The focus this month is upon invigilators. Although the summer 2023 exams series is still several months away, there are several issues involving invigilators and invigilation which need to be addressed as a matter of urgency.
Holiday pay for invigilators
In recent weeks, we have received numerous enquiries relating to holiday pay entitlement for invigilators. These enquiries have resulted from the outcome of a case (Harpur Trust v Brazel) involving a part-time music teacher employed on a zero hours contract who did not work every week. The worker successfully argued that despite her part-time status, holiday pay should be calculated using the 12-week averaging method in the Working Time Regulations 1998 rather than 12.07% of hours worked in a term (12.07% being reached by dividing 5.6 (full-time equivalent) by 46.4 (the total number of weeks in a year less the 5.6 weeks’ holiday)).
Despite the ambiguity of the legislation, this case has drawn comparisons with the contractual arrangements for invigilators. To support members, our legal partner, Morrish Solicitors has published further information on this matter – please see our November legal article ‘How to approach holiday pay’.
Unfortunately, there is no simple answer to how centres should manage the situation of holiday pay for invigilators. The resolution will depend on the contractual arrangement between your centre and your invigilators, and therefore, many cases will be fact-sensitive.
If the invigilator is a “worker” in law, then they are entitled to holiday pay for the periods they are under contract.
If in the autumn term, they attend/undertake 3- or 4-hours’ training, the amount of holiday pay will be negligible. For some invigilators, a practical solution would be for a school to pay +12.07% for the autumn term.
However, during the summer term, when invigilators are employed for several hours a week, a ‘countback’ as mentioned in our November article might be better; or, at least, a 12.07% approach with a ‘reconciliation’ at the end of the term.
If a centre is looking to avoid holiday pay altogether, then invigilators would need to be self-employed with the school as one of their ‘clients' or ‘customer’.
Unfortunately, there is no ‘one-size fits-all’ answer to this situation, and your centre’s Human Resources department may need to look at all the circumstances of any given case.
Will you have enough invigilators for the summer 2023 exams series?
At the recent training events hosted by The Exams Office, two-thirds of exams officers (from 599 respondents) indicated that they expect to have a shortage of invigilators for the summer 2023 exams series.
If this transpires into reality, this will be an even more serious situation than last summer when 58% of centres experienced a lack of invigilators ahead of and during the examination series.
The NAEO recommends that all exams officers consider the following steps to address any potential shortage of invigilators:
- Ascertain whether additional invigilators are required for the summer 2023 exams series
- If additional invigilators are required, launch and promote a recruitment campaign as soon as possible. This should be repeated in late December/early January and again around February half term
- Add a permanent invigilator vacancy on your centre website. Do not add an end date, and leave the vacancy open for the remainder of the academic year. Utilise the NAEO Invigilator Recruitment Map when this is launched next week (see below).
- Enquire amongst retired staff, part-time staff, Governors etc for potential invigilators
- Consider contingency plans with your line manager/SLT. This may include training staff within your centre
Please read The Exams Office article – Dealing with a shortage of invigilators ahead of the summer 2023 exams series – for further information and guidance.
Exams Recruitment & Vacancy Map
We have re-launched our Invigilator Recruitment & Vacancy Map – renamed the Exams Recruitment & Vacancy Map.
The map has been updated to allow centres to create an account and advertise/update all types of exams-related vacancies free of charge. We are hopeful that, as last academic year, the Department of Education will promote this map to allow your vacancies to be promoted as widely as possible across the nation.
Members of the NAEO and The Exams Office have received an email to announce the official launch of the map and instructions on how to create a centre account and upload exams-related vacancies.
We urge all centres which expect to experience a shortage of invigilators for the Summer 2023 exams series to advertise their vacancies as soon as possible on the Exams Recruitment & Vacancy Map.