Pay Supplementary Guidance (School Workforce SWF 2014).

Last updated 20/10/2014(relevant to 2014 DfE SWF advice and include Headteachers bulletin link)

This document brings together various bits of DfE’spay guidance for SWFsentto LA in 2010 to 2014(if still relevant) that are perhaps not included in DfE’s main guide to schools.

OurLA quick reference(single) sheet on Pay is also available (see point 1), and it coversthe basics on Pay and applies to allmanagement information systems (MIS), although it has an examplescreenshot from Integris(other MIS may have pay laid out differently or might call these pay fields by different names but should be storing data in a similar way in order to meet the DfE’s SWF pay requirements which are not specific to a particular MIS):

1) First please refer toour single pay sheet(click link >): SWFpreparations_Pay.pdf
If referring to a print out, links given are to items also available on Data Statistics team’s Webfronterpage: Our Base Paytoolcan help calculate pay figures,for anything elserefer to 23 below...

2)For more detail on pay: please refer to advice from Tower Hamlets HR department “Schools”colleagues e.g. various recent Headteachers Bulletin items on school pay(some recent heads bulletin items on School Pay)and also some past DfE advice on SWF pay: Miscellaneous Advice from Past DfE SWF Bulletins (still relevant in 2014).

For SWF-specific details on Pay see theDfE main guidancein sections 4.2.9 to 4.2.16 +4.2.5 +table in 4.2 (page 4041) (also available from the link on our WebFronter page above). Alsoany payadvicefrom MIS training provider / payroll provider as well as…

3) Each item belowis moreDfE Pay advice (probably not seen in sources above):

New (2014):Ignore Error 4520 "Spine Point Invalid" for NON-LEADERSHIP PAY SCALE staff - The DfE admit that error 4520 ("invalid Spine Point") should not be occurring for any staff not paid on Leadership Pay Scale (so should be ignored if it occurs for non-leadership pay scale staff), if you have updated your non-leadership spine points in your MIS, please do not clear them just to fix this SWF error 4520: spine points that are non-leadership were not expected (by DfE) to be exported. According to DfE's Gerard Hassett, despite what the DfE March 2014 Technical Business Specification for MIS suppliers says in the table on page 33 ... Teachers with non-leadership spine points are not intended to have their spine point exported, (contrary to the table on Page 33). Gerard explains that the DfE have asked all MIS suppliers (since March 2014) to ensure the MIS will "only export Leadership Spine Points in the SWF return" (hence the DfE reduced CBDS codeset of spines that are valid in the return) but Gerard also explained the DfE "expects the MIS products to still permit within the MIS, storage of any Spine point (or discretionary ref. points) that the school may use and therefore need to store - including non-leadership ones" (such as M1, M2,...M6, U1, U2, ... etc., etc.). Gerard of DfE has added that if this error still occurs for non-leadership pay scale staff after census day, then COLLECT validation will then be amended to ignore that error 4520 / make it 'okable'.Please can schoolsnot delete spine points, since this loss of data is not only unnecessary but unhelpful in school - please ignore error 4520

New in 2014:The “Classroom teacher” Post has been split into two separate types now: “Classroom teacher Main Scale” and “Classroom Teacher Upper Scale” (chosen based on whether the teacher has passed the threshold). These will need to be used as appropriate, also the ‘Leading Practitioner’ Post has been introduced too; please use it,where suitable.

AFTER CHANGING POSTto the most appropriate value from the new list of options instead of the "Classroom Teacher" (old value) or "Excellent Teacher" (old value): if you have chosen either the new "Classroom Teacher Main Scale" or the new "Classroom Teacher Upper Scale" or the new "Leading Practitioner" value, you might find that the Error "Post is missing" could appear (wrongly) in your SWF return - please disregard "Post is missing" Error on contracts that have POST showing aseither ‘Classroom Teacher Main Scale’/‘Classroom Teacher Upper Scale’ / ‘Leading Practitioner’ – this error is likely to occur and can be ignored according to Gerard Hassett of the DfE who said in September 2014 that a message will go out to all schools and all LAs and all MIS suppliers "soon".

Was new in 2013:DfE need Base Pay figure for all current contracts, including even the teachers for whose contracts ‘Pay Scale’, ‘Regional Spine’ and ‘Spine Point’ are all given. (as seen in section 4.2.9 of 2013’s DfE guidance and DfE 2014main guide sec 4.2.14 p 48):NB More flexible pay arrangements have been introduced. In order to keep pay data as reliable as possibleschools… should supply base pay for all staffeven if Pay Scale & Spine Pointare supplied.

