Working in the post 16 sector

Working in the post-16 sector

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Your guide from ATL - the education union

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Working in the post -16 sector Your guide from ATL - the education union

Legal advice series

ATL is the union for education professionals across the UK. Active in the maintained, independent and post-16 sectors, we use our members’ experiences to influence education policy and we work with government and employers to secure fair pay and working conditions. From early years to HE, teachers to support staff, lecturers to leaders, we support and represent our members throughout their career.

Found this useful? ATL has lots of other resources, all free to members, which you might be interested in. Visit ATL’s website at www.atl.org.uk to view the full range of legal advice publications and factsheets on offer from ATL, along with a full section of help and advice.

Further relevant publications from ATL include: Bullying at work Product code: PE29

Industrial action Product code: PE17

Violence, threatening behaviour and abuse Product code: PE28

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Contents 1. Introduction Working in the post-16 sector ATL in the FE sector The FE sector What is so different about working in FE? Aim of this handbook Benefits of working in the FE sector Challenges of working in FE The AoC: the employer’s representative body The 157 Group of colleges Sixth form colleges Sixth Form Colleges’ Forum National Joint Council for sixth form colleges The FE workforce Workforce regulations on teacher qualifications Professional bodies in the post-16 sector

2. About your union ATL’s principal aims ATL’s approach to negotiations and change Your rights as a trade union member or rep Your rights as a rep where ATL is recognised Negotiating skills Campaigning Promoting members’ interests Keeping members informed Training Professional advice and support Out-of-hours helpline ATL plus and members’ benefits

3. Organising: the importance of working together Growing the membership Mapping your membership/potential membership The importance of ATL’s rep role Building an ATL team in your college Activating members around issues Making meetings work How to get involved Who can join ATL? Specific roles As a contact As a rep Organising: working collectively on issues

5 5 5 5 6 6 6 7 8 8 8 8 9 9 9 10 11 11 12 13 13 13 14 15 15 15 16 17 17 18 18 18 19 21 21 22 24 25 25 25 25 26

4. Contracts of employment Introduction Contracted hours How your timetable is devised What hours will you teach each week and what do they include?

Too many hours per week equals a reduction in quality!

What to do if your hours are simply too much Intellectual copyright Multi-site working Part-time work Membership of the IfL Agency workers Final observations Written statement of particulars of employment Implied terms: the unwritten rules of a contract Working part-time Preventing less favourable treatment Unfavourable treatment Model part-time contract Working hours for support staff Questions to ask when considering a job offer Model contract of employment for full-time lecturers in the post-16 sector Commentary on the model contract for full-time lecturers in the post-16 sector Lecturers’ employment rights summary Teachers’ employment rights summary: sixth form colleges

5. ATL model policies for FE colleges Model disciplinary procedure Model grievance procedure Model capability procedure Your rights when facing disciplinary action See me after college!

The Acas Code of Practice

6. Family rights and sickness entitlement Family rights The minimum statutory rights enjoyed by all employees General rights relating to pregnancy Time off work for antenatal care Maternity leave Statutory maternity pay Paternity leave and pay

2 I Working in the post-16 sector

28 28 30 30 31 31 32 32 32 33 34 34 34 35 36 38 38 39 39 40 40 44 48 50 51 54 56 59 61 66 66 67 69 69 69 69 69 70 71 71

Adoption leave Adoption pay Statutory time off for dependents Right to request flexible working Optional ‘keeping in touch’ days Enhanced conditions of service in the state sector Maternity leave and pay Pregnancy and health and safety Sick pay and sick leave Verification of illness Statutory sick pay

72 72 72 72 73 73 73 73 74 75 75

7. Pay Pay in FE colleges in England Pay progression Pay background to colleges Pay in sixth form colleges in England Pay background to sixth form colleges Pay scales The contract Written pay policy Collective bargaining Individual pay negotiations Pension provision

76 76 76 76 77 77 77 77 78 79 79 79

8. Induction in the post-16 sector

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9. Redundancy

81 81 82 82 82 83 83 84 84 84 85 85 85 87

What is redundancy?

Consultation Notice of redundancy Unfair selection criteria Fixed-term contracts Avoiding redundancy Help in finding another job Challenging a redundancy decision Redundancy pay Notice pay Redundancy pay and new employment ATL’s recommended redundancy policy ATL model redundancy procedure for FE colleges

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10. Working long hours and health and safety The 1998 Working Time Regulations Working time Rest breaks Daily rest period Weekly rest period Annual leave Night work Record keeping Partial exclusions Enforcement Practical implications Working time Rest and breaks Long hours and low pay Health and safety at work AMiE

11. Consultation and recognition

91 91 91 92 92 92 92 92 93 93 93 93 93 93 94 94 94

The value of consultation Recognition Voluntary recognition Statutory recognition Practical considerations Further assistance and information

95 95 95 95 96 96 96

12. Other sources of information

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Introduction Working in the post-16 sector This handbook is a guide for ATL members working in the further education (FE) and sixth form sectors in England and is a resource for ATL college reps, branch secretaries and regional officials.

The handbook addresses the main issues and difficulties that are encountered by ATL members working in the post-16 sector and, most particularly, in FE colleges. This is because FE colleges, since their incorporation as corporate entities in 1993, have developed great variation in working practices and conditions, therefore more advice and guidance is necessary. While sixth form issues will be dealt with it will be apparent that, where sixth form reps and members need to be aware of industrial and professional matters, those matters will resemble what has been developed in the FE sector, for example, funding issues and pay differentials with school teachers. This handbook is written to provide general guidance and is not a complete or authoritative statement of law. For all individual employment issues, you should seek advice from ATL. The law stated in this handbook is as it relates to England and Wales, although there are often parallel arrangements in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Further guidance can be obtained from ATL’s Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland offices. While the contractual observances and trade union aspects are important for all reps and members, if you teach in Wales, where a national contract is currently being negotiated, you will find the English context of less use.

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ATL in the FE sector ATL, along with its leadership section, AMiE, is a vibrant and growing trade union showing growth of around 8% each year. ATL is now approximately half the size of Universities and College Union that serves university staff predominantly.

This makes ATL a key, ‘new’ trade union player in the FE sector. With around 15,000 members in all categories of post16 membership ATL represents a sound and progressive choice for staff who want an effective and thoughtful trade union in the sector.

The FE sector The FE sector sits within the broader lifelong learning sector, which encompasses adult and community learning, work-based learning and offender learning, to name those areas close to FE college provision.

There are 249 FE colleges, 92 sixth form colleges with 15 specialist colleges, a growing number of national skills academies (15) and some 42 university technical colleges planned. There are 7.5 million learners in education and training,which means that the FE sector has a crucial role in education and in aiding individuals in maximising their employability. The increase in participant age to 18 in education and/or training reinforces the significance of the FE sector further still. More specifically, there are approximately 1.6 million 16-18 year old learners in post-16 education (including school sixth forms), 0.75 million 19-24 year olds and 2.75 million 25+ year olds. Most learners are in general FE colleges and most are undertaking levels 2 and 3 of study.

Introduction I 5

What is so different about working in FE? While there are many universal issues in education, there are significant differences between the FE sector and maintained school sector where statutory terms and conditions have been set out.

So what’s so different about FE? Unlike the state sector, there are no universally implemented national pay or conditions of employment for lecturers. There is no standard book of rules for lecturers and/or support staff. The ‘Silver Book,’ which was the standard book of policies, was undermined by the 1992 Further and Higher Education Act. This Act changed the status of colleges by removing them from the local authority (LA) family to becoming incorporated institutions. This meant that each college became the sole employer and had to implement its own pay and conditions. Consequently, pay and conditions vary from college to college.

However, the national pay and conditions agreements have been implemented in sixth form colleges up until now although there is no guarantee that this will continue, particularly under a government that is promoting alternatives to a comprehensive state education system.

In the FE sector the variability in terms and conditions of employment from college to college means that members are faced with ongoing battles to reduce wage costs and increase workload with the uncertainty of the financial sustainability of certain college courses and, at times, the colleges they work in.

This uncertainty is reflected in the

6 I Working in the post-16 sector

number of mergers that have taken place between colleges since 1997, which averages one every eight weeks.

Approximately 80% of colleges implement the recommended national pay and conditions agreements reached each year between the employer’s representative body, the Association of Colleges (AoC), and the six nationally recognised unions. Though these agreements do not form the framework for a national contract, they are aspired to, and upheld, by the best of colleges and, of course, by the trade unions. You can find all of the national agreements on ATL’s website at www.atl.org.uk.

Aim of this handbook As the aim of this handbook is to provide information to help contextualise working in FE for members and to assist ATL reps in resolving employment difficulties at college, it inevitably concentrates on some of the more negative aspects of working in the post-16 sector. It also goes into more detail than a member may require generally. However, should you have a serious concern then, as advised later on, it is best to see ATL’s updated factsheets on the issue and talk to your rep in the first instance; they will then refer you to a regional official or to ATL’s legal and member services if they are unable to help you.

Benefits of working in the FE sector But, there are, of course, advantages in working in a sector which is fast becoming known as the lynchpin

between education and the economy because of the development of the skills and training opportunities it offers. But, personally, for individual teachers, the sector also offers the experience of teaching a great variety of learners who are often looking for a positive engagement with education, and teaching on a range of courses and subjects (depending on your skills and enthusiasm) and being involved with employers, other agencies and educational sectors. There will also be benefits such as the use of sports facilities and other college resources that often give staff a better deal, such as: reprographics, car maintenance, hairdressing, IT support, catering and restaurant facilities, to name but a few.

There is also the opportunity for nonqualified lecturers to obtain a teaching post, as FE colleges are free to recruit unqualified lecturers who often have relevant experience in a subject, eg, someone who has worked in a trade or industry. While working you will need to study and complete the required qualification (Diploma in Teaching in the Lifelong Learning Sector [DTLLS]) within what is called ‘professional formation’ (Qualified Teacher in Learning and Skills [QTLS]) in order to practice in the sector.

Challenges of working in FE The general disadvantages of working in FE can include lower pay when compared to maintained sector teachers and poorer conditions of employment. It also includes the ongoing changes in the sector itself around the funding of courses and the learners, which impact

on staffing and increase pressure to raise performance and meet targets, or to focus continually on efficiency and measurable indicators rather than the ethos and quality of the teaching and learning environment.

Colleges, as autonomous institutions, do have some parameters to work within and it would be unfortunate if a college chose to prioritise financial effectiveness over any other criteria. When such choices are made it is always best that those who are affected and those who can play a part in the decision-making process are made aware of what is happening. This means that the governors of the college should, of course, know and support the decision.

Staff will be consulted on the changes at the appropriate level and it will be for the ATL rep to lead on the consultation.

Students, parents and the local community should also be able to respond to the decision. And, lastly, the funding body should also be aware of the implications of changes to provision. It is important that the rep knows who has been consulted, when and what the outcomes were of the consultation of all of these interested parties.

Moves to a more federated model of working with colleges, schools, and universities working within one governing structure can certainly change the regional landscape of contracts and employer-employee relations fundamentally. And reductions in funding for FE initial teacher training could, at any time, revise recruitment opportunities in the sector and have a devastating impact.

Introduction I 7

The AoC: the employer’s representative body The AoC is the employer representative for FE colleges and negotiates on behalf of employers with regard to pay and conditions. Agreements between the AoC and the six trade unions become national agreements or national pay awards that are recommended to colleges. It is for colleges and local trade union reps to monitor these recommendations and, where possible, secure them locally. ATL publishes all agreements and updates to terms and conditions on its website and in its newsletter for members within the FE sector, entitled Post-16 news, and in ebulletins for reps and contacts.

The 157 Group of colleges The colleges that have taken the corporate model most seriously are the 28 FE colleges who, in March, 2006, established themselves as the 157 Group; named after Clause 157 in the 2005 Foster Report, which called for college principals to become champions of the sector and have a national profile.

The 157 Group constitutes itself on the basis of successful leadership (grade 1 or 2), size (£35 million turnover) and/or regional influence. They lobby government and other stakeholders for greater college autonomy and for excellence in the sector based on strong leadership.

Sixth form colleges The position of sixth form colleges is a little different. Sixth form colleges receive

8 I Working in the post-16 sector

funding that relates to 16-19 and this has always been distinguished from 19+ or adult funding streams. The difference here is that sixth forms can, more easily (up to 2011), predict their levels of funding. As a result their curriculum is more predictable and stable, not suffering from volatile changes in levels of funding as government decides what courses and qualifications it wishes to incentivise.

However, the more such underpinning conditions are changed and become more contingent, the more sixth form colleges will be subject to the same vagaries of life as FE colleges. Without the size and resources of FE colleges the impact on sixth form colleges could be considerably greater with closures and more forced mergers. The impact on the staff side working conditions will also suffer.

In turn, sixth form pay and conditions have been more or less stable over the last 25 years and have remained broadly comparable to maintained school teachers’ pay and conditions. The pay and conditions of sixth form staff are contained in what is called the ‘Red Book’, which is available from ATL’s website at www.atl.org.uk.

Sixth Form Colleges’ Forum The Sixth Form Colleges’ Forum is the representative body for the 92 incorporated sixth form colleges in England and is served by a secretariat. It promotes the interests of the sector to government and the funding body. It also represents the colleges in national pay

and conditions negotiations with staff union representatives.

Colleges identified 2.7% of staff as having a disability.

National Joint Council for sixth form colleges

The average annual salary is £29,000, with higher wages in London (£32,642+) and the lowest in the South West (£27,135). Female salaries still lag behind male salaries. Humanities and sciencebased subjects command highest average salaries at around £31,000 with land-based and foundation level teaching the lowest at around £26,000.

The National Joint Council (NJC) is the forum for the employers’ representative body for sixth form colleges (the ‘staff side’) and the teachers’ trade unions (the ‘teaching side’) and is where negotiations over pay and conditions take place. It is to the credit of the NJC on the staff side and teacher side that stability has ruled so far in the sector. If that position changes then sixth forms would become more like FE colleges with different pay and conditions and, also potentially, offer a greater variety of courses as they seek other funding options.

The FE workforce There are around 125,000 teachers working in FE with teachers making up approximately half of all staff. The teaching staff female:male ratio is 64:36; 71% of full-time staff are female. The average age is 45; 40% are within the 50+ age range and therefore moving toward a retirement decision. The ending of the default retirement age (DRA) means that employees are not forced to retire at 60, 65 or 68.

Amongst male part-time and full-time workers there is a 50:50 distribution. For female teaching staff there is 70:30 distribution.

More than 80% of staff are white, 12.9% are in other ethnic categories. This rises to 91% for senior managers and 89% for assessors and verifiers.

Most staff have worked in FE for over 20 years, having been employed in the sector pre-2001, which means that they are not statutorily obliged to gain a level 3 or 4 qualification in order to teach, according to the Workforce Reforms (2007) (discussed below). Approximately 90% of staff are fully qualified.

Part-time teaching staff make up over 50% of lecturers in the south west measuring up to 71% of teaching staff who are part-time.

Workforce regulations on teacher qualifications The government policy paper, Success for All (2002), provided a new platform for teaching qualifications in the sector. Staff employed from 2001 were required to complete or start a level 4 qualification and most did so with the PGCE, ‘Cert.

Ed.’ or ‘730’. The target date for Success for All was 2010, but not all colleges completed the Staff Individualised Record data and therefore it is not known if this target was met. The numbers

Introduction I 9

suggest that many staff did complete such a qualification.

While such qualifications would add transferable skills and status to individuals, the aspiration needs to be considered on a case-by-case basis in regard to members’ interests.

Furthermore, the aspiration to bring all staff up to these qualification standards based on academic approaches to general education, not vocational skills per se. Due regard needs to be given to the relevance of their vocational expertise or qualifications.

A further variation was included with the Workforce Reforms (2007), which were made statutory in the Further Education Teachers’ Qualifications (England) Regulations (2007). These regulations require new entrants to the sector to be qualified lecturers (QTLS). These regulations are currently under review by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

Professional bodies in the post-16 sector In order to teach, sixth form staff must be registered with either the General Teaching Council for England (GTCE) or the Institute for Learning (IfL). FE teachers must be registered with the IfL. The GTCE is due to be abolished by 31 March 2012, under the direction of Michael Gove, the current Education secretary, and will be replaced by The Teaching Agency. In April 2011, the IfL became a self-financing, subscription-based regulatory body. It is hoped that staff professionalism is furthered (autonomy,

10 I Working in the post-16 sector

trust and status) and that the sector can establish a credible body for the professionalism agenda. It is difficult to imagine how ATL’s aspiration of new professionalism can be achieved in the post-16 sector without such an agenda or an independent professional body.

Colleges do not have the inclination, nor the resources and opportunities, to progress this agenda.

ATL, therefore, takes up the challenge that to build a ‘community of professional practice’ in FE ‘requires new theories of professionalism that can guide pedagogy and practice since… the pragmatism of FE practice, referred to by Scaife (2004) as the culture of the now, is incapable of achieving such change alone’ (James and Gleeson, 2007. The paradox of professionalism in English FE).

About your union ATL is an independent, registered trade union and professional association. It represents over 160,000 members in the UK drawn from across education, from early years through to FE. ATL believes that all staff are part of a team working towards a common aim, and therefore that the contribution of all staff should be recognised. Consequently, membership is open to all employees working in the post-16 sector. This includes, amongst others, lecturers, learning support staff, assessors, mentors, coaches, ICT staff, catering staff, grounds staff, lab technicians and librarians.

ATL’s principal aims ATL’s principal aims are: ● to promote the cause of education generally in the UK, Northern Ireland and elsewhere to protect and improve the status and to further the legitimate professional interests of teachers, lecturers and others involved in the delivery of education ● to offer legal and professional advice and assistance to its members.

Harnessing the expertise of both members and staff, ATL is a powerful voice speaking up for education. ATL plays an active part in shaping national policy. It is not affiliated to any political party and seeks to work constructively with key players across the political spectrum.

It is essential to have the advice and protection of a trade union. This is no more so than when working in the FE sector where terms and conditions vary from college to college and no two contracts of employment are the same.

Operating in an ever changing sector,

02

employment security in a FE college is more precarious than other areas of the state sector. Mergers, redundancies, perpetual restructures all add to the anxiety of staff working in the sector. This is added to the greater workload that has been handed to staff since incorporation.

From 21 standard contact hours in 1992, we now have up to 29 hours, with some colleges wanting no limit to weekly teaching or annual hours.

ATL provides first class legal advice and representation, as well as a range of services and benefits, including full insurance cover, crisis, legal and stress helplines, training, and first-class publications and website.

Our service to members working in the post-16 sector is second to none. We have an advisory group, newsletters, publications, seminars, conferences, and training solely dedicated to the post-16 sector.

ATL is the only professional association and trade union that is nationally recognised to represent staff across the post-16 sector (in both FE and sixth form colleges). As the only union representing teachers and lecturers in the FE sector we have the broad expertise and capacity to represent FE lecturers professionally and sensitively. ATL represents teachers in pre-16 and lecturers post-16 in the sector with 7,000 members in 351 FE and sixth form colleges. It also has 2,000 student FE members. We also represent those who progress onto the management tier through AMiE, our new sector dedicated to leadership, which has itself around 8,000 members across schools and colleges. ATL’s membership

About your union I 11

in the post-16 sector is nearing 15,000 members and is growing at a rate of eight percent each year. ATL’s membership has tripled over the last five years. Union density is around 50% in the sector so ATL’s growth clearly means that it is a union of choice for potential members.

ATL’s approach to negotiations and change So what approach does ATL take? ATL believes that its members’ interests are best served through a constructive dialogue with employers. It may not grab headlines but ATL achieves real and sustainable improvements in the terms and conditions of its members’ employment, as well as helping develop a better FE sector.

ATL believes in protecting individual member’s rights, while at the same time seeking to prevent problems arising in the first place. By establishing a constructive dialogue with senior college management (the senior management team [SMT]) and Human Resources (HR), ATL members can promote good employment practice and policy within their college, providing for reasonable treatment of staff. It is also in your college’s interest to have good management policies and clear guidelines, which can help to prevent problems arising, and to deal with them in a fair, consistent and timely manner should they do so.

When ATL does take the lead in representing the views of staff in a FE college, it means that members’ concerns are being heard and ATL’s unique approach has become

12 I Working in the post-16 sector

established. Having an established relationship means that the principal, senior managers, HR and governors value ATL’s contribution.

Developing robust structures for consultation is key for staff, allowing for proper exchanges with the college management to decide what works best in your college. ATL believes that our members’ interests are best served through formal recognition of ATL for the purposes of consultation. Therefore, if your college does not recognise ATL currently, then first build informal relationships with HR and SMT, as well as the principal, so you can move the college towards recognising ATL for collective representation and negotiation.

When there are issues around policies, pay and terms and conditions of employment, ATL advises members to seek to resolve the issue in the best way that a situation may allow. While knowledge of the law is obviously invaluable, it is important to remember that the law is often only one factor in resolving an issue. Negotiation and dispute resolution are dependent on a whole host of things, some of which may not be readily apparent. Your employer may conclude an agreement that is more favourable than the legal situation might suggest due to them having different priorities, the desire to be a good employer, or, of course, the persuasive force of ATL representation. Acas (the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) also offers a range of services that could progress matters from conciliation (helping the parties reach an agreement) to arbitration (where the parties agree on an ‘umpire’ on the

issue). Acas also offers services in training managers and staff to deal with contentious and difficult situations. So, there are not only a number of factors to consider when trying to resolve an issue, but there are also, potentially, other parties who can help. For example, it is always worth ensuring that if funding is an issue, that the relevant funding agency or commissioning body is aware of the local issues.

Most problems are experienced as individual problems but often it is through collective action that issues are resolved or because of the collective implications of a policy.

Your rights as a trade union member or rep All employees have a democratic right to be members of a trade union. The law also protects trade union reps and officials from discrimination on the basis of their trade union activities.

Your rights as a rep where ATL is recognised As an ATL rep (see chapter 3 for further information on ATL reps) in a college which recognises ATL, you have certain statutory rights. You are entitled to: ● take reasonable paid time off for union duties and training ● display union information somewhere in the college and on college sites, such as a noticeboard in the staffroom(s) or locations where staff are liable to congregate or pass ● reasonable use of college facilities ● use of a room to hold meetings ● access to documents concerned with pay and conditions of service.

Negotiating skills Most reps will find themselves, at some point, undertaking some level of negotiation, either on an individual issue or on behalf of all members in the establishment. It is important to understand the differences between negotiation and consultation. In negotiation, both parties need to reach an agreement, whereas a consultation is a commitment to exchange views.

Negotiation takes place when the terms and conditions of employment, or those issues that are considered negotiable by management and the trade unions, are discussed. Negotiation aims to have (and has to reach) agreement, ultimately. This is why in the recognition agreement that the ATL rep signs it deals with the dispute procedure and what happens if management and the trade union disagree and, in turn, enter into a dispute.

In order to ensure that negotiation has every chance of reaching an agreement the disputes procedure will set out ways that it can be achieved. It will give the checks and balances that facilitate a process that all parties agree is satisfactory in such circumstances. For example, if the parties disagree and enter a dispute the disputes’ procedure may state that Acas be brought in by either party to help resolve the issues or it may give space for the rep to press for a collective dispute that, while remaining internal to college procedures and control, facilitates pressure on all parties to seek to resolve the issues without entering into a formal trade dispute, which often involves industrial action or, certainly, an impediment to normal working practices.

About your union I 13

On the other hand, consultation is much more than a giving and receiving of information, it is a way of ensuring that the views of members and the union are communicated effectively and progressed. Consultation has to be ‘meaningful’ in order to be effective. This means information, meetings and responses must all be adequate in order to have a proper exchange of views.

Explicitly, that means that they are properly detailed, timely and relevant.

Key pointers to successful negotiations: Try to establish a positive relationship with the management of your college.

