Safeguarding in Employment including DBS Checks | SchoolsWeb (buckinghamshire.gov.uk)

A DBS Check is a critical part of the Safer Recruitment Process. The DBS Check allows safer recruitment decisions to be made and prevents unsuitable people from working with vulnerable groups, including children, through its criminal record checking and barring functions.

A DBS check must be carried out before an employee starts working with you. Please follow the below link to access the DBS System: DBS application process | SchoolsWeb (buckinghamshire.gov.uk)

Business unit administrator guidance notes (buckinghamshire.gov.uk)

ID verifier guidance notes (buckinghamshire.gov.uk)

BU Admin application processing hints and tips (buckinghamshire.gov.uk)

driving-licences-explained-july-2017.pdf (buckinghamshire.gov.uk)

A DBS Certificate can be used from one school to another as long as the workforce and level of the DBS Check is correct for the role, and the existing DBS certificate was issued no more than six months ago. This is for Local Authority schools only.

Please complete the transferability request form under HR Services via the Service Now Portal or contact the HR Customer Experience Team tel: 01296 382 233.

If an applicant is subscribed to the Update Service, as long as the workforce and level of the DBS Check is correct for the role, you can run an Update Service check instead of applying for a new certificate.

Please note, when running an Update Service check, you must see the original certificate that they subscribed to the Update Service with.

DBS Update Service | SchoolsWeb (buckinghamshire.gov.uk)

An individual should not begin working in a school until the DBS Certificate has been received. In exceptional circumstances, an individual may begin work on completion and submission of a risk assessment form completed and authorised by the headteacher. The DBS check must be in process with the DBS before a risk assessment and barred list check can be used.

Starting work without a check | SchoolsWeb (buckinghamshire.gov.uk)

Please note, we cannot set up or pay a new starter without a completed DBS Check.

If an employee has been made a leaver but will be returning, the same DBS can be used only if:

• Same level of DBS check is required
• The break is no longer than 3 months

You will still need to complete an NOA and a Right to work.

DBS checks for contractors | SchoolsWeb (buckinghamshire.gov.uk)

DBS checks for trainee or student teachers | SchoolsWeb (buckinghamshire.gov.uk)

DBS checks for volunteers in schools | SchoolsWeb (buckinghamshire.gov.uk)

DBS checks for work experience | SchoolsWeb (buckinghamshire.gov.uk)

DBS checks for governors in schools | SchoolsWeb (buckinghamshire.gov.uk)

Certificates which contain information (positives) | SchoolsWeb

A Notification of Appointment (NOA) Form, also known as a New Starter Form, is required to initiate payroll setup and contract production for new employees or current employees changing role/position.

Recruitment guidance can be found here: How to advertise and set up new starters | SchoolsWeb

An NOA Form must be submitted in the following situations:

• New employees joining the school
• Staff transferring from another school
• Existing employees taking on an additional role
• Staff changing position within the school
• A casual role becoming permanent or fixed term
• An employee moving from Unqualified Teacher to Main Scale or Main/Upper Scale to Leadership Scale

• If a Fixed Term Contract is converted to a Permanent Contract
• When reverting to a previous role, provided there are no changes to the original terms (e.g., hours, pay, etc.)

Maintained Schools 

• Application form completed fully and signed - Please ensure the post applied for matches the notification of appointment form.
  
  
• Self Declaration form completed fully and signed - Please ensure the post applied for matches the notification of appointment form, and the Criminal Convictions and the Declaration is completed and signed by the employee.
  
  
• Bank Credit Request Form signed.
  
  
• Asylum & Immigration Right to work signed and verified with the wording "the date on which this right to work check was made: [insert date]". (Ensure the document is dated on or before the start date and signed)

      - British Passport

      - UK Birth Certificate & official document with NI Number

      - Online right to work check

• Cleared DBS check OR
  
  
• Signed off Pre Employment Risk Assessment, Barred List Check and Personal Declaration (only needed if candidate's DBS application has not cleared before their start date)

Academies 

• Bank Credit Request Form signed
  
  
• P45 or completed HMRC New Starter Checklist, or any other supporting documents

All documents sent to HR should be thoroughly checked before submitting your application. Applications which are found to be missing vital information will be returned, we will explain what information was missing and the application will be on hold until the correct information is received.

Please be aware that complete applications received after the payroll deadline will be processed for the following month. For help and guidance please visit the Schools Web or contact the Customer Experience Team.

Other pre-employment checks such as: Interview notes, references, qualifications, medical, driving license etc should be held by the school.

A short video tutorial is available to assist with completing the NOA form and step by step guidance (scroll down to the Notification forms section):

HR Forms | SchoolsWeb

The link will also provide you with all other HR Forms and document downloads.

Employees new to the School will be subject to a six-month probationary period.

