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.
As well as statutory maternity rights, most teachers are also covered by the maternity rights scheme for teachers, set out in the Burgundy Book national agreement on conditions of service.
- Your entitlements and responsibilities under UK legislation on paternity leave and pay.
How to negotiate on pay and other forms of remuneration in the independent sector, with some relevance to Further Education workplaces or academies where there is collective bargaining.
- Ten bullet points on independent sector collective bagaining.
- The campaign for equal pay has a long history; one which is still ongoing.
- The latest NEU evidence to the School Teachers’ Review Body, which is reviewing teacher pay in England, sets out our case for a fully-funded pay increase for all teacher points and allowances of 5% in September 2019, for further pay increases to restore the cuts in teacher pay since 2010 and for an urgent review to establish appropriate pay for teachers for the long term.
This guidance sets out the obligations of employers and employees in relation to notice periods and notice pay.
- Guidance on the pay and conditions implications of teachers’ participation in out-of-school-hours learning activities
- An introduction to the pay and conditions arrangements of part time teachers
- Advice on identifying the grounds for a pay appeal and on how members might run a successful pay appeal
The most common queries NEU members have on pay for leadership teachers in schools and academies.
- Guidance on the pay framework for sixth form college teachers and advice for NEU representatives for college level discussions on its implementation.
- As private businesses outside the national collective bargaining structure in the maintained sector, independent schools have greater freedom to set their own terms and conditions of employment.
- This guide gives advice to leaders on how their pay progression system works.
- Details of the recommended NEU pay scales for teachers and leaders, which we wish to see all schools adopt.
- The joint union pay scales show the impact of the uplift to the teachers’ pay ranges for 2018-19, when applied to the individual pay points on those ranges recommended in our joint advice for 2017-18.
- The joint union pay scales show the impact of the 2.75% uplift to the teachers’ pay ranges for 2019-20, when applied to the individual pay points on those ranges recommended in our joint advice for 2018-19.
- Details of how academies and trusts set pay scales and what pay and conditions arrangements are in place in these workplaces.
- Advice explaining the payments and entitlements you may receive if your post becomes redundant. In any case where redundancy is threatened, specific advice and assistance is available and should be sought from your school/college rep or division/association/branch secretary.
- Pay and conditions for teachers in residential establishments are aligned with those in the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD) and Burgundy Book, other than the following allowances and pay scales for pay scales for allowances.
- This guidance provides advice on finding out more about pay policies and their most important features.
- Frequently asked questions on school teacher pay increase and how to make sure you receive it.
- This is the NEU’s advice for local officers, school and academy reps on securing pay increases in line with the Government’s decisions on school teacher pay from September 2019.
- This is a guide on steering a course through your appraisal and the pay decision process to ensure that you can secure pay progression.
- Pay scales and updates on pay negotiations for sixth form colleges.
Information on pay and conditions for Soulbury paid officers in England and Wales.
- This guidance is aimed at new teachers and those returning to teaching service after a break. It explains the basics of the pay structure and gives advice on ensuring you are fairly paid and able to seek the most favourable use of pay discretions.
What should I expect to be paid as an agency supply teacher? What should I be paid for supply work of less than a day in duration? What happens if a school wants to offer me a permanent job? These and many other key questions are covered in this introductory guide to supply teaching.
- Pay and conditions agreement for support staff - most LA schools use the local government pay scales to pay their support staff in conjunction with National Joint Council (NJC) terms and conditions.
Guidance on pay and conditions when working in the independent sector.
A comprehensive overview to the teachers’ pay structure and classroom teachers’ pay scales for 2018 – 19
Advice on Teaching & Learning Responsibility Payments (TLRs) and other allowances such as Special Educational Needs allowances and Recruitment and Retention payments.
- This guidance summarises the position in respect of pay and conditions for unattached teachers employed by local authorities.
