Falkirk Council aims to recruit and retain high calibre employees to enable them to provide quality services to the population of the Falkirk area.

The Council recognises the need to appoint teachers on a short term supply or fixed term basis from time to time in order to support and maintain effective service provision. This policy is intended to assist in the recruitment and management of teachers on a short term supply and fixed term basis to ensure a consistency of approach throughout Falkirk Council.

This Policy provides information on the management of teachers on a short term supply or fixed term basis. The aim of this policy is to:

• ensure that teachers appointed on a short term supply or fixed term basis are recruited in line with the Council's Recruitment & Selection and Equal Opportunities Policies

• comply with legislation including the Fixed Term Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2002 (as amended 2008) and the Employment Rights Act 1996, Pensions Regulations and Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT) Conditions of Service

• ensure that managers adopt a fair and consistent approach to the management of short term supply and fixed term teachers; and

• provide a framework for monitoring and reviewing short term supply and fixed term appointments.

This Policy is applicable for all short term supply and fixed term teaching appointments.

It refers to other polices and procedures of the Council, including:

• Recruitment & Selection Policy
• Equal Opportunities Policy
• Disciplinary Policy
• Grievance Policy
• Dignity at Work Policy
• Retirement Policy for Teachers and Associated Professionals
• Health & Safety Policy

Under the SNCT Conditions of Service, short term supply and fixed term employment are defined as follows:

Short Term Supply is a period of cover for teaching for 2 days or fewer. There is no mutuality of obligation. This means that the Council is not obliged to offer work to an individual on the supply list. Equally the individual is not obliged to accept work, if offered. Engagement is on a daily basis.

Fixed Term appointments relate to engagements which extend beyond 2 days. A fixed term contract will have a clear end date which relates to:

• A specified expiry date
• The completion of a specified task; or
• The occurrence of a specific event

There are differing conditions relating to the employment of Short Term Supply teachers and Fixed Term teachers which are outlined below.

Short Term Supply or a Fixed Term appointment should only be used when cover cannot be provided utilising existing resources to maintain Service provision.

Short term supply should only be used where the period of cover required is for 2 working days or less. The deployment of short term supply may occur in a number of circumstances, some examples include:

• In service training/ staff development/ working groups
• Short term special leave, for example, bereavement leave or jury duty
• Short term sickness absence
• Trade union duties required on an ad hoc basis
• SQA duties
• Public duties

When it becomes known that the need for a temporary replacement is likely to be for more than 2 days then employment should be on a fixed term basis. The use of fixed term employment may therefore occur for a number of reasons.

This list below is not exhaustive but provides examples of reasons for the use of fixed term employment:

• Maternity or adoption leave
• Parental leave
• Career break
• Long term sickness absence
• Secondment
• Sabbaticals
• Staffing from time limited funding
• Pattern of recurrent work

Engagements should be on a daily basis up to a maximum of 2 days.

• There is no mutuality of obligation ie there is no duty to offer work and no requirement to accept work.
• All hours worked will be paid based on SCP1 of the main teaching grade scale (SCP0 if not fully registered)*. Pay will be calculated on an hourly rate of 1/1645 of the annual salary rate and applied to daily hours worked.
• An automatic 10% pay uplift will be applied for any preparation and correction time undertaken by a short term supply teacher.
• The annual leave accrual rate for short term supply will be 0.0293 days for every hour worked. Accrued leave will be paid at the end of each term in arrears.

• The duties of supply teachers are to perform such tasks as the Head Teacher shall direct as outlined in the Code of Practice on the Engagement of Short Term Supply Teachers (SNCT Conditions, Part 2, Appendix 2.8A).

*NB Part-time teachers working additional hours in their own class will be paid the additional hours at their main grade rate. Otherwise, when providing short term supply cover, they will be paid at SCP1 (or SCP0) as appropriate.

Recruitment

Recruitment to the short term supply list will be managed through the Reward & Transactional Support Team in Human Resources. Short Term Supply teachers will be appointed to the supply list through the Recruitment and Selection process and will be subject to all normal employment checks, eg interview, PVG check, references and pre employment health screening. Guidance on such checks is available within the Recruitment & Selection Policy and the 'Recruitment of Employees/Volunteers Requiring a Disclosure/PVG Check' Guidelines (both of which are available in the Manager's Policy and Procedure Handbook and on the Employee Section of the Intranet). The preferred candidate from the Recruitment and Selection process should be issued with a recommendation for inclusion on the Short Term Supply List letter.

