NEU help and advice pages comprise FAQs and other guidance which address common employment workplace issues and are entirely problem focused. These documents, along with our current top 5 FAQs posed by members, represent the quickest way to get support if you need it.
Other ways to get help
Your first point of contact is your workplace reps - they are best placed to discuss your next steps to dealing with your issue. If you don't know who that is, contact your branch for assistance. Find the contact details here.
You also contact the Employment AdviceLine - however, please be advised that this national service deals with a very high volume of emails and calls and your waiting time for a response may be long.
If you can't find the answer to your question below, speaking to your rep or branch secretary will be the quickest way to answer your query.
- This advice explains the circumstances in which schools may disclose capability information to prospective employers.
Guidance on maximum class and room sizes
- Overcrowding is a common problem in classrooms. Unfortunately, there are no legal minimum space requirements specifying classroom dimensions. There are, however, a number of legal provisions and sources of guidance that can be drawn upon in challenging cramped teaching areas
Providing cover for absent colleagues is not a good use of teachers’ time - and the inappropriate use of support staff to provide that cover is a major and growing problem in schools.
- Rhestr wirio Gweithle
- NEU position remains that the coming together of large groups of adults in schools, for example staff meetings, parent meetings, open days, should be suspended.
- Cyngor i staff sy'n agored i niwed yn feddygol - boed hynny'n glinigol eithriadol o agored i niwed (CEV) neu'n glinigol agored i niwed (CV) - a grwpiau risg uwch
- As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, a number of members will continue to be working wholly or partly from home.
- Covid-19 guidance for medically higher risk staff Spring/Summer 2022
- Ten points on the wearing of face coverings to reduce the risk of Covid-19 transmission and circumstances where medical masks and other personal protective equipment (PPE) may be appropriate.
- Ten points on how to protect mental health following the Covid19.
- Advice for staff who are medically vulnerable - whether clinically extremely vulnerable (CEV) or clinically vulnerable (CV) - and higher risk groups
- Practical steps to reduce the risk of Covid-19 disruption in schools and other education settings – Summer 2022.
- Our advice on ventilation in Covid-19 schools and workplaces.
- What to look out for in your school/college risk assessment
- The NEU strongly urges all members who are able to receive the COVID vaccine to take it. Here are frequently asked questions on vaccination for education staff.
- Ventilating indoor work areas is a key control measure in reducing Covid-19 transmission.
- Knowledge about the greater risks of Covid-19 to specific individuals and groups has grown during the current crisis.
- NEU continues to meet with DENI, the Education Authority, and the PHA and to raise a wide range of concerns for staff and pupils on substantive matters of health and safety.
- Not all home learning environments are equal. Put together Create Boxes for children in your school.
- In any normal year there can be great anxiety for students, parents, carers and education staff in and around results day. This year will be no different but will have the added complexity of the extraordinary situation for awarding grades, appeals and entries into the autumn series.
- This briefing summarises the basic framework of health and safety law in the context of independent schools; and in particular the pivotal role played by NEU health and safety representatives in upholding safety standards in the workplace.
- A workplace checklist for members in schools and colleages
- The COVID-19 pandemic has had a marked impact on mental, as well as physical health in the UK and elsewhere.
- NEU NI issue January guidance for NEU members in educational settings in Northern Ireland
- A guide for reps on equality in schools, including a checklist to ensure that all eligible members receive pay progression.
- Cyhoeddwyd y cyngor hwn gan yr undebau ar y cyd (GMB, NEU Cymru, UNSAIN ac UNITE) i'w ddefnyddio mewn ysgolion a lleoliadau eraill am dymor cyntaf blwyddyn academaidd 2021-22 o leiaf.
- Long covid advice for reps and local officers in England and Wales
- Latest advice for principals and managers who may have staff experiencing protracted ill health as a result of COVID-19 infection.
- The guidance is based around ‘Things you need to Do’ and ‘Things you need to Know’.
- Your employer should be monitoring readings from all the CO2 monitors in your school. See our tips on how to make the most effective use of CO2 monitors.
- Rebuilding a school system that supports all students, staff and teachers and is responsive to the particular needs of each and every child.