As the new academic year begins, an increasingly worrying trend for instrumental teachers are the financial charges they may face, related to them being able to carry out their teaching, in-particular a proliferation of schools introducing ‘facility’ or room charges for self-employed teachers to teach on their premises. Such charges, which were first seen primarily in the private sector, are now being introduced in Free Schools, Academies and schools still under Local Authority control.
Counting the costs
Private schools began levying room charges as a way of distancing themselves from any potential employment claims made by instrumental teachers. Of course, employment has ‘on costs’ for a school including NI contributions and pension as well as benefits such as holiday pay, sick pay and maternity/paternity pay and therefore they often prefer that their instrumental teachers are self-employed. Equally many teachers are more than happy to work in schools on a self-employed basis and as charging for facilities is one of HMRC's criteria for being deemed self-employed this arrangement can be mutually beneficial. Initially these charges were very much based on nominal figures with schools charging their teachers maybe £1 per term, or similar, to satisfy HMRC's criteria and we still see some schools operating under this policy.
We then saw some schools beginning to cover the actual costs of providing rooms to teach in and therefore their charges considered a proportion of heating and lighting plus those of tuning pianos etc. Again, for the most part, these charges are completely acceptable and can be absorbed into their hourly rates. The Independent Schools Bursars Association (ISBA) advice to its members reflects this approach: ‘The facilities charge should reflect the realistic cost to the school of providing the room and by including this you will be adding to the evidence that the relationship is genuinely one of self-employment. Schools may expect that the teaching rate charged by Visiting Music Teachers to parents will reflect the level of any facilities charge imposed by the school.’
Unfortunately, what we are now seeing are two worrying trends. One, that as education is increasingly seen as a commodity and as budgets are cut, sometimes schools look at their instrumental teachers as a source of income to replace diminishing fund. Secondly, the practise of room charging has now moved into the state sector where it is much harder to absorb costs into hourly rates.
We have had some shocking examples reported to us including a school which charged parents £58 per hour, while the teacher was only paid £20, and in addition had to ensue a £5 per hour or £5 per pupil charge, which can add up to hundreds of pounds per term if the teacher has a busy teaching schedule. We also had a school where their teachers were all being charged different rates depending on several arbitrary issues. These are all cases where we feel the schools involved would have difficulty justifying their position and could be viewed in some circumstances as the school operating as an agency.
When to raise the issue
So, what is an acceptable charge? Anything that the school can prove are genuine costs so this can include heat, light and any equipment provided. The room should be fit for purpose and the equipment provided satisfactory such as a piano that is in tune!
We do hear from teachers who feel that are in a vulnerable situation within their school and are wary of raising concerns because they are worried they will end up not having anywhere to teach. It is in these circumstances that being a member of a representative body, such as the MU, is beneficial as we can raise issues on your behalf, anonymously if needed, to avoid you having to. There are also questions that can be asked such as ‘what are parents paying for their lessons (if the school is invoicing the parents)?’ and ‘what is the difference in the hourly amount actually paying for?’
It may be worth considering invoicing the school for any additional time you spend doing work for them such as reports, parents evenings and concerts and also itemising any charges on your invoices. You can then show the parents what percentage of your hourly rate goes to the school if you have to pass those charges on. However, it is also worth remembering that self-employed people have minimal rights and schools can decide that they don't want you working there. With this is mind, it is always worth considering the possible consequences of your actions.
Of course, many schools would never even consider introducing such draconian charges and value the work their teachers carry out. Until this applies across the broad, we will strive to protect instrumental tutors against this unethical practice.
If you have experienced any bad practice within schools regarding room charging then contact the MU at Teachers@themu.org
