Unions have accepted a pay offer that will see school support staff, including teaching assistants, and other council workers paid an extra £1,925 this year.
The offer means a 10.5 per cent hike for the lowest-paid and just over 4 per cent for higher earners covered by the agreement.
It is the highest rise offered to local government pay negotiating body the National Joint Council (NJC) for a decade.
Unions have called on schools to implement the pay rises “as soon as possible”. Rises will also be backdated to April, meaning schools face paying out a lump sum too.
Members of Unison, GMB and Unite were consulted over a two-month period, with unions meeting on Tuesday and agreeing to accept the offer from the Local Government Association (LGA).
Unison said years of below inflation pay offers and pay freezes had seen local government workers lose more than 25 per cent from the value of their pay since 2010.
But schools are likely to struggle as a result of more unfunded pay rises for staff. The government increased its pay rise offer to senior teachers to five per cent without providing additional funding earlier this year.
Schools core funding has risen by £4 billion this year, according to the DfE. But rising costs have wiped out much of that. Leaders are already facing making cuts to staff, increasing class sizes and axing building repairs over the coming years to deal with rising costs.
A survey of 630 headteachers, published by the Association of School and College Leaders last week, revealed the “catastrophic” impact of the funding crisis on schools.
Meanwhile, Schools Week revealed last month that as many as half of all maintained schools in some areas are expected to go into financial deficit this year.
Pay offer will impact support staff at maintained and academy schools
Many non-teaching staff in maintained schools and council education departments will benefit from the increase. Employees at academy trusts which continue to follow the NJC’s ‘green book’ terms-and-conditions agreement will also be covered by the deal.
School support staff include TAs, learning assistants, technicians, administrative and auxiliary staff.
Unison’s national secretary for local government, Mike Short, welcomed the pay offer but suggested unions could ask for a higher rise next year.
“Members voted clearly to accept this pay offer, and it will come as a welcome relief to many of our members – particularly those who are lower-paid – that it has been agreed before the holiday period,” he said.
“Our immediate priority, now, is to get the money into the pay packets of workers as soon as possible, to help deal with the rapidly rising cost of living and move into the next pay round.
“We know there is much more to do, as this pay settlement is still below inflation and we will be looking to submit a pay claim for 2023 as soon as practically possible, so the employers have no excuse for delaying making an offer, next year.
“We will be expecting that offer to meet our members’ needs and address the massive pressure they are facing due to the rate of inflation.”
The one-year pay offer will be backdated to 1 April 2022 and also includes a 4 per cent increase to allowances. A one day increase to the annual leave of all employees will come into effect from 1 April 2023.
Unison said the offer meant the bottom three points on the pay scale would still fall below the Living Wage Foundation rate of £10.90.
What happens if you work in a private school but you are a member of Unison?
This rise only covers those EAs within the NJC. The eight (?) councils who have opted out of the NJC will not be getting this rise without separate agreements. Are the unions undertaking negotiations? If not, it is very divisive as colleagues doing similar jobs will have significantly different pay.
What happens to all Teaching assistants in a trust school?
What happens if you left 5 days before the pay increase was agreed, am I entitled to the rise back dated to April, but up until the day I left?
yes 100%
Yes but you will need to request it from your previous employer they wont automatically send it to you. I would suggest send it in writing to the head teacher and request your back dated increase due from April 2022.
I assumed that I would get it automatically. #I left one school admin job in Aug and started new one in Sept.
Great, my school are refusing to pay the £1924, or the back dated amount because I have pay protection from when they took us over and demoted my salery by £5000, although Im still on the same salery before the drop in 19 months time. So clearly those of us on pay protection are not affected by the cost of living.
What about agency staff?
What if I retired recently should my pension be recalculated to take account of the additional £1925
It seems not all staff are going to get this pay deal. I have been told by Buckinghamshire County Council that they will not honour the pay award. In fact, no pay award at all this year (2022/23) and inflation running at 11% – ridiculous.
Nothing for agency staff?I worked 4 years in same setting as agency worker and never get nothing extra!!!Not even proper holiday pay.
Government should do something with it.Agency workers are people too
I have contacted the Trust that i work for and they say I am not entitled to this, but the union which i have also contacted says i am?
Are TA’S who work fir an agency getting a pay rise?
Are TA’a who work for an agency getting a pay rise?
Can Anyone tell me about the agency worker. Are the agency worker allegable to get they backdated pay?
As I understand it from the NEU, if you are assigned on contracts longer than 12 weeks with a named school, you can try to claim back pay – it’s not hard and fast though as there seems to no clarification on LA / academy rules – agencies who should act on your request for back dating often don’t know, reply or may simply avoid as they must also consider their other client – school employers. It’s a mess open to avoidance for the agency sector workers, who can be overlooked by unions who may see them as more akin to the privatised sector (eg umbrella companies) – yet this is an increasingly imposed mode of employment for both teachers and support staff – causing a two-tier system when we are all qualifed, experienced and work just the same as employees on direct contracts. Ask a union to advise – it really helps if you join one to help on many points of concern. If you ask to join as a member who is an agency supply worker in a named school on a long-term contract (over 12 weeks and longer eg one year), you should receive all voting rights and a good proportion of your pay if your school has local strikes – such as during anti academisation strikes. If you operate on shorter assignments – daily supply / under 12 weeks – you may have less or no loss of pay claim with a union. Demand a reply from your agency and consult a union to be sure.
What about a maintained school in Kent County Council. What are they offering?