Existing school employees appointed to a new post will not be subject to a probationary period, provided they have six months of continuous relevant employment prior to the appointment and have passed their probation period.

Reviews of performance will take place in accordance with the probationary procedure and successful completion of this period is necessary before continuing employment is confirmed.

The probationary period may be extended where necessary but the total probationary period inclusive of any extension and notice period will be no more than 12 months. Where the probationary period has not been successfully completed the employee will be dismissed with one month's notice. A probationer will not normally be dismissed, except in cases of gross misconduct, without being given one warning and a chance to improve during the probationary period.

A probationary employee who does not have their appointment confirmed and believes this to be unfair, has a right of appeal to the Governing Body providing the appeal is lodged within seven calendar days of receiving written confirmation of the dismissal. There is no further right of appeal.

Most payroll notifications are submitted to HR via E-forms.

The main exceptions to this are new starters/change of position, parental leave and expense claims which are submitted outside of E-forms (see sections 3, 14 and 10 respectively). 

Use the below E-forms depending on what information or payments you need to submit.

Absence Return E-form

• Submission of employee absences – sickness, paid and unpaid absences e.g. compassionate/special leave

Timesheet (claims) E-forms

• Employee overtime
• Casual Hours
• Supply Claims

Once these form are submitted, they must be approved by one of your designated e-form users before the payroll deadline.

Leavers and Variation to Contract (“LVTC”) E-form

• Leavers (includes transfers to another school/LA)
• Changes to Pay/Allowances (includes increments and pay awards)
• Changes to Hours/Working Pattern
• An employee moving from Main Pay Scale to Upper Pay Scale
• Return from maternity leave
• Extension of Fixed Term Contract/Transfer from Fixed Term to Permanent
• Change of Address

Once these form are submitted, they must be approved by one of your designated e-form users before the payroll deadline.

E-forms can be accessed via the E-form Portal. 

Schools can have a maximum of three E-form Users per School. E-forms must be submitted and/or approved before they reach HR.

If you are a SIMS2SAP school, please use SIMS and not E-forms. If you wish to move from SIMS2SAP to E-forms, please reach out to the HR Customer Experience Team.

E-form process guidance can be found on HR Forms | SchoolsWeb

Any changes to an employees pay must be submitted by the 12th of the month to avoid any underpayment or overpayment.

The payroll deadline is earlier each December and is confirmed annually via the published payroll timetable - Monthly Payroll Timetable | SchoolsWeb

To avoid overpayments, it is particularly important that the below payroll changes are notified on time and by the payroll deadline each month:

• Employees leaving your school
• Employee absences – sickness, parental leave etc
• Reductions in hours/pay

Employee absences - employee’s reaching half and nil pay sickness will have their absence extended to the end of the month if we do not hear from you when contacted to avoid any overpayments. Please take a look at the link below for information on Health and Attendance:

Health and attendance | SchoolsWeb (buckinghamshire.gov.uk)

A phased return does not need to be recorded at any stage - even if over 4 weeks.

Employees are entitled to 4 weeks at full pay for a phased return even if they are not working their full hours, then the school will need to discuss with the employee if they are to return to their normal hours or reduce them going forward. We just need to know their phased return date, make sure that is correct on SAP.

Should an overpayment unfortunately occur, the following recovery guidelines apply:

Overpayment recovery guidelines | SchoolsWeb

Please refer to the Payroll and Transactions Service Level agreement for more information of late notification/overpayment charges

The below video shows the steps of the monthly payroll cycle including key deadlines and actions to be aware of in conjunction with the following guidance

Processing Payroll Changes: A Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1 - Submit Payroll Changes to HR

All payroll changes must be submitted to HR by the payroll deadline each month. These include, New Starters, Leavers, Changes to contract (hours/pay), Absence and any Additional Payments/Expenses.

Step 2 - Payroll Reports Released for Checking

Mid month payroll reports are released after the completion of a preliminary payroll run. These are released via AnyComms a secure file transfer platform - Please check these reports to ensure all changes submitted have been captured.

Step 3 - Notify HR of any Corrections

Notify HR immediately of any amendments required on completion of your mid month payroll checks.

Step 4 - Final Payroll Reports Released

Payroll will complete any amendments, perform final data validation checks and release final end of month payroll reports.

Step 5 - Payslips Available on EPay

Payslips are released via Epay. All new employees will be sent details on how to log into and access Epay, before their first payslip.. Payday is the last working day of the month.

Access your payslip by logging into the Epay portal

To ensure timely and accurate payroll processing, it is essential to adhere to the monthly payroll timetable. This schedule outlines the key dates for submitting payroll changes, receiving reports and processing payments. 

View the current Payroll timetable

The following guide is designed to help HR and payroll professionals understand and navigate the Payroll Costing Reports provided each month.

