Fire and Rehire

Help us stamp out Fire and Rehire practices which are being used to worsen teachers’ pay, pensions and rights at work.

In recent months NASUWT has been fighting an escalation in cases of schools, particularly those in the independent sector, seeking to dismiss teaching staff and rehire them on new and inferior contracts of employment.

Frequently this involves schools removing staff from access to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme and imposing inferior pension arrangements on them. Some schools have also sought to downgrade teachers’ pay and working conditions. Teachers have been threatened with dismissal if they refuse to sign up to new contracts.

Teachers stand to lose their jobs and thousands of pounds in loss of pay or pension benefits as a result of changes forced on them by their employer.

Many schools have cynically sought to use the impact of the pandemic as a cover for these attacks on teachers’ contractual rights, at the expense of loyal and dedicated employees who have risked their lives during the pandemic to keep the country going.

Since the first lockdown in March 2020, fire and rehire tactics have been used increasingly by employers against 1 in 10 workers overall.

The NASUWT is continuing to challenge the use of fire and rehire tactics. As a result of the strong stand and collective determination of members, changes to contracts have been withdrawn in schools across the country as a result of members taking strike action or balloting for action.

The NASUWT is pressing the Government to act on its stated commitment to tackle those shameful practices and to bring forward legislation to outlaw fire and rehire and ensure the same rights for workers in the UK that exist in other European countries.

A simple amendment can be made to existing employment law to outlaw fire and rehire

Visit https://www.nasuwt.org.uk/StopFireandRehire to find out more about how to support the campaign.