YOUR PAY UNDER THREAT
The Government's proposals for teachers' pay allow much more freedom for heads to determine individual pay based on a number of factors, some of which are outside a teacher's control. A summary of the main proposals is as follows:
• The Main and Upper Pay Scales would no longer be a prescribed set of points – instead there would just be a maximum and minimum.
• There would be no more annual progression as of right. All pay progression would be based on annual appraisal outcomes.
• There would be no entitlement to take pay points with you when you move school.
• Many responsibility payments (TLRS) could become temporary.
• Paying the 1% "cost of living" pay rise from next September would be at the school's discretion, except for teachers at the maximum and minimum.
These changes are part of a bigger picture, including:
1. The Government's intention to follow up its two year pay freeze with a further two years in which pay will rise by only 1%.
2. A further pensions contribution increase that will take 1.2% out of most teachers' salaries in April, and half of that again in 2014.
3. The change in the indexation of pensions increases from RPI to CPI, reducing their value over a lifetime by about 15%. 4. The Government's intention to press on with introducing in 2015 pension scheme changes that will force most teachers to work to 67 or 68 to get their full pension.