Pay claim demands end to term-time inequality

UNIONS representing education support staff have lodged a pay claim that seeks to end pay discrimination against tens of thousands of workers on term-time-only contracts which leave many staff without pay for up to 13 weeks a year.

The claim, submitted by public services union UNISON and the GMB and T&G general unions, seeks to have all staff in education who are working a full-time school week treated as full-time employees, phased in within three years.

More than 90% of term time-workers are women. For a teaching assistant on a contracted salary of £8,000, a term-time contract can mean they earn just £6,400 a year. In addition, many term-time workers are barred by law from applying for jobseeker's allowance during the time they are not working.