What more secure work can look like

01Permanent supply pools

In a permanent supply pool, teachers are employed to cover work across schools rather than recruited afresh for every short absence. The actual contract determines the hours and deployment requirements. A casual supply list, by itself, does not offer the same employment commitment.

There is a documented history of these arrangements in Scotland. The 2016 SNCT review reported that 18 councils operated supply-pool arrangements of various kinds. It also recorded challenges, including geography, cost and pool teachers being used to fill other vacancies. These were different models, not one national scheme. [1]

• Ask for the guaranteed paid hours and how deployment is decided.
• Check the travel area, school sectors and notice for a new placement.
• Ask what happens when a placement ends or no suitable cover is available.
• Check whether the council is currently recruiting and what the application process requires.

02Fair Work in everyday terms

Scotland's Fair Work framework sets out five dimensions: effective voice, opportunity, security, fulfilment and respect. It offers a way to examine the quality of work alongside the contract label. [3]

The Scottish Government's Fair Work First guidance gives examples including effective worker voice, workforce development and avoiding inappropriate use of zero-hours contracts. [4] Those principles can inform questions about teaching employment. They do not themselves grant a permanent appointment or establish whether a council complies in an individual case.

03Measure whether work becomes more secure

A higher count of permanent posts does not answer every question about teachers' employment. The school census classifies the posts teachers occupy, which can differ from their underlying contract status. [5]

To evaluate a particular employment arrangement, the campaign would also want the following measures. These are proposed questions for evaluation, not claims that every council currently publishes the answers.

• Guaranteed paid hours, compared with hours teachers want to work.
• How often bookings are cancelled and with how much notice.
• Gaps between placements and whether pay continues.
• Time between an approved permanence request and a paid appointment.
• Teachers' access to development and a say in deployment.