Pay and Conditions in LAAT

The NASUWT seeks to ensure that members in academy schools have, at least, the equivalent pay award to teachers in other maintained schools. Teachers working in an LAAT Academy should continue to receive the same pay increase and benefits as teachers in the maintained sector.

Protection of your pay and conditions under TUPE

Staff who transferred when the school became an academy transferred under TUPE and therefore benefit from the protections of TUPE. One of those protections is that changes to the transferred contract of employment cannot be made. Regulation 4(4) TUPE sets that out - any purported variation to the contract will be void. Therefore requiring staff that transferred under TUPE to sign new contracts is not permitted. The protection from TUPE does not apply only to certain terms and conditions. TUPE applies to the whole contract. The employer cannot pick and choose which bits of the contract are protected by TUPE - it is all protected by TUPE and so there should not be any move to introduce new contracts.

Employees therefore have the legal right to transfer to the new employer on their existing terms and conditions of employment and with all their existing employment rights and liabilities intact. Effectively, the new employer steps into the shoes of the old employer and it is as though the employee's contract of employment was always made with the new employer.

NB: Where an independent trade union had been recognised by the outgoing employer in respect of transferring employees, recognition will transfer to the incoming employer.

National Recognition Agreement

The NASUWT with the other school workforce trade unions has not yet negotiated a trade union recognition agreement with Lincoln Anglican Academy Trust for consultation and collective bargaining purposes. LAAT has so far refused to accept the need to have a JNC, or the TUC Model agreement for academies and has made no commitment to the issue of facility time.

Employment Policies and Procedures

The trade unions will now be entering into discussions with the Trust in respect of a range of employment policies and procedures and asking for regular meetings and a JNC.

The NASUWT has not agreed the PM or Pay policies. The policies are not yet compliant with the NASUWT pay and performance management/appraisal requirements.