to expect teachers to send, read and respond to emails with unrealistically tight deadlines, or during evenings, weekends and holiday periods. The email system cannot replace professional dialogue and should not be seen as a substitute.

School Improvement Plans; all development work should have an allocated time resource within the WTA. All new initiatives or policies must have a workload impact-assessment and agreed with the recognised unions within the school before implementation.

Temporary Responsibilities; teachers undertaking temporary responsibilities are entitled to be paid after undertaking the responsibility after 20 days (backdated to day 1). However, teachers who take additional responsibilities without payment are doing so on a voluntary basis and should be taken only on a limited basis. All offers of additional voluntary responsibilities can be declined.

SNCT Extended Joint Chairs – 4 March 2019 

The SNCT Extended Joint Chairs (SSTA, EIS, Government and COSLA) meeting took place on Monday 4 March.

At the meeting the employers made no improvement to the current offer that the Teachers’ Panel had rejected on the 26 February. There was a brief discussion on workload related initiatives but teachers’ side negotiators made clear that this would be secondary  in a settlement without an improvement to the pay element of the offer.

The teachers’ side highlighted its willingness to participate in negotiations towards a settlement of the 2018-2019 pay claim and would be keen to meet again before the end of the week. Should an improved pay offer be made a meeting of the Extended Joint Chairs would take place. (Unfortunately, without an offer by the end of this week EIS will begin its statutory ballot for strike action on Monday 11 March).

Teacher Workload

The SSTA is preparing to issue further guidance on teacher workload in the coming weeks. However, it is important to remind members of the existing contractual position of a 35 hour working week.

The following are core duties and must not be used for other activities:

• Teaching of assigned classes and cover for absent colleagues up to a maximum of 22.5 hours per week
• An allocation of 7.5 hours for preparation for assigned classes and correction of the work of assigned classes. This time should be ring-fenced as an essential part of a teacher’s work and not available for allocation to other tasks.
• The remaining 5 hours a week is Collegiate time.

The allocation of these hours is determined by the each School’s Working Time Agreement (WTA) that is binding on all signatories and must be honoured. All changes must be negotiated with the recognised trade union representatives. If a member is asked to undertake any additional duty, not included in the above, the deciding factor is the 35 hour working week. If the requested work would cause you to exceed the 35 hour week then you should agree a priority for the duties with your line manager. Further information can be found here.

Members should not be asked to exceed the 35 hour working week. Members are contractually entitled to refuse additional work and say NO.

Voluntary activities - If you are involved in a club or activity on an entirely voluntary basis and wish to continue that is your decision. This time is not included within the 35 hour working week.

The SNCT Extended Joint Chairs (SSTA, EIS, Government and COSLA) meeting took place on Tuesday 26 February. The SNCT Teachers’ Side formally rejected the revised pay offer of 25 January.

The Teachers’ Side highlighted its willingness to participate in negotiations towards a settlement of the 2018-2019 pay claim. Both COSLA and Scottish Government were positive in response to this and expressed their commitment to a negotiated settlement.  The Government was also keen to include teacher workload and other issues as part of a pay settlement.

COSLA and the Government are considering their positions and sought a further meeting of the Extended Joint Chairs. This has been arranged for Monday 4 March.

Consultative Ballot – Revised 2018 Pay Offer

The SSTA Salaries and Conditions of Service Committee is conducting a Consultative Ballot of members on the revised pay offer. The Consultative Ballot will commence on Thursday 31 January and will close at noon on Thursday 21 February. Please note: only members employed by a local authority will be invited to participate in the consultative ballot.

The detailed Revised 2018 Formal Pay Offer was issued to members by email on Tuesday 29 January.

The Salaries and Conditions of Service Committee evaluated the opinion survey conducted by school representatives and is confident that members have a clear understanding of the situation. The committee is asking members to consider carefully the revised pay offer and indicate their view. In the consultative ballot:

• members will be asked their local authority, current post and position on pay scale
• members will be asked whether they accept or reject the terms of the revised pay offer.
• an additional question only for those members who reject the offer whether they are prepared to take strike action to get an improved offer?

In the event of a rejection of the pay offer in the consultative ballot the Salaries and Conditions of Service Committee will move to a formal Ballot for Strike Action should the thresholds of the UK Government’s Trade Union Act be met.