HR Payroll Report User Guide | SchoolsWeb

Payslips, P60s and P45s are provided to staff online via the Epay portal. To view them, you’ll need to log in to your Epay account.

New starters will be emailed Epay log in instructions prior to their first pay day. 

E-payslips (Epay) | SchoolsWeb (buckinghamshire.gov.uk)

Understanding your payslip is essential for managing your finances and ensuring your pay is accurate. To support this, we’ve created a short video that breaks down each section of your payslip in a clear and simple way - Payslip Explained | SchoolsWeb

Schoolsweb | paying teachers and support staff | overview

Each Salary Range has 5 incremental points; employees will receive an increment on the 1 April each year (subject to satisfactory job performance) until the top of the range has been reached.

Increments for new employees or existing employees who have been re-graded or promoted (less than 6 months) will be paid on 1 April. Those with start dates between 1 October and 31 March will receive their first increment six months after being in post. Thereafter increments will be paid on 1 April each year until the top of the Range has been reached. Incremental progression is subject to satisfactory job performance.

Academies using Buckinghamshire Council’s payroll services will need to notify us if the award is not to be applied.

Maintained schools and Academies not using Buckinghamshire Council payroll services should communicate these increases to their provider as soon as possible.

You will also need to notify us for casual increments.

Schoolsweb | paying teachers and support staff | overview

Teachers are paid on National Conditions based on the School Teachers Pay and Conditions Document, published each year by the government.

TLR's: 1 & 2 are paid in proportion of the responsibilities the Teacher is undertaking regardless if they are full or part-time. TLR 3 is paid in full for all. 

A Special Educational Needs (SEN) allowance can only be awarded to posts held by qualified teachers paid on the main or upper pay scale. They cannot be awarded to unqualified teachers, Leading Practitioners or members of the Leadership Group. SEN payments are based on the employee FTE.

Unqualified Teachers can move to the new pay range as soon as they qualify regardless of the date. Its down to the schools discretion if you'd want to increment them on 1st September. This is usually based on performance, experience etc.

The headteacher pay scale uses the leadership scale but begins at L6, and groups the spine points together into eight different groups.

• Group 1 is L6-18
• Group 2 L8-21
• Group 3 L11-24
• Group 4 L14-27
• Group 5 L18-31
• Group 6 L21-35
• Group 7 L24-39
• Group 8 L28-43

The groups are organised in this way, with overlapping spine points, in order to pay headteachers a salary that reflects the size of the school.

The relevant body must assign its school to the correct group size and then, within the group size, you have the range of salary options for the headteacher.

This is a term used to describe payments made to employees to cover the loss of enhancements when taking annual leave. They are known as WTD payments because the payment is made in recognition of the Working Time Directive legislation.

The percentage added is listed on the pay scales and this is how we work out the final figure.

All maintained schools are required by statute to have a pay policy. Buckinghamshire Council recommends that this policy should include how pay decisions for both teachers and support staff will be applied.

Pay and Work Policy | SchoolsWeb

If you have any concerns over your tax code or believe your tax code is incorrect, you will need to speak directly to HMRC. This is not something that the payroll department can discuss with them on your behalf. 

HMRC Employee Helpline: 0300 200 3300 

You may be asked for the following:

Your National Insurance number, this can be found on a P60, P45 and Payslip.

PAYE reference number for Buckinghamshire Council :

• 475/LE08983 - in operation from April 2020
• 120/B50500 - prior to April 2020

As the employee's holiday entitlement is accounted into their salary, it has already been paid to them which is why we take into account certain rules to ensure the amount of holiday accrued is paid correctly.

For Term Time Only Staff, they have to complete one full term to be entitled to the full holiday pay. When the leaving date is mid-month, extending to the end of that week would cover what they would be entitled to at that point.

Alternatively, we can end the employee on a specific date if we are informed of any outstanding leave accrued which usually equates to the same as extending to the end of the week/school holiday.

For further guidance: Introduction | SchoolsWeb

Teachers are required to have a minimum 10% PPA time of timetabled teaching time. The rest of their hours is made up of ‘Directed Time’ which includes teaching meetings assemblies, morning breaks & afternoon breaks.

Example 1:

Ronan Keating is contracted for 23 hours a week at School of Boyzone. He works four days and his timetabled teaching is 4 hours per day. His total timetabled teaching is 16 hours so therefore his PPA time is 1.6 hours per week. This means that his directed time is 21.4 hours and his PPA time is 1.6. Please input the combined hours on the NOA.

Example 2:

Stephen Gately works 19.5 hours per week across 3 days (FTE 0.6). We can safely assume he will be teaching 5 hours per day. Therefore his teaching time is 15 hours so his PPA is 1.5 hours. His directed time will be 18 hours and his PPA will be 1.5 hours.

