Press Release

Teachers losing out on pay in Wales

20 November 2009

Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT, the largest teachers' union in Wales and the UK, will tomorrow (21 November) tell delegates at the NASUWT Cymru Conference in Swansea that a Freedom Of Information request to local authorities across Wales has revealed that hundreds of teachers are losing out on pay because of a failure of the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) to revise the performance management system in Wales and accept that there must be a link to pay progression.

Ms Keates said:

"The information provided to the NASUWT shows that just over 54 per cent(1,204) of teachers eligible to move onto the upper pay spine have not done so, almost 22 per cent(505) of teachers eligible to move on to Upper Pay Spine 2 have not done so, and almost 21 per cent(533) of teachers eligible to move onto Upper Pay Spine 3 have not done so.

"The figures present a worrying picture as teachers are not receiving the pay to which they are entitled because of a failure of schools to implement performance management. Where those arrangements are in place there is a failure to base progression on the performance management outcomes.

"School governors and headteachers are under a duty to ensure that the performance of teachers and headteachers is appraised annually.

"The evidence suggests that this is not happening in many schools in Wales. Teachers are losing out on pay and this is not acceptable."

Rex Phillips, NASUWT Wales Organiser, added:

"The NASUWT is working closely with the WAG on this issue but we are being held back by a reluctance of some other teacher trade unions to accept the need for a more streamlined system of performance management in Wales and to recognise the importance of linking performance management to pay progression."