25 Nov Agency Exploitation or a Valuable Service?
Social media and newspapers are forever talking about the high charges agencies place on schools to cover sickness absences and paint agencies in a bad light. But, is it really exploitation or a lack of understanding?
In Hertfordshire there are 646 schools of which 494 are primary schools. The number of staff employed by all these schools is approximately 12,500 so time off for sickness or other emergencies will also be high. Not forgetting maternity absences as female teachers continue to make up the majority of the school workforce at just under 70% in Hertfordshire. With the current difficulty recruiting teachers, what do schools do? They often have to turn to agencies to help and its big business for them. And yes, some may well exploit the situation by paying teachers low rates but charging excessive fees to the schools. But others provide valuable support to schools, appreciating their budgets and the hard work that teachers do. Finding the right agency is the key to not being exploited; one you can trust to do the right thing for the right reasons.
Moore Teachers is a specialist primary only agency and provide credible, understanding support to schools as our office is staffed with people from a primary education background. Primary schools do not have to spend long mornings on the phone trying to find teacher cover – Moore Teachers offer a 24/7 personal service. It has been said that schools book teachers only to be given a massive charge at the end of the day. In our experience, this does not happen. All schools should be aware of the charges before they book a teacher as complying with best practice and the Conduct Regulations means that pricing is transparent.
Yes, all agencies have a margin – it is business after all. It is the size of the margin that matters and covering our ongoing costs to ensure we also support the teachers that work on supply. This includes: employment costs like employers NI, insurance, free CPD, office salaries, office administrative expenses.
It is often argued that teachers on supply are paid appallingly and adopting a different type of model, whereby schools and supply teachers are put in direct contact, would supposedly save schools money and pay teachers more. However, with cuts in school budgets employing teachers directly, particularly if at top of pay scale or upper pay scale, will often cost schools more than booking a teacher through an agency. It’s not just the teacher salary but also the 25% ‘on costs’ that schools have to also account for when employing a teacher directly. This is often overlooked by the ‘anti-agency’ reporters.
Even when teachers reach the Agency Worker Regulations qualifying period and the agency rate increases, schools can still save money if the agency margin is less than 25%. And let’s not forget that schools have insurance to cover sickness absence. So, if the absent teacher is a highly paid one then arranging cover through an agency will, more often than not, save them money.
Moore Teachers work with many primary schools in Epping Forest and East Hertfordshire. We pay our teachers well but keep our margins low and provide a valuable service to schools.