Will acceptance of this offer affect the right of teachers to take industrial action in future?
No, paragraph 5 of the offer is clear that “This in no way negates or dilutes the rights of any trade union to take lawful, legitimate industrial action”.
What happens if members don’t accept the offer?
If members indicate no, there will not be a pay increase for the 2024-25 academic year. Due to how Northern Executive finances work it is unlikely that there will be as significant an offer for some time.
What happens if the unions don’t all agree?
If any of the five member unions within NITC do not accept the offer, then Management Side will remove all parts of the offer.
The last offer made reference to specific clauses in the Jordanstown Agreement which weren’t helpful. What has happened to them?
In this offer Management Side have now recognised the importance of addressing workload in the context of the Jordanstown Agreement and the Workload Agreement TNC 2024/2.
They have clarified that teachers’ contract remains at a maximum of 1265 directed hours and a teacher cannot be directed to do anything outside of directed time.
Paragraph 15 of this offer refers to management side building awareness of the existing capacity for working patterns to be managed flexibly. What does this mean in practice?
This means that schools will be reminded that they have the opportunity to exercise flexibility in relation to the time and place for PPA.
It also means that where schools need to vary directed time for controlled assessment or coursework marking that this will be accounted for in the time budget.
What will be the timeframe for next year’s pay offer?
The current projection is that next year’s pay offer will be made no later than January. NEU acknowledges that this position is unsatisfactory but is outside management side’s control.
The Northern Ireland Executive is currently operating from an interim fiscal framework from Westminster while a new fiscal framework continues to be negotiated. Once this is resolved it would be our expectation that pay awards across the public sector will be paid at an earlier date.
What will the new pay scales look like?
**Please note these calculations are based on Gross Pay figures**
| Scale Point | September 2023 | Plus 5.5% | September 2024 | Approximate Gross Back dated pay |
| M2 | £30,000 | £1,650 | £31,650 | £1237.50 |
| M3 | £32,067 | £1,764 | £33,831 | £1323 |
| M4 | £34,458 | £1,895 | £36,353 | £1421.75 |
| M5 | £37,093 | £2,040 | £39,133 | £1530 |
| M6 | £39,948 | £2,197 | £42,145 | £1647.75 |
| UPS1 | £43,191 | £2,376 | £45,567 | £1782 |
| UPS2 | £44,753 | £2,461 | £47,214 | £1846.00 |
| UPS3 | £46,368 | £2,550 | £48,918 | £1912.5 |
| Leadership Point | ||||
| L10 | £58,776 | £3,233 | £62,009 | £2424.75 |
| L17 | £69,568 | £3,826 | £73,394 | £2869.50 |
| L24 | £82,416 | £4,533 | £86,949 | £3399.75 |
| Teaching Allowance | ||||
| TA1 | £2,282 | £126 | £2,408 | £94.50 |
| TA2 | £4,609 | £253 | £4,862 | £189.75 |
| TA3 | £7,192 | £435 | £8,347 | £326.25 |
| TA4 | £10,897 | £599 | £11,496 | £449.25 |
| TA5 | £14,705 | £809 | £15,514 | £606.75 |
| SEN Points | ||||
| Special Needs 1 | £2,475 | £136 | £2,611 | £102 |
| Special needs 2 | £4,886 | £269 | £5155 | £201.75 |
When will we receive payment into our salary?
The net salary back pay will be paid as soon as is possible and is anticipated at the earliest in the end of May salary for permanent full-time teachers and in June for substitute teachers. There may also be some delays for staff who have a complex working pattern or have been subject to other flexible working or maternity/paternity/adoptive leave arrangements.
Have there been any changes made to the agreed measures in the annex to the offer?
While the annex wasn’t shared during the previous offer, they are being shared with this offer. Following consultation with unions the list of agreed measures has been expanded to reflect the issues raised by members.
When does ASoS end?
NEU would expect a gradual de-escalation of ASoS. Schools will already have in place arrangements to take members up to the end of the spring term. The ASoS will therefore be finished by the Easter break.
Working patterns taking account of the ‘Heads of Agreement’ agreed measures will be in effect from the beginning of the third term of this academic year.
What is in the Heads of Agreement (Annex 1) document?
The ‘Heads of Agreement’ document outlines the areas of agreed work in relation to workload for Management side to complete in consultation with the trade unions.
Uniquely each identified area has an agreed timeline for the completion of this work. This is a new time bound approach to progressing areas of workload issues that have been identified by members.
What power do we have to hold MS to account if timelines are missed?
If Management Side do not uphold their responsibility relating to these agreed timelines, then the normal dispute resolution mechanisms available to Trade Unions can and will be used. Such measures will be in line with the Labour Relations Agency Code of Practice relevant to these matters alongside the existing democratic decision-making mechanisms of the NEU.
I have responsibility points and require time to fulfil these roles. In this agreement must I do it outside the 1265 hours?
No. You are being directed to fulfil these roles so must have adequate time allocated in your agreed time budget. The Principal in directing you to undertake these activities/duties should determine with your agreement the amount of time which you will spend on these roles.