Commenting on today’s release of the Taylor Review
into Modern Working Practices, the
NASUWT has expressed great disappointment at its
failure to address the on-going exploitation of thousands of UK
supply teachers by many employment agencies, whose practices
continue to deny them access to their deserved employment rights
and fair levels of pay.
Despite acknowledging that a lack of regulatory enforcement was
enabling unscrupulous employers to get away with abuse,
discrimination and unfair working practices, the review
surprisingly does not recommend Government intervention.
In a recent NASUWT survey of UK supply Teachers, conducted in May
2017, more than 40% reported that although they were employed to
perform duties as a qualified teacher, they were only offered
unqualified rates of pay.
This is on top of being denied access to rights such as sick pay,
training and annual leave, and in many cases being forced to pay
a payroll fee and fund their employer‘s National Insurance
contributions as well as their own.
Chris Keates, General Secretary of the
NASUWT, said
“This report signally fails to address the misery, woeful
treatment and exploitation experienced by thousands of supply
teachers working for agencies, this is a huge missed opportunity,
only compounded by the suggestion that there is no need for
Government to act.
“While new ways of working and employing people are constantly
being created, exploitation is as old as the hills. The test for
all these recommendations must be do they effectively tackle
exploitation and prevent those who would engage in it from being
able to do so?
“The failure to truly address this issue, especially in school
environments, is not only leading to many great teachers being
driven out of the profession, but is all the more shocking given
the review’s suggestion that teachers need to take greater
responsibility for educating young people for the future world of
work.
“The Government must act immediately and take direct action to
strengthen the enforcement of the Agency Workers’ Regulations if
it is to genuinely deliver fairness at work for agency workers.
It must also set out a coherent strategy that secures the rights
of all workers.”
