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Time to say no: Why we are working to rule

Workload Pay and conditions Trade unions Recruitment & Retention
From September 18, NASUWT members will be fighting back against high workloads by working to rule and refusing inappropriately directed duties, including mock inspections. General secretary Dr Patrick Roach explains why

The clock has stopped ticking on the timebomb of excessive teacher working time.

More than two-thirds of teachers have seriously considered leaving the profession in the last year (NASUWT, 2022).

A record number of teachers exited the profession last year – a staggering 44,000 or 9.7% of the workforce (DfE, 2023) and the government has failed to meet the majority of its targets to recruit new entrants to the profession (McLean et al, 2023).

The driving issue is workload and working time – which have created a crisis of burn-out, stress and low morale. That why the NASUWT is giving members across the country the right to work to rule to stop excessive workload and working time.

According to the government’s own figures, secondary school teachers are working 49 hours a week on average (Adams et al, 2023).

Teachers are tired of working long hours, sacrificing time with their families. Too many fear being judged critically if they say “no” to working practices that are excessive or outside the terms of their contract or job description.

Teachers tell us that despite some useful government guidance on workload reduction, schools too often disregard that guidance – including insisting on pointless “mocksted” inspections, bureaucratic lesson planning and deep marking practices that make little if any contribution to improving pupil progress or outcomes.

All teachers really want to do is what they do best: teach, and that is what our action will allow teachers to do commencing September 18.

By taking action short of strike action, our members will send a clear message to the government that enough is enough. We know that the government has presided over an escalating workload crisis in schools and done little or nothing to stop it. NASUWT members are saying that if the government is not prepared to act to address the workload crisis, then the NASUWT should support members to do so.

A disturbing 81% of teachers have told us that their job has adversely affected their mental health (NASUWT, 2022). As pressures pile up – the cost of living crisis, post-pandemic mental health issues, crumbling school buildings – we must find the strength to say: no more.

The government claims it has committed to a package of new measures to tackle workload and working time, but where is the action? Teachers cannot afford to wait.

Only 18% of respondents to our recent School Teachers’ Review Body consultation felt that the government was doing enough to address workload challenges. Teachers need more than acknowledgement; they need tangible change.

Teachers will no longer exhaust themselves to compensate for years of underfunding or ministers’ blunt disregard for their profession. By focusing on the tasks that matter, our members will ensure the best standards of education for their pupils, and the best working conditions for themselves.

As part of the Time for a Limit campaign, we have set out a list of instructions to protect and guide our members (see further information).

We instruct members to refuse inappropriately directed duties such as meetings, working through breaks and rest days, mock inspections, and extra-curricular activities.

As part of the campaign, NASUWT is calling for a contractual, enforceable limit on teachers’ working hours through a teachers’ contract which provides clear working time rights and entitlements, within the framework of a maximum 35 hour working week.

Teachers must be treated as professionals and free to prioritise their time for the benefit of their pupils.

If we want to fix the teacher recruitment and retention crisis in our schools, then it is Time for a Limit on excessive workload and working time.

Dr Patrick Roach is general secretary of the NASUWT. Find his previous articles for SecEd via www.sec-ed.co.uk/authors/dr-patrick-roach.

 

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