Page 23 - ELG2202 Feb Issue 479

POST-BREXIT BRITAIN

Boarding schools are best for summer work

Stated hours, better-than-minimum wage and, often, accommodation are
part of the package, making them an attractive option

ince Brexit means fewer EU teachers
work in UK schools, you might think
the institutions would be falling over
Sthemselves to get summer school
staff with the right to work, so why aren’t the
operators paying more for teachers?
Wages are indeed creeping up, but the pay
can still fall below minimum wage when you
add in all the extra duties they may ask you to
do for free.
Under UK national minimum wage
conditions, the least you can be paid for a 48-
hour week is £456 before holiday pay for a non-
residential teacher aged 23 or over. But, under
minimum wage law, they can deduct up to WORDS MELANIE BUTLER. PHOTO WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
£60.90 for accommodation, leaving £395.90.
Alternatively, they can pay you the full wage
and make you work some extra hours for free:
a maximum of 6.5 hours a week if you’re 21
or over.
Apart from accommodation hours, you must
be paid for all work-related activities you’re
asked to do, including non-teaching duties. Traditional boarding schools like Millfield are best for summer staff
If you’re an experienced teacher looking for
a summer job which pays well above minimum
wage, and you don’t want to be at the For your average private language school struggling to get enough responses and a
management’s beck and call 18 hours a day, summer operation, £400 a week is probably number have advertised a ‘competitive
your best bet is a boarding school. Millfield, average, but the hours of work are rarely clear. salary’ and then had to re-advertise with the
Haileybury, Fettes, Whitgift, St Clare’s Oxford It’s pretty easy, however, to figure out from the pay rates.
and Bede’s Summer are all offering posts wage the maximum hours they can legally ask Unless you can find a school offering £450+
starting at around £550-£600 a week. you to work for the money (see box below). a week net of holiday pay for a guaranteed
So where, for teachers with the right to maximum of 48 hours, you might still be better
Kids are looked after by work in the UK, is the Brexit bonus? There off in your local supermarket – in the UK most
of these now guarantee £10 an hour.
is some evidence that summer schools are
welfare staff between 8am
and 8pm when you are
generally off duty How many hours can they legally make me work?

Most boarding schools are now running the 1) Take the figure quoted as a weekly rate. For this example, £450 including holiday pay.
‘house system’, where kids are looked after by 2) If the figure includes holiday pay, deduct it. Holiday pay only counts towards
welfare staff between 8am and 8pm when you minimum wage when you take holiday. Divide the wage (£450) by 112.07. This comes
are generally off duty. All offer ample free time, to 4.015, then multiply this by 100 = £401.50.
often with a day and half off a week or even 3) Add £60.90 for accommodation: £401.50 + £60.90 = £462.40.
a full weekend. If you need accommodation, 4) Deduct anything they are charging for accommodation, eg, £55: £462 - £55 = £407.40.
check the ads, as some of the city-based 5) Divide this total by the hourly minimum wage for your age group. From 1 April
schools don’t offer residential options. 2022, the hourly rates are: age 23+, £9.50; age 21-22, £9.18; age 18-20, £6.83. Then
Among the private providers whose rates round to the nearest quarter of an hour, eg: you are 23+ and your weekly wage after
have been published so far, only Discovery accommodation is £407.40. £407.40 ÷ 9.50 = 42.88 hours. To the nearest quarter of
Summer and SBC come close to boarding- an hour, that’s 43 hours.
school levels. While they expect slightly longer The final figure must cover not only your main job, but any non-teaching work and time
hours, they both timetable evenings off and you’re asked to spend on work-related activities, including meetings, admin, cover and
other free time. (Exsportise, also traditionally CPD. If you work more than the maximum legal hours, you must be paid overtime.
one of the better payers, hasn’t published its
rates yet.) Keep a record of your working time (using a free work-tracking app like Clockify is a good
Not all boarding schools are so generous. idea) and hang on to your weekly work timetables. Politely let the employer know you
One is offering just £400 for teaching, plus have done overtime by email, so you have documentary evidence. If they don’t pay your
residential duties, plus excursion work and overtime by the end of the contract, and haven’t given you time off in lieu, phone the
gives no clear idea of the total hours. Others employees’ helpline ACAS on 0300 123 1100 (you can do this anonymously) or contact
just say their salaries are competitive – always the Union (https://teflworkersunion.org). You don’t need to be a member to get help.
a worrying sign.
editorial@elgazette.com 23