Whoever is working hard and tirelessly in an education setting; supporting the children in learning and development every day in school- and signed to an agency, will know that your pay may not reflect that hard work as agencies take a substantial chunk away as their fee. However, they also don't pay their workers for any holidays or time off- which is illegal.

The staff applying for jobs from Agencies are only get paid a low hourly rate, which is mad because of how much work and effort being a Teacher is. 

I want to call some of these agencies out, as I feel not much will be done if we do not say the company names. They are as follows:

Career Teacher, London | Teaching Personnel, London | Reason Education | Reed.co.uk 

My mum herself has been working with children in schools around London for 22 years (since 2000). After she had quit her permanent job due to working conditions, she had signed up to a teaching agency in London. She has been working with this agency since, and her and the colleagues she works with in a local primary school have picked up on the fact that none of them under their agencies, get paid on public holidays (bank holidays, half term holidays, summer holidays, Easter holidays etc)- unlike the school teachers who are enrolled under the school union. These teachers struggle to feed their children, keep their houses running, pay their bills and are constantly worrying about how they will survive until they next work again. Summer holidays have proven to be the hardest for them.

To add to this, when these teachers ask for a day or two off, they will not be paid by the agency for those days. These people have families, bills and rent, mouths to feed, roofs over their head and clothes on their back they need to pay for- especially now in the UK's current cost of living crisis! Also, The Queen recently had her Jubilee ceremony, and we know Teachers and people who work under a company would get paid time off as it's an important few days for the country, but agency workers again HAVE NOT been paid. 

 

On top of this, agency staff do not have contracts to sign because that would mean that agencies will have to pay them on these holidays. 

Just like a lot of people, these teachers work 9-5 shifts, 5 days a week consistently for years, and usually another job or two just to make ends meet because agencies do not pay their staff their rightfully owed holiday pay. The UK Government website (GOV.UK) states that "almost all workers are legally entitled to 5.6 weeks' paid holiday a year.. this includes agency workers". 

So why are agency staff not getting this pay, but teachers who work the same job do? It is clearly an infringement on working rights for school staff under these agencies.

They teach the rest of the children, they take these kids under their care, they work past the hours needed just to help the teachers who are head of the class- but not enough to show for it, or to even live comfortably? That is an infiltration of working rights. 

 

Please sign this petition to show solidarity, a fight for rights for agency staff up, down and across the country and for these mothers, fathers, students and loving teachers adored by your kids. They deserve the bare minimum and more...

 

Thank you so much for your support!

T.R