- This guide gives advice on securing pay progression by persuading governors not to accept a recommendation to deny pay progression or by appealing successfully against a decision to deny progression.
- This guidance provides advice on finding out more about pay policies and their most important features.
- This is a guide on steering a course through your appraisal and the pay decision process to ensure that you can secure pay progression.
- This guide gives advice on how the pay progression system for classroom teachers works.
- This guide explains how to challenge unfair pay policies and secure a fair pay policy in your school.
- This guide gives advice on securing pay progression by persuading governors not to accept a recommendation to deny pay progression or by appealing successfully against a decision to deny progression.
- Advice on your eligibility for and access to workplace pension schemes as an agency supply teacher.
The Teachers’ Pension Scheme will provide much of your retirement income so it is vital that you understand it. This guidance covers the career average section of the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) in which most members are accruing pension.
- In whatever capacity you work in education, there is likely to be an occupational scheme available for you to join and you may have automatic membership as soon as you are employed.
Information about the final salary section of the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS), including how to find out if you are in this TPS section.
- Following this case, the Government will be required to take action to compensate members of public sector pension schemes who were excluded from protection measures applied when schemes changed in 2014 and 2015.
- Guide for teachers and other school staff who wish to continue working beyond age 65
- Information about the single-tier state pension and changes to the state retirement age.
- The Teachers’ Pension Scheme will provide much of your retirement income so it is vital that you understand it. This advise covers the final salary section and it aims to answer the most common pension queries for NEU members.
An overview of the Local Government Pension Scheme, introduced in 2014
- In many cases, your employer will invite you to attend a meeting as part of their absence monitoring/management procedures
- The term ALPS is derived from A-Level Performance System. ALPS aims to provide value added scores to colleges and to individual courses.
- Appraisal is particularly important because it affects decisions on your pay. This guidance aims to answer the most common queries NEU members have on appraisal. You should read this guide in conjunction with your school/college appraisal policy.
This checklist should be used alongside the NEU’s model policy on this area to help you negotiate a policy acceptable to the union.
- NEU guidance surrounding capability proceedings
- Guidance on classroom observation protocol in Wales
- This advice explains the circumstances in which schools may disclose capability information to prospective employers.
- Doctors issue fit notes to provide evidence of advice they have given to patients about their fitness to work. They record details of the effects of the patient’s condition so that the patient and employee can consider ways to facilitate a return to work where appropriate.
- Guidance on classroom observation protocol in England
- Model policy covering learning walks and drop ins.
Practical tips to help when asked to attend an urgent meeting with the head or principal at short notice without being given an agenda or an indication of its purpose
The NEU and National Association of Head Teachers joint model policy for appraising teacher performance
- Returning to work after a long illness can be daunting. A well-supported phased return can make the process easier. This guidance describes what a phased return to work is, how it operates and answers common queries.
This NEU guidance addresses the need to secure fair and reasonable objectives for teachers at the very start of the appraisal process.
- Advice for trainee members on lesson planning, timing and pacing, and tips on how to save time.
- The term ALPS is derived from A-Level Performance System. ALPS aims to provide value added scores to colleges and to individual courses.
- Details about your employment rights under the Red Book as well as the minimum rights you are entitled to under general employment law.
- Details of your statutory rights as an employee in the Further education sector. In some cases your contract will provide you with better terms and conditions and, if this is the case, those better terms and conditions will apply.
- The basic framework of health and safety law for sixth form colleges
- This advice is intended to assist in discussions in relation to recognition and recruitment in FE colleges and sixth form colleges where there are National Education Union (NEU) members.
- Guidance on the pay framework for sixth form college teachers and advice for NEU representatives for college level discussions on its implementation.
- Find out how to put pressure on MPs and Ministers to tackle the post-16 funding crisis.
- Pay scales and updates on pay negotiations for sixth form colleges.
- Workload in colleges and schools has reached unprecedented levels. Take action on workload in sixth form colleges today.