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NJC Terms and Conditions – Support Staff - 08/03/2024

The Green Book, Part 4.12: Term Time Only Employees

The Green Book has been updated to reflect the changes made recently to the Working Time Regulations (WTR) by the Employment Rights (Amendment, Revocation and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2023.

It sets out the way that statutory annual leave entitlement is calculated for certain workers.

See here (pdf, 277kb) the NJC for Local Government Services Circular.

Implementation date: this change to the regulations on holiday entitlement for irregular hours and part-year workers will apply in respect of any leave that begins on or after 1 April 2024.

Summary of main changes:

  1. Term-time only (TTO) employees are staff that are principally employed to work only during periods in which schools are open. ​ They work a reduced number of weeks during the year and accrue a pro-rata entitlement to paid leave. ​ The pay and conditions of TTO employees should be transparent, consistent, and fair, and they should be treated no less favourably than employees on all-year-round contracts. ​​
  2. The pay for TTO employees should be calculated based on the full-time equivalent (FTE) annual salary. ​ The calculation should take into account the number of days/weeks contracted to be worked, the number of hours worked each day/week as a proportion of full-time hours, contractual leave entitlement, and bank holiday entitlement. ​ The pay formula should ensure that the ratio of working days to days of paid leave is the same for TTO employees and all-year-round employees. ​
  3. TTO employees should receive a proportionate annual leave entitlement based on their working time. ​ The calculation of annual leave for TTO employees should take into account the number of weeks worked and the accrual rate per working day. ​ The total paid days for TTO employees should be calculated by adding the days worked and the days of annual leave. ​ The percentage of the working year equivalent to the TTO employee's paid days should be determined. ​
  4. The leave year for TTO employees should be consistent and can be based on a set date in the year or the anniversary date of the start of employment in the term-time role. ​ If a fixed leave year is adopted, a specific calculation of pay may be required in the first year of employment if the employee starts partway through the leave year. ​ The timing of Easter and the number of public holidays in a given leave year should be considered. ​
  5. TTO employees should have equal access to special leave, training and career development opportunities, and participation in trade union activities and duties. ​ They are entitled to a pro-rata allocation of public holidays and should be able to benefit from additional paid leave during school closure periods. ​ The calculation of redundancy pay for TTO employees should be based on the number of weeks actually worked (including paid leave) by the employee.