Your principal will appreciate that regular discussions and well-organised channels of communication can prevent disagreements. ● Try to ensure that there are good informal routes for dealing with members’ difficulties. Whether in a recognised or a non-recognised workplace, it is good for the rep to meet regularly with HR to generate trust and good communication channels. ●

Top tips for negotiation: ● Be clear about your aims from the outset; what are you seeking to achieve from this negotiation? Assess your aim to ensure that it is realistic.

(Plan) ● Careful preparation and research is essential. Prepare your arguments and work through any counter-arguments that you may be faced with. (Prepare) ● Gather information and seek alternative solutions. How to ‘exit’ the problem is crucial for parties to save face and feel they have both made progress. (Information)

14 I Working in the post-16 sector

●

●

Consider what you can offer in any ‘bargaining’ situation. Be aware of your ‘bottom line’. What must you achieve as a minimum for your colleague members?

Whenever possible, seek a ‘win/win’ outcome that benefits both the member/s and management.

Top tips when dealing with other colleagues: ● Liaise with other union reps in your establishment and work together on issues affecting all staff in your college.

If you meet regularly and agree on common points and actions this would be known as the local trade union side.

It enables unions to give their views clearly and positively to management with sensitivity to the issues or views of other union colleagues. ● Liaise with the ATL health and safety rep (or health and safety officer at the college if you do not have one) at your establishment to ensure that all health and safety inspections are carried out and that members are kept informed of any issues which arise. Make yourself aware of the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) work and guidance on the stress management standards that ATL is promoting with the HSE and other national stakeholders. These are crucial standards for understanding wellbeing at work and ensuring that unions and management speak to each other using the same terms of reference.

Campaigning ATL actively promotes the interests of its members in the post-16 sector through its numerous campaigns and with other

trade unions across the UK. For example, we joined with other unions in the Time to Pay Up campaign, which was directed at colleges who had not implemented the recommended harmonised pay scale agreed in 2004. We also signed up to the campaign for Adult Lifelong Learning, which lobbies and demonstrates against cuts in adult lifelong learning. We created a platform of discussion for our post-16 steering group, Further Education Sector Advisory Group (FESAG, see below), with the IfL in the 2011 turmoil about their fees and the benefits of belonging to the IfL. We, of course, support all local action where members are in reasonable and proper dispute with management. But we hope to avoid industrial conflict as it often does not help your pay, your union’s costs to solicitors, or your college’s ability to finance investment in staff.

Promoting members’ interests ATL supports its members’ recognition campaigns to improve consultation rights within their colleges. We also provide assistance once a consultative forum has been set up. ATL is recognised for local collective bargaining in the great majority of FE colleges.

ATL has an elected member advisory group for post-16 education, FESAG, to promote the sector’s interests within the union and to advise ATL’s Executive Committee on policy and other issues pertinent to the post-16 sector. Further information is available on ATL’s website, or from the national official for post-16 education at ATL’s London office.

Keeping members informed Each term ATL publishes its newsletter for the sector, Post-16 news, which is sent to all members in the sector. We also publish an ebulletin for reps and contacts twice per term. Annually, one edition of the ebulletin will go to all members to encourage members to become reps or contacts.

Every year at ATL’s annual conference ATL holds a FE sector zone, with keynote speakers on subjects of interest to the sector, together with the opportunity for members to meet colleagues working at other FE colleges. College reps can attend via their branch delegation or request a day pass to attend the sector zone.

ATL also hosts network events for FE and sixth form reps, giving reps, contacts and members, where appropriate, the chance to update their ideas and skills on issues and practice in the post-16 sector, and to share best practice and exchange experiences.

In addition to our highly regarded range of publications, free for all members, ATL also produces consultation responses to government and government agencies solely for our members in the post-16 sector. Please look out for ways of contributing to the consultations via Post16 news or Report magazine

Training ATL is committed to helping its members develop throughout the course of their careers. This is why members can access

About your union I 15

a comprehensive range of CPD courses and reps’ courses which are free to members. To take account of the differences in the post-16 sector, we run tailored courses, such as Being our FE college rep, as well as the standard three-stage generic reps’ course. In addition to courses provided directly by ATL, we have a unique partnership with Edge Hill University which gives major discount on MA courses in education.

In the post-16 sector ATL hosts seminars on significant issues for members or for their professional interests. For example, FE Professionalism: Shaping the Debate and Informing Practice, jointly run with SKOPE, which involved key stakeholders, academics and lobby groups as well as ATL and AMiE lead members to discuss the concept of professionalism and its practice.

In addition to national partnerships ATL actively seeks to organise learning events for members at branch and college level through its union learning rep (ULR) network and the team of regionally-based learning organisers. Such events are not only beneficial to individual members but are also provided through joint working with the college and members of staff.

We find that colleges are more than happy to work with ATL’s ULRs or learning organisers to establish such events. ATL’s model learning agreement would be the next step in establishing learning and training events on a regular footing in the college calendar.

Anyone wishing to find out about training opportunities should contact the learning and development team at ATL by emailing training@atl.org.uk. Information on local training opportunities may also

16 I Working in the post-16 sector

be obtained from our Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales offices.

Professional advice and support A specialist team of ATL staff offers expert advice and guidance on a range of professional issues. The team has an indepth understanding of education and employment issues including contracts, conditions of service and pensions. ATL also has a number of staff solely dedicated to the post-16 sector; a member adviser for contractual and other inquiries, a policy adviser for post-16 policies, a national official for pay and conditions, a senior regional official leading on FE industrial issues, a senior organiser for FE and a learning organiser for FE, as well as a national official for the sector who advocates on members’ behalf at all levels of ATL activity. ATL now also has the support and expertise of AMiE to help with issues around leadership.

Should you need support or advice, your first port of call is your ATL college rep who can give you advice and support in college. They may also have knowledge of other issues going on in your college that might have a bearing on your situation.

Where there is a need for on-going casework or representation at college, ATL has a national network of regional officials who can advise members and assist college reps locally. You also have access to a nationwide network of branch secretaries who use their professional judgement to assist individual members

at branch level. For support and advice, members and reps should telephone the legal and member services department on 020 7930 6441, or our Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales offices (contact details are on the back of this publication). ATL has a team of solicitors based at its London office who provide legal back up in all employment issues.

For advice on a legal matter, members should contact the legal and member services department on the above telephone number.

recovery benefits and courses with the Open University. Full details are available from ATL’s website and are included in ATL’s What’s in it for me? booklet.

Please note that ATL reserves the right to decide upon member requests for legal assistance. The cost of legal assistance must always be approved in advance and members should not instruct a solicitor to deal with a professional or legal matter before contacting ATL. ATL is unable to offer representation or assistance (including legal advice) to members with problems that arose before they joined ATL. This service is only for employment matters. For full details, please see ATL’s legal advice and members’ charter.

Out-of-hours helpline ATL provides an out-of-hours helpline, details of which can be found in chapter 12, ‘Other sources of information’.

ATL plus and members’ benefits There are numerous benefits to ATL membership, including discounted travel and home insurance, mortgages and financial advice, holidays, energy bills, car breakdown and maintenance, tax

About your union I 17

03

Organising: the importance of working together

Members working together to influence positive change is fundamental to being part of an effective organising union.

Acting collectively gives strength and confidence to lecturers, support staff and indeed all staff who work in an educational setting. It allows members to feel part of a union community and is the most effective strategy to balancing power in the workplace. The more people in ATL that speak with one united voice, the more influence you will have with the principal, governors or other decisionmakers in the sector.

Growing the membership Growing the membership is vital to ensuring ATL members are able to influence positive change in their workplace. The more ATL membership grows in your college, the more influence ATL reps, ULRs and health and safety reps will have to negotiate positive outcomes on behalf of their members. As it is in all members’ interest to have a robust, growing union, listed below are several ways to encourage people to join ATL: 1. Ask people to join face-to-face. ATL surveys repeatedly indicate that the main reason people do not join a union is because they were not asked.

2. If colleagues are too busy to talk, leave them with a recruitment brochure and arrange to see them another time. Always follow up this initial contact after a period of ‘thinking time’.

3. Think about the geography of your college - are you the best person to ask colleagues to join? Who might you get to help you? Are other members more likely to see colleagues on a day-to-day basis?

18 I Working in the post-16 sector

4. Introduce yourself to all new staff, and also newly qualifying staff on teacher training courses, and talk to them about the benefits of membership. Ask them to join ATL. 5. Organise a learning event. As a ULR, or with the assistance of a ULR, you may be able to run ATL CPD opportunities at your college. Invite all staff and ask non members to join. Ask members to let others know about CPD opportunities offered by ATL. 6. Invite non-members to meetings to give them a positive ATL experience.

7. Signpost staff to ATL’s website and let them know they can join online.

8. Keep the noticeboard up-to-date with the latest posters and information from ATL and have a selection of recruitment materials at your fingertips.

9. Some members have worked creatively to encourage people to join by holding an afternoon tea or fun event.

Ultimately, a larger membership will give you more ability to influence positive change in your college, as well as provide ATL with more influence in the sector generally.

Mapping your membership/potential membership As mentioned above, it may be that you are not the best placed person to recruit or speak to colleagues from other departments due to the size or lay-out of your college. It may also be that you work in a multi-site college where talking to some colleagues face-to-face is near impossible in your day-to-day work.

Making sure you know where your

members work will allow you to ensure members do not feel isolated in their ATL membership. Knowing what department your members work in may reveal that in some departments there is a high concentration of members whereas in others there may be a low or non-existent membership. Ensuring that each department has at least one ATL member who takes on the responsibility of asking colleagues to join ATL or to communicate latest information can help to spread out the workload and encourage more members to become involved. It will also help to create a greater sense of an ATL community in all pockets of your college.

Furthermore, mapping your membership may reveal that a significant proportion of your members don’t work, or finish early, on a particular day. This could have a serious impact when trying to organise meetings or events.

Mapping your membership allows you to fully understand the make-up and distribution of your entire membership base. Things to consider when mapping could include: ● the physical location of the membership ● who has taken on an active role (this could include people you can develop to become more involved, hold a committee position or even be part of your succession plan) ● which members attend regular meetings or events ● the contact hours of your membership ● where non-members work (are there members in nearby departments who you could ask to join?) ● any other factors you consider would help you to lead your membership.

All reps can obtain a full list of their membership via ATL’s website at www.atl.org.uk. Setting up an email list of all members and asking them for the above information could be the simplest way of understanding what your membership looks like and help you to ensure all members feel part of ATL.

The importance of ATL’s rep role ATL’s rep role is critical to the effective functioning of the union. First and foremost, the role is designed to represent the interests of members in the college. Ensuring that members feel part of ATL through effective communication on both local and national issues is key to making ATL membership an inclusive and attractive experience. This could mean ensuring that members are kept up–todate with the latest information sent to reps by ATL, to ensuring that the views of members are represented in dealings with management. In many large colleges it may serve to have more than one rep role, this may also be the case in multisite colleges.

As the face of ATL’s membership some of the tasks reps may be involved in could include: ● providing information to other members in your college by newsletter or email ● recruiting new members to ATL ● acting as a conduit between ATL and the members in your college ● signposting members in your college to sources of advice and information within ATL ● representing collective members’ issues to SMT

Organising: the importance of working together I 19

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holding meetings or developing surveys to ascertain the views of members on collective issues planning for succession of the rep role providing support as a ‘friend’ in difficult discussions or meetings with managers.

It may be that at first you undertake some but not all of these tasks. As you become more experienced and confident, you will develop and grow into a role that you will find both personally and professionally rewarding.

ATL is always on hand to offer support, advice and information. There are many people who can support you with your particular need. Some of the roles you can call on include: ● the branch secretary who will assist with local information and support on all matters ● a senior organiser who will assist with organising your workplace, setting up committees, electing reps, recruitment and developing campaigns around collective issues ● a regional official who will assist with representing members in more serious disciplinary or grievance hearings.

They can also offer advice and support when raising college-wide issues such as restructuring and redundancy ● a learning organiser who will assist with electing college ULRs, CPD opportunities and establishing learning agreements within college ● a national official who will provide advice on your sector, latest national developments and campaigns, training and network opportunities and signposting to further support

20 I Working in the post-16 sector

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a national official for Scotland who will provide the same as the national official but with a Scotland focus ATL’s London, Wales or Northern Ireland offices.

Things to do on becoming a rep: ● Let ATL’s membership department know that you have been elected or appointed (if there is no contestation of the role) by the members at your college. They will add you to the database as the rep for your establishment. At the same time, you can ask for a list of all the ATL members at your college (telephone 020 7782 1602 or email membership@atl.org.uk). ● Get in touch with your branch secretary to introduce yourself. ATL’s London office (telephone 020 7930 6441) can give you the appropriate contact details if you don’t have them already. ● Contact ATL’s training department and book yourself on the next course for ATL FE reps, by telephoning 020 7782 1582, or emailing training@atl.org.uk. ● Register your interest on any regional FE network or CPD events. ● Contact the national official for post-16 education so that you can open up a direct dialogue for any of your future needs (you can accomplish these notifications in one email if you wish). ● Order all the recruitment materials and publications you need from ATL’s publications despatch department, by telephoning 0845 4500 009, or emailing despatch@atl.org.uk, quoting the product code wherever possible.

Alternatively, you can download PDFs of most of our publications, or

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place your order using an online form via the ‘Publications and resources’ section of ATL’s website at www.atl.org.uk.

Visit the post-16 area of ATL’s website and make yourself familiar with the areas of national agreement and important stakeholder information and links.

Building an ATL team in your college It is fair to say that leading a robust and growing membership in any college can be a considerable undertaking. To ensure that reps are supported in their role, organising an inclusive committee where tasks and responsibilities are shared, not only benefits those in formal ATL positions, but also the membership as a whole.

ATL college committees can include a range of roles but ideally should reserve places for: ● reps ● ULRs ● health and safety reps.

Other positions could include: ● a contact from each department, recruitment contact, media contact, membership event organiser or any other role that you consider could benefit ATL’s membership in your college. Encouraging and supporting members to become more active is the guiding principle of a successful committee.

By bringing different roles together committees can plan and arrange events to support the entire membership. For

example, ULRs can arrange CPD events for all staff, ATL reps can use the event to report on current issues as well as raise the profile of ATL and recruitment contacts could encourage people to join ATL. All committee members can be involved in advertising and promoting the event to ensure the ATL brand is seen as a worthwhile and attractive proposition for members and potential members.

Another example could see the committee host meetings for all members, where views on issues are shared over a cup of tea and a general sense of belonging to the ATL team can be felt. Ways in which ATL teams can function are open to your imagination, however, they can be places to: ● plan recruitment events ● discuss issues faced by members and plan strategies to overcome them ● plan campaigns ● increase ATL’s visibility in the college through events ● organise ways to effectively communicate with all members and potential members.

In all, an ATL committee has the potential to greatly improve membership growth, member engagement and support for members in formal ATL positions.

Activating members around issues In light of the ongoing changes to education and the FE sector it is important to consider how having an active membership can be your best asset to positively influence decisions in your college. While having a growing

Organising: the importance of working together I 21

membership is important, encouraging those members to become active ensures your negotiating power is strengthened.

Asking members to become involved collectively can take many forms. For instance, asking members to talk to colleagues about the benefits of joining ATL has already been discussed as a way of asking members to become more active in their union. However, when members are facing imposed changes, or issues that affect more than one person, it may be an important time to activate your membership as a means of demonstrating that members are prepared to work together to achieve sensible outcomes, ie leverage.

When thinking about collective issues and member involvement some questions you should consider are: ● who is impacted by the issue, is it one or a majority of members? ● is it an issue that members really care about? ● what are members likely to do to support the issue? ● at what point in the negotiation with management do I need to demonstrate the collective voice of the membership?

The first two questions allow the rep to get a sense of how widespread and deeply felt the issue is. If it is an issue that impacts either the majority, or a majority of a particular section of the membership, there may be a need to test how strongly members feel about the issue. Either through a simple survey or email members can let you know whether

22 I Working in the post-16 sector

the issue at hand is one they care strongly about. If so, you will then need to ask yourself the third question.

The third question is quite important, reps need to be realistic about what members are likely to do to demonstrate their collective strength. In some colleges, signing a petition may be something members are very comfortable with, whereas in others members may be intimidated to commit their name to a piece of paper. Understanding the makeup of your membership can inform what tasks you may ask members to undertake. While the possibilities of ways to get members involved are endless some examples of tasks members can be encouraged to participate in could include: ● speaking to other members about the issues ● attending an ATL or joint union meeting ● signing a petition or letter ● wearing badges ● wearing a particular colour.

Lastly, understanding when to activate members over issues is key to achieving a sensible outcome. The section below outlines how members can become involved through attending meetings; however, it may be that you will need to demonstrate to management how strongly members feel about the issue, particularly if initial negotiations do not achieve sensible results.

Making meetings work It is necessary to hold regular meetings of ATL members in your college to discuss college issues. Once a term is adequate, but you may have multiple sites to attend

to if you are the only rep in the college.

You may also have critical and urgent issues to discuss. College management should be sympathetic and supportive to how you need to organise members for the benefit of clear communications and the capacity to deflate unhelpful rumours or suspicions. Please see the section on facilities and time off agreements for reps for more on this issue and similar.

If a decision needs to be made collectively, or maybe you feel that members should be kept informed of the current position in important discussions with the college, then indicative feelings can be accomplished initially by emailing members. However, significant decisions around industrial action, pay claims and widely felt issues should be aired at a meeting or, in the case of a dispute, a survey of staff via a survey tool for those staff who cannot attend the meeting (your regional organiser can help with the survey tool).

In regard to calling a meeting this will be a welcome opportunity for members to express their views and can be passed onto the college. Think carefully about your members’ preferences regarding time and location in order to maximise attendance.

Top tips for meetings: ● Hold regular meetings to ensure that members can hear current information from the latest Joint Consultative and Negotiating Committee (JCNC) meeting and can air issues. Once a term is adequate, but this will depend upon circumstance. ● Consider the number of members involved and the time available.

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Give members advance notice of time, location and details of the main issues to be discussed. Having established a start and finish time, stick to it!

Ask a colleague to make notes and circulate these to all present as soon as possible after the meeting.

Preferably, provide a summary on the ATL noticeboard. Visibility of ATL activity is crucial for members and potential members. It shows relevance, action and organisation.

Report back to your members the result of any action you have taken following the meeting. Keep members informed of all further developments and resolutions. A newsletter and/or email bulletin is very important here.

See templates for these on ATL’s website.

Always be aware of the possibilities of recruiting new members. You may wish to hold an ‘open’ meeting (with members’ agreement) for all staff to attend, but do remember to follow this up with those who are not currently ATL members. Ask them how they felt about the contents of the meeting and what issues concern them.

You may also be working with other unions on the matter and wish to call a joint meeting. Ensure that ATL posters, literature and ATL’s voice is heard at the meeting. A joint meeting is to ensure that all unions state their case.

Further information and resources to help you in your role can be found in the Reps’ toolbox/reps in the post-16 sector section of ATL’s website, including, amongst other things, information on facilities and time off agreements for reps in FE colleges and sixth forms, seeking

Organising: the importance of working together I 23

and gaining recognition and redundancy processes. There is also an activity updater, which contains all relevant documents to key topics you will face, a work-life balance toolkit and an induction toolkit.

How to get involved Playing a part in an organising union is exciting and challenging. The FE sector, as noted above, is low on union density with around 50% of the workforce in a trade union; compare this to the maintained sector where union density is over 95%. So, our task is to improve on the proportion of staff in a union and in ATL. ATL encourages members to learn more and to develop their skills, as well as pass on their skills to others. All learning or training events run by ATL members are chances for you to showcase your skills, add them to your CV and to show that ATL supports all forms of learning and development for members. So, all activity to help other members in your college, branch or beyond, helps ATL’s profile. Contact your rep, particularly if you have one in your college, to see how you can participate.

As a member you are encouraged to attend meetings and voice your concerns to your workplace rep in the first instance. Often, individual issues have a collective dimension or have wider implications for the college that gives your case more importance and, therefore, gives the rep more leverage to resolve the issues to your, and other members’, benefit.

As an active trade union member you can also help lead local membership, the first

24 I Working in the post-16 sector

crucial step in a vibrant trade union. The reason why most people do not join a trade union is that they have not been asked and, in a workplace with low union density, simply taking up the role of recruiting members would be a first major step in becoming a rep.

Once your membership numbers become sufficient (from 20 upwards) to hold meetings and inform the college of your views, you can hold informal meetings with HR about concerns.

Memberships of 50 members or more will mean that as a rep you not only hold meetings and meet HR regularly, but you also produce a newsletter taken from post-16 updates sent to you by ATL, adding in your own local issues. At this point you will be requesting that the college recognise ATL formally to negotiate for members on pay, conditions and policies.

Memberships of 50 plus will also need an ATL committee to help communicate with the rep at different departments/sites/campuses all concerns and developments. Asking for a contact in each of the areas is crucial to good organisation, recruitment and communication.

Following recognition you will, as reps, need training to ensure that members are supported with the best advice and training that ATL can give. Training not only increases your skills but boosts your confidence and knowledge of what other reps do to influence college management and organise in their workplace.

From there you can participate in the democratic body of ATL either through

FESAG, by joining a reps’ network meeting, or a specialist task group working on an area of FE policy. And you can, of course, attend ATL’s annual conference and actively lobby for changes to ATL FE policy aims. As an active member, working with your local branch secretary gives ATL members the benefits of working with teachers in the maintained and independent sectors.

Promoting the collective strength of ATL members and articulating their voice ensures checks and balance to college policies and helps ATL evidence its relevance as a modern trade union. So much so that we can raise our voice and put a check on government policies if they undermine members’ interests, as has happened with the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) campaign.

Who can join ATL? In FE all staff are free to join ATL. We support and represent members at all levels of college life. Lecturers who are new to FE and are taking their qualifications to teach (PTLLS and DTLLS) or assessors taking CTLS, are eligible for the reduced NQT/probationer subscriptions offered by ATL.

Specific roles There are many ways you can help ATL continue to grow in the post-16 sector and so help build our progressive and reasoned voice.

As a contact As a contact you can distribute information sent to you by the national official for post-16 simply by sending it onto members by email or printing out

the latest news and opportunities for members to read.

As a rep As a rep (once elected by members in a meeting and/or by email votes) you can begin to help members share their feelings and views about their working lives by communicating with them and discussing, informally (in a nonrecognised workplace) or formally (in a recognised workplace), with HR how to resolve any issues or how to improve college practice, policies or the ethos in the college itself. However, as an elected rep, you can support members by providing advice and accompanying them to meetings. For this reason, even though you may be in a non-recognised workplace, you should request to attend ATL trade union training for reps.

ATL is recognised nationally in FE colleges and sixth forms. In sixth forms this is a part of the national agreement around good industrial relations (see ‘The Red Book’ which gives the national agreement on ATL’s website) and therefore your voice will be heard.

Influence, of course, and facilities time, will depend upon ATL membership size.

In FE colleges the situation is different and ATL members need to argue their case and show the relevance of ATL in the college by size of membership, organisation and by communicating to members. This can all be achieved by simply holding meetings and communicating member concerns to HR. There are different types of reps: workplace reps for negotiating (it is always best practice to work in pairs for

Organising: the importance of working together I 25

support reasons and in case of absence), ULRs for learning and development and health and safety reps for health and safety.

Please note that reps in recognised workplaces, ULRs and health and safety reps all carry mandatory facilities time.

The latter rep roles carry one hour per week and the negotiating rep(s) will negotiate reasonable remission relevant to their membership on the same formula as the other recognised trade unions.

Once a committee is established then added roles can be utilised from different departments and sites. The committee can also work with AMiE reps as a subcommittee to communicate issues and keep on the same page.

Organising: working collectively on issues All issues can be felt personally and some maybe related to individual factors alone, for example, some people can suffer from stress because of work-life balance. However, as a rep, or group of members, there is a need to consider if there are underpinning factors that relate individual issues or that can explain why individuals suffer stress in the first place.

