The celebratory noise from this year’s NEU national conference promises to be hugely positive for parent-educators around the country.
A motion put forward by Hampshire, with amendments from Sutton (supported by Worcestershire) and Northumberland (supported by Lewes, Eastbourne and Wealden) focused on issues that overwhelmingly impact mothers and women.
In particular, Hampshire and Northumberland called for 26 weeks’ fully-paid maternity leave for educators, and increased campaigning at local level for improved conditions for parent staff.
Northumberland pushed for maternity campaigns to be “a priority in bargaining campaigns”, and Hampshire and Sutton linked their maternity requests with improved access to and financial equality around flexible working practices.
The NEU boasts a history of successful negotiations around maternity pay. Colleagues working in local authority schools in Birmingham, Tameside and at least six London boroughs including Camden and Tower Hamlets enjoy better-than-Burgundy Book maternity pay. In many cases, this is thanks to negotiations from NEU reps.
Often, increased parental leave and pay negotiated for local authorities is also then taken up by multi-academy trusts working in these regions, who don’t want to be seen as less generous employers than their local authority counterparts.
For example, Ark Schools (with academies in Birmingham, London and the southeast) offer occupational maternity pay at a higher rate than the Burgundy Book, and higher than both Birmingham and Haringey local authorities, who already boast an increased package.
Much of the supporting evidence for the maternity motion at this year’s NEU conference (and its amendments) echoed the findings of The MTPT Project and New Britain Project’s Missing Mothers report, which found that the motherhood penalty is a primary cause of avoidable attrition for teachers aged 30-39.
The motherhood penalty is a primary cause of attrition
Indeed, the call for equal and improved parental leave and pay was one of the main recommendations in that report.
The amended motion passed, and the establishment of a NEU Women’s Conference has now been agreed – a significant victory for members.
Rosie Kelly-Smith, who runs NEU Parents, said: “The passing of this amended motion is hugely welcomed by members – especially NEU parents and carers who have experienced just how appalling maternity pay and paternity pay and leave entitlements are.
“We are also delighted that the union will now throw its weight behind campaigning for a change to the school teachers’ pay and conditions document (STPCD) so we can end the exploitative and discriminatory practice of paying part-time TLR holders pro-rata wages, even when they’re carrying out the full TLR role.”
Northumberland also added an amendment for a doubling of paternity leave. In this regard, however, the NEU may not be ambitious enough in their campaigning.
National groups are putting pressure on the government for ‘six weeks for dads’ – paternity leave paid at 90 per cent of a new father’s salary. This follows a recent study that found that this is the point at which fathers’ involvement at home begins to have a positive impact on the gender pay gap at work.
In Hounslow, four weeks’ fully-paid paternity leave has been available since early 2024. With adoption policies also often matching maternity policies, adoptive fathers can also benefit from any improved maternity pay – a policy that particularly benefits single parents and fathers in same-sex couples who are more likely to be the primary adopter.
In Lambeth, an enhanced shared parental leave offer has already been in place for a decade. It even mirrors the local authority’s improved maternity pay, offering fathers and non-birthing partners the option of up to 40 weeks of decently-paid leave.
At The MTPT Project, we’re working with a group of pilot schools to push for equal and improved parental leave, exploring financial modelling of between 20 and 26 weeks at full pay for all staff.
If it can support the retention of more than 9,000 parent-teachers who leave every year, then it could represent an overall saving for the DfE.
With backing on this issue from the country’s largest union, there is increasing hope that a better deal for new parents in the sector could become a reality.
And that would be a net good for everyone.
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