Full Time:

Full time teacher will be timetabled for 25 teaching hours per week, 10% of this is 2.5 hours. Therefore 30 hours directed time, 2.5 hours PPA.

If the INSET days fall on non working days then you cannot force part time teachers to attend, even if, to use the example of 0.4 FTE, they were contracted to attend 2 inset days. If the INSET days fall on a working day, then this is more straightforward as they have been contracted and will be paid for 2 of these days in this example. Where more than 2 of these INSET days, in this example, fall on working days then you should pay the basic rate for additional hours worked for the INSET days they have not already been contracted for (in this example anything over 2) using the formula of 1/1265th of the full time salary for each additional hour worked (this is based on the 1265 directed hours for a full time equivalent).

If the part time teacher agrees to attend an INSET day on a non working day then you can pay them for this additional hours, again, using the above formula to calculate this (1/1265th of the full time equivalent salary for each additional hour worked).

Part time teachers cannot be directed to work or attend non-pupil days on days when they do not normally work. They may, however, agree to attend staff/departmental meetings, parents/open evenings and INSET days and other non-pupil days on such days by mutual agreement with the head teacher. Indeed, with regard to INSET days it would be expected that most teachers would welcome any opportunities for useful CPD and should be offered the chance to take part. Where they do agree to work on days when they do not normally work, this cannot by definition be included in directed time. The STPCD therefore includes a provision for additional payment for this working time. The formula for this payment provides, in effect, for part time teachers to receive 1/1265 of the appropriate full time pay rate for each hour of additional working time.

38 weeks – no inset days 

Employees that work 38 weeks per year are contracted only for the school term time. They do not need to attend INSET days as they are scheduled outside of term time and students are not present. 

The pay is calculated based on the 38 weeks and weekly hours, attending INSET days would require additional reimbursement or adjustment to their contracts.  

An employee contracted to 38 working weeks, 3 days a week will work a total of 114 days per year during term time. Whereas an employee that is contracted to 38 working weeks, 5 days per week will work a total of 190 days per year during term time. This does not change if an INSET days falls on their normal working day as they are not contracted to work during this time, only employees that work 39+ weeks will be affected by INSET days.

39 weeks +

You work the same amount of days you are contracted to work each week e.g. If you work 3 days a week you must work 3 inset days in that year.

Full time – Bank holidays are accounted for within their pay, no adjustments required.

Part time – Bank holidays are accounted for within their pay at a pro-rata rate IF the bank holiday falls on one of their working days.

If the bank holiday falls outside their normal working pattern then the employee would be entitled to pay in lieu of holiday or time off in lieu. This is based on the pro-rata amount, which is calculated at 1/5th of their working week.

For example – if someone works 10 hours per week, they would be entitled to 2 hours paid or off in lieu.

10 / 5 = 2

This can be raised via Eforms or on the Service Portal

Full time employees will be entitled to holiday with a normal day’s pay for each public holiday as it occurs.

Part-time employees will be entitled to a pro-rata entitlement for each of these holidays regardless of their working pattern.

A pro-rate entitlement has a different effect dependant on the part0time employee’s working patter. If the employee works the same number of hours each day of the week from Monday to Friday, they will automatically receive the correct pro-rata entitlement whenever a public holiday occurs, However, all other working patterns would mean that the employee has either more of less times off than their pro-rate entitlement on each public holiday, In these cases, either a negative or positive adjustment will need to be made to the annual leave entitlement. Where feasible and mutually agreed between employee and their line manager, negative adjustments may be dealt with by working additional hours at another time instead of using some of the employee’s standard annual leave entitlement to make up the difference.

Jury service | SchoolsWeb (buckinghamshire.gov.uk)

Paid leave of absence will be given to direct reports required to serve as jurors. You no longer need to complete a Loss of Earnings from.

To make the request the school bursar/finance manager must complete an absence return e-form and list the absence as jury service.

Our team is committed to offering you a high-quality, professional, consultancy service that enables you to effectively manage and support your workforce. We also develop policy guidance and are connected with our in-house legal department for legal advice when necessary.

Headteachers, SLT and any employee in the school can raise an employee relations query. Confidential issues can often be effectively resolved when we receive early notification and any associated historical records which will help to build a clearer picture. This way, together, we could determine the best way forward.

We have fully qualified, dedicated and experienced HR Consultants and Advisors to provide advice on a wide range of employee relations issues, including, but not limited to, Dispute Resolution, Mediation, Conduct & Discipline, Probation, Reorganisation & Restructures, Capability, Grievance, Health & Attendance, Reasonable Adjustments, Terms & Conditions of Employment, ACAS and Employment Tribunals.

Overtime | SchoolsWeb

Contractual overtime refers to additional hours that an employee is permanently required to work beyond their standard contracted hours, as specified in their employment contract.