Working out what the collective issues are can sometimes be obvious, for example, the college wants to increase workload hours per week, but, sometimes, needs more precision or analysis. This is why ATL recommends using the HSE stress management standards which help reps and colleges to better understand what is happening in the workplace rather than guessing or

26 I Working in the post-16 sector

assuming that there are no underpinning organisational hindrances to staff working and wellbeing. See the HSE website for the tools to use and ATL’s guidance leaflet, written in partnership with the HSE. There are also seemingly perennial collective issues that members will face: pay claims, redundancies, restructuring, mergers are all best encountered collectively. Individuals rarely, if ever, get a better deal by trying to deal with a college on such issues without collective leverage or trade union support. The recent issues regarding the IfL and the pensions campaign show the need for members to voice their views and help ATL to negotiate the best deals possible.

It goes without saying that the more members we have the more latitude we have to press those concerns forward.

In making your case in local or national campaigns reps can draw on excellent campaigning materials devised by ATL. Reps can modify the exact messages and information given to prepare more adequate publicity materials for their use.

It is always best to work with your regional organiser, regional official and branch secretary to get the best possible network of support.

ATL’s advice is to always work toward as broad an alliance as possible within and without the college. Forming a local trade union side with other unions is always a good step to being informed, to prepare joint responses, and to be clear about different strategic or member aims.

Further information and resources to help you in your role can be found in the ‘Reps’ toolbox/reps in the post-16 sector’ section of ATL’s website.

Here is a reminder of the internal and external organisational structures reps work within:

ATL democratic structure ATL members in post-16 sectors ATL reps and committee FESAG ATL branches representing members across all sectors within unitary authorities ATL Executive Committee, including lead members for FE and sixth form ATL conference

Internal organisational structures ATL committee workplace reps departmental contacts ULR health and safety rep members ATL/AMiE sub-committee ATL reps AMiE reps Local trade union side ATL reps and other unions (rotating chair) JCNC External organisational structure ATL reps in other colleges ATL organiser ATL learning organiser ATL regional official/senior regional official ATL branch secretary ATL national official (post-16)

Organising: the importance of working together I 27

04

Contracts of employment

Introduction A contract of employment covers the main terms and conditions of employment. It can be a very lengthy document or a short summary, often supplemented by additional policies, which may be contained in an appendix to the contract, or in an employee handbook.

If something is contractual then it is binding and cannot be altered without the agreement of both parties. The use of an appendix usually indicates that the accompanying documents are contractual; however, this is not always the case with all policies that may be contained in the employee handbook or referred to in the appendix. As such, the employer may be able to revise these provisions without recourse to the employees. Therefore, it is important to know the status of all policies and procedures. In general, it is in the interests of the employee to put things on a contractual basis as it helps put both parties to the contract on a more equal footing.

It is quite common for members to not be given written contracts of employment.

They may only have a letter of appointment, or a statement of the main terms and conditions. In some cases, there is only a verbal agreement.

However, it is important to remember that a verbal contract enjoys the same status in law as a written contract. What was agreed at interview or confirmed in a letter of appointment can be contractually binding. Of course, it is always preferable to have a written contract to avoid

28 I Working in the post-16 sector

unnecessary disputes and to ensure that both parties are clear how certain situations should be managed.

While there is no legal requirement for an employer to provide a written contract, all employees have the legal right to a written statement of particulars of their employment. The statement must contain certain prescribed information, such as the names of the employer and employee, the scale and rate of remuneration and the conditions relating to hours of work and holiday. More details on these legal requirements are in the section on the written statement of particulars of employment. The statement must be given to the employee no later than two months after their employment begins and should cover most of the main features of the employment relationship.

Many FE college contracts contain a clause which seeks to gain the employee’s acknowledgement that the statement, sometimes together with the written offer letter, forms the contract of employment, ie to the exclusion of anything else that may have been said and written down as agreed by you and your employer. This does not stop us in addition arguing that terms are implied through custom and practice, or from seeking to enforce a contractual arrangement made through correspondence between the college and the lecturer. As you will appreciate, such issues can be complicated and where there is disagreement we recommend that you seek advice from ATL. If you do have issues then raise them at the earliest possible stage. For instance,

if you are taking on more duties and responsibilities, say in the spring term, or in a new post, which are not acknowledged in your pay or grade, then you would not want to wait until the autumn term, if that is when you have your annual appraisal, to discuss the matter.

Of course, regardless of what your contract says, you have certain rights enshrined in statute that override your contract.

This chapter provides an ATL model contract for full-time lecturers with an accompanying commentary. It does not seek to provide a gold standard of employment rights but to provide a reasonable standard of protection that we consider a fair employer should accept and implement. The model contract consists of the elements you will find in your contract and a commentary on the issues they may relate to in your day-today working.

The model contract for full-time lecturers also provides the format of a contract for part-time lecturers, but there are some important areas of difference. The guiding principles for part-time contracts are that rights and responsibilities should be on a pro-rata basis and part-time staff should not be treated less favourably in comparison with full-time staff.

Part-time staff have historically been vulnerable to exploitation and treated less favourably than full-time staff. Trade unions have long campaigned against such discrimination, which resulted in the Part-time Workers’ (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000.

Further information is provided in the

section on part-time working. As indicated in the introduction, there may be national differences, which you will need to check. For instance, the parallel legislation in Northern Ireland is the Parttime Workers’ (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000.

There are often particular problems with the contracts of support staff, who are usually employed on term-time only contracts. Your pay should include holiday pay. From 1 October 2008 all employees were entitled to a minimum 28 days’ paid annual leave (with a pro-rata entitlement for part-time staff).

Another issue for support staff is that their roles often evolve and they may be asked to take on extra responsibilities.

This is all the more so as many FE colleges contain para-educational roles (information, advice and guidance, tutoring, mentoring, literacy and numeracy support) and as colleges address workload issues, some of the lecturers’ administrative or other work may be passed over to support staff. It is therefore even more important that your job description or role profile adequately reflects the tasks and responsibilities expected of you. If you have concerns that this is not the case then the matter should be raised with your employer. This can be done through the appraisal system, or by a collective approach, perhaps through a job evaluation scheme.

In the FE sector your contract is framed around the obvious considerations of hours, duties and tasks, but there are elements that you may not have found in other sectors, if you have worked in

Contracts of employment I 29

them. First let us detail the more obvious elements and then consider the more FE specific.

Contracted hours In regard to your duties as a main grade lecturer, you will be expected to work a number of contact hours with students and hours related to non-contact or departmental duties. The days and time that these hours will take place (up to two evenings per week and occasional weekend hours if you are teaching on a programme that runs on Saturdays is a common set of parameters but these can differ from college to college or programme to programme) should also be included.

Your general workload demands and role expectations are covered by the national agreement on workload. However, the college will interpret those expectations in a particular way. If you feel that the demands made by the college are excessive or the job role is not clear then you need to talk to your ATL rep or ATL to get advice.

The hours will be specified in your contract in terms of the maximum you will be expected to do or that you may be reasonably asked to do per week. This will include the maximum sessions (AM/PM/evening) that you can sequentially teach in, with two being the optimum followed by a rest session or, following an evening session, the next rest break must be the following morning.

There will also be considerations made for lieu time which will be for Saturday work, residential trips and overtime

30 I Working in the post-16 sector

hours. Lieu time is best used in the following week as stockpiling lieu time can lead to overworking and increase likelihood of stress symptoms at work and at home.

How your timetable is devised In regard to these hours you will, for the most part, be requested to do them by a process of consultation with your line manager. You will, in best and common practice, reach a consensus as to what should be on your timetable with reference to what is in the college’s interests, what is reasonable considering your expertise, personal circumstances, and that of your team.

What is different in FE is that you will discuss your timetable in relation to other colleagues, who may also be able to teach your subject and the level required.

These will, for the most part, be your departmental team, but there may be others in the college who have such expertise too. Therefore, you all need to agree with yourselves and your line manager what is fair. On the whole, this practice is fair and transparent, though accusations of ‘cherry picking’ can lead to some discontent. But it is not an issue that members have raised with any persistence therefore we can assume that timetabling is, mostly, well managed and fair. However, if you do suspect poor practice, then email your requests to your line manager, keep notes of meetings (particularly those that have been minuted), and report your concerns to your senior regional official. In the worst cases such poor practice of favouring

certain staff for particular roles can, ultimately, lead to a redundancy situation where the member of staff has great difficulty in showing the process of gradual exclusion.

What hours will you teach each week and what do they include?

Some contracts have annualised hours that can be spread over the year giving variable weekly totals, and some have specific weekly hours, such as 23 contact hours per week. If the hours are annualised there should be a maximum of hours you could be asked to teach, for example, 25 hours, which would be very difficult to sustain over a number of weeks. If you are teaching over 25 hours per week you do need to ensure that the demands made upon you are fair and reasonable. Furthermore, you need to be vigilant for symptoms of stress that can carry into your home life.

Your contact hours should cover group tutorial time and one-to-one tutorial time, at best. You may also benefit from a supportive arrangement around mixed level teaching which should also be looked upon favourably by the college. It is very difficult to teach on a variety of programmes and a variety of levels, as preparation and updating of course content and subject specialist knowledge, is far greater than teaching in one subject area. Also, teaching level 4 programmes (degree level) should also be rewarded with two for one hours or some other supportive working arrangement.

Here, the issue is the far greater size of

assignments and the depth of knowledge required to maintain a high quality and successful course.

Relations with students are expressed in surveys by staff to be one of the most valuable and worthwhile aspects of their job but responding to students’ interests, particularly on level 4 courses, can take up a lot of time in serious and exploratory discussions around issues, perhaps leading to the member of staff seeking further information for the student. Such ‘imperfect obligations’ are the backbone of good relations with students, indeed so much so that colleges often cite the strong ethos of staff and student relations in the college as being a benefit of attending the college. However, such informal relations are not contractual (a ‘perfect obligation’ is one that is stated and expressed legally) and therefore is an area of ‘goodwill.’ Staff also need to protect their break and lunch periods if they are to truly rest and refresh themselves for the next teaching session.

A supportive college will ensure that staff are so protected, so facilitating good informal relations between staff and students on college premises.

Too many hours per week equals a reduction in quality!

All in all, the more contact hours you do the less time you will have to plan, prepare and assess. Your total weekly contract hours will be for 37 hours’ per week in the best case. Therefore, the more contact time you do, the less time you have to do anything else. As with teachers and lecturers in other sectors,

Contracts of employment I 31

the burden of keeping everything going regarding marking, preparation, planning, attending meetings, informal consultations with students, course development, in a normal working week can often become too much and you find yourself working in the evenings or weekends (more ‘goodwill’). It is therefore important that you ensure that your workload is clearly monitored and that you do not take too much on. For example, large class sizes, courses with a lot of internal assessment, courses that need developing, and, as noted above, teaching on a range of courses (GCSE, A-level, BTEC, Diploma, HE work, teacher training), all put great demands on you and need to be noted, particularly, during your appraisal.

What to do if your hours are simply too much If you have taken too much on you will find your working life becoming very difficult and quality may very well be compromised at some point. In such a case, talk to your line manager and try to balance your ambition and enthusiasm with a focused and coherent timetable. It is best for you and your students. If you feel that your line manager is not taking your points seriously then talk to your ATL rep who can help deal with the matter, in the first instance, informally.

Unfortunately, if the issues cannot be solved informally, then your only option may be a grievance. Grievances should be seen as flagging a serious concern rather than the signs of a personal vendetta, and you should pursue one if there are no reasonable courses of

32 I Working in the post-16 sector

action. Again, it is better to take advice on this and make sure your case is fair and reasonable and one that ATL believes has good grounds.

Intellectual copyright The less obvious parts of your contract will be an intellectual copyright clause that will, in the best contracts, preserve your ownership of the work that you develop and, in less favourable contracts, will aim to retain all of your work as the college’s. This clause is reasonable if you are developing project work for the college, for example a course design or course materials, particularly if you are working in a commercial environment.

However, it is very often the case that lecturers will use a part of their teaching material for a book on the subject they teach and as this will benefit the college as well, then such work should be encouraged and remain the ownership of the lecturer.

Multi-site working Another area specific to FE is that of the college site you work from. FE colleges usually have multiple sites as they have historically developed from adult and community colleges, A-level evening provision and technical colleges. As the sites developed over the years, FE colleges were left with numerous sites, often with specialist provision such as hairdressing, art or construction. As more money went into the sector to refurbish the estate, colleges often began to gather their provision into a large campus development (the ‘new build’) for the sake of efficiency and transport. This campus will be on a site that will have

space for further areas of specialism so the college can expand into something that more resembles a university campus (without the social activity and communal ethos associated with universities), but is, actually, a series of specialist buildings with their own particular learning cultures and ways of working.

In recent years we have seen larger colleges taking over smaller colleges in their region and, sometimes, across the country. It is, therefore, important to be aware of, and consider, the likelihood that your work may transfer to another part of the country or that you may be transferred to another college site.

The issue of which site you work at is not only related to this development in FE history and more recent developments around take-overs, but also to the issues of either federation or partnership working and mergers. You could be in a college that has two to five ‘centres’ or ‘satellites’ up to 20 miles apart. This makes what is called the ‘mobility clause’ in your contract a real issue.

The mobility clause will state that the employer has the right to request that the employee be prepared to work on any of the employer’s sites. This is reasonable as long as you have been informed as to where you will be teaching during your application process.

This issue sometimes is raised during redundancies when the employer wishes to move work to a more distant site than the one you may work in. This is contentious and the law does protect employees who have accepted work on

one particular site and that fits their circumstances. So the mobility clause is not a ‘catch all’ for the employer in all circumstances. Nevertheless, negotiations around the business case for such changes in site working and a meaningful consultation with staff should enable any changes to overcome unnecessary tensions.

Part-time work As virtually 50% of lecturers are part-time or on fractional contracts, or doing sessional work, the issue of working for multiple employers is common. It can be a difficulty when lecturers are working for other colleges or schools who are teaching similar courses. This is usually not an issue as long as the member of staff informs the college and adheres to college policy around sensitivity of information. However, the wording of some employment contracts might suggest that the college may ask staff to terminate such employment (if it is prior to them working in the college) or not to take any offers up after being employed at the college. Often colleges take a reasonable view here, but the contract may be a little firmer in tone to enable the college to come to its own judgement.

However, some colleges have implemented much stricter guidelines, which ATL contests and therefore would ask members to seek advice if they believe their contract is weighted too heavily in the employer’s favour and does not allow a part-time worker to seek additional employment, even to the extent sometimes of proscribing certain hobbies that are considered too risky!

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Membership of the IfL

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To be ‘licensed to practice’ in the sector you must be registered with the IfL and comply with the professional code of conduct, which essentially replicates your code of conduct with your employer, but adds an important element around safeguarding across the sector. The IfL flags up anybody convicted of an offence which bans them from teaching young people or vulnerable adults. It is a necessary part of any professional body that regulates the behaviour of its members as ‘professionals’ that standards of behaviour, discretion in judgement and expertise are known to the public.

However, this brings an added complication as this means that if a complaint is made to the IfL about your conduct, behaviour, or work, then the IfL is required to take it up independently of the college’s procedures.This could mean that a member might face two enquiries, one by the college and one from the IfL. There are, currently, no mechanisms for consistent reporting from employer to the IfL and therefore colleges can have different views on how far the IfL should be involved in complaints against staff.

As there is no ombudsman for appeals, this means the way a member is treated in one college can differ from a member in another college. This is cleary unsatisfactory and will be an element in the current independent review of the IfL. The regulatory body for professionals in the FE and Lifelong Learning Sector, the IfL holds a register of all those who have a licence to practice in the sector. To remain a member of the IfL you must:

34 I Working in the post-16 sector

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register with the IfL adhere to the regulations around being qualified to teach in the sector (pre 2001 no qualifications necessary; 2001-2007 level 3 or 4 postgraduate teaching qualification; post 2007 QTLS for lecturing staff complete a minimum of 30 hours of CPD that are notified to the employer but remain yours to determine what that CPD consists of (eg ATL training or personal study). Such work should be kept in a portfolio for sampling if requested. There is no standard for this work. remain in good standing post qualifying, that is, adhere to the requirements to be a member of a professional occupational group of lecturers and to conduct oneself accordingly complete professional formation, evidencing literacy and communication skills, current good practice, and support from peers in evidence statements.

Agency workers The Agency Workers’ Directive was implemented in the UK from 1 October through the Agency Workers’ Regulations 2010. The implications of this directive could be significant for agency workers.

Please check ATL’s updated factsheets.

Final observations When considering working in the FE sector and looking over your contract, remember that the contract will, most likely, have been a collectively agreed contract. However, in some cases, colleges have used a ‘sack or sign’ tactic

that forces staff onto a new contract or have imposed a unilateral variation of the contract (without the consent of the trade unions) and you should give careful consideration to your choice of employer in such a situation. It would be wise to consider other alternatives, if you have them, as you will not only be entering a frayed atmosphere, but will most likely have poorer pay and conditions than elsewhere. Fortunately, this is a rare occurrence, but it does happen.

Taking the best case though, you will be considering a collectively agreed local contract that adheres to the recommendations and national agreements formed between the trade unions and the AoC. This means it will be reasonable in terms of workload, holidays and HR policies. All ATL reps and contacts have the Activity and Resource Toolkit that has hyperlinks to all ATL’s and nationally agreed positions. If you do not have an ATL rep or contact at your college then why not consider becoming one so that you can access the Toolkit?

Alternatively, all of the resources available to reps for post-16 lecturers are accessible from ATL’s website.

In terms of the contract elements, the best contracts require around 21-23 teaching hours per week and 759-820 contact hours and 48-55 days’ holiday per year. There are contracts that are better than this but there are also contracts that are much less favourable.

Your ATL rep will be looking to improve your pay and conditions at every opportunity. The more you support your rep, or members become reps and participate in the ATL membership at your

college, the more leverage we will have to give each and every member better pay and conditions.

Some colleges have an implementation agreement which ensures that contracts, job roles and posts are fairly implemented and not subject to departmental interpretation or too much variance. ATL thinks this is exemplary practice and would encourage reps to negotiate for such an agreement at their college. An example of an agreement can be emailed to reps. Please contact your national official.

Written statement of particulars of employment Under the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA), employees have the right to a written statement of particulars of their employment. The statement must be given to the employee no later than two months after their employment begins, and must include: ● the names of the employer and the employee ● the date on which employment began and the date on which the period of continuous employment began ● the scale and rate of remuneration, pay intervals and the method of calculating pay ● terms and conditions relating to hours of work and holiday entitlement (including public holidays) ● the job title or description ● the employee’s place of work.

These must all be detailed in a single document. However, provided they are given within the two month deadline,

Contracts of employment I 35

other employment particulars can be documented by instalments. These are: ● whether employment is permanent or for a fixed term ● details of sickness, pensions and notice ● details of the employer’s disciplinary and grievance procedures ● details of collective agreements affecting employment ● details of any requirements regarding work outside of the UK. The written statement can refer the employee to another document (provided there are opportunities for reading it at work) for employment particulars relating to sick leave and pay and pension schemes.

The ERA requirements make no specific mention of overtime. However, caselaw has ruled that if overtime is an essential element of the contractual relationship, so that employees should normally do it if requested, a reference to it must be included in the written statement.

In an employment case it was held that just putting the job title without any further description was not sufficient. It is also good practice (but not a legal requirement) to include a job description.

As far as notice requirements are concerned, it is sufficient for the statement to refer the employee to the law on the matter or to a collective agreement, providing there are opportunities to see it at work. If there are no terms relating to any of the above items, this has to be stated.

The right to a written statement does not apply only to new employees; existing employees can ask for a statement of their particulars if they do not already have one.

36 I Working in the post-16 sector

If the employer does not provide a written statement, the employee can refer the matter to an employment tribunal at any time while they are working for the employer, or within three months of the employment ending (or later, if a tribunal decides it was not reasonably practicable for them to do so within the three months). A tribunal can determine what terms and conditions have been agreed, based on whatever evidence is available, but it cannot change terms that have been agreed.

If you are considering requesting a statement of your main terms and conditions from your employer, then we would recommend that you first seek advice from ATL. This may be an issue that affects all your colleagues.

Implied terms: the unwritten rules of a contract There are terms that are not usually spelt out in a contract of employment but which the law considers to be central to any employer-employee relationship.

These are called implied terms, and are separate duties that are placed on both employer and employee. The duties of employers are: ● To take reasonable care of the safety of employees by providing a safe system of work, as well as a healthy and safe workplace. In so doing, the employer must take reasonable precautionary measures to safeguard both the physical and mental health of employees. ● To provide a suitable working environment. Employers should take reasonable steps to ensure that

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employees are able to carry out their work in tolerable conditions. In the case of Waltons & Morse v Dorrington (1997), the employer was deemed to be in breach of this term by requiring a non-smoking secretary to work in a smoke-filled environment. The employment appeal tribunal ruled that she had been constructively dismissed.

Not to act in a manner calculated or likely to destroy or seriously damage the relationship of mutual trust and confidence which should exist between employer and employee. This can take many forms, for example, subjecting an employee to persistent undermining and humiliating treatment.

Where this occurs, an employee who has worked for the employer for at least one year is entitled to resign and present a claim to an employment tribunal for constructive dismissal on the grounds that the employer’s actions or lack of them amount to a fundamental breach of contract. To claim constructive dismissal you must leave your job. You should not take this step without advice from ATL. To provide reasonable support. An employer should take appropriate steps to ensure that an employee is able to work without harassment or disruption from colleagues.

To provide a procedure to deal with employees’ grievances reasonably and promptly, which must also take proper account of the statutory grievance procedure.

To pay agreed wages and provide work. The payment of wages is usually provided for in the written contract. As regards the provision of work, an

employee who is given insufficient work to do is unlikely to be able to complain if she/he is being paid in full.

However, where earnings depend on the provision of work by the employer, there may well be an implied obligation to provide work.

The duties of employees are: ● Fidelity: employees should serve their employers faithfully and not act against the interests of their employers. The setting up of a rival business during the period of employment is likely to breach this duty. Some employers view criticism of them to be in breach of this duty and might even include an explicit provision in the contract to cover this. ● To obey lawful and reasonable instructions: the engaging of an employee to work under the direction of the employer is the essence of an employer-employee relationship.

However, the instructions should be lawful and consistent with the employee’s contractual duties. The employee is not obliged to obey an instruction to do something which is either unlawful or would put his or her safety in danger. ● To exercise reasonable care and skill: this duty governs the quality of the employee’s work. Someone who is employed in a skilled job is expected to have the necessary skills ably to undertake that work. Employees are also expected to perform their duties with reasonable care.

Though often unwritten, these implied terms are as much a part of the contractual relationship between employer and employee as expressly

Contracts of employment I 37

written terms. Consequently, it is incumbent on both parties to have regard to their respective duties if a harmonious and productive working relationship is to be maintained.

Working part-time Part-time lecturers and support staff make an important contribution to FE colleges. Working part-time has advantages for the college and for the employee, and ATL supports this flexibility and the possibility of choice.

Unfortunately, part-time workers can be vulnerable to exploitation. Employers can view part-time staff as a flexible resource for the benefit of the college without recognising that they have the same rights and security of employment as fulltime employees.

Part-time contracts often give colleges a wide-ranging power to vary unilaterally the number of hours a part-time employee works. The college may seek to justify the practice in giving them the freedom to adjust capacity promptly when, say, demands for a subject change. However, this leaves many parttime employees in a difficult financial position and with fewer rights than their full-time colleagues.

the agreement of both parties.

