Teaching assistants and low paid staff speak out over Cygnus Academy Trust in Dartford holiday pay row
A school trust has been accused of holding back thousands of pounds in backdated holiday pay owed to low paid staff, in "leadership wallets".
The GMB union is calling on the Cygnus Academies Trust, which runs multiple primary schools across Dartford and Tonbridge, to properly compensate employees on term time contracts.
It comes after a historical miscalculation of holiday pay, dating back to September 2016.
An agreement was recently reached with Kent County Council (KCC) to compensate affected staff, with funding made available to schools across Kent.
But GMB, the union representing school staff, claims the Trust has decided to only backdate pay to September 2017. This shortfall equates to 17 months’ missing salary and up to 150 staff are eligible, it is understood.
The union also claims that management are awarding themselves a 7% pay rise while affected low paid staff miss out.
But the Trust dismissed these claims as "completely untrue" and said a surplus was not being held in “leadership wallets”.
It explained many had already agreed on settlements which were being provided entirely by KCC – but as the employer of those affected it was being administered through the Trust.
Those affected are mostly low-paid, female workers in teaching assistant and clerical roles split across five schools in Dartford – Dartford Bridge, Greenlands, Manor Community, The Brent, Westgate – and another, Royal Rise in Tonbridge.
They claim they have been left feeling "utterly worthless" and "undervalued" by the Trust with some members reportedly suspended.
A staff member affected, who did not wish to be identified, said: "The Trust is saying they don't have to pay us this money, and we should be grateful they changed the holiday formula when they did, even though they've known about it since April 2020.
"This has made us feel utterly worthless and undervalued.
"We don't get a lot of money as it is, we do the job for the love it and our desire to help and support young children."
"We don't get a lot of money as it is, we do the job for the love it and our desire to help and support young children."
The GMB union says it has tried to negotiate with the Trust on behalf of staff but says senior management refuses to engage any further.
Following a ballot of its members it says 70% voted to reject the offer on the table.
The union has been distributing leaflets to parents outside school gates in Dartford and Swanscombe this week and has asked them to sign a written petition.
Nick Day, GMB senior organiser, appeared outside Brent Primary School yesterday to discuss the issue with parents.
He said: “We now know that unlike the vast majority of schools in Kent, Cygnus have not coughed up one penny to compensate their school support staff in underpaid wages for the period between April 2016 and September 2017.
“Most of these staff are low paid women workers often earning between £9 and £10 an hour to deliver education to Kent’s children.
“At the same time we know that the key management personnel in the trust awarded themselves a 7.1 per cent increase in their salaries, equating to over £60,000 in one year.
Mr Day accused management of wanting to keep money in the "leadership’s wallets" instead of compensating workers fairly.
He added: “Our members have told us clearly, it’s time to pay up and they want the trust back round the table immediately. The trust would be wise to heed these words carefully.”
But the Cygnet Trust said it had been "proactive" in responding to concerns and in settling with affected staff.
It explained the majority of those represented by unions including GMB, had already accepted offers based on independent advice from ACAS, the Trust and KCC.
Outside Brent Primary on Monday most parents and guardians were unaware of the ongoing pay row but some had heard via social media.
Mum-of-two Kanchane Wanngku said: "I saw it on Facebook and someone said it had been going on.
"It does not seem fair if they don't get paid well and they know something is wrong."
The health sector worker added she hoped the issue could be resolved soon, adding the "ones that are suffering" are the children whilst management and staff are "fighting".
Local councillor for Stone ward, Kelly Grehan (Lab), said she had been approached by worried parents and would be seeking clarification from the Trust.
The Kent County Councillor said: "Teaching assistants are dreadfully underpaid and undervalued at the best of times for such an important job so I have got concerns about what is reported to be going on."
A full statement from the Trust said: "Our support staff within our schools are absolutely essential and we cannot run our schools without them – they are vital to the success of our schools and contribute significantly to the support that every child receives.
"When unions and KCC approached Cygnus regarding the settlement offers that had been agreed by recognised unions, we were proactive in our response to providing the same settlement offer to our affected staff.
"Although staff in various schools across the county have different implementation dates, the formula used to calculate the compensation is the same."
In response to some of the claims from GMB, it said the 7.1% pay rise it mentioned referred to increase in spending on key management personnel between the 2019/20 and 2020/21 school years.
It added: "Between these two years, the composition of key management personnel was significantly different due to growth of the Trust, not pay increases.
"During the same period the increase in spending on support staff was 24.3% and the whole Trust’s staffing costs increased by 9.6%.
"All of these percentages, including the 7.1% reference by GMB, refer to total spend, not to individuals’ increases in salary."
Whether school staff get paid during holidays depends on their employment contract.
All workers, including term time workers, are entitled to 5.6 weeks paid leave per annum, where school staff may be contractually required to take their leave during school holidays.