Voluntary overtime - where the school/academy asks an employee to work overtime and the employee is free to turn down the request as there is no contractual obligation on either side to offer or refuse overtime.

Bucks Pay

Part-time employees -overtime will be paid at the normal hourly rate for any hours worked up to 37 per week.

Employees on ranges 1-6 - time and a half is paid for any hours worked over 37 per week.

Employees on ranges 7 and above - the normal hourly rate is paid for any hours worked over 37 per week.

Overtime is claimed via the overtime e-form.

Overtime e-form

This is filled in by the bursar and then sent to the Head Teacher for approval. Once it has been approved, it gets sent through to HR via SAP and processed automatically.

Please ensure that overtime claims have been approved by the 12th of the month to ensure that the employee is paid for that month.

Teachers

Overtime cannot be claimed for teachers who work on a full-time contract.

Part-time teachers claiming overtime will do this as supply work and claim it through the supply teaching e-form.

Teachers who are doing extra work need to fill in a paper claim form. They will then hand this to the school’s bursar who will input it on a Supply Teachers e-form.

Supply teaching e-form

This will then be sent to the head teacher for approval before being submitted to HR via SAP.

Expenses | SchoolsWeb

The School will reimburse all approved and reasonable expenditure incurred in undertaking School duties and in the performance of an employee's job, subject to conditions.

Employees are expected to use the cheapest practical means of transport and authorisation from your headteacher for travel by any other means must be obtained before making the journey.

Employees should attach their receipts to the claim form and pass this to their school office to approve.

Occupational health | SchoolsWeb (buckinghamshire.gov.uk)

From 1st April 2023, the independent and confidential Occupational Health provision is provided by TP Health who trade as Optima. They work in partnership with the Council to:

• Provide good quality management advice
• Provide fast and effective interventions
• Reduce sickness absence

TP Health t/a Optima Health

Schools purchase the Occupational health service direct from TP Health/Optima by completing the School new customer registration form and School portal user form and sending these to Amy Cornelius at TP Health via John.Allison@optimahealth.co.uk

This is a pay as use service with no annual charge, no joining or on-boarding fees and no exit charges. Indicative prices are here, they are not expected to change until April 2027, unless there are any statutory changes such as increases to tax/NI/apprenticeship levy etc.  TP Health/Optima will invoice you on a monthly basis.

To carry out a pre-employment health check:

• Please log into the TP Health/Optima system using this link and follow the guidance in the attached manual.

To refer an employee to TP Health/Optima:

• Please log into TP Health/Optima system and follow the guidance in the attached manual.
• Please note that if you purchase our Consultancy & Advisory package, we can support you with this referral to ensure you get the most from the referral.
• A video showing you how to complete the referral form is available - https://vimeo.com/656594712 please use password: TP_MER23
• A user guide is also attached showing how to complete a referral, together with guidance on how to make a great referral.

From 1st April 2023, your EAP is provided by TP Health t/a Optima Health and is a completely independent and confidential personal support service which is available free of charge, for standard services, to schools where the Council is the employer.

For information on the service provided please follow the below link:

Employee assistance programme | SchoolsWeb

The Workplace Wellbeing platform provides access to information about occupational health and EAP services plus self-help content. It includes engaging materials covering Healthy Body, Healthy Mind, Healthy Life and Healthy Work - including videos, podcasts, articles and guides.

The Optimise platform is a health and wellbeing app available to all employees. You will need to register when you first access the app and will be required to answer a series of lifestyle questions to create a Quealth score. The Quealth score will produce specific recommendations based on your answers.

To register, employees will need to use our organisation code '3963' and either:

• visit the Optimise website to create an account
• download the Optimise app from the Apple App Store or Google Play App Store

The modification order outlines what does and does not count toward service dates, both schools and Academies are treated the same with these now. The main bits to remember with service dates is Pre-schools, Independent schools, colleges, casual roles and volunteer roles do not count. We then use a calculator to work out the cumulative and continuous service for both BC schools and LG schools.

• 5 year service award is based on Local Government cumulative dates – it is common for new employees to start with us on higher holiday weeks due to previous service.
• 10 and 15 year service award is based on Bucks County cumulative dates

What types of setting are included within service dates:

Included

• Any Primary/Secondary schools
• Foundation school
• Free school
• Academy
• Voluntary aided/controlled schools
• Local Authorities
• Police

Not included

• Pre schools
• Nurseries
• Colleges
• Independent schools
• Voluntary work
• Casual work
• Agency work
• Placement (Teachers)

Employees' who reach 5 years Local Government cumulative service will be entitled to additional holiday. For term time only staff please check the entitlement here: Entitlement | SchoolsWeb

For Full Year staff please check the entitlement here Employment conditions | SchoolsWeb

Buckinghamshire Council rewards and recognises length of service not just continuous service.