Zero hours contracts are clearly designed to give the employer total flexibility in who they employ and when. And, of course, as the DRA ends, we may see more of this practice but, as a systematic form of contract it is deeply unhelpful. It provides a reserve army of labour for the employer with little responsibility to the employee. It increases short-termism in the provision of courses so that students, lecturers and employers will not be able to securely plan the access of future provision. This is an aspect of the much vaunted ‘flexibility’ in FE that actually undermines the status of the sector and gives the impression of ‘anything goes.’ A sustainable and coherent sector would have only a small percentage of sessional staff, zero hours contract and staff turnover.

Preventing less favourable treatment The Part-time Workers’ (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000, referred to as ‘the regulations’, state that part-time workers have the right not to be treated less favourably by an employer when compared to full-time workers, as regards the terms of their contracts of employment, unless that treatment can be objectively justified.

ATL considers that a contract that contains a variable hours clause, enabling an employer unilaterally to change the number of hours that a part-time employee works, may be discriminatory and unlawful.

‘Terms’ includes salary, holiday entitlement, rate of sick pay or maternity pay, access to pension schemes or training schemes and the criteria used to select individuals for redundancy.

ATL is not against flexibility but strongly believes that the variation of an employee’s working hours should be by

If you are starting part-time at a new college, or if you are full-time considering a change to part-time, then try to put

38 I Working in the post-16 sector

yourself on a better contractual footing, for example by agreement on specified hours of work.

Ideally, a part-time contract should have set, specified hours of work. For example, a lecturer contracted to work 20 hours per week may have 16 hours contact teaching time and four hours for planning, preparation and assessment (PPA). Next best is to have your working hours expressed as a percentage of fulltime, eg 50% (often referred to as 0.5) of a full-time post. This is a slightly looser, less specific arrangement as it leaves open the possibility that your hours could be varied if the hours for the full-time post vary. The management may seek to increase the hours worked by a full-time member of staff and consequently your hours as a part-time worker.

Where a part-time worker is required to attend for additional duties, such as training days, staff meetings or parents’ evenings, this should be on a pro-rata equivalent to full-time workers. Where it is not practical to pro-rata the duty or activity then provision should be made for the member of staff to be paid for the additional time worked beyond normal hours. Many contracts in the post-16 sector acknowledge this principle.

Having set hours does not rule out the flexibility of varying your hours, providing both parties are in agreement. What it does rule out is your employer unilaterally changing your hours without such agreement.

Unfavourable treatment If you think that you are being unfavourably treated because you work

part-time, we recommend that you discuss the matter with ATL. The regulations provide that a part-time worker can request a written statement from their employer if they believe that they are being treated less favourably than a comparable full-time employee.

The employer must respond within 21 days. An employee must then attempt to resolve the matter with the college informally or by invoking a grievance.

Having exhausted the college’s grievance procedure, a worker may make a complaint to an employment tribunal that their employer has infringed the regulations. The complaint must be lodged within three months of the date on which the less favourable treatment occured. As always, we suggest that you seek advice from ATL at the earliest possible stage.

Model part-time contract The ATL model for full-time lecturers also provides the basis for the part-time contract, although some important differences must be taken into account.

We have discussed above the main principles, that rights and responsibilities should be on a pro-rata basis to full-time staff and that part-time workers should not be treated less favourably.

There are some other specific clauses that are different. For example, while it is common for a contract for a full-time lecturer to prohibit or put limitations on other employment, it is clearly different if you work part-time. If you are a part-time lecturer, it is unreasonable for the contract to stipulate that you are required to obtain permission from the principal lecturer to engage in any outside activity,

Contracts of employment I 39

especially if it is to take place on days when you are not contracted to work for the college. For clarity’s sake, ATL would recommend the following should be added to the model contract: “For the avoidance of doubt the lecturer shall not be required to abstain from any outside activity which does not prevent the lecturer from fulfilling his/her duties.”A part-time lecturer might want to include this provision in particular where there is a variable hours’ clause in his/her contract of employment, as the lecturer might in the future need to seek additional employment elsewhere to make up his/her hours.

staff. So how can you make sure you know what you are signing up to before you say ‘yes’?

Similarly, ATL would consider it unreasonable for part-time support staff to have a prohibition against taking other employment, unless there was a direct and unequivocal conflict of interest with their main employment and one that could not be prevented by their adherence to the professional standing of their profession as given by IfL membership.

The ability to provide you with a contract on request, and to answer your questions openly says a lot about a college and its management. Read the contract carefully.

If there is anything not covered or which you do not understand, raise it with your college. Ask ATL to check a new contract if you have any concerns about it.

Working hours for support staff Your working hours will be defined in your contract of employment as it is for main grade lecturing staff. However, on the harmonised pay scale you will be on the nationally agreed scale points (this may vary according to local negotiations).

Questions to ask when considering a job offer FE colleges have some freedom to offer a range of terms and conditions to new

40 I Working in the post-16 sector

1. General tips Ask for a copy of the contract of employment and all relevant supplementary documents (such as the staff handbook) before you formally accept the post. Don’t be afraid of appearing pushy by asking questions.

Taking a new job is a major commitment.

However, a common sense approach should be taken, as asking a string of questions about benefits may create the wrong impression!

If you are asked to accept a job without sight of the contract, then one option is to accept the post conditionally, upon agreeing the terms and conditions, or to accept subject to contract. However, if you accept a post conditionally, the college in turn might be able to withdraw the offer without being in breach of contract. Keep a note of what was said at interview and in conversations afterwards and keep offer letters and relevant documents (including the advertisement for the post). They could be significant in any subsequent dispute.

Never assume that the college offers a particular term or condition. If something

is important to you, make sure you ask about it. If you do start a job and have received nothing more than a letter of appointment, you are entitled to receive a statement of your main terms and conditions within eight weeks of starting (see above). Ask ATL for advice. If things are not quite as you expected, always raise your concerns promptly with HR. 2. Job title Make sure you are clear about your job title and major responsibilities (especially those that attract extra pay).

3. Job description The devil is in the detail. Make sure that you are happy with the range of possible duties you may be asked to cover. This is particularly important when considering a ‘hybrid’ contract which gives your duties as lecturer plus co-ordinator or plus some management duties, as required in a programme manager’s post.

4. Pay Don’t be satisfied with general statements about pay. Ask for a copy of the salary scales and establish which scale point you will be on and why, and how you will progress up it when pay is reviewed. Unfortunately, colleges do bargain around scale points and you need to be clear about what is personally acceptable to you before you find out that somebody else was appointed on a higher scale point doing similar work.

Appointments do have certain criteria but candidates can also bring some value added skills that the college thinks are worth paying for. This may be the case so comparisons are difficult. However, it is

important that your rep and ATL is aware of any sharp practices around different treatment of members and you should make ATL aware of your concern.

5. Hours of work Establish at interview any particular hours of work that might cause you difficulty, eg weekend or evening work which are certainly customary in FE contracts but may not be applicable to the post you are currently applying for. Unfortunately, posts do change with different demands and college direction, so do not assume that your timetable will remain to these hours in the future. Therefore, it is very helpful to yourself and the college if you do raise such issues about the college’s expectations of you at the time of interview. Of course, the college may consider any such request a lack of flexibility and this may go against your application. On the other hand, if you are a carer, have a medical condition, or have any other overriding factors that relate to areas covered by the Equality Bill then the college should make reasonable adjustments. If you feel that the college discriminated against you on these grounds then inform ATL immediately.

6. Holidays Colleges expect staff to take their holidays outside of term time and around any CPD days they have put in the calendar. Colleges always treat exceptional requests for holiday leave or unpaid leave sympathetically, depending on the circumstances. If you feel that your request was treated in a cursory manner then contact your rep or ATL to check on the reasonableness of the college’s response.

Contracts of employment I 41

7. Probationary periods Trial periods usually last up to one teaching year. Ensure you understand how long your probation will last, what the review arrangements are and the support and induction you can expect from managers and colleagues. This process is, of course, very important, and you need to detail all support and advice, as well as any concerns you have with written evidence, notes of meetings agreed with your line manager or mentor.

Unfortunately, misunderstandings can arise and all parties need to be reasonable around the demands new staff are given and what support has been provided. This is why it is very important to know what courses you will teach on, at what levels and which groups of students. Talk to staff who teach on the courses to find out how the college is run, what support you might get, and what the students are like.

Supporting qualifying staff and new lecturers is an aspiration of the sector and any poor practices should be notified to ATL to enable monitoring of this area.

8. Notice periods Check how much notice you are entitled to receive and obliged to give, especially in your first year. For lecturers, one term’s notice from either party is normal but it can vary from college to college. For support staff, notice periods vary but commonly it is one month. In some FE colleges the notice period for support staff and lecturers is the same. It is important to note that contractual notice may be supplemented by your statutory entitlements. If your employer wishes to dismiss you after one month’s service, then by law they must give you a

42 I Working in the post-16 sector

minimum of one week’s notice for every year worked, to a maximum of 12 years.

For example, if you have worked for your employer for 15 years and your contract of employment gives a notice period of one month, then by law, your employer would have to give you 12 weeks’ notice if they were seeking to dismiss you.

9. Maternity pay and leave The key question is whether the college will pay statutory maternity pay only, or higher rates under a more beneficial scheme.

10. Sick pay entitlement This is worth checking, especially the entitlement in the first few years of employment. Many FE colleges provide lecturers full pay for 25 working days in the first year, with an extra 50 working days on half pay after four months. Again, sick pay provision for support staff varies enormously. In some colleges the provision will be on the same terms as lecturers, in others it may be worse.

11. Pension All colleges in England and Wales are members of the TPS. If in doubt contact ATL’s pensions department. There are separate, although often very similar, provisions for Scotland and Northern Ireland. Further information is contained in chapter 7, on pay.

12. Retirement age The ending of the DRA began fully in October 2011. Colleges, prior to this date, opted for a staff model that was based on the state retirement age.

Although staff were employed post retirement, this was on a case by case

basis. Colleges, in certain areas, might make a case for retaining a retirement age, but it is not foreseeable what those grounds would be. Retirement age is now an individual choice and discussions with the college about any limitations you might have as you get older in your particular role will, of course, be important. All other college policies, while accommodating a potentially ageing workforce, will also retain capability and competency measures that members need to acknowledge and ensure they can meet as they get older. While working longer clearly has great benefits to the physical and mental wellbeing of individuals, it can also put extra demands that have to be balanced with our particular circumstances.

13. Specialist FE colleges a) Accommodation If you work in a specialist college and are required to live in college property make sure you know what this will involve. Are there charges or rents to be paid? Are you responsible for bills and maintenance? Can the college ask you to move into different accommodation? Can the college give you notice to quit even though your employment will not end?

Who can live or stay with you? Ask for a copy of the licence to occupy college accommodation.

14. Research the college Researching an employer is an important part of applying for any job. In addition to obtaining the college prospectus, it is advisable to research the college’s website.

Checklist of issues to consider about a new job: ● Is there a job description and am I content with it? ● What is the job profile? ● What is the starting pay? ● Is there a pay scale and how do I progress up it? ● When is my pay reviewed? ● What are my normal working hours? ● What extra-curricular activities are expected of me? ● What are the pension arrangements? ● What is the sickness policy and my sick pay entitlement? ● What is the maternity policy? ● Is there a redundancy policy? ● Have I been given a copy of the staff handbook?

b) Time off If you are taking a post with a substantial boarding responsibility then you ought to agree your rest periods. A day and half free of duties (with at least one continuous break of 24 hours) per week is reasonable.

Contracts of employment I 43

Model contract of employment for full-time lecturers in the post-16 sector ATL’s model contract for lecturers is intended to be a contract which is fair to both employee and employer. It is not ‘gold plated’ (ie not excessively generous); many members will enjoy more generous contracts of employment. We believe that it is a practical model that a reasonable employer will feel comfortable with.

1. Employer [The name of the employer] 2. Employee [Your name] 3. Place of work [The college’s name and address] 4. Job title [Your job title] 5. Duties Your job description and details of any other responsibilities are attached to this contract as Annex A. 6. Date employment commences [The date on which this contract comes into effect] 7. Date of continuous service [The date in 6 or the date on which your previous service with the employer began if this is earlier] 8. Salary (i) Your starting salary is point [x] on the employer’s salary scale for lecturers (currently £[y] pa). The harmonised pay scale is attached to this contract as Annex [ ]. (ii) Your salary will be increased each year to meet inflation at a rate which matches, or exceeds, that agreed by the Secretary of State for lecturers in the maintained sector. Such increases are payable annually from 1 September.

44 I Working in the post-16 sector

(iii) In addition, your salary will be reviewed annually. Progression up to point [z] on the employer’s pay scale is subject to satisfactory service and such increases are payable from 1 September.

Satisfactory service will be measured according to the criteria set out in the college’s pay policy which is attached as in Annex [ ] to this contract. (iv) Progression beyond point [insert relevant point] on the employer’s pay scale will be payable in accordance with performance criteria which is set out in Annex [ ] to this contract. (v) The harmonised pay scale contained in Annex [ ] and the policy contained in Annex [ ] may be reviewed from time to time by the employer in consultation with the staff. (You may wish to make a detailed reference to, for example, staff trade union reps under a collective agreement, joint consultative committee, staff working party etc). Any proposed amendments will be agreed between the employer and employee (or between management and staff reps if the contract is subject to a collective agreement under a trade union recognition agreement). (vi) Your salary will be paid on the [insert day, eg 15th] day of each month. Your salary is paid in twelve equal monthly payments, regardless of whether it is term-time or college holiday.

9. Other allowances [delete as required]

(i) In accordance with Annex [ ] a management allowance of £[s] pa is payable in recognition of additional responsibilities as [insert job/role title] and matches the managers’ scale points. (ii) Management allowances will be increased each year to meet inflation at a rate which matches or exceeds that agreed by the Secretary of State for lecturers in the maintained sector. Such increases are payable annually from 1 September.

10. Working hours (i) A full-time lecturer is required to attend for work during the hours of the normal college day, from [t]am to [u]pm. (ii) On occasions, the full-time lecturer may be required to work such reasonable additional hours as may be needed to enable him or her to discharge effectively his/her professional duties. An example is parents’ evenings. This time will be regarded as normal working time and come under the same restrictions as other evening work ie ‘no more than two during the week’, ‘no more than two sessions of work am/pm/am in sequence’. (iii) A full-time lecturer must be available for work on all the days of the normal academic year, a total of [w] days. (iv) A full-time lecturer is required to work additional days in order to be able to fulfil his/her duties outside of timetabled weeks. This will be no more than [ ] days in an academic year, such days to be taken immediately before the start of, or after the end of term. Reasonable notice of the requirement to work such additional days on college premises will be given. (v) The lecturer is entitled to reasonable periods of non-timetabled time to allow for PPA. In Scotland, there is statutory

provision for one third of a state maintained teacher’s timetable to be set aside for ‘preparation and correction’. In FE colleges where the timetabled teaching exceeds 24 hours this reasonable guideline has been passed and issues around demands upon staff will increase. Reps should bring this issue and the Scottish standard to SMT’s notice. (vi) If the lecturer is required to undertake work to cover for an absent colleague, this cover should not normally extend beyond two hours maximum per week for one term and must have the agreement of the employee. There should be no extension beyond one term in any circumstances. The employer will plan outside cover for absence known in advance or long-term absence.

11. Staff development and review You will have an annual appraisal with your line manager. The appraisal system seeks to support and develop the employee. It is an opportunity to raise issues and look at ways of enhancing performance. Full details of the appraisal system are contained in the Employee Handbook. You are expected to participate in any in-service training which may be organised for the staff as a whole or for you individually. If you disagree with the appraiser or the process then ask for an alternative or ask your rep to argue for an appeal process for the appraisal agreement.

12. Holidays You are not required to attend work during the usual college holidays, other than as specified in Clause 10, (iv) above, nor on bank or public holidays, and full salary will be paid during these periods.

Contracts of employment I 45

13. Ill-health The current requirements for notification of absence and the provisions relating to sick pay are set out in Annex [ ] to this contract.

14. Pensions You will automatically become a member of the TPS. The TPS is a contributory scheme administered by Teachers’ Pensions on behalf of the Department for Education (DfE).

15. Notice period (i) During your first 12 months’ service, your employment may be terminated, either by you or the employer, giving at least two calendar months’ notice in writing. After completion of 12 months’ service, your employment may be terminated by either you or the employer by giving at least one term’s notice in writing, to expire only on 31 December, 30 April or 31 August and to be given on or before the first day of term on which you are required to attend for work. (ii) The employer will give you any longer period of notice required under the Employment Rights Act 1996 or any amending legislation.

17. Disciplinary procedure The employer’s current disciplinary procedure is set out in Annex [ ] to this contract. The person authorised to take action in your case is [insert job title of relevant line manager].

18. Capability procedure The employer’s current capability procedure is set out in Annex [ ] to this contract. The person authorised to take action in your case is [insert job title of relevant line manager].

19. Grievance procedure The employer’s grievance procedure is set out in Annex [ ] to this contract. For the purposes of the grievance procedure your principal of department is the person with whom you should raise your grievance, unless the grievance involves that person, in which case the grievance should be made to [insert job title of relevant line manager].

20. Maternity/paternity/adoption leave and pay Either: the employer provides maternity/paternity/adoption leave and pay at an enhanced rate above the statutory minimums. Full details are contained in Annex [ ] to this contract.

Or: the employer provides maternity/paternity/adoption leave and pay in accordance with the statutory minimums. Full details are contained in Annex [ ] to this contract.

16. Retirement If you remain in the employer’s employment as a lecturer until you attain the retirement age of 65 years, your intended date of retirement will be the 31 August following your 65th birthday. You have the right to request to stay on after this date, which the employer must consider seriously, although there is no guarantee that such a request will be granted. Further information on the retirement procedure can be found in the Employee Handbook.

21. Other employment (i) You may be required to abstain from any other work or occupation, paid or unpaid, which in the reasonable opinion of the principal lecturer interferes with the proper performance of your duties.

Points 17-20 below are covered by national agreements between the AoC and the Joint Trade Union Side.

(ii) You may not, without the written approval of the principal lecturer, receive

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any additional remuneration for work with any learner of the college during either college term or holidays.

22. Right to belong to a trade union You have the right to be a member of a trade union or not to be a member of a trade union, as you choose. If you are a member of a trade union recognised by the employer you are entitled to reasonable paid time off during working hours to take part in any trade union activity. If you are an official of a trade union recognised by the employer you are entitled to reasonable paid time off during working hours to carry out certain union duties. You may take part in its activities or undertake trade union duties at such times within working hours as may be agreed in writing by the principal lecturer.

23. Collective agreement This contract is subject to a collective agreement between the employer and ATL (and/or other trade union/s).

Agreements made at the Joint Consultative Committee between employer and staff reps will be incorporated into this contract.

24. Changes to the contract Any change to this contract of employment must be notified in writing to the employee within one month of the change, and the employee’s written agreement to the change will be sought by the employer.

25. Definitions The expression ‘college term’ used in this document means that part of the periods below during which the learners are in attendance in the college: Spring term 1 January to 30 April Summer term 1 May to 31 August Autumn term 1 September to 31 December Date: Signed: (HR) (Lecturer)

Contracts of employment I 47

Commentary on the model contract for fulltime lecturers in the post-16 sector ATL’s model contract for full-time lecturers is designed to cover the most important areas of employment. It does not seek to provide a ‘gold standard’ of employment rights but rather to provide a reasonable standard of protection that a fair employer should be in a position to accept. Indeed, we know that many ATL members already enjoy better contractual rights in certain areas.

Not every clause will be relevant for every lecturer or every college. There are likely to be things that you or your college will wish to add or delete. It is, however, a workable, practical model based upon contracts that already exist at FE colleges. We would encourage colleges to take on board at least the spirit, if not the letter, of these provisions, particularly in the important areas of pay and working hours. It is clearly also in the interests of the employer to have clear rules and guidance as to rights and responsibilities of both parties.

Employer (clause 1) The name of your employer (defined as ‘the college’) should be inserted here.

Employee (clause 2) Your name, and possibly your address, should be included in this clause.

Place of work (clause 3) Colleges sometimes try to make this clause as broad as possible. To protect

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yourself we would encourage you to include, after the address of the college, a geographical limit on the locations to which the college could relocate your work, for example, ‘or any other location within the city.’ There may also be a clause stating that the lecturer may be required to work abroad. You should make sure that you are happy with this, or, if you are not, seek to insert ‘only by agreement with the lecturer.’ Finally, there should be a sentence that states that if the lecturer is required to work abroad, then the reasonable expenses incurred in complying with this request will be reimbursed by the employer.

Job title (clause 4) This should be as specific as possible to your duties and responsibilities.

Duties (clause 5) It is very important that there should be a detailed job description annexed to the contract of employment. It is to the benefit of both parties to be absolutely clear about a lecturer’s role and responsibilities, reducing the potential for misunderstanding at a later date.

Commencement of employment/continuous service (clauses 6 and 7) Clause 6 should be the date that the particular contract came into effect, for example, 1 September 2011. Clause 7 should be the date on which your continuous service at the college began.

‘Continuous service’ is a legal term, and is the method by which your entitlement to redundancy and unfair dismissal rights, amongst other things, is ascertained. It is the length of unbroken time for which you

have worked for the college; normal breaks such as maternity leave and summer holidays do not break your continuity of employment, but if you cease to be in paid employment by the college for more than one week during term-time then your continuity of employment could be broken. You may have changed roles and a new contract might be provided. Provided the employment is continuous, the commencement date of the first contract should be included here.

The phrase ‘continuous service’ is in relation to redundancy or pensions, your length of service with the college, previous employers of the college or a college and any local authority.

Salary (clause 8) (i) ATL’s model contract envisages that the national or college’s pay scale and pay policy will be attached to the contract, thereby having contractual force. This means that if a college does not increase the lecturer’s pay in accordance with the pay scale and as provided for in the pay policy, then the college will be in breach of contract. The aim of this is to encourage colleges to adopt a more transparent pay policy so that lecturers have trust and confidence in the decisions that are being made in relation to their pay. (iii) and (iv) bind the college’s pay scale into the contract.

Working hours (clause 10) (i) ATL recommends that the weekly and annual hours be specifically defined so that the lecturer knows how much time he/she is working above and beyond this.

Any change to these hours will be by collective agreement.

(iii) This clause seeks to limit the amount of cover a lecturer can be asked to do in any one academic year. This revision would enable the lecturer to know, as far as possible, the maximum number of hours over a term or academic year that he/she could be expected to cover for an absent colleague. (vi) Under the Workload Agreement 2010, lecturers (whether full or part-time) in the maintained sector have various guidelines to try and protect them from excessive workloads. Amongst other things, there are limits on working hours, on cover and designated time for PPA. Increasingly, FE colleges are recognising that excessive workload is a major issue with health and safety implications that need to be addressed. There are many different ways to manage workload more efficiently.

Holidays (clause 12) There is no automatic legal right not to work on bank/public holidays, so some contracts may include some bank holidays as working days.

Pensions (clause 14) In Northern Ireland, the main lecturers’ pension scheme is the Northern Ireland Teachers’ Superannuation Scheme and the Northern Ireland Local Government Pensions scheme for support staff. In Scotland, the main lecturers’ pension scheme is the Scottish Teachers’ Superannuation Scheme.

Retirement (clause 16) The ending of the DRA in October, 2011 means that retirement is now by mutual consent.

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Disciplinary, capability and grievance procedures (clauses 17, 18 and 19) Discipline and capability are important matters requiring different procedures.

The purpose of a capability procedure is to assist the employee to achieve the required standard of performance through support, training and setting realistic goals. Similarly, disciplinary rules and procedures are not a means of imposing sanctions but rather as a way of encouraging improvement for those whose conduct is unsatisfactory. ATL’s view is that colleges must have separate procedures for dealing with issues of conduct and capability.

Lecturers’ employment rights summary: FE sector in England and Wales The following is a summary of the key employment rights relevant to lecturers in FE in England and Wales. Your statutory rights are the minimum you are entitled to as an employee of the college. In some cases your contract will provide you with better terms and conditions and, if this is the case, those better terms and conditions will apply.

