Commenting on the passing of motion 40 at Annual Conference in Harrogate, Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said:
"We call on all independent school employers to ensure the health and safety of their employees. Our own research shows that too many employers are regularly breaching the 1998 Working Time Regulations (WTR), with potentially serious consequences for the safety of staff and pupils.
"Staff working in the private education sector report that workload is being increased as a consequence of cost-cutting measures being introduced in response to the cost-of-living crisis and increased cost of VAT and NI. A majority of support staff who work extra hours are not paid for them. Teachers also work additional unpaid hours.
"Many independent schools require staff to work evenings, overnight and weekends without adequate rest periods or compensatory rest. We need to see a proper audit of staff working hours to reduce excessive and unsafe demands on the independent sector, especially at boarding schools."