Unfair Contract - Can I challenge?

[Ms Anonymous]

Hi,

I have a friend who is a teacher. They have been working for an employer for five years. They started on a zero hour contract then converted to a full time staff member for a period of 6 months. They received a full time contract. After the 6 month period had ended, they were back onto the zero hour contract. They have now been giving a full time contract which is term time. They have the holidays off which means that there pay is approximately £4K less than what would have been if term time was added into the contract.

There contract states 37 hours per week but they work just over 40 hours. There contract also states start time is 9.00am however classes commence at 8.45am. Other staff members are on 36k and the other two are on 31K. My friend is on 25K. Other staff members are paid for the full 52 weeks however, my friend is only paid for 38 weeks. They have been told that they cannot change the terms of the contract and that is final.

My friend wants to know if they can do something about this as it is unfair they work the same hours and get paid less than the rest of the staff.

Thanks

[Amethyst]

Does your friend get paid a salary or an hourly rate ?
If salary is it paid over 12 months ? ( ie £2k ish a month before tax/ni )
Does she have to take her holiday entitlement in school holidays ?

[Ms Anonymous]

[QUOTE=Amethyst;n1432474]Does your friend get paid a salary or an hourly rate ?
If salary is it paid over 12 months ? ( ie £2k ish a month before tax/ni )
Does she have to take her holiday entitlement in school holidays ?

Hi Amethyst,

Thank you for your reply.

My friend gets paid monthly and it is indeed paid over the course of 12 months. Thye do not get paid during school holidays. They are expected to carry out any work during term time. The only holidays are school holidays. They cannot book any holidays as they are not entitled to them as they are given term time off and reduced pay.

Thanks

[Ms Anonymous]

Hi, is anyone able to shed some light on the above at all?

[des8]

your friend has colleagues in the same position?
It seems on the face of it a breach of the Equality Act 2010 .
Are they members of a union, who could negotiate on their behalf?

Tagging Ula & paulajayne who know lots more than i about employment law

[Ms Anonymous]

des8 Thank for your help.

Ula and paulajayne any help will be appreciated.

[ULA]

Are you certain that your friend is working to the same contract terms as the other people? I believe in the education environment there are several types of contracts available.

It sounds like your friend has been offered a term time only contract, which given what you have said seems consistent as employees working on a term time only basis are not allowed to take, during term time, the annual leave that they are entitled to, but the hourly rate of pay that they receive takes account of this entitlement.

To challenge the fairness of the contract your friend has been given, there would need to be some certainty that the comparator colleagues are working to the same contract terms. Also, in terms of pay where does your friend sit on the teacher pay scale, assuming they are in a state school, and again is this the same as the comparator colleagues?

In the meantime, there is an issue on the start time as stated in your friend’s contract, particularly if classes start at 8.45am and they are expected to be in the class at that time. Effectively the start time of the contract should be 8.45am, although I expect your friend realises that they will need to be in work a bit earlier to ensure that their classroom is ready for this start time.

Your responses to the questions I have raised would be helpful in providing more assistance.

[Ms Anonymous]

Are you certain that your friend is working to the same contract terms as the other people? I believe in the education environment there are several types of contracts available.

It sounds like your friend has been offered a term time only contract, which given what you have said seems consistent as employees working on a term time only basis are not allowed to take, during term time, the annual leave that they are entitled to, but the hourly rate of pay that they receive takes account of this entitlement.

To challenge the fairness of the contract your friend has been given, there would need to be some certainty that the comparator colleagues are working to the same contract terms. Also, in terms of pay where does your friend sit on the teacher pay scale, assuming they are in a state school, and again is this the same as the comparator colleagues?

In the meantime, there is an issue on the start time as stated in your friend’s contract, particularly if classes start at 8.45am and they are expected to be in the class at that time. Effectively the start time of the contract should be 8.45am, although I expect your friend realises that they will need to be in work a bit earlier to ensure that their classroom is ready for this start time.

Your responses to the questions I have raised would be helpful in providing more assistance.

Hi,

Thanks for your reply.

They state they are on the same contract terms as the the rest of the employees but receives a lower salary due to term time contract. In effect the same roles and duties are carried out baring the fact that they are not allowed to get paid for any work during term time due to the contract and the other employees are on a full time contract.

They said they will join the union team. They have also mentioned the start times to manager who said they will discuss this during the next appraisal.