Was new in 2013:(from DfE SWF Sept 2013 FAQ page 15)For classroom teachers, pay spines have been replaced with pay ranges (from 01/09/13), the main impact being that pay ranges have a minimum and a maximum, but do not have points to enable a salary to be determined precisely. To enable pay to be determined consistently, the DfE is asking for all pay to be returned in the form of base pay... where spine points are returned DfE asked in 2013 that care is taken to ensure that spine points recorded were those in Annex5 of 2013 School Teachers Pay Conditions document.

In 2012: Total Pay figure is renamed Base pay to better describe it - same definition.

From DfE SWF 2011 Bulletin 1 (Oct 2011) to LAs:

Total Pay: It is vital that following points are followed as youenter Total Pay on contracts/ roles to allow us to accurately measure pay levels, particularly for TAs Support staff.

  1. The fields should not include additional pay and allowances.
    This is a change in 2011 from previous years.
  2. Total Pay for part-time staff should not be adjusted upwards to the full-time equivalent rate, (i.e. it is the rate that is actually in payment for part-time staff).
  3. The amount entered must be that which would be paid for a full year of that person’s work pattern for a member of staff that started working part way through the year.

Unqualified teachers pay.

Those unqualified teachers being paid on scale point 1 to 3 of School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document, (STPCD),have been awarded a £250 payment for 2011/12 academic year, (unconsolidated). Where teachers are being paid on STPCD rates, pay scale, regional pay spine spine point must be provided …(along with the Base Pay figure in 2013)… we will then add in any additional allowances supplied separately by the school in additional payment records in the SWF data to calculate the gross salary. In case of unqualified teachers on spine points 1 to 3 we will include the £250 in our initial calculation of base pay before allowances.So it is unnecessary to load the £250 as an additional allowance record. Where an ‘Other’ category additional allowance of £250 is entered for these teachers DfE will exclude it from calculations to avoid double counting.

Safeguarded Pay for Support Staff

Where support staff have been re-graded, Total Pay should show the actual pay on the census date including safeguarding. The safeguarded amount need not be included as an additional allowance. (Safeguarded item is available but not mandatory for support staff).

End of extract of DfE SWF 2011 Bulletin 1 (Oct 2011). More pay advice follows…

From DfE’s SWF 2012 Business & Technical spec(May 2012 v 1.2) Note 11 on pg17:

Please note that teachers where Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) is “no” (or is blank)are expected to be those paid under the Pay Scale ‘Unqualified teachers’(and this means if a teacher is actually qualified and is on another pay scale, their QTS is expected to be ‘yes’)

End of this extract of DfE Tech Spec.

More pay guidance follows overpage…

Advice from Tower Hamlets LA re Unqualified teachers becoming Qualified:
At the point when an unqualified Teacher in school becomes qualified and any appropriate criteria are confirmed (whatever official checking is required around checking certificates, etc.) then as the payroll providers are informed that the teacher has become qualified, then the Management Information System will need changes to be made for that teacher’s records that include at appropriate time remembering to:

1)Load the Qualification on the MIS for that Teacher with appropriate subject.

2)Change their Qualified Teacher Status from No to Yes.

3)Change their Pay Scale for the Teacher to appropriate value.

4)Change their Post to suitable value (if necessary: post now reflects ‘main’ / ‘upper’).

5)Change their Spine Point in their pay details to the appropriate value(refer tofirst item, in point 3, on page 1 of this document if having difficulty storing spine points of non-leadership staff: Gerard Hassett of DfE’s SWF team expects MIS to allow this).

6)Get their UKTeacher number from usual source (corroborated if necessary)
(from the government’s National College for Teaching & Leadership NCTLwhich has taken over from government’s ‘The Teaching Agency’ which in turn had taken over the role of the GTCE - if needed see DfE SWF 2014 main guide section 4.1.1 and see that DfE guide’s pages60 & 89for contact details for NCTL + full details)

7)Add this English (or Welsh)Teacher number (with no slash) in their MIS record.

Qualified Teacher Status must be filled out correctly for Teachers (with a Yes or No) and for teachers it must not be left unanswered/blank.
Person’s Pay Scale and their QT Status are expected to stay consistent with each other.

‘QT route’ is needed for thoseworking towards QTS. SWF 2014 census also needs it for those already qualified, only if joining school in their first teaching post after qualification.

Old Pay Advice (01/10/10 in DfE 2010 early warning letter to LA)

1. Pay Scale and Spine Points for unqualified teachers:

Please note that the correct code for pay scale for unqualified teachers is UT. For teachers qualified prior to September 2008 the pay scale had been UQ but this has been updated to UT and UT should be used, together with the corresponding spine points: UQT1, UQT2, UQT3, UQT4, UQT5 and UQT6.

