Staff employed by schools on zero-hours contracts – such as exam invigilators and some supply teachers – may need to be given fixed-term contracts and entitled to pension schemes under new employment legislation, lawyers say.
The government unveiled its employment rights bill last week, setting out 28 reforms to “deliver the biggest upgrade to rights at work for a generation”.
One of the key proposals is to axe “exploitative” zero-hours contracts. Workers on such contracts will have the right to move to a defined hours contract if they work regular hours over a 12-week period.
But those who want to remain on a zero-hours contract will be able to.
90k education staff on zero-hour contracts
Sara Tanton, the deputy director of policy at the ASCL leaders’ union, said the process would “pull out all the different models of working that we’ve got in the education sector that we haven’t been as aware of”.
There were 892,055 workers on zero-hours contracts in England from April to June, according to the Office for National Statistics. Just over 90,000 of these were in education, many working as supply teachers and ancillary workers, such as lunchtime supervisors, exam invigilators and administrators.
Craig Vincent, a partner at Stone King law firm, said “many would agree” that zero-hours contracts in education “are far from exploitative”.
“In fact, they act as a tool to provide work for people on a flexible basis that benefits both parties.”
He said changes could mean those staff instead “gain the right to reasonable notice of shifts, payment for cancelled, moved and curtailed shifts, as well as the right to a guaranteed-hours contract if they work regular hours over a defined period”.
This could mean placing invigilators on short-term, fixed contracts, for instance. While this would only “require some additional administration”, it could mean those staff also have to be entered into pension schemes, which “could add costs”.
Niall Bradley, the chair of the National Supply Teachers Network, said the legislation could make employment “more secure for supply teachers in long-term placements, if they’re on a temporary contract, rather an ad hoc contract.”
Mike Short, Unison’s head of education, said “good” employers had nothing to fear. “Temporary or seasonal workers, for example those who invigilate in exams or mark pupils’ completed papers, can still be employed in this way, as can anyone else who likes the flexibility that zero-hours contracts bring.”
Vincent added it was “unlikely to create large financial issues across the sector”.
Most of the reforms are unlikely to kick in before 2026 as a “limited number of targeted consultations” are due this year.
Flexible working ‘default’
The bill also sets out plans to make flexible working the default “where practical”.
School employees already have the right to request flexible working from their first day in the job, but bosses can snub this if there’s a good business reason.
Grounds to refuse a flexible working request include additional costs; inability to reorganise work among existing staff; inability to recruit additional staff; or detrimental impact on performance.
Alistair Wood, the chief executive of Edapt, an organisation that provides legal support for teachers, said schools would now have to state their reasons for refusing requests.
“But as flexible working becomes increasingly common in other sectors, greater pressure will be put on schools to react as recruitment and retention may become even harder.”
The government has said the bill would also give workers “greater protection” against unfair dismissal from day one.
Currently, employees need to have worked for their boss for at least two years to qualify for this.
However, the government’s proposed compromise is to introduce a nine-month probation.
The bill will also make paternity and parental leave available from day one and “strengthens the protections for pregnant women and new mothers returning to work”.
Emma Sheppard, a founder of MTPT Project, a charity of parent teachers, said the changes would “boost occupational mobility for women”.
More powers for unions?
The Trades Union Congress said the bill would also bolster union access to workplaces and usher in “fairer balloting rules”.
Wood said this included proposals to “reduce the thresholds needed to be met from ballots to be able to take action”. Ballots could also take place electronically, rather than by post, which “may well increase the likelihood of industrial action in the future”.
