Teachers' maternity boost to cost millions

TEACHERS could be entitled to take an extra two months off after a year's maternity leave, under new rules which could cost councils millions.

Planned changes following recent rulings in the European court and House of Lords could allow new mothers to take more annual leave before returning to work.

The rules would mean employers would be forced to pay new mothers for their full holiday entitlement, which, in the case of teachers, is more than 60 days. However, councils are being warned the move could be extremely costly for them.

Council umbrella group, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla), has written to finance directors across Scotland warning them about the implications.

A spokesman said: "Cosla is currently in discussions with its partners, including the relevant trade unions within the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers, to ensure that the conditions of service comply with the regulations."

The letter sent to directors of finance at each of Scotland's councils, said: "Teachers' annual leave entitlement is the balance of days beyond the working year and amounts to 66.

"Teachers who have been on maternity leave for an entire year will therefore be entitled to 66 days paid leave on their return."

Employment law specialist Lindsay Cartwright from Morton Fraser agreed the new regulations could be particularly expensive with regard to teachers.

She said: "Potentially, for teachers, they would be entitled to take their annual leave at the end of their maternity leave even though school is in at that point in time.

"Whereas teachers normally have to take their leave during school holidays – and because teachers get more than 60 days leave in a year – that could be quite expensive for councils to implement."

Glasgow City Council, Scotland's largest local authority and employer of teachers, has warned it could cost up to 2 million a year.

Women in the UK are currently entitled to a year off for maternity leave with the first six weeks on 90 per cent pay, followed by 33 weeks on Statutory Maternity Pay. The remainder is unpaid.

In January, Edinburgh City Council claimed it would be hit by an extra 1.1m in costs by new national regulations which would oblige them to pay teachers claiming full holiday pay while signed off sick. Previously, teachers have always only claimed a maximum of ten days compensatory leave.

Donald McGougan, the council's director of finance, described the new pressure on the budget as "a very difficult change to deal with".

Unions said they have not campaigned for the changes to teachers pay and conditions.