2. Additional advice on providing post & pay scale data for teachers.

Analysis of the spring 2010 pilot returns from local authorities has revealed that 12 percent of those teachers who have a post recorded as classroom teacher, (TCH) have a pay scale recorded as “Other”.

Under the School Teachers Pay and Conditions Document, (STPCD), all school teachers employed in local authority maintained schools must be placed on the relevant pay scale which in the case of qualified classroom teachers is either the main teachers “TE” or upper pay scale “TU” along with the relevant regional pay spine and spine point. Where teachers are receiving payments over and above their basic pay then this should be recorded in the additional payments along with the type of payment being received.

In the case of unqualified teachers the grade should normally be recorded as “UT”, however. Where exceptionally the teacher is being paid on the main qualified teachers pay scale then “TE” should be recorded.

In addition there are instances where post has been recorded as classroom teacher POST but the pay scale is recorded as leadership.... Where a teacher is on the Leadership pay scale then the Post must be either: head, deputy or assistant head teacher.For SWF2014 onwards, for ‘Leading Practitioners’the pay scale must be “Leading practitioners” as well.

There have been some instances found where the post is recorded as a teaching one but the scale is Soulbury, (SO), or National Joint Council ,(NJ). Consideration should be given as to whether the post is a teaching one in these instances as all LA employed teachers should be on a STPCD pay scale e.g. Advisory Teacher, (post) being those who train staff rather than teach pupils, might be suitable for staff working in school in staff advisory role.

Absence of correct scale information will make it very difficult for the department (DfE) and others to monitor the working of the teachers’ pay remit, one of the main purposes of the SWF. (Likewise in 2014 if the Base pay figure is not supplied this will again impact on it).

DfE (Extract from “Early Warning Letter” to Local Authorities 1/10/2010) Ends

From Extended Hours info sent to LA by DfE (in email on 13/10/11 from DfE’s Gerard Hassettresponding to LA enquiry to DSD) and emailed to schools(by D Saxton 13/10/11).

Important news from DfE this afternoon affecting recording in MIS of pay and hours for staff working in school itself but who also work in either ‘extended hours provision’ (“Breakfast Club” and/or “Afterschool Club”) or Sure Start or Children’s Centres:

These staff remain “in scope” for school workforce (and SWF data is required for them) if some of their hours are spent working in school (rather than in extended hours provision / Children’s Centre / sure start centre) [and are expected to work for a period of at least 4 weeks and are either directly-employed by school (any role) or are a teacher]…

…then their hours and pay* details continue to be required in their contract* details in the SWF return as per previous guidance, however…

(as per email below from DfE on 13/10/11) DfE confirm that they do not need details of hours which these staff work in extended hours provision (hours spent working in the breakfast club & afterschool club) and that DfE do not require an additional payment record (or element of pay) for the hours worked in the extended hours provision.

So the additional payment type of “Out of School Activities” must not be used for payments for overtime (or similar) if received for work solely in breakfast club or solely in afterschool club and School Workforce fields called “total pay” (since renamed more correctly as “base pay”) & “hours worked per week” must have values that exclude these hours/amounts.

* Throughout the year (for SWF), all teachers expected to work for the school for a period of at least 4 weeks (even agency teachers and third party employed teachers who are not from the LA) require contract records loaded into the MIS, but please note that any teachersfrom an agency or third party organisation need a ‘Service Agreement’ type contract recordand, if these Service Agreement Teachers are paid on an hourly or daily rate basis then indicating that they are on daily rate** in the MIS will mean that the particular Service Agreement Teacher on daily rate would not need pay details loaded but would still need the two ‘Hours’ fields loaded (as specified the DfE’s Sept 2014 SWF main guidance for schools, in section 4.2.16 on page 49 and in 2014 SWF Tech Spec page 33).

** The DfE indicate that the daily rate indicator is only to be set to ‘yes’ for teachers on a service agreement who are paid on an daily (or hourly) rate so it mustnot be ‘yes’ for any support staff, must not to be ‘yes’ for permanent contracts, nor for temporary contracts, nor for fixed-term contracts and must not be ‘yes’ for any service agreement teachers who are paid on another basis (such as monthly, termly or annually or a total amount for their whole period of work) all of who need pay details if expected to work for at least 4 weeks.

End of Pay Supplemental guidance

File:

including various SWF bulletins to LAs, the SWF Early Warning Letter to LAeach year and ‘Tech Spec’s.