1. Statement of particulars of employment Your employer has a legal duty to give you a written statement of the particulars of your employment within two months of you starting your job. The statement should contain, for example, your hours of work, holiday entitlement, place of work, etc. Your pay, and on what basis it is calculated if you are a part-time

50 I Working in the post-16 sector

teacher, should also be included. As well as the terms set out in this statement, there may be some terms of employment applying to all staff which are contained in a separate document, such as a staff handbook, which should be readily available within the college. Your employer should also state the title of your job and a brief description of the work for which you are employed.

Your contract of employment is comprised of the written statement of the particulars of employment together with (depending on individual circumstances) the letter of appointment, and other particulars of your employment that are provided to you in instalments or contained in separate collective agreements. All of these might be contained or referred to in a contract of employment that you and your employer sign. ATL recommends that you should be given a clear job description that outlines your particular duties, as this helps to clarify your role and define your workload.

2. Working hours As there is no national agreement on working hours for lecturers, these can vary considerably from college to college.

However, agreements have been reached in a majority of colleges that normally limit weekly working hours to 37 and teaching hours to between 800 and 850 per year. In addition, there is often a weekly limit on teaching hours of 24 hours. More generally, the Working Time Regulations 1998 place a limit on the working week of 48 hours, averaged over 17 weeks. In addition, rights for most workers include:

an uninterrupted rest break of at least 20 minutes during a working day of six hours or more; such a rest break is to be taken during the six hours, and not simply at one end or the other ● a daily rest period of at least 11 consecutive hours in each 24-hour period ● a minimum weekly rest period of at least 24 hours in each seven-day period, although employers can opt for 14-day averaging. The rest period is not required to include Sunday.

ATL understands that lecturers in the FE sector often work excessive hours.

However, we can provide support to lecturers who wish to raise concerns with their employer over their working hours under the Working Time Regulations, on health and safety grounds, and/or who are concerned about their work-life balance. Please contact us using the details given at the end of this publication. ●

3. Holidays Again, there is considerable variation in the amount of paid holiday entitlement available to lecturers employed in different colleges, with a range of between 37 and 60 days plus bank holidays. In addition, many contracts provide for a specified number of ‘efficiency’ days when the college is closed and ‘self-directed’ days when lecturers may work away from the college premises.

It is still unusual for holiday entitlement to be taken during the normal college teaching year, unless there is a specific arrangement with line managers. Many contracts allow for a minimum of four weeks consecutive leave to be taken over the summer.

4. Notice periods You must follow the notice provisions set out in your contract of employment unless they are less than the statutory minimum notice periods. The statutory notice period requires both you and the college to give a minimum of one week’s notice for employment over one month but less than two complete years, and two weeks for two years, three weeks for three years, etc, up to a maximum of 12 weeks.

5. Other entitlements ATL and the national employers’ body (the AoC) have agreed a number of national guideline agreements, which establish recommended minimum standards for such entitlements as maternity leave, dependants’ leave and sickness leave.

Teachers’ employment rights summary: sixth form colleges The following provides a summary of the employment rights of teachers in sixth form colleges in England and Wales. The employment of teachers in the sixth form college sector is governed by Teaching staff: conditions of service handbook, which is often referred to as the ‘Red Book’. The following covers your rights under the ‘Red Book’ as well as the minimum rights you are entitled to under general employment law. In addition, your contractual rights may be affected by locally negotiated agreements.

Contracts of employment I 51

1. Statement of particulars of employment Your employer has a legal duty to give you a written statement of the particulars of your employment within two months of you starting your job. The statement should contain, for example, your hours of work, holiday entitlement, place of work, etc. Your employer should also state the title of your job and a brief description of the work for which you are employed. ATL recommends that you should be given a proper job description that outlines your particular role and duties, as this helps to clarify your role and define your workload.

2. Working hours and workload Teachers must be available for work for 195 days (of which 190 of these are teaching days and up to five days are inservice or INSET training days), and for 1,265 hours in any college year. This is known as ‘directed time’. In addition, you can be required to work such additional hours as may be needed to enable you to discharge effectively your professional duties. As part of the 1,265 hours you may be required to teach for up to six hours over two evenings per week.

Volunteers should be used whenever possible for evening work.

Part-time teachers should calculate their hours by reference to the actual time that the part-time teacher is required to be in college during normal college hours, as compared to a full-time teacher in the same college.

You are required to work under the ‘reasonable direction’ of the principal; this also applies to part-time teachers.

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There has been an increasing impetus over recent years for colleges to respect the work-life balance of their teaching staff. Appendix 6 of the ‘Red Book’ sets out joint guidance on work-life balance, which recognises that it is in the interests of colleges to adopt policies that allow employers to balance their working lives with their personal needs and responsibilities. Appendix 9 of the ‘Red Book’ sets out joint advice on reducing the bureaucratic burden of teachers in sixth form colleges.

3. Breaks You have an entitlement to a break of reasonable length either between college sessions or between the hours of 12 noon and 2pm. ATL recommends that a reasonable break is at least 40 minutes long.

4. Holiday You cannot normally be required to undertake duties on any of the 170 calendar days that are not specified as working days by the college. Where colleges find it necessary to ask teachers to undertake reasonable additional working days in excess of 195 days, additional compensation will be paid.

5. Special leave Time off (whether paid or unpaid) to attend one-off events such as graduations or overseas holidays is at the discretion of the college. Leave for compassionate reasons, such as bereavement, is also at the discretion of the college but ATL would expect most colleges to look favourably on such requests. ATL recommends that each college has its own special leave policy

and that it is applied in a fair, consistent and transparent manner.

6. Right to time off in case of family emergency You have the right to take a reasonable amount of unpaid time off in the case of a family emergency. In some cases, you may have the right to a number of days of paid leave. Individual colleges have their own policies in place and you should check these.

8. Teachers on two or more fixed-term contracts If you have been employed on two or more fixed-term contracts for four years since July 2002, you have the right to a permanent contract of employment unless the college can provide objective justification for not making you a permanent employee. Contact ATL for more information.

7. Notice periods Teachers (and the college) must give notice by: ● 31 October to leave on 31 December ● 28 February to leave on 30 April ● 31 May to leave on 31 August.

However, if a teacher has been continuously employed for more than eight years, they are entitled to receive longer notice as specified in the Employment Rights Act 1996.

Please note, should you wish to leave on a date which is not one of the three dates listed above, it will be entirely at the discretion of your college whether to allow you to do this. If the college does not allow you to leave on your chosen date, and you do so anyway, you will be in breach of your contract of employment.

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05

ATL model policies for FE colleges

The following advice should be supplemented by the updated factsheets on each particular issue available from ATL’s website. This chapter will give you a fairly in-depth summary of the main issues, but members who have concerns should contact their rep and/or ATL’s legal and member services.

A contract of employment may cover all the terms and conditions in one lengthy document. However, more likely than not, your contract will be a relatively short statement of the main terms and conditions of employment which is supplemented by additional policies, such as an annex or number of annexes, or contained in an employee handbook.

In this chapter, we look at three of the principle policies: discipline, grievance and capability. This chapter also contains ATL’s model policies, which are designed to be straightforward. They are not ‘gold plated’ (ie not excessively generous) and are intended to cover only the main points of good practice and to provide a fair and consistent framework for both employee and employer.

Should you wish to provide HR with a copy, ATL’s model policies can be downloaded from ATL’s website at www.atl.org.uk or can be provided by the legal and member services department at ATL’s office in London.

Of course, we hope that you will never have cause to use them, but you don’t know when you might find yourself subject to a disciplinary or capability process. You may feel unhappy at the way the college has dealt with your

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concerns and you may wish to pursue matters more formally through the college’s grievance procedure.

Unfortunately, it is common to see problems festering for want of a proper way of addressing the issue. A well run FE college will have fair and consistent policies and procedures that deal with problems in a timely manner.

Most problems are experienced as individual concerns but often it is through collective action that issues can be resolved. That is why it is so important to ensure that your college has policies that can prevent problems from escalating, or at least allow for them to be dealt with in an efficient and fair manner.

For instance, what do you do if you feel that you are being bullied by your line manager? Of course, it is never going to be easy, but having a bullying and harassment policy shows that the college takes the issue seriously and has put in place a procedure to address it should it arise.

Another example is lesson observation.

When is it reasonable for a line manager or any manager to observe you teaching a lesson unannounced? Should the line manager be expected to inform you of the purpose of the observation in advance? Can a lecturer expect to have constructive feedback? Should this feedback be in writing and within a specified time limit? Can the college change the policy on lesson observations without consultation? Are there models of best practice for lesson observation?

These are legitimate questions that should be addressed in a policy that serves the college’s needs while treating the individual staff member fairly.

The above issues are of concern because, should it come to it, there are strict legal time limits within which to bring a claim for unfair or constructive dismissal. A claim must be brought to an employment tribunal within three months from the date of your dismissal or from the date on which you resigned.

Further information is available on ATL’s website and from our national offices.

Acas is also a very useful source of information and guidance.

Acas is a publicly funded, independent, impartial and confidential service providing employment relations advice for employers and employees. For members in Northern Ireland, information is also available from the Labour Relations Agency.

ATL model policies for FE colleges I 55

Model disciplinary procedure (i) Purpose These rules and procedures are intended to ensure that all employees are treated fairly and are aware of the procedures that will be followed in the event that they fail to achieve and maintain the standards of conduct and performance expected by the college.

Nothing in this procedure shall inhibit HR from discussing concerns or advising employees as to their conduct or performance informally and without recourse to disciplinary procedures. (ii) Principles No disciplinary penalty will be imposed against an employee until the matter has been fully investigated and until the employee has been advised of the nature and details of the complaint against her/him and given the opportunity to state her/his case in person at a disciplinary meeting or hearing, before a decision is reached (with the assistance of a friend or trade union rep if she/he so wishes).

At least 10 working days’ notice of the nature and details of the complaint and of the disciplinary meeting or hearing shall be given in writing to the employee, together with copies of all relevant documents. This notice shall inform the employee of the stage of the procedure under which the meeting or hearing is being convened and of her/his right to attend with the assistance of a friend or trade union rep if she/he so wishes.

An employee will not normally be dismissed for a first breach of discipline except in cases of gross misconduct (when the penalty may be dismissal without notice in accordance with paragraph (iv).

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An employee shall have the right to appeal against any disciplinary warning to the Appeals Committee.

Any such appeal must be requested in writing to the chair of governors within 10 working days of the notification of the disciplinary penalty and will be heard in accordance with paragraph (iv).

Where a complaint is raised against an accredited trade union rep, the disciplinary meeting or hearing shall not be convened until the complaint has been discussed with the branch secretary or a full-time official of that trade union.

Warnings given to an employee and placed in their files shall be disregarded after the following periods have elapsed without further misconduct or unsatisfactory performance taking place: ● ● ●

oral warning: six months written warning: one year final written warning: two years.

Where the complaints against an employee relate to her/his competence, the stages of the procedure will be preceded by appropriate advice, guidance, assessment, review and consideration of training needs. (iii) Procedure Stage 1: Oral warning In cases of complaints of unsatisfactory performance or alleged minor misconduct, HR may consider the matter in accordance with paragraph (ii) and may then give the employee an oral warning.

This warning shall inform the employee of the complaint and of any improvement or

action required, and advise her/him that this constitutes the first stage of the disciplinary procedure. It shall also inform her/him of the possible consequences of any further misconduct or unsatisfactory performance and of her/his right of appeal. A note of the oral warning shall be placed in the employee’s file in accordance with paragraph (ii).

Stage 2: Written warning If further complaints about the employee’s performance arise, or in cases of more serious alleged misconduct, HR may consider the matter in accordance with paragraph (ii) and may then give the lecturer a written warning.

This warning shall inform the employee of the complaint and of any improvement or action required and advise her/him that this constitutes the second stage of the disciplinary procedure. It shall also inform her/him of the possible consequences of any further misconduct or unsatisfactory performance and of her/his right of appeal. A copy of the warning shall be placed in the employee’s file in accordance with paragraph (ii).

Stage 3: Final written warning If further complaints about the employee’s performance arise, or in cases of very serious alleged misconduct, the HR may consider the matter in accordance with paragraph (ii) and may then give the employee a final written warning.

This warning shall inform the employee of the complaint and of any improvement or action required and advise her/him that this constitutes the third stage of the disciplinary procedure. It shall also inform her/him that any further misconduct or unsatisfactory performance may lead to

dismissal and of her/his right of appeal. A copy of the final written warning shall be placed in the employee’s file in accordance with paragraph (ii).

Stage 4: Dismissal If further complaints about the employee’s performance or conduct arise, HR may, after investigation, refer the matter to the staff committee of the governing body. This committee shall convene a hearing to consider the complaint in accordance with paragraph (iv) and shall inform the employee that her/his dismissal is to be considered. The governing body may then give the employee notice of dismissal in writing.

This notice shall inform the employee of the reasons for the dismissal and shall advise her/him of the right to appeal to the Appeals Committee for a hearing in accordance with paragraph (iv).

A notice of dismissal shall not have effect until either any appeal has been determined or the period for making an appeal has expired.

Any such appeal must be requested in writing, setting out the grounds for the appeal within 10 working days of the receipt of the notification of dismissal.

Stage 5: Gross misconduct Gross misconduct is misconduct so serious that it would justify dismissal without previous warnings and without notice.

Where gross misconduct has been alleged, the principal or HR or the staff committee shall have power to suspend the employee from her/his duties pending investigation. Suspension itself is not a disciplinary penalty and the employee shall not suffer any loss of salary while she/he is suspended. The period of

ATL model policies for FE colleges I 57

suspension shall be as short as is reasonably practicable for the consideration of the issue.

The principal shall at once report the suspension to the governing body.

She/he shall inform the employee in writing of the suspension and the nature of the complaint and inform her/him that the matter will be considered at a hearing of the staff committee of the governing body, convened in accordance with paragraph (iv).

The governing body may then give the employee notice of dismissal in writing.

This notice shall inform the employee of the reasons for the dismissal and shall advise her/him of the right to appeal to the Appeals Committee for a hearing in accordance with paragraph (iv).

A notice of dismissal shall not have effect until either any appeal has been determined or the period for making an appeal has expired. Any appeal must be requested in writing, setting out the grounds for the appeal within 10 working days of the receipt of the notice of dismissal.

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(iv) Governors’ Appeals Committee hearing For appeal hearings, the Appeals Committee shall comprise at least five members of the governing body. The principal and any member of the governing body who has been previously involved shall not be a member of the Appeals Committee.

The employee shall be given at least 10 working days’ notice in writing of the appeal hearing.

The employee shall be entitled to a personal hearing, with the assistance of a friend or trade union rep if she/he so wishes, to call witnesses in her/his defence and to question any witnesses bringing evidence against her/him. The principal shall be entitled to submit written and/or oral representations to the Appeals Committee.

The Appeals Committee may: accept the appeal and remove the penalty imposed ● accept the appeal and impose a lesser penalty ● reject the appeal and confirm the penalty imposed.

The outcome of the hearing shall be notified to the employee in writing without delay. ●

Model grievance procedure (i) Purpose Grievances can arise from a variety of sources. They can arise among members of staff, with the principal or with the governors. They can be of a relatively simple nature or of fundamental importance.

This procedure is designed to enable the college governors, principal and staff to foster good relations by: ● discouraging the harbouring of grievances ● assisting the resolution of individual grievances in an atmosphere of trust and confidentiality ● enabling grievances to be settled as near as possible to their point of origin ● ensuring that grievances are dealt with fully, promptly and fairly.

The procedure sets out: ● an informal process through which most grievances may be resolved without recourse to any subsequent stage ● a formal procedure to be invoked when the first stage has failed, or is inappropriate. (ii) Representation At all stages, the staff involved are entitled to be accompanied and/or represented by a friend (who may be a colleague, professional association/trade union rep or other adviser). During the formal procedure, witnesses may be called and questioned by either side. (iii) Procedure Informal stage Where a member of staff has a grievance which involves another member (or members) of staff, she/he should first of all endeavour to resolve it by direct

approach to the person(s) concerned or with the help of the ATL rep decide on the best course of action.

If considered necessary, the employee should then request a personal interview with HR, a senior manager or the principal, as appropriate or ask the rep to represent their interests.

The interview should take place within five working days of the request. The manager should seek to resolve the problem personally in consultation with any other member(s) of staff involved and may, by mutual agreement, seek consultation with the principal, the chair of governors or reps of professional associations/trade unions, as appropriate.

Where an employee has a grievance with the principal or the governing body which does not involve any other member of staff, she/he should advise or consult with the principal before making an approach to the chair of governors.

Formal stage Where the matter has not been resolved informally as above, the employee should submit a formal written notice of the grievance to the chair of governors, with a copy to the principal and any other person(s) concerned. The written notice should: ● include full details of the grievance, together with any supporting documents ● set out the steps already taken to resolve the issue ● state the resolution now requested.

Any other person(s) concerned in the grievance may make a formal written response (together with any supporting documents) to the chair of governors,

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with a copy to the principal and the employee raising the grievance. This response should normally be submitted within 10 working days of receipt of the written notice of grievance.

The principal (where she/he is not otherwise concerned) may submit a written report to the chair of governors, with a copy to the parties concerned, within 10 working days of receipt of the written notice of grievance.

A hearing will then be arranged before the appropriate committee of the governing body to consider the grievance. The documents submitted shall be made available to the committee in advance.

This hearing shall take place after receipt of any written response(s) and/or report, normally within 20 working days of receipt of the formal notice of grievance.

At least five working days’ notice of the hearing will be given to the parties concerned, who may attend in person and be accompanied and/or represented by a friend as in paragraph (ii).

The above time limits may be altered by agreement of the parties concerned.

The committee, in seeking to resolve the grievance, may adjourn the meeting or defer its decision if this is considered appropriate to promote conciliation or obtain further information on relevant factors.

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The decision of the committee, and its reasons, will be confirmed to the parties concerned, in writing, within five working days. (iv) Appeals Any party to the grievance may appeal in writing to the chair of governors within 10 working days of receiving the committee’s written decision. The notice of appeal should set out the reasons, with a copy to any other person(s) concerned and to the principal.

The appeal shall be heard by the governors’ Appeals Committee, comprising only members who have not previously been involved. All documents already submitted shall be available to the committee. This hearing shall normally take place within 15 working days of receipt of the notice of appeal.

At least five working days’ notice of the appeal hearing will be given to the parties concerned, who may attend in person and be accompanied and/or represented by a friend as in paragraph (ii).

The Appeals Committee’s decision will be confirmed to the parties in writing within five working days. This decision will be final.

Model capability procedure (i) Purpose This procedure sets out the steps to be followed when responding to problems arising from a lack of capability on the part of the employee. ‘Lack of capability’ is defined as a situation where an employee fails consistently to perform his/her duties to a professionally acceptable standard.

This procedure is not intended to deal with lack of capability due to ill-health, nor with cases of misconduct. It applies to all college staff except the principal, for whom separate arrangements are made.

The aim of this procedure is to ensure that an employee who is the subject of concerns about his/her competence is made aware of these at the earliest possible stage, and that the college endeavours positively to assist the employee to achieve a satisfactory level of performance. (ii) Principles No employee will be dismissed on grounds of incapability without account being taken of each stage of this procedure, save where the education of learners is in serious jeopardy.

The employee will have the right to be accompanied by a colleague or trade union rep at any meeting called formally within this procedure to consider their performance.

For any formal meeting called to discuss issues related to performance, at least five working days’ notice will be given, and all reasonable efforts will be made to ensure that it takes place at a time when it is possible for the person whom the employee has chosen to accompany him/her to be present.

Consideration shall be given, wherever appropriate, to any latent or external reasons for the lecturer’s underperformance (such as health problems, the working environment or personal difficulties).

In the application of this procedure, the emphasis will be on helping the employee to achieve a satisfactory level of work performance through training, coaching/mentoring, target setting and monitoring, as appropriate. It is therefore essential that the employee receives appropriate support and guidance on both a personal and a work-based level.

Nothing in these procedures is intended to prevent the line manager from discussing issues arising from the employees’ day-to-day performance of their duties as they arise, as such early informal discussions are vital in preventing problems from developing. (iii) Procedure Informal stage 1 Where HR (or line manager as appropriate) has formed the view that there may be legitimate concerns about an employee’s performance, she/he shall implement the informal procedure by convening a meeting with the employee, giving them at least five working days’ notice in writing of the causes for concern, the time and date of the meeting and of their right to be accompanied by a colleague or trade union rep. It will be made clear that the status of this meeting is informal. At the meeting, they should: ● establish with the employee that she/he is aware of the expected standards of performance

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provide all available information as to the causes of concern discuss the concerns and any reasons/circumstances underlying them identify any necessary changes/ improvements in performance or practice discuss and, where possible, agree a plan of support to assist the employee in achieving the required level of performance.

The measures which need to be considered to support the employee could include: ● a change in working practices within the terms of reference of the employee’s responsibilities ● observation of good practice, within or outside the college ● counselling, which could lead to reference for medical advice ● training, for which the college will meet the costs ● mentoring, advice and/or support from within the college and, if appropriate, from external expert advisers ● closer, but supportive, supervision for a limited period.

Where improvement is considered to be necessary, a timescale for improvement shall be established, normally lasting not less than eight college weeks, during which the employee should be monitored by a senior colleague. The monitoring should include periodic structured meetings to give supportive advice and feedback.

The outcome of the meeting, including the plan of support, will be confirmed in writing to the employee within five working days, with an opportunity to submit written comments.

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Formal stage 2 Where, following a review of progress after the period of monitoring and support as above, HR (or the line manager as appropriate) considers that significant concerns continue as to the employee’s performance, they will write to the employee inviting him/her to a formal meeting and giving at least five working days’ notice. The notice of the meeting shall include: ● the date, time and place of the meeting ● details of the concerns, relating to performance, to be discussed ● copies of any documents to be considered at the meeting ● the names of any witnesses or other persons to be present at the meeting ● a copy of this procedure ● notification of his/her right to be accompanied at the meeting by a colleague or trade union rep.

If the employee has documents which she/he wishes to be considered, she/he should provide copies to HR (or line manager as appropriate) normally at least 24 hours before the meeting.

At the meeting, HR (or line manager as appropriate) should outline the concerns notified and invite the employee and/or his/her rep to respond, having had time to consider the issues, and, if appropriate, to ask questions.

At the meeting, discussion should take place to establish the validity of the grounds for concern and the best means of alleviating these concerns. In particular, there should be discussion of appropriate means of support (as outlined in paragraph (iii)).

A (further) plan of appropriate support for the employee and a timescale (normally lasting not less than eight college weeks) for improvement will be established, where practicable by agreement with the

employee, during which the employee will be (further) monitored. The monitoring shall include periodic structured meetings to give supportive advice and feedback.

If HR (or line manager as appropriate) considers that the concerns as to the employee’s performance are justified, she/he will give the employee a written warning, which will be confirmed in writing within five working days of the meeting. The warning letter will set out: ● the concerns as to the employee’s performance ● the outcome of the discussion at the meeting, including the action plan and timetable for improvement ● the employee’s opportunity to submit written comments in response ● a warning of the consequences of the employee not being able to improve his/her capability to a satisfactory level during the review period ● his/her right to appeal (paragraph (iv)).

Formal stage 3 Where, following a review of progress after the period of (further) monitoring as above, HR considers that significant concerns continue as to the employee’s performance, HR will write to the employee inviting him/her to a further formal meeting and giving at least five working days’ notice. The notice of the meeting shall include: ● the date, time and place of the meeting ● details of the concerns relating to performance to be discussed ● copies of any documents to be considered at the meeting ● the names of any witnesses or other persons to be present at the meeting ● a copy of this procedure ● notification of his/her right to be accompanied at the meeting by a colleague or trade union rep.

If the employee has documents which

she/he wishes to be considered, she/he should provide copies to HR, normally at least 24 hours before the meeting.