• 10 years' service is £100
• 15 years' service is £150
• 25 years' service is a gift to the value of £300

10 and 15 year awards - the 10 and 15 year awards are financial monetary awards and are paid alongside your salary.

25 year award - the 25 year award is a gift to the value of £300 and is funded from the schools budget. The Headteacher will need to follow the relevant process mentioned below to check if the employee is nearing an award.

For Bucks Pay employees in a Buckinghamshire Council School, the 10 and 15 years' service awards are paid automatically alongside the employee's salary in the month of the anniversary.

The awards are not contractual and therefore not paid automatically for Teachers. If a service award is to be applied, please notify us via the Service Portal or email.

Academies 

Academies are not obligated to pay service awards so these will not be applied automatically for you. If your Academy would like to pay the awards you will need to notify us when the award becomes due for both Bucks Pay and Teachers.

Schools which have moved to Academy status should still pay the Service to Bucks Award to existing Bucks Pay employees as it is a contractual requirement. However, you may choose not to apply the award for Teacher's as it is not a contractual requirement. 

Please follow the below link for guidance on how to process the awards depending on if you are a Buckinghamshire Council school or Academy :

Service to Bucks awards | SchoolsWeb (buckinghamshire.gov.uk)

Buckinghamshire is a great place to be and with the range of benefits available to you as an employee, Buckinghamshire Council is a great place to work.

These pages let you know how you can get more out of working for Buckinghamshire Council, from enhancements to your pay package to the flexible ways you can fit your working life around the demands of your home life.

Schools staff are able to enjoy locally agreed discounts and savings with organisations, provided in the spreadsheet below. Note that offers are provided to staff on a voluntary basis and may be changed or withdrawn at any time. If you become aware of a discount being removed, please contact the HR Service Desk.

Please follow the link below to find out more:

Benefits | SchoolsWeb

All documents and guides can be found on the following page Family Leave | SchoolsWeb

Maternity Leave is the time away from work that an expectant mother takes before and after the birth of a child.

Regardless of the length of service, all expectant mothers are entitled to:

• Ordinary Maternity Leave - first 26 weeks
• Additional Maternity Leave - last 26 weeks

Partners or legal/special guardians of new mothers/adoptive parents are entitled to Paternity Leave.

Partners or legal/special guardians of new mothers/adoptive parents are entitled to two weeks paid Paternity Leave.

To qualify, the employee needs to have been continuously employed by the council for 26 weeks leading into the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth or into the week in which they are notified of being matched with a child for adoption.

They are entitled to one or two consecutive (full) weeks paternity leave, they cannot take odd days.

We understand that having a child in neonatal care is an extremely stressful and challenging experience. The school is committed to supporting you and doing what we can to help ensure that you are able to be by your child's side while looking after your own health and wellbeing.

To be eligible for NCL, you must take the leave for the purpose of caring for the child and:

• At the date of birth, be the child's parent, intended parent or the partner of the child's mother, or be the child's adopter or prospective adopter (or partner of the same), including where the child is adopted from overseas.
• Have or expect to have responsibility (or, in the case of partners, the main responsibility apart from the child's mother or adopter) for the upbringing of the child.

Shared Parental Leave (SPL) enables eligible parents to choose how to share the care of their child during the first year of birth or adoption.

SPL allows the mother/adopter to choose to bring their maternity/adoption leave to an end at any point after the initial two-week maternity/adoption leave period following the birth/adoption of the child. The parents can then choose how to split up the remaining weeks of leave between them. Shared parental leave can be taken by each parent separately or at the same time

Adoption Leave and Adoption Pay are available for eligible employees when a child is newly placed with them for adoption.

You are encouraged to talk to your manager about the adoption prior to being matched. You must inform your manager (within 7 days of matching) of the date that the child/children will be placed with you and when you want your adoption leave to start.

For further info on the types of leave and pay please refer to the helpful links above.

The fixed term would need to be extended as we are unable to close a contract while an employee is on maternity leave. You can close the contract at the earliest when the employees SMP ends or alternatively, when the maternity is due to end.

Please note that a discussion with the employee explaining why their fixed term contract is not being renewed, would be required, along with a valid reason that will not cause concern for discrimination.

For example, reason of the role no longer being required but you would then not be able to hire someone else for the same role. You would also need to offer the employee an opportunity to apply for another role within the school.

If however, the employee is planning not to return she would need to give the usual notice of 8 weeks or more before her return date.

For more information on entitlements and qualifying criteria please go to the Maternity, Adoption, and Parental Leave Guide.

Keeping in touch (KIT) days claim form

• Teachers – 6.5hrs Max per day
• Bucks Pay – Unlimited hrs per day
• All employees can take a maximum of 10 KIT days

Please submit a Leaver Notification in SIMS to SAP or via Eforms.

