Management Information Sheet

Unison, GMB and Unite will be taking a further day of strike action on 14 October 2014. The action arises from a dispute about pay- with the final pay offer made by the National Employers being rejected by the Unions. At the time of writing, teaching unions are not involved in strike action.

Schools will want to prepare for the strike action and make plans to remain open to pupils wherever possible.

Key Messages

More detailed information will follow on the Norfolk Schools site. This MI sheet is just to highlight some key issues at this stage:

• Only members of unions with a mandate for action may take strike action. The October action will involve mostly support staff rather than teaching staff, although of course there may be a few teaching staff who are members of Unison, Unite or GMB.
• School leaders will want to remain open to pupils wherever possible, to continue to meet statutory requirements, and to ensure heath and safely arrangements are in place. Schools will need to carry out appropriate risk assessments in order to evaluate the situation. The decision to remain open or to close rests with the school leadership team, including the governing body.
• If the school must close, there must be a written risk assessment in place and parents, carers and providers should be informed as soon as possible and as far in advance of the strike date as possible.
• It is essential that notification of closure, whether partial or whole, is entered using the Emergency School Closures system in the My school section on the Norfolk Schools website. That entry can be amended if necessary and will not be published or made public before the day of the strike.
• Staff on strike are in breach of their contract and will have pay deducted for each day of the strike. School leaders need to take appropriate action to ensure the pay is deducted. For schools and academies that buy a payroll service from Norfolk County Council, established arrangements are in place and information will be reissued on the Norfolk Schools site.
• Schools and academies who do not buy a payroll HR service from Norfolk County Council will need to put arrangements in place to ensure absences on the day are recorded and deductions made if strike action has been taken.

For those establishments that buy an HR service from Norfolk County Council, further advice and guidance is available from HR Direct on 01603 222212.