At the meeting, the HR should outline the concerns notified and invite the employee and/or his/her rep to respond, having had time to consider the issues, and, if appropriate, to ask questions.

At the meeting, discussion should take place to establish the validity of the grounds for concern and the best means of alleviating these concerns. In particular, there should be discussion of appropriate means of support (as outlined in paragraph (iii)).

A (further) plan of appropriate support for the employee and a timescale (normally lasting not less than eight college weeks) for improvement will be established, where practicable by agreement with the employee, during which the employee will be (further) monitored. The monitoring shall include periodic structured meetings to give supportive advice and feedback.

If HR considers that the concerns as to the employee’s performance are justified, she/he will either extend the period of monitoring and support under Formal stage 2 or give the employee a final written warning. The outcome of the meeting will be confirmed to the employee in writing within five working days of the meeting. The letter will set out: ● the concerns as to the employee’s performance ● the outcome of the discussion at the meeting, including the action plan and timetable for improvement ● the employee’s opportunity to submit written comments in response ● where so decided, a warning that if the employee is not able to improve

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his/her capability to a satisfactory level during the review period, consideration may be given to his/her dismissal his/her right to appeal (paragraph (iv)).

Formal stage 4 Where, following a review of progress after the period of (further) monitoring as above, the line manager considers that significant concerns continue as to the employee’s performance, she/he will write to the employee, inviting him/her to a hearing before a Committee containing HR personnel, a senior manager, line manager, and any friend/trade union rep they wish to bring, giving at least 10 working days’ notice. The notice of the meeting shall include: ● the date, time and place of the hearing ● details of the concerns relating to performance to be discussed ● copies of any documents to be considered at the hearing, relating to these issues ● the names of any witnesses or other persons to be present at the hearing ● notification that the result of the hearing could be the employee’s dismissal ● a copy of this procedure ● notification of his/her right to be accompanied at the hearing by a colleague or trade union rep.

If the employee has documents which she/he wishes to be considered, she/he should provide copies to HR, normally at least 24 hours before the meeting.

At the meeting, the line manager should outline the concerns notified and the steps taken under this procedure to assist the employee to reach a satisfactory level of capability. If the line manager has witnesses to give evidence to the Committee, the employee (or his/her rep) and the members of the Committee will have the opportunity to

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ask them questions. The employee and/or his/her rep will then be invited to respond, and, if appropriate, to ask questions of HR. If the employee has witnesses to give evidence to the Committee, HR and the members of the Committee will have the opportunity to ask them questions.

Having heard the evidence from the line manager and the employee, the Committee shall then deliberate in private and decide which of the following outcomes is appropriate: ● the exoneration of the employee on the basis that his/her capability is now satisfactory ● the imposition of a (further) warning under this procedure ● the extension of the period of monitoring and support under formal stage 2 or 3 ● consideration of a change of responsibilities or working arrangements, by agreement with the employee ● dismissal of the employee under notice in accordance with his/her contract.

The outcome of the meeting will be confirmed to the employee in writing within five working days of the meeting.

The letter will set out: ● the concerns as to the employee’s performance and the outcome of the Committee’s deliberations ● where so decided, the action plan and timetable for improvement ● where so decided, a warning under this procedure ● where so decided, notification of dismissal, with notice in accordance with the employee’s contract ● his/her right to appeal (paragraph (iv)).

(iv) Appeals The employee may appeal against any warning given under any formal stage of this procedure, or against dismissal. Any appeal must be notified in writing to HR, setting out the grounds for the appeal, within 10 working days of the receipt of notification of the sanction concerned.

Any appeal will be heard by an Appeals Committee of the governing body, comprising at least three governors, and shall be conducted as a rehearing of the case. The employee will be given at least five working days’ written notice of the appeal hearing. The notice of the hearing shall include: ● the date, time and place of the hearing ● copies of any documents to be considered at the hearing ● the names of any witnesses or other persons to be present at the hearing ● notification of the employee’s right to be accompanied by a colleague or trade union rep.

The decision of the Appeals Committee shall be final and may be: ● the exoneration of the employee on the basis that his/her capability is now satisfactory ● the imposition of a warning at a lower level under this procedure ● in the case of an appeal against a warning at formal stage 2 or 3, the extension of the period of monitoring and support ● in the case of an appeal against a decision to dismiss, consideration of a change of responsibilities or working arrangements, by agreement with the lecturer ● confirmation of the existing decision.

The outcome of the appeal will be confirmed in writing to the lecturer within five working days.

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Your rights when facing disciplinary action If you are threatened with any kind of disciplinary action, you should immediately check your contract of employment or any freestanding document to ensure that the college is following the correct disciplinary procedure. Unfortunately, it is all too common for FE colleges not to follow their own procedures or the guidance set out in the Acas Code of Practice.

See me after college!

Not all managers in FE colleges get it right when they handle problems with an employee’s work or conduct. Minor concerns about work or conduct should be tackled through informal discussion with the line manager and the employee.

A third party is seldom needed and, indeed, their presence may not help, introducing formality and ‘raising the stakes’, therefore making it harder for the manager to give prompt feedback.

However, ATL often has to help members who have been confronted with serious allegations at meetings, of which they had no or inadequate prior warning, or which were ostensibly called for some other purpose.

Unsurprisingly, members sometimes panic and, in some extreme cases, agree to resign there and then. Proper notice must be given of a meeting which has, or might have, a disciplinary dimension, with detailed information provided in advance about the possible concern.

This gives you time to prepare a response

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and, above all, seek advice and support from ATL. In the letter convening the meeting, you should be told of your right to be accompanied by a colleague or by a trade union rep. The Employment Rights Act 1999 gives you the legal right to have a colleague or trade union official present if the meeting could end with the issue of a formal warning or award of some other disciplinary penalty, like demotion or dismissal. You should request this right if it is not offered. If your companion cannot attend the meeting, the Act also allows you to rearrange the meeting to a time within five days of the original date.

ATL does not have to be recognised by your employer for you to claim your right to have a colleague or trade union official present. ATL strongly recommends that you are represented by an ATL official.

However, things do not always go to plan. If you find yourself caught in a meeting about which you think you should have had notice or advice and support, stay calm. The following options are open to you: 1. Continue with the meeting and ‘take it on the chin’ in the hope that the line manager will feel that the matter has been dealt with. The risk is that something detrimental may be placed on your file, without your being able to consider or answer any charge properly. Make sure the conclusion of the discussion is clear.

2. Continue and give a guarded response, but state that you will need to think about the matter and take advice, and that you will want another chance to put your case. You could do this in a

letter, which you could ask to be placed on your file, together with anything the line manager writes, or at a second meeting. As serious allegations may have been made, you should normally ask for any second meeting to be held under the college’s disciplinary procedure. This might seem odd, but even badly-drafted procedures may be better than none.

Confirm your wish to be accompanied to this second meeting, which, depending on the nature of the meeting, may either be a statutory right or an entitlement under the college’s procedure.

3. Say that the matter now being discussed is unexpected and may have serious implications for you. You will listen to what the line manager has to say but will not comment until you have had the time to reflect and seek advice. A second meeting would then be needed (see option 2 above).

4. Say that you did not expect the matter now being discussed to be raised at the meeting, and that you believe you have the right to prior notice of the issues and to be accompanied. Ask the line manager to adjourn the meeting and reconvene it under the proper procedures. If this is denied, state that you are staying under protest and will not comment until you have been able to reflect on the matter and seek advice. Leave the meeting. If you can, make notes at the meeting of any points made. This can form a valuable record later.

In all situations, you must immediately: ● contact your ATL or AMiE rep or ATL’s London, Wales, Scotland, or Northern

●

Ireland offices directly as appropriate write a note of how the meeting came about, what the line manager said, how you responded and how the matter was left. Only copy this note to the line manager or HR after taking advice from ATL.

A disciplinary procedure should enhance the basic principles of natural justice, including the right to a hearing, the right to trade union representation, the right to adequate notice of hearings and the right to an appeal hearing.

The Acas Code of Practice The April 2009 Acas Code of Practice for Disciplinary and grievance procedures, makes it clear the expected standards which all employers should observe and are described by Acas as the ‘basic requirements of fairness’.

Employers often fail to recognise why it is important to have disciplinary procedures. The Code is helpful on this issue: ‘Fairness and transparency are promoted by developing and using rules and procedures for handling disciplinary and grievance situations. These should be set down in writing, be specific and clear. Employees and, where appropriate, their reps should be involved in the development of rules and procedures. It is also important to help employees and managers understand what the rules and procedures are, where they can be found and how they are to be used’. (Page 3, paragraph 2).

The Code sets out five stages for a fair disciplinary process:

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1. Investigation Investigations should be carried out without unnecessary delay, and may require the holding of a preliminary, investigatory meeting. Where practicable, different people should carry out the investigation and the subsequent disciplinary hearing. If suspension from work is considered necessary, this should be as brief as possible and should be kept under review.

2. Notification If it is decided that there is a case to answer, the employee should be notified in writing. The notification should contain sufficient information of the allegations/complaints to enable the individual to prepare their response. The employee should be given copies of any documentary evidence (such as witness statements).

3. Disciplinary hearing The individual should be invited (in writing) to a disciplinary hearing, at which they are entitled to be accompanied by a fellow employee or a trade union rep.

They should be given enough notice to have reasonable time to prepare their case.

4. Decision After the meeting, the manager/employer should decide on any appropriate penalty and notify the employee of the outcome in writing. Any warning should specify how long it will remain current.

5. Appeal Employees should have a right of appeal against any disciplinary penalty, which should be heard by a manager/body that has not previously been involved.

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The consequence for the employer of failing to act in accordance with these principles is that (provided the employee has the necessary one-year’s qualifying service) the employee is likely to succeed in pursuing a claim for unfair dismissal at an employment tribunal. Although a failure to follow a particular part of the Code will not, in itself, lead automatically to a finding of unfair dismissal, the guidance from Acas is effectively the ‘Highway Code’ of employment relations and a tribunal will take it strongly into account when deciding whether an individual has been treated fairly or not.

Any such neglect of the Code could increase or reduce compensation by up to 25% of the award.

If you are subject to any disciplinary action, you should contact ATL immediately. We can provide you with advice and practical guidance taking into account your personal circumstances.

ATL recommends that you are represented at any hearing by an ATL rep.

We have a network of experienced regional officials should you find yourself in this unfortunate circumstance. If there are accusations of assault or criminally inappropriate behaviour then it may be necessary for ATL to arrange a local solicitor for you.

Family rights and sickness entitlement Family rights

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All employees have minimum statutory rights when having or adopting children, as well as rights to request flexible working to look after children and those who you have a responsibility as a carer.

A good employer will enhance these benefits and you should always check your contract of employment to see whether you enjoy more generous terms than the minimum statutory rights.

The state maintained sector provides enhanced statutory terms. Many good FE colleges mirror the provision of the state sector and some even better it.

Further general information is obtainable from ATL’s website at www.atl.org.uk. If you have a specific query, you should ring ATL’s legal and member services department at its London office on 020 7930 6441.

In this chapter, we look at: ● the minimum statutory rights enjoyed by all employees ● the enhanced conditions of service offered in the state sector ● pregnancy and health and safety.

The minimum statutory rights enjoyed by all employees The first part of this section covers the statutory rights afforded to all employees in respect of: ● general rights relating to pregnancy ● time off for antenatal care ● maternity leave and pay

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06

paternity leave and pay adoption leave and pay parental leave time off for dependents flexible working optional ‘keeping in touch’ days.

Arrangements for Northern Ireland mirror those in England and Wales. Further information for Northern Ireland is available from the Department for Employment and Learning website at www.delni.gov.uk.

General rights relating to pregnancy Women are protected by law against detrimental treatment arising from pregnancy or having a baby, including redundancy or dismissal. The law enshrines the continuation of the contract of employment for the period of maternity leave. However, there is no legal protection against redundancy if the process is completed properly and fairly.

During any paid period of maternity leave, all your normal contractual rights apply, other than pay. You have the right to return to the same employment after ordinary maternity leave, if possible, or the same or similar employment after additional maternity leave.

Other entitlements include, after one year of continuous service, the right to 13 weeks’ unpaid parental leave until the child’s fifth birthday, or, if the child is in receipt of a Disability Living Allowance, 18 weeks’ unpaid leave until the child’s eighteenth birthday.

Time off work for antenatal care All pregnant employees, regardless of length of service, or hours of work, are

Family rights and sickness entitlement I 69

entitled to reasonable paid time off for antenatal care.

Maternity leave All pregnant employees are entitled to 52 weeks’ maternity leave, regardless of length of service, or number of hours worked. This is made up of 26 weeks’ ordinary maternity leave and 26 weeks’ additional maternity leave.

You can start your maternity leave at any time from the beginning of the 11th week before your Expected Date of Confinement up to the date on which your baby is due.

In respect of your return to work, written notice is required if you intend to return before the end of your additional maternity leave. Otherwise, it is assumed that you will automatically return to work on the first working day after the end of your 52 weeks’ maternity leave; in this case no written notification is necessary.

Should you decide to return prior to the expiry of your additional maternity leave, you must give a minimum of eight weeks’ notice in writing.

If you wish to return to work on a different basis to which you are currently employed, you should put your request in writing, giving as much notice as possible to your employer. Please see the ATL factsheet on flexible working.

Support staff who work all year round will continue to accrue annual leave whilst on maternity leave, in accordance with their entitlement in their contract of employment. Support staff on term-time only contracts will usually have their

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holiday entitlement factored into their pay and therefore are unlikely to accrue further annual leave. This is not an issue for teaching staff as they are paid equitably all year round.

Whilst on maternity leave it is usual for pension contributions to be maintained, but this may not always be the case and it is therefore advisable that you check your contract and seek advice from ATL. In respect of teaching staff in the TPS, while you are on paid maternity leave you will be credited with, and your contribution will be based on, what you actually earn. However, while you are on unpaid maternity leave, you are out of pensionable service. Current members of the TPS, who decide not to return to work immediately after maternity leave must not have a break from teaching of more than five years if they wish to retain a retirement age of 60. If you have a break of more than five years, your future service will be subject to the revised arrangements and retirement age of 65.

Service accrued prior to having a break is still available at age 60; only your future service will be subject to the revised scheme. This does not affect members of the TPS who joined after 1 January 2007, who already have a retirement age of 65.You should read the relevant factsheet in ATL’s series, Understanding the lecturers’ pension scheme or contact ATL’s London office.

For support staff in the FE college’s pension scheme or the Local Government Pension Scheme, while you continue to receive full pay during paid maternity leave, you will pay your normal

contributions in the usual way. If your pay is reduced then you will pay your pension contributions at this reduced rate and your employer will make up the difference.

At the time of going to print the coalition government announced plans to enable mothers to transfer some of their statutory maternity leave to the father. It is anticipated that the new paternity leave would be up to a maximum of 26 weeks and apply to parents of children born after 3 April 2011. Please see further detail under ‘Paternity leave and pay’, below, and refer to the ‘Help and advice’ section of ATL’s website for current parental leave entitlements.

Statutory maternity pay All pregnant employees are entitled to 39 weeks’ statutory maternity pay (SMP), provided you have worked for your employer for 26 weeks by the 15th week before the baby is due. You may qualify for maternity allowance if you do not qualify for SMP. The first six weeks of SMP are paid at 90% of average weekly earnings, with the subsequent 33 weeks at a statutory rate or the 90% of your average weekly earnings if this is lower. In most cases the statutory rate is significantly lower than actual salary.

The Work and Families Act 2006 provides for the extension of SMP to 52 weeks for eligible mothers. There are currently no plans to implement this extension.

Paternity leave and pay Currently, partners of new mothers or

adopters are entitled to take two weeks’ paternity leave, provided that they have worked for their employer for 26 weeks by the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth, or 26 weeks by the date of notification of placement.

Paternity pay is paid at the statutory rate of 90% of your average salary, or the statutory paternity pay, whichever is the lower.

Under the Work and Families Act 2006, partners of new mothers whose children are born or adopted on or after 3 April 2011, will be able to take advantage of additional paternity leave and pay after the first 20 weeks following the birth of the child, if the mother wishes to return to work with maternity leave outstanding.

This will enable parents to share a period of paid leave between them, giving families greater flexibility in how they choose to look after their children.

The regulations will mean that: parents will be entitled to up to six months’ leave, which can be taken once the mother has returned to work ● additional leave cannot be claimed in the first 20 weeks of employment ● this new provision will be available during the second six months of a child’s life, giving the parents the option of dividing a period of paid leave entitlement between them ● some of the leave may be paid, if taken during the mother’s 39-week maternity pay period ● additional parental leave must be at least two weeks, up to a maximum of 26 weeks depending on when the partner returns to work however much maternity/adoption leave remains. ●

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Parents will be required to ‘self certify’ by providing details of their eligibility to their employer. Employers and HM Revenue and Customs will both be able to carry out further checks of entitlement if necessary. Further information can be found in the ‘Help and advice’ section of ATL’s website.

Adoption leave To qualify for adoption leave, an adopter must have 26 weeks’ service with their employer by the week in which they are notified of having been matched with a child for adoption.

If they have the relevant service, they will qualify for 26 weeks’ ordinary adoption leave, followed by 26 weeks’ additional adoption leave.

Adoption pay Adoption pay is paid for 39 weeks at the statutory rate or 90% of the adopter’s average weekly earnings if this is lower.

Where a couple adopt a child, it is their decision which parent receives adoption leave and pay, and which parent receives paternity leave and pay.

Statutory time off for dependents All employees have a right to take time off for caring for dependents. There is no qualifying period. You are entitled to take a reasonable amount of time off to deal with unexpected or sudden emergencies and to make any necessary long-term arrangements relating to a dependent.

A dependent is a spouse, child or parent, or someone who lives at your address

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who is dependent on you. It can also include someone who is reliant on you for assistance. In most cases, reasonable time off would not be more than one or two days. There is no legal right to pay, but good employers do give paid time off in such circumstances.

Right to request flexible working Many new mothers wish to consider a return to work on a part-time or flexible basis. ATL’s view is that good employers will be positive in response to such a request and willing to negotiate new terms and conditions with their employees. Anyone can ask their employer for flexible work arrangements, and if you wish to do so, ATL would encourage you to ask. However, the law provides some employees with the statutory right to request a flexible working pattern which the employer must give serious consideration.

Employees have the legal right to request to work flexibly if they have a child under age 16, or a disabled child under age 18.

Similarly, all employees who are caring for an adult who is either married to or the civil partner of the employee, a near relative, or a person living at the same address as the employee have the right to request to work flexibly. By law your employer must seriously consider any application you make, and only reject it if there are good business reasons for doing so. Businesses and employers in general are becoming more sympathetic to requests for flexible working, as they can see the benefits of having a more flexible workforce. College employers have long recognised this and there are

many carers working part-time in education.

While this is an important right, it must be noted that there is no automatic right to reduce hours or to work part-time or flexibly.

In 2010, the coalition government announced plans to extend the right to request flexible working to all employees.

Please refer to ATL’s website for any update on the law.

You should check your contract or your employee handbook and talk to ATL, who, where appropriate, can make representations on your behalf.

including family rights.

Subject to one-year and 11 weeks’ service by the expected week of childbirth, state colleges pay lecturers maternity pay at 100% salary for the first four weeks’ maternity leave, the next two weeks at 90%, the next 12 weeks at 50% plus SMP, and the remainder, namely 21 weeks, at the statutory minimum maternity pay.

Subject to one-year and 11 weeks’ service, state colleges pay support staff maternity pay at 90% for the first six weeks’ maternity leave, 12 weeks at 50% full pay plus SMP, and the remainder of statutory leave entitlement at SMP.

Optional ‘keeping in touch’ days Mothers or adopters will be able to go into work for up to 10 mutually agreed ‘keeping in touch’ (KIT) days during their maternity/adoption leave or maternity/adoption pay period, without losing maternity or adoption pay entitlement for those weeks. ATL expects employers to pay for KIT days at the employee’s salary rate. Employers are entitled to make ‘reasonable contact’ with an employee during maternity or adoption leave.

Enhanced conditions of service in the state sector Maternity leave and pay Good FE colleges will offer improved benefits beyond the statutory entitlements and will often mirror the state sector when it comes to general terms and conditions of employment,

Pregnancy and health and safety Although there is no legal obligation on the employee to inform her employer until the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth, ATL encourages members to inform their line manager immediately so that a risk assessment of her work activities can be conducted and controls implemented as necessary. A record of the assessment should be made and risks should be monitored throughout the pregnancy until six months after the birth.

If risks are considered to be significant, the employer should make arrangements to adjust the duties or working hours of the employee in order to eliminate or reduce the risks. If this cannot be achieved, the employee should be asked not to attend work for as long as is necessary to protect her health and safety and that of her unborn child.

Family rights and sickness entitlement I 73

Throughout this period she must receive full pay.

Significant risks to be considered in colleges may include carrying heavy loads, physical assaults, prolonged standing or sitting, temperatures that are too high or low and infections. If you work with a computer, your work station must also be risk assessed.

Further information is contained in ATL’s Health and safety guide, which is free to members and available from the ‘Publications and resources’ section of ATL’s website. Information is also available from the HSE at www.hse.gov.uk.

Sick pay and sick leave As an absolute bare minimum, all employees who qualify are entitled to statutory sick pay and leave. A good employer will offer sick pay and leave conditions at an enhanced rate beyond the minimum statutory provision.

If you are sick, then you need to consult your contract of employment to ascertain your rights to leave and pay, and your responsibilities when exercising those rights. The details of your employer’s sick pay policy will be specified in a supplementary document, such as an employee handbook.

Lecturers’ national sick pay entitlements are based on a sliding scale according to their length of service as follows. This will be subject to local variation, but reps should aim for the best support for members.

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During the first year of service: one month full pay for 25 working days and, after completing four months’ service, two months’ half pay

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During the second year of service: ● two months’ full pay and two months’ half pay During the third year of service: ● four months’ full pay and four months’ half pay During the fourth and fifth years of service: ● five months’ full pay and five months’ half pay After five years of service: ● six months’ full pay and six months’ half pay Part-time lecturers’ sick pay entitlements are calculated on a pro-rata basis. For example, if you work three days a week (0.6) and you are in your fourth or successive year of service, you would be entitled to 60 working days on full pay, followed by 60 working days on half pay.

In the state sector, the sick leave year runs from 1 April to 31 March. New entitlement starts on 1 April each year.

However, if you are absent due to illness on 31 March and continue to remain off sick into April and subsequent months, you will not be entitled to the following year’s allowance until you have recovered and returned to work after 1 April. Your sick leave in these circumstances will continue to be counted against the previous year’s entitlement.

Similar provision applies in Scotland and Northern Ireland, but you need to check for differences.

Verification of illness You can self-certificate for up to seven days and a Fitness to Work Certificate (from April, 2010) is required on the 8th day of absence and at regular intervals if you remain off sick.

Statutory sick pay You are entitled to receive statutory sick pay (SSP) for a maximum of 28 weeks in any spell of sickness absence. You are eligible for SSP if you have been sick for at least four or more days in a row (including weekends, bank holidays and days that you do not normally work) and have average earnings of at least ÂŁ95 per week. If your employer pays enhanced sick pay (ie more than SSP), when you receive sick pay, SSP is included. When you move to half pay, SSP will be paid on top of that amount, although there are some minor exceptions. At the end of your entitlement to SSP you may be entitled to Employment Support Allowance which is not time limited.

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07

Pay

As incorporated institutions, FE colleges have greater freedom to set their own terms and conditions of employment.

This means that pay and other remuneration can vary from college to college. However, we must always remember that there is a context of national negotiations which informs and recommends harmonised pay scales. The AoC (as the employers’ representative) and the six trade unions all endorse the aspiration of a harmonised pay scale and consider that the establishment of a consistent and highly regarded pay and conditions settlement to be crucial for the professionalisation of the FE sector.

