Page 6 - ELG2205 May Issue 480

NEWS .

By Melanie Butler
Minimum wage jobs are appearing
in UK EFL even in year-round
schools. The summer schools
have long skated on thin ice when
it comes to minimum wage (see PHOTO BY TAYLOR WILCOX ON UNSPLASH
opposite) but year-round schools
managed, until Covid, to pay
enough per teaching hour to cover
not just the time spent in class, but
meetings, admin and other work-
related activities which must be
paid under minimum wage law.
In February this year, however,
an ad from NCG Manchester, a
British Council accredited school,
appeared offering a fixed-term
contract for 30 teaching hours
in a full-time, 40-hour week for
£19,760 a year pro rata. Since
April 1 this year this is the exact
amount of minimum wage payable
to all workers aged 23 or older
working 40 hours in the UK. An
advert from the same school for
permanent student support staff
came in higher at around £21,000
per annum. Minimum wage pay is
There is nothing unlawful in
the NCG offer. A minimum-wage
salary is, by definition, lawful. leaching into year-round
Indeed, it might be advantageous
for EFL teachers to take such
£12.67 per 60 minutes of teacher UK teaching posts
a contract which provides a
guaranteed income equivalent to
contact time rather than, say, £13
or £14 per teaching hour on a
zero-hours contract. the employer doesn’t have records ACAS advisor felt there was an NMWR requirements. Each day is
However, as the UK’s Low to demonstrate this is unrelated to interesting legal argument to made up of one half-hour meeting,
Pay Commission has noted, working time... support this which could only be four hours teaching and one half-
salaried employees on minimum “Problems have arisen on decided in court. hour break designed for admin
wage are more likely than hourly cases where a worker has to Further, ACAS made clear that and planning. The only unpaid
paid workers to be paid below undertake pre-work tasks, such all the rules governing working time is a one-hour lunch when,
the threshold because working as changing into uniform, loading time for minimum-wage salaried in line with NMWR, teachers can
time is calculated to the nearest up computers, even the time to workers also cover hourly paid opt to leave the premises. The
15 minutes. enter the building and place their workers on zero-hours contracts. zero-hours teachers receive £80 a
A common reason for belongings in a staff common room The Gazette contacted NCG day when work is available.
underpayment of minimum before the required start time.” Manchester about this article, In a normal teaching week,
wage is a requirement for staff Another issue is non-payment inviting them to comment, but the full-time teacher, who is
to come in earlier and or leave for work-related activities, all of received no reply. guaranteed work year round, does
later than the time stated on the which are deemed to be working However, another school which a further two and half hours of
contract. Many language schools, time under NMWR, and time offers a fixed-term minimum wage admin, generally working for the
for example, require teachers spent doing them cannot be teaching contract did agree to Director of Studies. Any overtime
to arrive say, 15 minutes before treated as a rest period. This explain their working hours on is taken as time in lieu in the next
classes, but minimum wage specifically includes not only condition of anonymity. few working days, again in line
must be paid for all the time to travel and training, but also Because the school cannot with the regulations.
the nearest 15 minutes staff are meetings, admin and even guarantee continuous teaching Fixed-term minimum wage
required to be at the premises and working lunches, work emails and work outside the summer, it contracts may not be a good sign
available for work. phone calls. offers most teachers a zero-hours in an industry where wages have
On a minimum-wage annual In terms of teachers, this may also contract around £20 per teaching been stagnating for two decades.
salary, even an extra half an hour include unpaid lesson preparation, hour. This hourly rate is set to However, they can be designed to
of working time a day can lead marking and assessment undertaken cover meetings, training as well meet the regulations and provide
to an underpayment of £1,228.5 on the premises, according as admin and lesson planning. a guaranteed income.
per year. ACAS, the UK’s employment law Their fixed-term contract teacher The same cannot be said of
According to business advice information service. is guaranteed a 37.5 hours a week zero-hours contracts based on
firm BDO, government inspectors As to whether preparation of work at minimum wage or just teaching-contact hours only,
“will typically look to scrutinise and marking done at home above, depending on experience. which take no account of other
any time the worker is at work could count as working time The school’s teaching schedule time when, under the law, teachers
and is not paid, particularly where for minimum wage purposes, an is designed to fit closely with are deemed to be working.
6 May 2022