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 employment of support staff in the sector is covered by the 'Support Staff Conditions Of Service Handbook', otherwise known as the Lilac Book. In addition, your contractual rights may be affected by locally negotiated agreements.
Your right to a 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.
- NEU 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.
Working hours and workload
Teachers
- Teachers must be available for work for 195 days (of which 190 of these are teaching days and up to 5 days are in-service or INSET training days), and for 1265 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 1265 hours you may be required to teach for up to 6 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.
- 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.
Support Staff
The number of hours worked in a normal working week by full-time staff will be 37 hours (36 in London).
The Model Contract for Full-Time Support Staff also provides for the averaging of hours. This means that in some weeks more than 37 hours (36 in London) may be worked, but in other weeks fewer than 37 (or 36) will be worked. If in any week additional hours are being worked, then any in excess of 40 (or three hours more than the normal working week if this is not 37 hours) will be compensated for through overtime pay at the appropriate rate for any member of staff paid at or below the Support Staff spine point 32.
Any member of staff paid at or above the Support Staff spine point 33 will be compensated through time off in lieu. It will be for the college to agree with the member of staff or group of staff any expected variation over the year (or other more appropriate period) from the normal working week.
Guidance on Work-Life Balance in Sixth Form Colleges can be found at Appendix 7 of the Lilac Book.
Breaks
- You have an entitlement to a break of reasonable length either between college sessions or between the hours of 12 noon and 2pm.
- NEU recommends that a reasonable break is at least 40 minutes long.
Holidays
Teachers
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.
Support Staff
The minimum leave entitlement for all members of staff is 22 days. For members of staff who, immediately prior to the commencement of the leave year, have had not less than five years’ continuous service, the minimum leave entitlement is 25 days. Leave entitlement beyond these levels may be determined by the college.
In addition to public holidays, staff are entitled to two extra-statutory days (the timing of these extra-statutory days to be determined by the college after consultation with staff).
The annual leave period shall be a twelve month period determined by the college. Those members of staff starting or leaving employment during the year are entitled to leave proportionate to the number of completed months of service during the year. Employees leaving the service of the college would normally be expected to take any unused annual leave prior to the ceasing of their employment.
The college may determine if days of annual leave may be carried forward to the next leave year, and if so the maximum number of days that could be carried forward.
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 NEU would expect most colleges to look favourably on such requests.
- NEU recommends that each college has its own special leave policy and that it is applied in a fair, consistent and transparent manner.
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.
Notice periods
Teachers
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, you are entitled to receive longer notice as specified in the Employment Rights Act 1996.
Please note: If you wish to leave on a date which is not one of the three dates listed above, it is entirely at the discretion of your college as to 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.
Support Staff
The period of notice required to terminate a member of support staff’s appointment shall be clearly defined in his/her contract. The minimum periods of notice provided by statute are as follows:
Period of Continuous Employment - Minimum notice:
By the College
One month or more but less than two years - One Week
Two years or more but less than twelve years - One week for each year of continuous employment
Twelve years or more - Not less than twelve weeks
By the Employee
The ordinary period from one payment of salary or wages to the next.
Staff 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 to making you a permanent employee.
Retirement age
The default retirement age, which was 65, has now been phased out and you can work beyond this age if you wish to - you do not need to seek your employer's consent to do so.
Occasionally, some employers may choose to have a default retirement age. However, in order to be able to rely on this, an employer must be able to provide objective justification for its chosen age. We anticipate that for most jobs in schools, such objective justification will be difficult for employers to provide.