Pay in FE colleges in England Annual national negotiations on FE pay in England are conducted by the NJC, consisting of ATL (and other recognised unions) and the AoC. Agreements made in the NJF have the status of recommendations and individual colleges are under no statutory obligation to accept such recommendations. Each year, a number of colleges do not accept the recommended pay increase in full so members will need to check the actual scales in operation at individual colleges.

Staff should have been assimilated to a harmonised pay spine by August 2004.

Points four-44 on the spine can be used for business support staff and points four-26 for learning support staff.

Unqualified lecturers should be paid on a four-point scale: points 15, 17, 20 and 21 on the harmonised pay spine. Qualified lecturers should be paid on an eight-point

76 I Working in the post-16 sector

scale, consisting of points 23, 25, 27, 29, 31, 33, 35 and 37.

There is a five-point range for advanced teaching and training posts (points 37-41) and a pay range for leadership and management posts (points 37-68).

Pay progression Although there is no explicit reference to incremental progression in national agreements, it is ATL’s view that: ● unqualified lecturers should progress to the top of their four-point scale and on to the qualified posts once qualified ● qualified lecturers should progress by annual increments to the top of their eight-point scale.

The nationally recommended scales do not provide for any bars or separate bands within the various pay scales/groups.

Pay background to colleges In England there are more than 350 FE colleges, including agricultural and horticultural colleges as well as specialist colleges, with Wales having 18 colleges.

There are 41 colleges in Scotland and six in Northern Ireland. The six colleges in Northern Ireland were formed as ‘supercolleges’ and from 2008 encompassed all post 16-19 provision. There are 70 independent specialist colleges that belong to a counterpart sector led body, NATSPEC. The colleges which this handbook will mainly concentrate on are the general FE colleges in England, although mention will be made of terms and conditions in sixth forms, when relevant, and also some issues related to specialist colleges will be included.

Pay in sixth form colleges in England A newly appointed teacher will start their teaching career on the six-point main scale. Progression up the main scale takes place annually unless performance has been unsatisfactory.

Once a teacher has reached point-6 of the main scale, he/she can apply for assessment under the professional standards payments (PSP) scheme; this is the sixth form college’s equivalent of the threshold arrangements which apply in schools. Progression up the three-point PSP range takes place on a two-yearly basis provided that teachers show evidence of continuing to meet the PSP standards.

Teachers who hold posts of additional responsibility in sixth form colleges are paid separately on one of the five management ranges (A to E). This differs from the position in schools where some teachers receive teaching and learning responsibility payments.

As with the PSP range, progression up to point-3 on the management ranges takes place on a two-yearly basis, subject to evidence that teachers are continuing to meet the PSP standards and separate criteria related to management roles.

There is a nationally agreed performance management framework, which informs the assessment process for progression on the PSP range and management ranges.

Pay background to sixth form colleges Pay for teachers working in sixth form

colleges is negotiated at national level through the committee for teaching staff of the NJC. ATL is a recognised union on the teachers’ side of the NJC. Since 1993, sixth form colleges have been independent institutions. Over the years since, the teachers’ side and the employers’ side have been able to reach agreements within the NJC which have been implemented locally by colleges.

ATL’s main objective in national negotiations has been to maintain pay parity with teachers in schools.

Pay scales An integral part of pay and remuneration is the employer’s pension provision, which is addressed at the end of this section.

The contract There are three basic things that you need to know about salary: ● what salary will you start on? ● is the college’s pay scale harmonised (if not, what is the variance from the harmonised pay scale?) and how do you progress up it? ● is the annual cost of living increase consistently implemented?

Your level of pay will usually be agreed on appointment but how does it increase after that? This will usually be determined by your individual contract of employment and any supplementary documents, such as a pay policy. The level of your current salary is obviously important, but just as important is a pay scale and knowing how you will progress up that scale.

Pay I 77

Although the vast majority of FE colleges do have incremental pay scales for lecturers, when it comes to management salaries, some unfortunately, do not. If your college operates a system of spot salaries for management posts, then you would be advised to consider a joint approach with your ATL colleagues to the management of the college, to seek to negotiate over the adoption of a salary policy with a salary scale, in which salary awards are transparent and reward hard work and achievement.

Most lecturers are paid in 12 monthly instalments, although sessional staff are paid hourly. Some assessor posts receive performance-related pay, which is a regressive move endorsed by a minority of colleges.

Some staff are paid on term-time only contracts. Colleges tend to use broadly similar formulas to calculate salaries which take into account the proportion of full-time hours worked, as well as the term-time only aspect. The salary is usually spread across 12 monthly instalments to ensure that the employee is paid regularly. In essence, a term-time only contract means that an employee is only employed when the college is open, in most cases for 38 or 39 weeks a year.

Employees on term-time only contracts are entitled to paid leave, and this entitlement is usually added on to the weeks worked to establish the overall salary.

For example, a college which is open for 39 weeks and provides a leave entitlement of five weeks would employ you for a total of 44 weeks in a year. This

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would be worked out in salary terms as a proportion of the number of weeks in the year. The annual salary would therefore be 44/52ths of the full-time salary for the post.

By law, full-time employees are entitled to a minimum of 28 days of paid annual leave per year, inclusive of bank holidays.

Part-time staff are entitled to the same minimum of paid leave, but on a pro-rata basis.

One of the problems with term-time only posts is that the salary is often advertised at the full 52-week rate. The successful applicant then has a nasty surprise when the actual salary is revealed. This emphasises the importance of looking carefully at the details of a post, at all stages of the process, when applying for a position.

Term-time only contracts create a disparity in colleges. ATL’s view is that FE colleges should provide full-year contracts for all staff.

Written pay policy ATL recommends that every FE college should have a written pay policy. It should be clear, comprehensive and applied fairly and consistently. Ideally, the policy should be a contractual document.

Among other things, it should include: ● the pay scales used by the college ● the annual pay review date ● the rules for increments ● the criteria for performance pay (if used) ● the criteria for extra pay, such as responsibility allowances

● ● ●

pro-rata part-time salaries pay and the threshold any procedure you need to follow before your pay is reviewed, and an appeal process if you are not content with the outcome of the review.

which have not recognised ATL may have less formal arrangements but still consult with reps before making awards.

ATL’s briefing on collective bargaining in the post-16 sector is available in the ‘Pay and pensions’ section of ATL’s website.

Collective bargaining Where ATL is recognised for the purpose of collective bargaining, pay awards are negotiated by the college and ATL reps.

Recognition gives the right of disclosure of relevant information, such as college income, salary costs and other relevant financial information. Without this information, staff will be negotiating in the dark. For instance, without key financial information how can you properly test your employer’s negotiating position if it argues that it cannot afford to increase wages due to lack of money? Of course, financial difficulty is a reality for some colleges and staff should take this into account when negotiating a pay rise. This is part and parcel of a proper process of collective bargaining.

However, colleges will always have competing priorities and increasing salaries may not be on top of their ‘wish list’. It may well be a new science lab, vocational centre or sixth form block. This type of major project would make the college more marketable and attractive to prospective parents.

In any recognition with FE college employers, ATL reps must acknowledge that financial information, disclosed as part of the process, can be highly sensitive. ATL respects this in its work with FE college employers. Colleges

Individual pay negotiations As with most things it is possible to negotiate pay within certain limits. It will depend on how much they want you and what finances they have available.

Knowing your worth and researching what salary you might expect in another college would obviously help.

Pension provision FE corporations are members of the TPS. The parallel scheme in Scotland is the Scottish Lecturers’ Superannuation Scheme, provided under the Lecturers’ Superannuation (Scotland) Regulations 2005 (as amended) and administered by the Scottish Public Pensions Agency.

In Northern Ireland, the main pension scheme is the Northern Ireland Lecturers’ Pension Scheme.

Members in business support roles are likely to belong to the LGPS. The TPS is a final salary pension scheme and ATL’s opinion is that its benefits are unlikely to be bettered. If you are in any doubt about your pension arrangements, contact ATL’s pensions team for individual advice, on 0207 782 1600.

Further information is available from ATL’s website at www.atl.org.uk.

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08

Induction in the post-16 sector The qualifications required for the status of QTLS are PTLLS and DTLLS. This entry route into post-16 teaching has developed into a focused and prerequisite qualification if you wish to teach in the pre-16 sector and you do not have Qualified Teacher Status, the prerequisite qualification for maintained school teachers). The government is currently enabling legislation for QTLS holders to teach in schools. Teacher training is conducted on an in-service model with new teachers gaining their qualification while working.

It is important to remember that many teachers in FE are vocational experts and are considered ‘dual professionals’ as they have specific expertise in a vocational area as well as being teachers.

Added to this aspect of FE teaching there is also work-based learning, which covers apprenticeships and NVQs assessed in the workplace. Here the role of the assessor is essential. The assessor role currently requires Certificate in Teaching in the Lifelong Learning Sector as an entry qualification.

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Redundancy Any FE college is reliant on attracting sufficient learners to attend and achieve at the college in order for it be economically viable and educationally successful. Failure to do so is likely to result in the closure of courses, individual redundancies or merger with another college.

Redundancies can also arise from restructuring (perhaps following the appointment of a new principal) and from general reorganisation.

While many redundancies are genuine and cannot be avoided, there are cases where they are not, or where, if proper consideration was given, the redundancy could be avoided. ATL has worked with many FE college employers to successfully avoid having to make staff compulsorily redundant. This is good for the individuals under threat, the morale of all staff, and the college in general. The law provides legal protection to ensure that a redundancy is: ● genuine ● non-discriminatory ● the final outcome following a proper process of notice and consultation ● avoided wherever possible ● concluded by the payment of a sum of money.

What is redundancy?

So, legally, what is ‘redundancy’? A redundancy arises where an employee is dismissed either because: ● the employer has ceased, or intends to cease, to carry on business ● the employer’s requirements for employees to carry out work of a particular kind in the place where

09

she/he is employed has ceased or diminished, or are expected to do so.

Some examples of redundancy situations might include: ● a subject is dropped ● a department is overstaffed ● a college closes ● two colleges merge ● duties are re-organised so the same work can be done by fewer lecturers ● a full-time post is cut to part-time ● tight finances require a cut in staff numbers.

If you are unfortunate enough to be faced with a possible redundancy situation then the starting point is your contract of employment, college redundancy policy or staff handbook.

The purpose of having a redundancy policy and procedure is to ensure that it is clear to everyone how this difficult situation will be dealt with. A good redundancy policy will allow for the process to be dealt with in a fair, consistent and timely manner. If your college does not have a redundancy policy and procedure then you, and your colleague ATL members, should approach the college management to open discussions on the issue. The preferred time to agree the terms of such documents is before redundancies are threatened.

Even if your college does not have a redundancy policy, there are important principles that it must follow: ● warning staff of the possibility of redundancy ● consulting staff affected and recognised trade unions

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establishing objective criteria for selection and applying them fairly taking reasonable steps to find other work for displaced staff.

As a first step, colleges need to identify the group of staff at risk. The ‘pool for selection’ depends on whether people are doing the same, or similar, work and whether jobs are interchangeable.

Although rare, the redundancy pool might be all lecturers if the cuts in finances demand a large percentage of staff to be threatened with redundancy. Usually though, there will be areas in which funding has been reduced and where the college is seeking to make redundancies.

However, as FE staff have a great amount of subsidiary skills and experience of general subject and vocational areas there is some flexibility here to give a wider field of staff access to the voluntary redundancy offer as a stage in the negotiations. In cases where there is the threat of 20 or more redundancies, special rules on consultation apply.

Contact ATL in these circumstances and see ATL’s factsheet entitled, Redundancy in the FE sector for more information.

Consultation Your principal, via SMT, HR and your line manager, must consult with you personally about a redundancy in order (amongst other things) to establish whether there are other factors that might be of bearing of which the college was unaware, or about other jobs which it might have assumed you would not do.

Simply informing you by letter is not sufficient. Consultation must always be meaningful.

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Notice of redundancy If you are made redundant, you are entitled to either contractual notice or, if longer, statutory notice. Statutory notice is one week for each completed year of service, up to a maximum of 12 weeks.

This may be of significance to support staff who often have a contractual notice period of one month, as opposed to lecturers whose contractual notice is usually one term or three to four months.

Unfair selection criteria Selection criteria must be reasonable and clearly defined from the start. Tribunals criticise imprecise criteria such as ‘flexibility’ or ‘balance of skills’ because there is no clear way of assessing them.

Selection for redundancy on the grounds of trade union membership is not allowed, and criteria should not discriminate on grounds of sex, race, disability, religious belief, sexual orientation or age.

Some FE colleges use attendance records as a criterion for selection, which ATL does not recommend. If there is an attendance issue then it should be dealt with in the appropriate way. Use of such grounds can be potentially discriminatory, eg using attendance records where a woman has recently been away on maternity leave.

The number of years of relevant experience, or length of service, has often been used as a ‘tie-break’ criterion.

The latter may be referred to as ‘last-infirst-out’. However, under the Age Discrimination Regulations, which came

into force on 1 October 2006, this may now be deemed to be discriminatory, and should only be used subject to ensuring that it can be ‘objectively justified’ and is non discriminatory.

Part-time employees must not be treated less favourably than full-time employees.

It is not permissible for an employer to decide to make redundancies on the basis of letting the part-time employees go first.

Even with fair criteria, a redundancy can still be procedurally unfair if the college applies the criteria unreasonably or with the wrong group of lecturers, or does not consult. A failure to follow its own redundancy policy and procedure will also leave a college open to challenge.

Fixed-term contracts The Fixed Term Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2002, make it unlawful for an employer to treat fixed-term contract staff less favourably than comparable permanent colleagues. This means, for example, that if there is a redundancy situation amongst support staff, a college cannot automatically select those who are on fixed-term contracts.

The regulations also stipulate that anyone on a series of fixed-term contracts will be entitled to a permanent contract after four years unless there is an objective reason to refuse this.

Furthermore, the non-renewal of a fixedterm contract may also qualify for a redundancy payment after two years’ service (unless that contract is for a

specific temporary need, such as covering for someone who is on maternity leave).

Avoiding redundancy The college must take reasonable steps to find alternative work for you. If it does not tell you about an appropriate vacancy, then your dismissal may be unfair. Similarly, you are obliged to consider offers of suitable alternative employment, and you may lose your redundancy pay if you unreasonably refuse a suitable job.

Unfortunately, it is not unknown for FE colleges to be recruiting staff on or around the time when making redundancies. This is not good practice and should be challenged.

ATL recommends that when a redundancy is being considered, governors and senior management should take a ‘whole college’ approach, looking beyond the post nominated for deletion to review the entire college, to ascertain whether rationalisation is possible. A restructuring process might obviate the need for dismissals.

An employer is obliged to seek to avoid making an employee redundant if at all possible. There are various ways in which this could be achieved. It may be that the person in the post has training, experience and expertise extending beyond their immediate area and it may be that he or she could be employed elsewhere in the college. It may be that teaching colleagues are planning to retire or to terminate their contract with the college on other grounds. A vacancy

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could arise which the employee facing redundancy could fill.

In such circumstances a ‘skills audit’ should be invoked and brought up-todate to ensure that staff have the option of filling vacant roles that could be opened by staff taking voluntary redundancy from those roles. Such a policy needs managing well, but change management is crucial for the wellbeing of staff and for the benefit of the college and ATL will support colleges attaining to best practice in industrial relations.

In transferring to a new role, it is not unreasonable to expect a college to provide appropriate training if necessary, arranging a phased start and mentoring.

This again will help with introducing greater flexibility in putting the right people in the right posts and ensuring college sustainability. Too often those who are made redundant are reemployed either part-time or after a year which is demoralising for staff and diminishes the credibility of the management of the college.

Help in finding another job If the redundancy cannot be avoided, then your employer must provide reasonable paid time off for you to seek alternative work. A good employer will also offer appropriate training courses to enhance your employment prospects, but this is not an entitlement.

Challenging a redundancy decision To challenge your selection for redundancy, you should follow your college’s redundancy procedure.

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An employee facing the possibility of redundancy must be informed in writing that their employer is considering making their job redundant, sometimes known as an ‘at risk’ letter. The employer should consult with employees before making the selection for redundancies. If your post is selected for redundancy you should have a right of appeal and, if so, this will be detailed in the procedure. An appeal is likely to be to a panel of governors. It is essential that you exhaust internal procedures before claiming unfair dismissal at an employment tribunal.

However, you should also be aware that in order to bring such a claim you must apply to an employment tribunal within three months of the date of your dismissal.

Redundancy pay If you are made redundant, you are entitled to a statutory redundancy pay, providing you have two years’ continuous employment with the same college or employer. This is a statutory entitlement, but your college may operate a more generous scheme which enhances the legally required minimum. Statutory redundancy pay is calculated as follows: ● for each complete year of service between the ages of 18-21, ½ of one week’s statutory pay ● for each complete year between the ages of 22-40, one week’s statutory pay ● for each complete year between the ages of 41-65, 1½ weeks’ statutory pay.

A statutory week’s pay is a capped amount which is upgraded each year.

It is standard in the maintained sector to use the statutory calculation but ignore the capped amount, and use the gross weekly salary rather than the net sum, ie the amount paid after deduction of tax.

No more than 20 years’ service can be used in the calculation of the statutory redundancy entitlement. Only actual service with the college is used. There is no equivalent accumulation of service, as applied in the maintained sector, which is continuous if you move from one LA to another during your employment.

Many employers, including FE colleges, reward loyal service by offering enhanced redundancy payments, often using actual pay, rather than the capped statutory amount. Other employers use enhanced multiples of the statutory multipliers.

Although FE colleges may be close to operating at a financial loss, they could still have considerable reserves. ATL believes that in such circumstances the employer has, in addition to any contractual duty, a moral obligation to ensure that staff are looked after.

Notice pay When someone is made redundant, they are still entitled to receive their full contractual notice. If a college fails to comply with the notice period in your contract then, in addition to your entitlement to redundancy pay, the employee is also entitled to claim pay in lieu of notice (or compensation for loss of notice as it is sometimes known).

Similarly, you will be entitled to any outstanding holiday pay.

Redundancy pay and new employment You will not lose your redundancy pay provided you do not start work at another college, without permission, before your last day of service. And to secure your redundancy payment in circumstances where you have been offered further employment by a LA or other type of maintained sector employer, there must be a break in service. This is known as the four-week rule (effectively four weeks and one day). This rule does not apply in the post-16 sector. If the college is willing to pay a redundancy payment plus offer another job then the four-week rule does not apply.

ATL’s recommended redundancy policy Selection for redundancy will be based on objective, precisely defined and justifiable criteria, which are capable of being applied in an independent way to ensure that employees are fairly selected.

Criteria relating to attendance/health, conduct or capability should not be used, as other procedures exist for addressing these issues.

ATL recommends that the criteria adopted in a particular situation should be chosen in light of the college’s curricular and organisational needs.

These criteria should be: ● established after consultation with the recognised trade unions ● explicit and published to staff as a whole ● objective, fair and precisely defined ● non-discriminatory under the Single Equality Bill (whether directly or indirectly) on grounds of gender, marital status, race, national or ethnic

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origins, religion, disability, age, sexual orientation or trade union activity in accordance with the college’s development plan to ensure that curriculum and organisational needs are maintained based upon the outcomes of an audit of staff skills (see below) designed to avoid either constituting a judgement on the employee’s professional capability or prejudicing the employee’s future employment prospects by, for example, failing to provide an open and meaningful reference.

Employees should be invited to complete a ‘skills audit’ to provide the necessary information or to verify relevant personal data held by the college. The data sought by any skills audit should be limited to that which is necessary to apply the criteria.

The ATL model redundancy procedure is one which ATL believes all FE college employers should be able to feel comfortable with, and which is fair to both employee and employer. Many colleges already have a redundancy procedure which is more generous than suggested here.

Restructures and redundancies are obviously not limited to lecturing staff. As such, the AMiE section has a number of useful briefings aimed at AMiE members and local reps. Copies can be obtained from AMiE regional officers or downloaded from AMiE’s website at www.amie.uk.com.

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ATL model redundancy procedure for FE colleges Introduction 1. In this procedure, the term ‘redundancy’ is used to refer to termination of employment by reason either of a formal redundancy or of a reorganisation.

2. A redundancy situation arises when the requirements of the college for employees to carry out work of a particular kind, and/or employees to carry out work of a particular kind in the place where they are employed, have ceased or diminished, or are expected to do so.

3. A reorganisation arises when it becomes necessary for the college to introduce changes to the terms of employment, roles, responsibilities, working practices or workplaces of its staff.

Policy 4. It is the college’s intention to provide reasonable security of employment for its employees. However, there may be occasions where for business requirements, organisational reasons or technological developments, it may be necessary to reorganise or to reduce the workforce, leading to redundancies. The college will always seek to avoid the need for compulsory redundancies. Should redundancies become inevitable, they will be handled in a fair, consistent, transparent and sympathetic manner. In order to minimise the impact of such reductions, the procedure set out below will be followed.

Consultations 5. Where it appears that redundancies may be necessary, the manager

concerned will convene a meeting of the staff of the area(s) or, as appropriate, of the individuals(s) affected to explain the position.

6. The college, via the appropriate manager, will consult the individuals affected by the proposals at the earliest opportunity. Individual consultations with employees will take place regardless of the number of staff affected.

7. Where proposals for potential redundancies or a reorganisation affect 20 or more staff, the college will also undertake collective consultations with appropriate reps.

8. ‘Appropriate reps’ for collective consultations are: ● where a trade union is recognised to represent the group of staff affected, reps of that trade union ● where there is no recognised union, reps of the employees affected elected for this purpose.

9. The consultations will begin in good time and prior to any selection of individuals for redundancy. In any event, the consultation will begin at least 30 days before the first of any notices of dismissal for redundancy are issued.

10. The consultation will be undertaken with a view to reaching agreement and will include ways of: ● avoiding the redundancies ● reducing the number of employees to be dismissed ● mitigating the consequences of any dismissals.

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11. At the outset of the consultations, the college will notify the individuals affected and the appropriate reps in writing of: ● the reason(s) why the need for redundancies has arisen ● the numbers and descriptions of employees proposed for possible redundancy ● the total number of employees of these descriptions ● the proposed method of selection for redundancy ● the procedure for carrying out any dismissals, including the timescale to be used ● the proposed method of calculating any non-statutory redundancy payments.

12. The timescale will allow the appropriate reps time to consider proposals, seek views and make representations, depending upon the particular constraints of the circumstances. Formal consultation will be deemed to have commenced from the date of this written notification.

13. The management will consider, and the consultations will include, alternatives to redundancy. These will, whenever appropriate, include the following: ● consideration of alternative costsaving measures ● the reduction of staff numbers by natural wastage and/or the restriction of recruitment or overtime ● voluntary reductions in hours or consideration of job sharing ● consideration of redeployment to suitable alternative posts (with retraining where appropriate). Where the employer operates other education establishments, these may be in its other workplaces

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consideration of individual requests for voluntary redundancy or early retirement.

Selection for redundancy 14. Following the consultations, the college will set the criteria for selection of staff to be proposed for redundancy and any weightings of factors to be applied.

The criteria to be used will be reasonable, objectively measurable, transparent and non-discriminatory. Curriculum needs will normally be the main selection criterion, but the selection criteria may include, amongst other factors, relevant skills, qualifications, aptitudes, knowledge and experience. Length of employment may be used as a supplementary factor alongside other criteria.

15. Whenever appropriate, the staff in the affected area(s) will be invited to contribute to a ‘skills audit’ to ensure that information held about individuals for any application of the selection criteria, such as their skills, qualifications, aptitudes, knowledge, experience, and employment record, is up-to-date.

16. ‘At risk’ staff will then be assessed against the selection criteria by the appropriate manager, to determine those who should be proposed for termination of employment.