Once the recruitment process is complete, a statement of working arrangements will be sent to the supply teacher. It should be noted that this is not a contract of employment.

On receipt of the relevant paperwork from the service the Reward & Transactional Support Section will complete a Notification of New Appointment through HR Forms Online when a teacher is first added to the supply list. Thereafter any periods of employment will be paid through the submission of an authorised time sheet (Form STS1) which is available on the Council's Intranet site together with the Code of Practice on the Engagement of Short Term Supply Teachers as detailed above.

Using Short Term Supply Teachers

Allocation of available hours should be made, where appropriate, on a rotational basis. In exceptional circumstances, however, a teacher may be specifically selected from the short term supply database to provide a period of cover because, for example, specific skills are required or to maintain continuity of service provision.

The individual(s) most appropriate will be contacted to confirm availability during the period required. There is no obligation for any individual to accept any offer of supply cover.

In the event that a teacher is engaged for short term supply work, a short term supply engagement letter should be issued to them by the relevant Head Teacher specifying the reason for cover.

Head Teachers should ensure that maximum working hours and class contact time are honoured, that the engagement is for no more than 2 days and that the duties undertaken are limited to those defined by SNCT conditions of service.

Accrued leave will be paid at the end of each term in arrears. Payroll Services will report on actual hours worked on a quarterly basis and issue to Education Services for processing.

Supply Teachers Database

The Employee Resources Team in Education Services will be responsible for the administration of the supply teachers database. Given, however, that supply cover is often required at short notice, Head Teachers will be able to access the current supply list directly in order to arrange cover.

It is important that the supply teacher database is reviewed on an annual basis. The Employee Resources team in Education Services will be responsible for writing to Supply Teachers (see Supply list renewal letter) annually, prior to the start of the new academic year, outlining the terms and conditions in place until the completion of the academic year.

At this annual review stage, previous work patterns should be checked. If, at this stage, any supply Teacher has not worked for the Council within the previous 6 month period, they should be removed from the supply list. If an individual has lived overseas for a period of 3 months or more, relevant checks eg PVG as per the Overseas Criminal Records Check Policy, must be undertaken.

The supply teacher database should be kept up to date by the Employee Resources Team in Education Services with the relevant details eg contact details, availability etc and copies of any letters of engagement retained. Where necessary, relevant checks will be undertaken eg PVG updates.

Terminating supply appointment

Where supply teacher is no longer required

The Head Teacher should confirm with the supply teacher that casual cover is no longer required and confirm whether or not they wish to be contacted for future work should it arise.

Where supply status has been terminated

Where a supply teacher indicates that they no longer wish to be considered for future supply work, this should be notified to the Employee Resources Team within Education Services who will process a termination form to update the supply database.

As part of the annual review, removal from the supply database should be applied when a supply teacher has not been available within a 6 month period. The Employee Resources Team will administer the casual list and, where relevant, will process termination forms through HR Forms Online where a worker is to be removed from the short term supply database.

• Fixed term temporary contracts will be issued for engagements which extend beyond 2 days.
• Fixed Term appointments will be in line with the Code of Practice on the Use of Fixed Term Contracts (SNCT Conditions of Service, Part 2, Appendix 2.8)
• Teachers on fixed term temporary contracts will fulfil the full range of duties of teachers and will be engaged for 35 hours per week or on a pro rata basis according to the contract.
• Fixed term teachers will be treated in the same way as permanent staff and given access to appropriate induction, training and support and access to vacancies/ promotion opportunities.
• The pay, duties, hours of work and other conditions of service for fixed term employees will be the same as permanent teaching staff as set out in the SNCT Handbook.
• All teachers and music instructors will accrue paid leave on the basis of 0.2051 of a day for each day worked in the school session.
• The minimum periods of notice the Authority must provide to a fixed term teacher on terminating their contract are:

• Where a fixed term teacher is employed on a contract of less than 3 months duration, they must provide one week's notice on resigning from their post. For contracts of more than 3 month’s duration, the notice period required of a fixed term teacher on the Common Scale, a Principal Teacher or an Assistant Adviser, Adviser or Educational Psychologist shall be 4 weeks, and by all other Teachers, Advisers and Educational Psychologists 8 weeks.
• Any breach of conduct should be dealt with under the Council's Disciplinary Policy and Code of Practice. Equally, any fixed term employee has the right to raise a grievance under the Council's Grievance Policy or Dignity at Work Policy.
• Capability issues should be dealt with in line with the Council's Capability Procedures. However, in managing such capability issues, consideration will be given to the duration of the employee's temporary contract when establishing review timescales etc.
• All other terms and conditions and policies will apply.

The creation of new temporary/ fixed term posts requires to be approved in line with the Council's Standing Orders and Financial Regulations.

Recruitment to fixed term teaching appointments can occur in two ways as follows:

Where it becomes known that a period of short term cover is likely to extend beyond 2 days duration or from the 3rd day of any such period of cover, the Head Teacher should arrange for an appointment to be made from the Council's supply list or for the existing supply cover to be offered a fixed term engagement.

A copy of the offer letter to be issued in such circumstances is shown below.

Any hours worked should be claimed through the submission of an approved fixed term timesheet (Form TT1) on a monthly basis. This should be submitted, together with a signed copy of their engagement letter to validate payment, where relevant, on the main grade teachers salary scale rather than SCP1 (or SCP0).

Where it becomes clear that the need for a temporary replacement exceeds 8 weeks then this should, where practical, be advertised and recruited to in line with the Council's Recruitment and Selection Policy.

In such circumstances, any offer of fixed term employment must only be made following satisfactory health and other pre-employment checks, references etc, in accordance with the Recruitment and Selection Policy. This process will be administered by the Reward and Transactional Support Team in Human Resources who will also be responsible for issuing the subsequent offer letter specifying entitlement to pay and conditions of service and detailing the expected duration and reason for the appointment (using example letter below).

In such circumstances, the Reward and Transactional Support team will arrange for a new appointment form to be completed online. This information will be recorded for the purposes of monitoring and also used to issue the employee's written statement of terms and conditions of employment.

Any subsequent changes to the contractual status of the employee should be notified, by the Reward and Transactional Support Team, using HR2-Notification of Change form which is available online and should be confirmed in writing to the employee.

Human Resources will provide reports to Services on a regular basis to assist in monitoring fixed term contracts. Please note that Payroll are not authorised to and will not make payment beyond the latest notified fixed term contract end date. Services must ensure that appropriate contracts and paperwork are in place to avoid salary overpayments or underpayments.

Given the different employment rights which become available to fixed term employees depending upon their length of continuous service, such contracts should not run indefinitely without review. The Head of Educational Planning and Resources is therefore responsible for ensuring that fixed term contracts are reviewed on an ongoing basis by obtaining regular reports, detailing:

• employee's length of service in post
• employee's overall length of continuous service (including employment with any other Local Authority or relevant employer where there has been no break in Service); and
• the date the contract is set to be reviewed/ end.

The duration of an employee's fixed term employment can have an impact on their employment rights and this should be considered when monitoring fixed term employment as detailed below. In any event it is important that the relevant Head Teacher communicate with the employee concerned and keep them informed.

When terminating contracts of up to 2 years, any employee with one years continuous service or more should be issued with a written statement of dismissal (see example letter below).

Where the dismissal is for conduct or capability reasons, this should be managed in line with the Council's Disciplinary or Capability Policy respectively.

Where a teacher is employed on a fixed term contract, or successive fixed term contracts, for a continuous period of 2 years or more, a redundancy payment may be payable on terminating their employment. In such circumstances, advice should be sought from the Service HR Business Partner and, where appropriate, redeployment considered in line with the Council's Redeployment Policy.

 Consideration should be given to this, in consultation with the employee, as soon as it is evident that the contract will not be renewed or at least one month in advance of the expiry of the employee's fixed term employment. Any redeployment search undertaken will not extend beyond the expiry date of the employee's current fixed term contract.

Where an employee's contract is terminated in such circumstances, the employee should be issued with a written statement of dismissal (see example letter below).

Where a fixed term teacher is employed for a continuous period of 4 years, they will be entitled to apply in writing to their Head of Service to automatically acquire permanent status under the Fixed Term Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations.

When a fixed term teacher attains 3 years' service, consideration should be given to whether the requirement for this post is likely to extend beyond 4 years. The post should not automatically be offered to the existing postholder. Where a post is to be made permanent, this must be approved in line with standing orders and arrangements made for the post to be added to or amended on the permanent establishment through the completion of an online New Post ID request. Once approved, arrangements may be made for the post to be filled, taking into consideration any other suitably qualified candidates currently being managed under the Council's Redeployment Policy together with the existing postholder.

