NASUWT: Compensation for teachers tops £10 million

NASUWT: Compensation for teachers tops £10 million

NASUWT: Compensation for teachers tops £10 million

The NASUWT, the largest teachers’ union in the UK, secured £10,544,092 compensation for members in 2010.

This represented an increase of over 20 per cent compared to the previous year’s figure of £8,764,337.

During the year, the Union submitted 68 applications to employment tribunals on behalf of members. These included claims for unlawful deduction of wages, unfair dismissal, breach of contract, constructive dismissal and discrimination on the grounds of sex, race, disability, religion/belief and gender.

The largest settlement obtained during 2010 was £35,417 for a 50-year-old teacher in the North West, after unfair dismissal following gender reassignment steps.

Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT, the largest teachers’ union, said:

“The level of compensation is no cause for celebration.

“What this figure illustrates is the cost to the public purse of employers’ poor or discriminatory employment practices and failure to pay due regard to health and safety in the workplace.

“Behind each of these cases is a person whose life has been changed through serious injury or unfair dismissal from their chosen career.

“Compensation is important but it is cold comfort if your health is irreparably damaged or your professional career has ended.

“The fact is that with the Coalition Government’s determination to deregulate to remove the already inadequate protections for working people, compensation claims will undoubtedly rise in future.

“If the Coalition is genuinely concerned about value for money and high-quality public services, they should be investigating and addressing the shoddy employment practices that lead to the unfair and unsafe treatment of teachers.”

Further cases included:

. a pre-hearing Tribunal settlement of £11,500 was achieved for a 28 year old member in the Greater London region who believed she had suffered pregnancy-related discrimination;

. £8,005,985 was secured for 624 members through Compromise Agreements initiated by the employer;

. £292,795 was obtained for a 40-year-old member in the West Midlands, who tripped in a pothole in the school car park in September 2006, seriously injuring his back. The member’s teaching career was consequently over, having undergone major surgery as a direct result of the accident;

. a settlement of £100,000 was secured for a 49-year-old member in the West Midlands following an accident at work in September 2006 when she slipped on some spilt food on the school’s lunch hall floor;

. £80,000 was achieved for a 61 year old member working in Gwent who slipped in the school’s dining room and was unable to return to teaching;

. £202,108 for a 51-year-old member who was injured in November 2004 when she intervened to stop a fight between two pupils, resulting in one of the pupils attacking her. The member suffered injuries to her back and shoulder, but also developed severe mental anxiety as a direct result of the incident, such that she was unable to return to work.

ENDS

Press Office: 0207 420 9680/81
(Monday – Friday 08:30-17:30)
Out of hours: 07966 195010/ 07966 198894

Notes to editors

1. Compensation figures are for the calendar year 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2010.

2. The £10,544,092 figure is a combination of compensation won through the Union’s legal services and casework undertaken by the Union’s Officials.

3. It includes compensation awarded at Employment Tribunals and agreements secured upon the termination of a contract (excluding compromise agreements).

4. For full details of claims, please contact the NASUWT press office.