Guest Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 Having taught for a good number of years in state primary schools, i find myself for several reasons doing supply teaching.I am finding it difficult to find a full time teaching job.I think this could be that i am very expensive for a class teacher.A school i do a fair bit of supply in said a while ago they would like to keep me if they could afford to.After closely studying their budget they said they could not afford me and would have to go for a cheaper teacher.Is it possible to negotiate my salary down a bit or would this not allowed by the local authority? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cait Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 That's a puzzling one. As a school secretary in a 'former life' I would say that generally supply teachers ARE more expensive, simply because the school is paying an agency fee as well. I would have thought unions would be upset if you were cheaper than generally expected. What the school may be meaning is that NQT's are cheaper. Ask ACAS, they'll know the answer. 08457 47 47 47 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 As far as I'm aware it's not possible - your union will know for certain though. I've known several people in this situation - it's just a shame it all comes down to money! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 That's a puzzling one. As a school secretary in a 'former life' I would say that generally supply teachers ARE more expensive, simply because the school is paying an agency fee as well. I would have thought unions would be upset if you were cheaper than generally expected. What the school may be meaning is that NQT's are cheaper. Ask ACAS, they'll know the answer. 08457 47 47 47 Yes i agree supply is the most expensive options for schools because the agency demands a huge fee.The school were hoping that they would have a job they could advertise that i could apply for but their budget doesn't stretch to my position on the pay scale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cait Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 speak to your union or ACAS, that's your best bet. At least then you'll know your options Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JacquieL Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 You cannot negotiate your pay down I'm afraid. The LA would not allow the school to do that as it is against equal ops as teachers have a pay scale which all employers in the maintained sector must adhere to. Are you working for an agency? If you are then the school is charged a fee to employ you and if you tried to work for a school the agency has introduced you to, they will charge the school a very large fee to free you from your contract with them. you'll find that somewhere in the small print. You become cheaper if you do not work for an agency and canvas schools yourself. Some schools are very happy with this as they don't have the agency fee to pay on top, so you become a better proposition. You might also be cheaper for them if you opt out of paying superannunation but that is a very bad idea for your future pension as it is a final salary scheme. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 When I registered with a supply agency, I did tell the person who was responsible for the area that I would rather earn less per day in order to work than earn more and not work - they were more than happy for me to do that. However, working in a LA that only pay the scale rate, I was working on a project where they couldn't afford to pay my rate so we basically worked out what hours we would claim for to total the agreed rate for the day. Schools have said that they can't really afford to use supply much and are tending to use HLTAs for cover than supply teachers. I have been very lucky to get work through personal contacts in schools but am aware of my expense - I am conscious of this and always make sure that I do provide very good value for money! Even heads feel strongly that they are having to employ less experienced staff due to costs when they would prefer to employ a teacher who has the experience to deal successfully with challenging situations and behaviours sometimes! Hope you manage to sort things out Lx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marion Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 As a teacher employed by the LA to teach in a school you can't negotiate your pay scale but as an agency worker doing supply the agency can charge what they like and pay you what they want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts