Scotland has just established ‘Lead Teacher’ pay scale. It’s for teachers who lead on training, policy etc at school, local or national level.

Mrs_oab’s job role is perfectly matched – local authority wide specialist who daily trains, coaches and supports other staff, writes policy and sets strategy.

Currently only on main pay scale, compared to most in her role in Scotland on Principle Teacher salary. The new Lead Teacher salary is higher still.

According to (useless) union, her job description will stay exactly the same, her role will practically be exactly the same, she remains undergraded.

To move onto the new payscale she has to a) persuade employer that the payscale exists (it does under LNCT for Scottish teachers) and b) reapply for her own job with no change in conditions or role, other than pay and c) see if her employer will open it up publically or internal only.

So, the questions are:
– what’s the legality of a job role not changing but having to reapply.
– legality of a national payscale existing but not being ‘put on it’

It’s a gamble of losing job or difficulty with boss Vs a very significant payrise..

I do not know enough to have a firm opinion but my instinct is if this is a new pay scale / job grading then various managers may not really know how to apply it and guidence might still need to be developed

I might take the tack of something like ” this new grading might apply to me. What do you think?” and then relax for a term or two and see what develops. Then after that term or two go back to the employer with an evidenced and documented case as to why the new grading should apply

But as above – thats just my gut feeling not any firm advice based on knowledge of the particular situation

According to (useless) union,

Other Unions are available

Or ask to talk to the Union’s employment lawyer

Is there a more useful union available?

I would also try and find someone actually on the new grade and ask them how they managed to achieve it/ transfer on to it.

There maybe a budget issue (ie it’s not gone up) so may be a negotiation to move up in a new budget year

Other Union was also my suggestion to her….

I would also try and find someone actually on the new grade and ask them how they managed to achieve it/ transfer on to it.

It was put in place this month, and is suggested that this will ‘create new posts on the payscale’. I don’t think it has been thought through as to how many people may be eyeing it up and thinking ‘that is my job already’.

In our case it is compounded by the fact that she is already on lower scale than vast majority in Scotland who do her post – and we know the employer won’t go there on that scale, however Principle teacher scale is a ‘bodge’ for the job she does, where the new Lead Teacher is the national answer to folk doing her post…

Also concern due to the fact that the employer has past history on a combination of incompetence and lying over related salary issues, and in forcing folk to re-apply for their own job, including mrs_oab a couple of years ago.