17. The college will then write to each employee concerned, setting out the reasons why they have been identified for proposed redundancy, and inviting them to a meeting with HR to discuss the circumstances and make any personal representations before any decision is made. At least five working days’ notice of this meeting will be given, and the employee will be informed of their right to

be accompanied and represented by a trade union rep or workplace colleague.

18. Within five working days of this meeting, the affected employee(s) will be informed in writing of the outcome. If the employee has been selected for redundancy, the letter will: ● inform them of the circumstances leading to the decision to make redundancies ● set out a summary of the action taken by the college and an account of the selection processes used ● explain why the employee has been selected for redundancy ● set out details of their entitlement to a redundancy payment and any other benefits ● notify them of their right to appeal in accordance with paragraph 19.

Appeals 19. Employees facing the proposed termination of their employment on grounds of redundancy are entitled to appeal. An employee wishing to appeal should inform HR in writing, within 10 working days of receipt of written confirmation of redundancy as set out in paragraph 18, stating their grounds of appeal.

20. The appeal will be heard by a committee of the governors (or, where necessary, by a panel of individuals who have not been involved in the selection or discussion process). At least five working days’ written notice of the time and place of the appeal will be given to the employee, who will be entitled to be accompanied and represented by a trade union rep or workplace colleague.

21. Within five working days of the appeal, the employee will be given written notice of the outcome, with reasons for the decision.

Notice of termination 22. If the employee does not appeal in accordance with paragraph 19, or if the outcome of the appeal is to confirm the proposed redundancy, the college will then give the employee formal written notice of termination on grounds of redundancy.

23. The notice given to the employee will be either his/her contractual or statutory entitlement to notice, whichever is the longer.

Alternative employment 24. The college will take all reasonable efforts to redeploy staff facing potential redundancy, both during the process of consultation, hearings and appeals as above and during the employee’s period of notice.

25. The college will take all reasonable steps to notify staff ‘at risk’ of redundancy of suitable alternative vacancies. Wherever practicable, staff who have expressed a preference for alternative work will be invited to apply for available vacancies.

26. The college will give prior consideration to applications from staff ‘at risk’ of redundancies for vacancies, before considering other applicants.

Where appropriate, training will be provided to employees to enable them to undertake the full range of duties of the post involved.

Redundancy I 89

27. Where an offer of alternative employment involves a change in the type of work or the terms of employment, the employee is entitled to a trial period of four weeks in the new post to enable both the employee and the college to assess the individual’s suitability. This may be extended by agreement. Where an individual transfers to a different post, their continuity of service is maintained.

28. If, during the trial period, either the college or the employee gives notice that the new post is not considered suitable, the employee will be regarded as having been dismissed on grounds of redundancy at the date of termination of the original contract.

29. The college will enable an employee under notice of dismissal on grounds of redundancy to take reasonable paid time off to find alternative employment, including for attendance at interviews, or to arrange training.

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Redundancy payments 30. Staff who have at least two years’ continuous employment with the college are entitled to a redundancy payment.

The redundancy payment is a multiple of the employee’s final week’s actual (gross) pay. The payment is calculated according to the employee’s number of full years’ continuous service (up to a maximum of 20 years), and their age on the date of termination, as follows: for each complete year between ages 18-21 = ½ of one week’s pay ● for each complete year between ages 22-40 = one week’s pay ● for each complete year at age 41 and over = 1½ of one week’s pay.

31. Where an employee is eligible for a redundancy payment, the college will provide a written statement of how the proposed payment has been calculated. ●

Working long hours and health and safety What legal protection is there against working long hours? One of the disadvantages of working in the post-16 sector is the fragmentation of the timetable solely into teaching blocks of anything from one to four hours in duration. This means that most colleges do not observe a specific break time or lunch break. Staff breaks and lunch are organised around their specific timetable and the legal requirement for their individual breaks according to legislation.

College contracts will have some limitations to the number of sessions a member of staff can do consecutively, but this leaves breaks and lunch times variable.

It is also the case that tutorials often fill traditional lunch hours in as both staff and students are free then!

The 1998 Working Time Regulations The primary purpose of the Working Time Regulations is to safeguard the health and safety of employees. There are some national differences in the legislation, for instance, in Northern Ireland the relevant law is contained in the Working Time Regulations (NI) Statutory Rule 386.

The regulations can make a significant positive contribution to reducing working hours and providing adequate rest breaks, although they do include some clauses for employers which reduce the benefit to lecturers. The key features of the regulations are as follows.

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Working time The working week is limited to a maximum of 48 hours, averaged over 17 weeks. In residential institutions the averaging period is 26 weeks. The averaging period disregards periods away from work for sickness, maternity leave or the minimum statutory leave but includes other periods of holiday, which tends to lower the average of hours worked. However, only time spent ‘working at the employer’s disposal’ and carrying out one’s activities or duties’ counts towards ‘working time’.

The controversial element for those working in specialist colleges is whether time ‘on call’ or time spent working at home counts as ‘working time’, and this is currently being determined by case law. This has major significance for ATL members who, for instance, may be working as housemasters or houseparents, and are expected to respond to calls or emergencies at any time of day or night.

ATL’s position is clear, if your time is not your own, to do as you please, and your employer can call upon you to carry out work on their behalf at a moment’s notice, then you are working and the time should be counted under the Working Time Regulations.

However, we must recognise that the matter is currently being determined by case law and is far from settled, although some recent judgements have been encouraging.

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has handed down a further judgement on

Working long hours and health and safety I 91

working time when workers are ‘on call’.

The ECJ decided that working time includes time spent on call. All time spent at work has to be taken into account in deciding whether the working week exceeds the maximum laid down in the Working Time Directive.

One case, MacCartney v Oversley House Management, involved on-call time and the national minimum wage; a warden at a residential home worked four days a week, during which time she could not leave the premises (where she also lived).

As well as her other duties, she was required to answer any emergency calls from residents. She claimed she was not allowed to take rest breaks or daily rest periods.

The Employment Appeals Tribunal overturned the decision of the employment tribunal and ruled that she was not given a daily rest period. They also held that she had not been given rest breaks (an employer must provide an uninterrupted period of rest, and workers are entitled to know when that starts and ends). Finally, the Employment Appeals Tribunal held that she had not received the national minimum wage because her pay, divided over all the hours worked by her per week, was less than the rate of the national minimum wage.

In the case of the weekly working hours’ limits, individual agreements are possible between worker and employer, excluding the standard 48-hour limit. These agreements have to be in writing and contain a notice clause. The employer in these cases is not obliged to keep records of hours actually worked by the

92 I Working in the post-16 sector

individuals concerned. Further to this, no detriment can be imposed on employees who refuse to sign a working hours’ agreement.

Rest breaks Most workers are entitled to an uninterrupted rest break of at least 20 minutes away from the workstation during the working day if it exceeds six hours. The break should be given roughly halfway through the period and not at the beginning or end. ATL recommends a minimum uninterrupted break of 40 minutes.

Daily rest period Most workers have a right to a daily rest period of at least 11 consecutive hours in each 24.

Weekly rest period Employers must provide a minimum weekly rest period of at least 24 hours in each seven-day period for most workers, although employers can opt for 14-day averaging. The rest period is not required to include Sunday.

Annual leave Workers are entitled to four weeks’ paid annual leave.

Night work Night workers’ hours are limited to eight hours in each 24-hour period, averaged over 17 weeks. A night worker is one who, as a normal course, works at least three hours of daily working time between 11pm and 6am.

Record keeping Employers must keep ‘adequate’ records to show that the average weekly working time limits are being observed. Records must be kept for two years. Employers are required to make occasional checks of workers who do standard hours and who are unlikely to reach the average 48hour limit. However, they should monitor the hours of workers who appear to be close to the working time limit, and make sure they do not work too many hours.

Partial exclusions The legislation provides for some flexibility from the full rigour of the regulations, firstly to accommodate various sectors of employment and also to cover certain exceptional circumstances at work. The key ones are: ● residential institutions (such as boarding colleges) ● foreseeable surges of activity ● unusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond the control of the employer (including accidents).

could be prosecuted for committing a criminal offence.

Practical implications So what does it mean for employees working in educational institutions?

Working time The restrictive definition of ‘working time’ and its averaging over 17 or 26 weeks (which will inevitably include some college or college holiday within the calculation) prevents most lecturers and lecturers from benefiting. Indeed, the fact that the 48-hour limit is averaged in this way will mean that during term time, lecturers may work considerably longer than 48 hours per week, without this contravening the regulations.

Nonetheless, some boarding colleges where ‘on duty’ periods are especially onerous may be affected. Note that boarding colleges are not exempted from the normal 48-hours averaged limit.

Rest and breaks

In each of these cases, the worker is not entitled to the standard daily and weekly rest periods or to the daily rest break.

However, she/he is ‘wherever possible’ to be allowed to take an ‘equivalent period of compensatory rest’. Significantly, in these cases the limits on working time (see below) will still apply.

Residential institutions, such as boarding colleges, are excluded from the normal requirements on rest and breaks, but staff are ‘wherever possible’ entitled to claim ‘an equivalent period of compensatory rest’. ATL members in some boarding colleges and schools have successfully negotiated compensatory rest to be taken in blocks of time.

Enforcement

Similarly, the flexibilities (see above) for ‘surges of activity’ and ‘unforeseeable circumstances’ are likely to apply to events such as college trips, where short periods of unusually long working hours

As the regulations are essentially a health and safety measure, the working time (and night work) limits are enforced by the HSE. Employers who fail to comply

Working long hours and health and safety I 93

are required. Again in these cases, compensatory rest should be given.

Long hours and low pay There can be a culture of working excessively long hours in the post-16 sector. Emphasis is placed on extracurricular activities, or trips that students must go on as part of their course, for example, public services team-building, with an expectation that lecturers will give up evenings and even weekends.

For some support staff, the combination of long hours and low pay can be particularly toxic. ATL has taken a number of successful legal cases against boarding schools for breach of the national minimum wage, as well as failing to provide reasonable time off. ATL will use this expertise to monitor such issues in the post-16 sector.

If you are concerned that you are working excessive hours or have insufficient breaks, please contact ATL who can advise you on whether your employer is in breach of the law, and what options are available to you. In many instances, with the assistance of ATL, members have been able to negotiate more time off and, in some cases, financial recompense.

Health and safety at work ATL endorses the use of the Stress Management Standards in post-16 colleges and universities. These standards have been agreed by the AoC and the six trade unions but have not been fully implemented nationally. ATL

94 I Working in the post-16 sector

working with the AoC, HSE, Acas and other trade unions has generated a leaflet with the HSE and Acas providing information to colleges and reps on how to implement the standards. This leaflet is available on ATL’s website.

The Stress Management Standards are crucial in enabling trade unions and management to talk knowledgeably about stress in the workplace and take joint action planning decisions.

AMiE In January 2011 ATL merged with ACM (Association of College Managers) and formed AMiE, ATL’s leadership section which caters for members in management and leadership positions in schools and colleges. AMiE is the only organisation to represent members at management level in colleges and is nationally recognised to do so. It is also the only affiliated trade union, via ATL, to represent managers. AMiE reps and officials and ATL reps and officials therefore work together to ensure ATL members’ voices are heard in colleges.

AMiE membership is now around 8,000.

AMiE produces a handbook for branch officers which is available from the AMiE website (www.amie.uk.com) or by request in hardcopy.

Consultation and recognition The value of consultation Consultation is the key to creating a good working environment, allowing staff to feel listened to, valued and involved in the process of decision-making. While many FE colleges do have meaningful consultation with staff, others, unfortunately, do not.

Some employers confuse consultation with the conveying of information.

Consultation should always be meaningful and a two-way process. An employer should: ● provide the necessary information for staff to make informed decisions ● allow a reasonable timescale for staff to consider the management’s proposals ● provide the necessary facilities, such as time for staffroom or union meetings ● consider and respond to staff suggestions.

Establishing the structures for consultation is for the staff and management to decide, based on what works best for their college. ATL’s view is that, generally speaking, it is in the best interests of the staff and the college for ATL to be formally recognised for collective bargaining. And, if necessary, members may pursue their legal right to recognition of ATL (see below).

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Under a voluntary recognition agreement, the two parties agree the areas to be covered for collective bargaining. ATL recommends that staff are consulted on their general terms and conditions of employment, which includes: ● any changes to existing contracts, policies and procedures (eg the pay policy, or capability, discipline and grievance procedures) ● physical working conditions, including health and safety ● allocation of work or duties ● trade union membership and facilities for accredited reps ● arrangements for staff training and development, including mentoring and appraisal arrangements ● workload including any bureaucracy issues.

Recognition has many advantages to both employers and employees: ● improved communication ● team-working ● improved policies and procedures ● shared responsibility for decisions ● improved staff morale.

As FE colleges are unionised workplaces, with one or more of the six nationally recognised unions in the workplace, voluntary recognition is the route that ATL reps would take to gain recognition if they did not have it locally.

Voluntary recognition

Recognition Recognition can be achieved either by agreement with the employer, known as voluntary recognition, or through a legal procedure, known as statutory recognition.

Voluntary recognition is covered in detail in ATL’s factsheet, Seeking and gaining recognition in the post-16 sector. As it is voluntary, criteria can vary, but most colleges look to ensure that the union has, at least, 10% of the workforce as

Consulatation and recognition I 95

members. There are resources to help reps apply for recognition; see the post16 reps’ toolbox on ATL’s website.

Statutory recognition This will rarely apply and is included for your information. If the voluntary recognition process does not work, we are entitled to seek statutory recognition for a group of workers where at least 10% of the group are members of ATL. A statutory body, the Central Arbitration Committee, considers the application from the union and representations from the employer.

If the union has 50% of the group of workers in membership, the tribunal normally awards recognition automatically. Where it does not, or where there is uncertainty as to whether those members wish their union to be recognised, the tribunal might order a ballot of the group of workers. If a majority of the group votes in favour of recognition and that majority constitutes at least 40% of the group then recognition is awarded.

Under a recognition achieved through the statutory process, an employer must consult on pay, hours and holidays; these principles cover some of the most significant terms and conditions of lecturers and/or support staff.

Practical considerations There are some practical considerations when deciding whether to seek trade union recognition. Members need to gauge the strength of support amongst all staff and assess the relative strength of ATL membership.

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ATL is a union for the whole workforce; we recognise how teaching and learning requires ever closer teamwork between lecturers and support staff. Accordingly, we provide a full range of bespoke information and support to support staff members who join ATL, including professional development opportunities.

However, where other unions already negotiate on behalf of support staff we respect those arrangements and will not seek collective bargaining rights, if not, then we may seek recognition to bargain on behalf of support staff too, just as we do already in many independent schools.

Further assistance and information Further information on recognition can be found on ATL’s website, along with a concise ATL briefing on recognition, and the model ATL recognition agreement.

If you are interested in exploring recognition further, then please contact ATL’s London office on 020 7930 6441 or by email at info@atl.org.uk. ATL can provide a model agreement, which can be modified for your college through negotiation to reflect its particular structure and ethos. ATL offers advice and support, as well as training and development, to lecturer and/or support staff reps.

Other sources of information ATL departments

How to join

Legal and member services department For advice and support on any professional issue, contact the legal and member services department on 020 7930 6441. For enquiries about salaries, maternity and sick leave, call 020 7782 1546. For enquiries about financial assistance in the case of hardship under the ATL Trust Fund, call 020 7782 1546.

New members can join ATL by telephoning 0845 057 7000; online via ATL’s website; by post to ATL, FREEPOST 7363, 7 Northumberland Street, London; or by fax to 020 7930 1359. Further information, can be found on ATL’s website.

Membership department For information regarding member details, membership lists, membership categories, subscription rates and payment methods contact the membership department, call 020 7782 1602 or email membership@atl.org.uk.

Recruitment For support, advice and information on any aspect of your recruitment activity, email organise@atl.org.uk.

Learning and development Tel: 020 7782 1582 Email: training@atl.org.uk ATL media relations Tel: 020 7930 6441 Email: info@atl.org.uk

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Out-of-hours helpline For practical advice on any professional issue outside office hours, call 020 7782 1612 (open Monday to Friday, 5-8pm, during term time).

Other useful numbers Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service Tel: 0845 747 4747 Web: www.acas.gov.uk AMiE For advice and information on leadership, management and membership issues.

Tel: 01858 464171 Email: membership@amie.atl.org.uk or helpline@amie.atl.org.uk Association of Colleges 2-5 Stedham Place London WC1A 1HU Tel: 020 7034 9900 Email: enquiries@aoc.co.uk Association of Employment and Learning Providers Colenso House 46 Bath Hill Bristol BS31 1HG Tel: 0117 9865389 Email: enquiries@aelp.org.uk web: www.aelp.org.uk

Other sources of information I 97

Association of Governing Bodies of Further Education Colleges Tel: 01438 840730 Email: admin@agbis.org.uk Web: www.agbis.org.uk

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills Tel: 020 7215 5000 Email: enquiries@bis.gsi.gov.uk Web: www.bis.gov.uk

Association of National Specialist Colleges Derwen College Oswestry SY11 3JA Tel: 0117 923 2830 Email: chiefexecutive@natspec.org.uk Web: www.natspec.org.uk

Disclosure Scotland Tel: 0870 609 6006 Email: info@disclosurescotland.co.uk Web: www.disclosurescotland.co.uk

Criminal Records Bureau Tel: 0870 909 0811 Email: customerservices@crb.gsi.gov.uk Web: www.crb.homeoffice.gov.uk Department for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills, Wales Tel: 0845 010 3300 Email: wag-en@mailuk.custhelp.com Department for Education Tel: 0870 000 2288 Web: www.education.gov.uk Department of Education, Northern Ireland Tel: 028 9127 9279 Email: mail@deni.gov.uk Web: www.deni.gov.uk Department for Employment and Learning, Northern Ireland Tel: 028 9025 7777 Email: del@nics.gov.uk Web: www.delni.gov.uk

98 I Working in the post-16 sector

Education and Training Inspectorate, Northern Ireland Tel: 028 9127 9726 Email: inspectionservices@deni.gov.uk Web: www.etini.gov.uk Education Scotland Denholm House Almondvale Business Park Almondvale Way Livingston EH54 6GA Tel: 0141 282 5000 Email: enquiries@educationscotland.gov.uk Equality and Human Rights Commission (England and Northern Ireland) Tel: 0845 604 6610 Email: info@equalityhumanrights.com Web: www.equalityhumanrights.com (Scotland) Tel: 0845 604 5510 Email: scotland@equalityhumanrights.com (Wales) Tel: 0845 604 8810 Email: wales@equalityhumanrights.com General Teaching Council for England Tel: 0370 001 0308 Email: info@gtce.org.uk Web: www.gtce.org.uk

General Teaching Council for Northern Ireland Tel: 028 9033 3390 Email: info@gtcni.org.uk Web: www.gtcni.org.uk General Teaching Council for Scotland Tel: 0131 314 6000 Email: gtcs@gtcs.org.uk Web: www.gtcs.org.uk General Teaching Council for Wales Tel: 029 2046 0099 Email: information@gtcw.org.uk Web: www.gtcw.org.uk Health and Safety Executive Tel: 0845 345 0055 Email: hse.infoline@connaught.plc.uk Web: www.hse.gov.uk Higher Education Funding Council Executive Northavon House Coldharbour Lane Bristol BS16 1QD Tel: 0117 931 7317 Email: hefce@hefce.ac.uk Institute for Learning First Floor 49-51 East Road London N1 6AH Tel: 0844 815 3202 Email: enquiries@ifl.ac.uk

Learning and Skills Improvement Service Friars House Manor House Drive Coventry CV1 2TE Tel: 0247 6627900 Email: enquiries@lsis.org.uk Web: www.isis.org.uk National Institute of Adult and Continuing Education Chetwynd House 21 De Montfort Street Leicester LE1 7GE Tel: 0116 204 4200 Email: enquiries@niace.org.uk Web: niace.org.uk National Training Resources Ltd PO Box 4380 Tamworth B79 0DB Tel: 0845 130 6152 Network of Black Professionals City of Wolverhampton College Newhampton Centre Dunkley Street WV1 4AN Tel: 01902 715309 Email: enq@nbp.org.uk The Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference Tel: 01858 469059 Email: hmc@hmc.org.uk Web: www.hmc.org.uk Scottish Executive Web: www.scotland.gov.uk

Other sources of information I 99

Scottish Public Pensions Agency Tel: 01896 893000 Web: www.sppa.gov.uk Sixth Form College Forum Local Government House Smith Square London SW1P 3HZ Tel: 020 7187 7349 Email: sfcf@local.gov.uk Skills Funding Agency Cheylesmore House Quinton Road Coventry CV1 2WT Tel: 0845 377 5000 Email: info@skillsfundingagency.bis.gov.uk Teachers’ Pension Scheme Tel: 0845 606 6166 Web: www.teacherspensions.co.uk Teacher Support Network, England Tel: 0800 056 2561 Web: www.teachersupport.info/england Teacher Support Network, Wales Tel: 0800 085 5088 Web: www.teachersupport.info/wales Teacher Support Network Scotland Tel: 0800 564 2270 Web: www.teachersupport.info/scotland Trades Union Congress Tel: 020 7636 4030 Web: www.tuc.org.uk

100 I Working in the post-16 sector

Unionlearn Congress House Great Russell Street London WC1B 3LS Web: unionlearn.org.uk Universities and Colleges Admissions Service Rosehill New Barn Lane Cheltenham Gloucestershire GL52 3LZ Tel: 0871 468 0468 Email: enquiries@ucas.ac.uk Welsh Assembly Government Tel: 0845 010 3300 Email: wag-en@mailuk.custhelp.com Web: www.wales.gov.uk Young Peoples’ Learning Agency Cheylesmore House Quinton Road Coventry CV1 2WT Tel: 0845 337 2000 Web: www.ypla.gov.uk 157 Group PO Box 58147 London SW8 9AF Tel: 07581354750 Web: www.157group.co.uk

ATL is the union for education professionals across the UK. Active in the maintained, independent and post-16 sectors, we use our members’ experiences to influence education policy and we work with government and employers to secure fair pay and working conditions. From early years to HE, teachers to support staff, lecturers to leaders, we support and represent our members throughout their career.

Found this useful? ATL has lots of other resources, all free to members, which you might be interested in. Visit ATL’s website at www.atl.org.uk to view the full range of legal advice publications and factsheets on offer from ATL, along with a full section of help and advice.

Further relevant publications from ATL include: Bullying at work Product code: PE29

Industrial action Product code: PE17

Violence, threatening behaviour and abuse Product code: PE28

Finished with your copy? Pass it on to other colleagues who might find it useful.

Not yet a member?

To be part of the union that puts education first, join ATL today. As a member you will have peace of mind knowing ATL offers first-class support, insurance protection, professional advice and representation, plus unrivalled publications, resources and continuing professional development for your personal and professional development.

To join or check our competitive rates, including special offers for students and newly qualified members, visit www.atl.org.uk/join or call 0845 057 7000.* * Terms and conditions available online. Local rates apply.

Already a member? You’ve joined us, now join in and get on Getting involved with your union is the best way to achieve effective change, both in working conditions and in education. And it can enhance your professional development too.

There are many ways to get involved, from giving your views on education policy to attending one of our training courses or becoming the ATL rep for your workplace. Look up www.atl.org.uk/getinvolved for more.

© Association of Teachers and Lecturers 2011. All rights reserved. Information in this publication may be reproduced or quoted only with proper acknowledgement to the author and the Association.

Working in the post-16 sector

Tel: 020 7930 6441 Fax: 020 7930 1359 Cardiff Tel: 029 2046 5000 Email: cymru@atl.org.uk

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ATL product code: PE36 Date: December 2011 Edition: First ISBN: 1-902-466-64-0 Price: ÂŁ9.99 (non-members) Free (members)

Your guide from ATL - the education union

ATL - the education union 7 Northumberland Street London WC2N 5RD

Working in the post -16 sector Your guide from ATL - the education union

Legal advice series