Mat Pay- teachers Terms and conditions

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Agenda Item ..........
Renfrewshire Joint Negotiating Committee for Teachers
To: Renfrewshire Joint Negotiating Committee for Teachers
On: 31st March 2026
Report by
Joint Secretary (Teachers’ Side)
Maternity Rights- Pay and Teachers’ Terms and Conditions 
1. Background
The Teachers’ Side has had a few enquiries from teachers about their right to paid
maternity leave where it has been suggested that they have been wrongly advised of
their rights by admin staff; some teachers have been advised that they will need to
repay maternity pay in the event that they leave their employment within a period after
returning from maternity leave.  This condition is not applicable to teachers and the
misinformation had caused undue worry for the teachers who have been so advised-
at a time when they may already be experiencing anxiety and financial concerns around
entitlements to Occupational Maternity Pay and Statutory Maternity Pay. 
In one case a teacher whose fixed term contract was coming to an end was told that
she would need to repay an amount if she did not return to work- clearly the teacher is
not able to return if there is no contract so to do.  Neither is she obliged to repay
maternity pay. 
One possible reason for the administrative confusion is that there is no distinct and
separate paperwork for teachers, or that the same paperwork, applicable to those
employed under Local Government terms and conditions, is being wrongly applied to
teachers’ who have separate SNCT terms and conditions and maternity arrangements.
There is no reference to payback of maternity pay in the SNCT.
2. Recommendations
That a suite of proformas is created to be used going forward that encompass
teachers’ terms and conditions- said proformas to include risk assessments,
communications around calculation of pay, how accrued holidays are calculated and
copies of pertinent letters to be sent around Maternity rights, to avoid any further
incorrect information being given.    
That the suite of documents, once created, is shared with those advising teachers
and the Teachers’ side for information purposes.