JNC Sept 2nd 2025 - Part time teachers Calendars inset and NCCT
Renfrewshire Council · 2 September 2025
Back to Renfrewshire Council Joint Negotiating Committee for Teaching Staff — 2 September 2025 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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Agenda Item .......... Renfrewshire Joint Negotiating Committee for Teachers To: Renfrewshire Joint Negotiating Committee for Teachers On: 2nd September 2025 Report by Joint Secretary (Teachers’ Side) Part-time Teachers’ Calendar, Inset Days and NCCT 1. Background Concerns have been expressed to the EIS Secretaries around erroneous calendar templates that were used in some schools to calculate part-time teachers’ pro rata contractual obligation. This resulted in several teachers being wrongly asked to pay back additional days. The templates that were being used to calculate the figures were incorrect and so the number of days being claimed back was inflated. The Teachers’ side wishes to ensure that this error isn’t replicated in other schools and expects that the templates used will be correct henceforth. The Joint Secretary has advised education managers of the error and has been assured that the template is now amended and that the time owed by teachers will be corrected. Inset Days The matter of inset days is also perennially problematic for part time teachers where their working patterns do not align with the pattern of inset days which can change annually. The approaches currently being adopted around this matter is not consistent across the Local Authority with some managers insisting that additional pupil days should replace inservice days that are not able to be worked because they are outwith the teachers’ normal working pattern or by denying inservice because it exceeds a teachers’ pointage even if the inservice days fall on a normal working day. Where a teacher is part-time then they are required to work a percentage of the 195 days, this includes 5 in-service days and many part time teachers want to attend in- service for their professional development. HR advises that there may be situations where additional payment for inservice days or time off in lieu may be agreed to ensure that part time teachers receive their entitlement to inservice days. No teacher however should be compelled to attend on a day that is outside their normal pattern and, if there is a deficit, a payback of salary should be an option, by agreement. In-service days are dedicated to professional development, training and organisational matters and so, by definition, are non-pupil contact days and so it is not appropriate that teachers are directed to take their weekly NCCT, dedicated to preparation and correction, during an in-service day.
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The helpful Guidance below was shared with the Teachers’ Side and it clarifies expectations and processes that all schools should be following: GUIDANCE FOR SCHOOLS Part-Time Teachers – Leave and In-Service Arrangements 1.0 Introduction 1.1 The Part Time Workers Regulations (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000 make it unlawful to treat part-time workers less favourably than their full-time counterparts. This means that part-time teachers are entitled to the same entitlements on a pro-rata basis, as a full-time teacher and should therefore receive a proportion of those entitlements based on their contracted hours of work. 1.2 Teachers employed on a part-time basis also have a pro-rata entitlement to the agreed number of In-Service days in each school year. 2.0 Need for adjustments 2.1 A full-time teacher is paid the annual salary for their scale point. In the school session the full-time teacher has a working year of 195 days. A part-time teacher will receive the pro-rata proportion of the annual salary and therefore should actually work the same proportion of 195 days. (See column 1 on table) 2.2 The placement of Public Holidays and Occasional days within the overall scheme of school holidays, when set against the working pattern of individual part-time teachers, can result in some teachers working more or less than their contractual requirement. 2.3 In-Service days are set each year and this, when considered against the working pattern of individual part-time teachers, can result in some teachers not receiving their pro-rata entitlement to In-Service. 3.0 Implementation Guidance 3.1 To ensure that each part-time teacher is working the correct number of days in the school session and receiving their pro-rata entitlement to In-Service, Head Teachers should use the following tables for calculating entitlement. The attached ready reckoner may be used as a tool for calculating entitlement. 3.2 Prior to the new school session or on commencement of employment of a teacher part way through the year a calculation should be made to establish the pro-rata proportion of 195 working days that the part-time teacher is required to work. The following tables should be used for this purpose.
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Primary/Secondary FTE Days employed (*includes In-Service entitlement) In Service entitlement (included in the total number of days employed) 1.0 195 5 0.8 156 4 0.6 117 3 0.5 97.5 2.5 0.4 78 2 0.2 39 1 3.3 The number of potential working days should be identified for the whole school session for each individual (this will vary depending on working pattern). This should include attendance during the session at In-Service days. 3.4 Depending on the working pattern of the part-time teacher an adjustment may be required for those with fixed patterns of work to enable the part-time teacher to receive their entitlement to In-Service and ensure that their contractual commitment is met. 3.5 Where the working pattern is such that a part-time teacher would be unable to undertake their entitlement to In-Service then other arrangements should be made in consultation with the Head Teacher to enable the teacher to attend the relevant number of In-Service days. This could be done by adjusting the days worked in that week or by claiming the day attended at the In-Service day. The timings of such adjustments will be subject to the exigencies of the service. 2. Recommendations - That the calendar templates used to calculate teachers’ obligations is corrected and that teachers are advised accordingly. - That part time teachers are not disadvantaged in respect of inservice days - That managers are advised to refrain from allocating NCCT during inset days. - That the Guidance for Schools is circulated and implemented consistently by all schools