You must make us aware by the 12th of each month if the employee is leaving in that month to avoid any overpayments. Please include information on their last date worked, last date paid and any annual leave which may be owed or owing.

Employment conditions | SchoolsWeb 

Please check the above document which confirms the notice period for Bucks Pay staff. The amount of notice needed is dependent on their salary range.

This link also provide information for Bucks Pay employees on Redundancy, Retirement and Early & Flexible Retirement.

Notice Periods | SchoolsWeb (buckinghamshire.gov.uk)

The period of notice for teachers shall be two months for the Autumn and Spring terms and three months for the Summer term, expiring at the end of the term.

For Head Teachers the period of notice will be three months for the Autumn and Spring Terms and four months for the Summer term, expiring at the end of the term.

Ending a fixed-term contract | SchoolsWeb (buckinghamshire.gov.uk)

Please note, you must submit a leaver notification (via SIMS 2 SAP or EForms) if a fixed term contract is ending. The contract WILL NOT end automatically, and the employee may continue to be paid.

Dismissal on the grounds of redundancy | SchoolsWeb (buckinghamshire.gov.uk)

Overpayment of salary can occur for many reasons, the most common cause is receipt of a backdated leaver notification. Please ensure to check your monthly payroll reports for accuracy.

Should an overpayment, unfortunately, occur, the following recovery guidelines apply:

Overpayment recovery guidelines | SchoolsWeb

Pensions and retirement | SchoolsWeb

There are two contributory pension schemes available to employees, dependent on their Terms and Conditions of Service. Their contract of employment will detail which scheme they are eligible for:

Local Government Pensions Scheme (LGPS) for support staff; or
Teachers Pensions Scheme (TPS) for teachers

1. They contribute a set percentage of their gross salary to the pension scheme
2. The Employer also contributes a percentage: For financial year 2025-26 TP 28.68% and LGPS 22.6% maintained schools (academies rates vary)
3. This deduction is automatically taken from gross salary every month
4. Payslips will show the deducted amount.

Detailed information about both schemes including levels of contributions, application forms and information about retirement can be found on the following website:
LGPS: https://lgps.buckinghamshire.gov.uk
TP: www.teacherspensions.co.uk

The age at which employees can leave employment and access pension is from age 55 - 75. Flexible (LGPS)/Phased (TP) Retirement may be an option to consider for employees from age 55+. This is linked to a reduction in hours and/or grade.

Teachers
Should refer to the Teachers' Pension website and complete the appropriate application via “My pension on-line”. They must apply at least 3 months prior to retirement date.

Any requests should be discussed with the school prior to application. Resign from post giving the appropriate notice period.

ACTION BY SCHOOL:

1. Send the appropriate LVTC (leaver notification)

Support Staff

Details can be found on the LGPS website.

Any requests should be discussed with the school prior to application. Resign from post giving the appropriate notice period.

If an employee is considering flexible retirement under the LGPS scheme, do allow plenty of time as it is a lengthy process and not all applications are accepted. Contact the HR Pensions Team (Buckspensions@buckinghamshire.gov.uk) for more information about the process.

ACTION BY SCHOOL:

1. Send the appropriate LVTC (leaver notification) this should be done at least one month prior to the leave date
2. Inform the HR Bucks Pension Team prior to retirement date as there is a requirement to complete certain paperwork so that benefits can be released and paid on time.

SMP (Statutory Maternity Pay): A government-set payment for eligible employees during maternity leave. It is usually paid for up to 39 weeks:

• First 6 weeks at 90% of average weekly earnings
• Remaining 33 weeks at a flat rate (or 90% if lower)

Statutory Adoption Pay (SAP), Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP), and Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) follow similar rules to SMP.

Occupational Pay, for example OMP (Occupational Maternity Pay) is additional maternity pay provided by the employer under the school or local authority’s maternity scheme. This often includes full pay or half pay for a set number of weeks, on top of SMP/SAP or ShPP etc.

The school covers Occupational Maternity Pay (OMP) in full but contributes 8% towards Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP). Similar principles apply for adoption, paternity, and shared parental leave.

Bucks Pay Employees

• 6 weeks at 90% of gross weekly pay – School pays 8% of this amount
• 33 weeks SMP – School pays 8% of SMP
• 20 weeks at half pay – Full, half pay charged to the school

Teachers Pay Employees

• 4 weeks full pay – School pays 8% of the 90% plus the difference between 90% and 100% of weekly pay
  Example: If weekly pay is £100, the school pays 8% of £90 plus £10 difference
• 2 weeks at 90% of gross weekly pay – School pays 8% of this amount
• 33 weeks SMP – School pays 8% of SMP
• 12 weeks at half pay – Full, half pay charged to the school

Employees adopting a child are entitled to Statutory Adoption Pay (SAP), which mirrors SMP:

• First 6 weeks at 90% of average weekly earnings
• Remaining 33 weeks at the flat SAP rate

The school contributes 8% of SAP and covers any occupational adoption pay in full, where applicable.

