Class Action - Umbrella Companies & Holiday Pay
Put in a claim for unpaid holiday pay and/or unlawful umbrella deductions.
For years, supply teachers in all social media forums have complained about being forced to use umbrella companies, that supply teaching does not pay teachers during the holidays and that supply teachers cannot pay into the Teacher's Pension Scheme. There have also been a sizable group of supply teachers who have seen the Uber drivers and Post Office Sub-Postmasters going to the high court and wondered why the teaching unions don't do the same with the teaching agencies.
The NSTN want to bring an end to the use of umbrella companies by supply agencies. To that end, the NSTN have been in discussions with a law firm, Contractors For Justice (C4J), about taking Local Authorities to the High Court to put pressure on them to pay holiday pay and to stop paying teachers through umbrella companies.
If you are a supply teacher and have been working through an agency at any time in the last 15 years, then you definitely have a claim!
C4J Ltd is a distinguished law firm specializing in employment and tax law. Their expertise lies in representing claimants who have suffered losses due to unlawful deductions by umbrella companies. They advocate for those who have experienced withheld holiday pay, unpaid holiday pay, pension contribution issues, and loan charge mitigation.
Utilising Group Litigation Orders (GLOs - otherwise known as Class Actions), they operate outside the constraints of employment tribunals, opting for the High Court for a more comprehensive approach. Their goal is to recover losses dating back to 1998 when the Working Time Regulations (WTR) were initiated. They plan to pursue claims for up to 15 years on unlawful deductions, employing the principles of tort and negligence (that the agency had a duty of care for their supply teachers).
While the High Court route allows C4J to extend the claim period, resulting in higher potential claim values, it also incurs higher legal costs. In adherence to UK law, the losing party covers the winning party's costs. To safeguard claimants (the supply teachers), C4J propose obtaining After the Event (ATE) insurance to cover legal and additional accounting costs. Their most competitive offer is a 35% (plus VAT) No Win, No Fee agreement. Alternatively, this could be reduced to 25% (plus VAT) with an upfront payment of £250, contributing to adverse costs.
The unlawful deductions C4J will address include employers' NI contributions, apprenticeship levy, umbrella fees, withheld holiday pay, and pension contributions. Understanding the complexity of umbrella workers' payslips, they partner with an accountancy company to decipher and calculate losses, including holiday pay. For both claims, holiday pay and umbrella pay, they can aid workers by using Data Subject Access Requests (DSARs) if agencies or umbrella companies withhold contract or payslips.
As part of the claim, Contractors For Justice (C4J) are also going to attempt to change the current position where supply teachers are unable to pay into the Teacher's Pension Scheme. If they can achieve this, many supply teachers will be celebrating.
Every member of the Network should put in a claim. If this happens, then the Local Authorities/Government will end up with a claim from a single group of hundred or thousands of teachers and they will not be able to victimise individual claimants: the claim will have strength in numbers.
You can start your claim here: https://c4j.org.uk/nsta-free-or-paid/
Best of luck with your claim. Please let me know what the estimate of your claim is please. Also, could you please encourage 2 or more supply teachers you know (in reality or through Facebook) to also put in a claim. Once we get up to a group of 500, then we can take it to the High Court (the sub-postmasters only had a group of 510).