If there is no longer a requirement for the post, redeployment opportunities should be explored in line with the Council's Rehabilitation and Redeployment Procedure. This redeployment search should commence in advance of the end of the fixed term contract and will normally last a maximum of 12 weeks. Where redeployment is not possible, consideration should be given to whether a redundancy payment is appropriate. This should only be considered in consultation with the employee concerned and their representative following discussion with the Head of Human Resources & Customer First. If this is the case, the employee's contract is terminated in such circumstances and a written statement of dismissal should be issued (see example letter below).

NB For the purposes of monitoring the use of fixed term contracts, continuous employment is not broken unless there is a break of more than one week (running Sunday to Saturday). Consecutive fixed term contracts are treated as one period of continuity of employment (eg 6 consecutive 6 month contracts equals 3 years' continuous service). It should also be noted that breaks such as school holidays may be regarded as temporary cessations of work and may not break continuity of Service eg consecutive August-June term-time contracts may not break continuity of service during summer holiday periods. In such circumstances, advice should be sought from the Service Human Resources Adviser as to whether service would be regarded as continuous.

If a post covered by a fixed term appointment is approved to be extended, the current postholder's contract will normally be renewed. The post would only require to be advertised where:

• there has been a significant change in the duties and responsibilities of the post
• the number of posts to be renewed is less than that current number of fixed term postholders, undertaking that post.

Any renewal of contract should be actioned via the submission of an online Notification of Change form. An extension of contract letter (see example letter below) should also be issued by the Reward and Transactional Support Team.

Where a temporary post is subsequently made permanent, this will require to be advertised and recruited to, in line with the Council's Recruitment & Selection Policy.

• To work with the Reward and Transactional Support and Employee Resources Teams to recruit and appoint short term supply and fixed term teachers in accordance with the Council's Recruitment and Selection Policy including appropriate checks
• To ensure sufficient budget provisions are available to pay for short term supply/ fixed term employment before arranging cover
• To ensure short term supply teachers do not exceed the 2 days working engagement
• To ensure teachers are sent a statement of working arrangements alongside the relevant Codes of Practice
• To ensure that short term supply and fixed term teachers are paid at the appropriate rate of pay for any period of cover undertaken
• To ensure clear mechanisms are in place for recording deployment as short term supply
• To ensure that short term supply and fixed term teachers do not exceed relevant hours limits and work to their defined remits

• To recruit to the short term supply list in accordance with the Council's Recruitment and Selection Procedure including appropriate checks. Managers/Head Teachers will also be responsible for the recruitment. 
• To ensure all paperwork is completed including offer letters where appropriate, new start/ transfer/ termination forms, and timesheets and sent to Payroll and Human Resources.

• To ensure that qualifications, training, registration and health checks needed to meet the requirements of the post are in place and reviewed in line with statutory and legislative requirements and checked on an annual basis.
• To maintain the short term supply teachers database.
• To ensure that short term supply / fixed term teachers are appropriately inducted and trained for the post being covered as for all other workers. In some instances this may be delegated to the appropriate Manager/Head Teacher.
• Calculate annual leave entitlement based on hours worked.
• Liaise with Manager/Head Teacher to ensure sufficient budget provisions are available to pay for short term supply/ fixed term employment before arranging cover.

• Complete the relevant timesheet and submit this to an authorised signatory for authorisation and transmission to the Payroll Services in time to meet the payroll processing deadline for weekly payment by BACS. 
• Comply with all policies and procedures and undertake the necessary training required to perform their duties. This includes the Drug and Alcohol, Equality and Health and Safety Policies. 
• Comply with the Working Time Regulations including work undertaken with other employers. 
• Notify the Service Co-ordinator, in writing, if they no longer wished to be considered for supply work. 

The Chief Executive and Chief Officers of the Council are responsible for the effective operation of the policy across the Council as a whole. 

Falkirk Council has a duty to ensure that all short term supply and fixed term teaching appointments are managed in a fair and consistent basis, in accordance with the principles of the Council’s Equal Opportunities policy and all appropriate employment legislation. 

The Head of Human Resources & Customer First will review the Short Term Supply/ Fixed Term Employment Policy for Teachers in line with agreed HR Policy Renewal timetable and in conjunction with Service Directors, Heads of Service and Trade Unions. 

This Policy has been Equality Impact Assessed and no adverse impact has been identified.