• Eligible employees can take up to 2 weeks of paternity leave at the statutory rate.

The school contributes 8% of Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP) and covers any occupational paternity pay in full.

• Parents can share up to 50 weeks of leave and 37 weeks of pay between them.
• Pay is at the statutory rate (or 90% if lower) for the shared parental pay period.

The school contributes 8% of Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) and covers any occupational enhancements in full.

Under the Alabaster rule, if an employee is on maternity leave during a period when a pay increase occurs, their statutory maternity pay (90% of average earnings) will be recalculated to reflect the pay rise.

This adjustment will be applied at the end of the maternity leave, taking into account any pay awards granted during the entire leave period.

Below are the current employer contribution rates:

• Teachers Pension:                       28.68%
• LGPS Pension:                              22.60%
• National Insurance (NI):           15%
• Apprenticeship Levy:                 0.05% (where applicable)

Maintained schools are required to pay into an Apprenticeship Levy and funds are available to hire new staff or upskill existing, please see more information on how to use the available levy funds :

Apprenticeships | SchoolsWeb (buckinghamshire.gov.uk)

Bucks New Governors Guide | SchoolsWeb (buckinghamshire.gov.uk)

Exclusion Contacts and Support | SchoolsWeb (buckinghamshire.gov.uk)

The Finance Zone should contain all the information you require,

but if you still have a query please contact us via the service desk portal

01296 382 222 option 3 (9:30am to 4:30pm)

• Support with coding
• Coding | SchoolsWeb (buckinghamshire.gov.uk)

We know passwords are frequently not handed over to new personnel as they join a school, please email tradedservices@buckinghamshire.gov.uk to request a password reset (Noting change to senior managers or all staff login credentials must be requested or requested approved by Headteacher)

New Headteacher support | SchoolsWeb (buckinghamshire.gov.uk)

Useful Contacts | SchoolsWeb (buckinghamshire.gov.uk)

Contact the ICT Schools Team | SchoolsWeb (buckinghamshire.gov.uk)

Ofsted Inspection support | SchoolsWeb (buckinghamshire.gov.uk)

Safeguarding Contacts | SchoolsWeb (buckinghamshire.gov.uk)

From time to time blue light services may contact Buckinghamshire Council to request contacts at your school, please ensure where staff changes over details on this register are kept up to date

Schools Emergency Contacts list | SchoolsWeb (buckinghamshire.gov.uk)

List of Key Contacts | SchoolsWeb (buckinghamshire.gov.uk)

School liaison groups | SchoolsWeb (buckinghamshire.gov.uk)

The Statutory Role of the Local Authority | SchoolsWeb

Our Human Resources team believe that it is critical in defining our services to you, that we take into account our other responsibilities in ensuring that you are able to discharge your statutory obligations effectively. These responsibilities are of course, complex and sometimes conflicting. We therefore take pride in our commitment to developing services which take a range of factors into account; whilst always trying to ensure that we not only deliver a competitive price for our services, but a service which reduces your risk.

Where you purchase into our HR package, we will provide access to comprehensive up to date policy guidance and collaboratively work other internal stake holders, e.g. Legal, to ensure your school or academy’s support is current in line with legislation and employment law.

Auto-renewal of annual packages

Our contract durations operate on a fiscal (April-March) basis, we utilise the Autumn census employee numbers to renew your services every year, please contact tradedservices@buckinghamshire.gov.uk by 31st December to make changes to your service arrangements.

To locate the Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for all HR services, navigate to the SLA page on the Traded Services website. Once on the homepage, look for the "Service level agreement” section in the main menu or use the search bar to find the SLA page directly. The SLAs are typically listed under a dedicated section, providing detailed information on the terms, conditions, and performance metrics for each HR service offered. If you encounter any difficulties, the website’s help or support section can provide additional guidance.

If you would like to discuss packages in more detail, please contact

tradedservices@buckinghamshire.gov.uk

We kindly ask that you log support queries to Service Portal in the first instance.

If you are unable to raise a ticket please call us on 01296 382233.

Hours of operation are Monday to Friday - 9:30am - 3:30pm

Alongside our training and daily engagement with our schools, we prioritise our schools team staff to come out to events - where you will receive comprehensive updates on all our HR services and many other services provided by Buckinghamshire Council.

Ensure to take a look at the event page for upcoming opportunities to meet the teams in person

Training Calendar | Buckinghamshire

Training - Buckinghamshire Safeguarding Children Partnership (buckssafeguarding.org.uk)

Training and Events | SchoolsWeb

Course dates and venues | SchoolsWeb

Please email hrcustomerexperience@buckinghamshire.gov.uk for any bespoke training support (this may be additionally charged)