PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL
To All Head teachers
24 September 2012
Tel: 020 7525 5118
Fax: 020 3357 3059
[email protected]
Human Resources
Deputy Chief Executives Dept
PO Box 64529
London SE1P 5LX
Dear Head teacher,
NUT / NASUWT Action Short Of Strike Action
The NUT / NASUWT have announced that they will be taking national action short of
strike action with effect from 26 September 2012 in the form of instructions to enforce the
provisions of teachers’ contracts.
Unlike previous industrial action “non strike” sanctions stop short of strike action;
therefore teachers will report for duty, continue to teach and should therefore receive
salary as usual. Sanctions will extend to other parts of their job and staff can refuse to
undertake certain activities.
I attach the list of instructions that the Unions have issued to their members.
T:\Local HR Team Children's Services\Schools\Industrial Action\NATIONAL ACTION by NUT & NASUWT from September 2012\NATIONAL ACTION by NUT & NASUWT.
In brief; examples of possible non-strike actions are:
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Refusal to participate in appraisal/ performance management processes that do
not conform to NUT/NASUWT checklists
Refusal to cooperate with more than 3 observations per performance
management cycle (OFTED observations excluded)
Refusal to participate in mock OFSTED inspections
Refusal to provide more that one written report to parents in a year
Refusal to attend meetings outside school session times or directed time where
there is no published directed time calendar for the academic year
Refusal to submit lesson plans to members of the senior management team
Refusal to respond to work related emails outside of directed time
Working to guaranteed 10% PPA time
Refusal to cover for absent colleagues – so that is a refusal to “rarely cover”.
(exemptions are those employed on a specific contract for cover)
Refusal to undertake invigilation of exams including SATS, GCSES and mock
examinations
Refusal to undertake unpaid lunch time supervision
Refusal to undertake admin and clerical tasks
The more detailed guidance provided to members can be found below
Switchboard - 020 7525 5000 Website – www.southwark.gov.uk
NUT action short of
NASUWT action
strike instructions & guidance
short ofphase
strike 1instructions
Sept 2012.pdf
& guidance phase 2 Sept 2012.pdf
In terms of participation; this will apply to all maintained schools including community,
foundation, voluntary aided, academies, trust schools and 6th Form colleges, all of which
have been balloted and can take part. Supply teachers who are NASUWT or NUT
members can participate where they are employed directly to work in a school (agency
staff deployed to a school via an agency cannot).
NQTS and those on Graduate, Overseas or Registered Training Programs are not
exempted from taking part. Centrally employed teachers working in central LA services
(not PRUS) have not been balloted therefore cannot take part.
The action that is proposed from 26 September 2012 will differ from previous industrial
action. There is not one isolated day of action. The 26th September will start continuous
action and therefore in some respects it is likely to be more awkward to anticipate, plan
and manage impacts.
Action may be constant – may be sporadic – may be applied in full or in part - may be
concentrated to specific days and not everyone will take part or at the same time.
The impacts and consequences are likely to differ from school to school depending upon
the way action is co coordinated and implemented. Individual management structures,
characteristics and ways of working will also affect the way action is undertaken.
It is the view of the Local Government Association (LGA) that the actions which the NUT
and NASUWT are inducing their members to take are likely to constitute, a breach of
contract due to the action amounting to partial performance. This is because in many
cases teachers will be refusing to carry out particular duties unless the school meets
certain demands where either the employer will already be meeting their obligations in
respect of the contract (notwithstanding that the teacher may not agree) or, even where
the employer may have failed to meet a term of the teacher’s contract of employment,
the action taken by the teacher is disproportionate in light of the teacher’s implied duty of
good faith.
Schools should bear in mind though, that refusing to carry out a duty that is specifically
precluded within their contracts (e.g. refusing to carry out lunchtime supervision) is
unlikely to be a breach a contract as it is not the same as refusing to carry out particular
duties unless the school meets certain demands (e.g. a teacher refusing to teach
because they have not received their full PPA entitlement), as outlined above.
Where a NUT or NASUWT member chooses to engage in this action it will be the head
teacher who will need to make an initial judgement, based on the particular
circumstances, about whether or not the teacher is in breach of contract and, if so, the
extent of the breach. The National Association for Head Teachers (NAHT) has prepared
advice for its members, which is also attached to this letter, and is helpful in considering
the legitimacy of each of the various aspects of the proposed action.
T:\Local HR Team Children's Services\Schools\Industrial Action\NATIONAL ACTION by NUT & NASUWT from September 2012\NUT-NASUWT action - NAHT advice for
Switchboard - 020 7525 5000 Website – www.southwark.gov.uk
You may need to seek advice on whether the school can and should accept any partial
performance and the extent of any pay deduction. In this respect, LGA advice on dealing
with industrial action, including breach of contract and deductions from pay can be found
here:
http://www.lge.gov.uk/lge/core/page.do?pageId=119717#deductions
Should you have any questions about any of the issues raised then please feel free to
contact me on 020 7525 5118 or your school HR consultant and we will be happy to
discuss these with you.
Yours sincerely,
Joan Forrest
Human Resources Manager
Switchboard - 020 7525 5000 Website – www.southwark.gov.uk