Pay Offer FAQs

Q1. How does the pay offer affect my salary?

Q2. Will I get back pay if the offer is accepted?

Q3. I am a supply teacher – will I be entitled to any pay award?

Q4. I have changed Council. Will I automatically receive the pay award from my previous employer?

Q5. I have left teaching. Will I receive any pay award?

Q6. I have retired but worked during the pay award period. Will I automatically receive the pay award?

Q7. I have retired. Will the pay award impact my pension?

Q8. I was on maternity leave during 2022 – 2023. Will I be due back pay?

Q9. When will the arrears be paid?

Q10. Why is there a pay cap for those earning £80K and above?

Q11.  Will the pay offer impact the pension contributions that I pay?

Q12. What will my take home pay look like following a pay award?

Q13. Should the proposed pay award be implemented, what effect will this have on my tax?

Q14. Why does the offer include a permanent movement of the settlement date from April 1st to August 1st?

Q1. How does the pay offer affect my salary?

If you are a teacher, chartered teacher, promoted post holder or associated professional the pay offer received on 3 March 2023 applies to you. See revised pay tables here. 

Q2. Will I get back pay if the offer is accepted?

Yes. You will receive back pay for the months you have worked since the beginning of the pay settlement date, i.e. 1 April 2022.  You will receive back pay at 7% from 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023 and at 5% from 1 April 2023.

Q3. I am a supply teacher – will I be entitled to any pay award?

Yes. If you have worked as a supply teacher since April 2022 you will be entitled to get any pay increase that is awarded.  If you are not working when the award is agreed, you should write to your payroll department to claim the arrears.

Q4. I have changed Council. Will I automatically receive the pay award from my previous employer?

Once the pay award is agreed you will be entitled to get any pay increase that is awarded.  You should write to your previous payroll department to claim the arrears.

Q5. I have left teaching. Will I receive any pay award?

You should write to your payroll department to claim the arrears. See information on how to claim back pay on our website.

Q6. I have retired but worked during the pay award period. Will I automatically receive the pay award?

If you are not working when the award is agreed you should write to your payroll department to claim the arrears.

Q7. I have retired. Will the pay award impact my pension?

If your pension is already in payment your employer will notify SPPA of the increase when the payment is made and SPPA will recalculate your pension if necessary.

Q8. I was on maternity leave during 2022 – 2023. Will I be due back pay?

You will get back pay on the period of absence covered by Occupational Maternity Pay. 

Q9. When will the arrears be paid?

After an agreement has been reached at the SNCT, your payroll department will calculate and process the arrears in the next reasonably practicable pay period. 

Q10. Why is there a pay cap for those earning £80K and above?

The Teachers’ Side argued consistently and strongly against a pay cap and for a universal percentage offer that was undifferentiated and applied to all without discrimination. Unfortunately, COSLA and the Scottish Government would not move from their position of applying a pay cap to those considered to be high earners under public sector pay policy.

Q11. Will the pay offer impact the pension contributions that I pay?

Yes, some members will move to a different band for pension contributions, further information is available at the links below.

• For current year.
• For 2023/24.

Pension contributions on the back pay will be in line with the new rate of pay for 2022/23.

Q12. What will my take home pay look like following a pay award?

If you want to estimate the impact of the increase on any offer you can use The Salary Calculator. 

Have a recent payslip to hand for tax code details, student loans, pension percentages etc.

Q13. Should the proposed pay award be implemented, what effect will this have on my tax?

The final date of the pay settlement means that there could be challenges for local authorities to pay backpay in time for implementation in the 2022/23 tax year.  This could result in some payment of backpay occurring in the 2023/24 tax year. Tax will be deducted in line with your personal allowance in operation at that time.  If you believe that you have overpaid tax when the arrears are paid you will need to contact HMRC directly.

You should contact HMRC if you believe your tax will be overpaid compared to having received the payment in the 2022/23 tax year.

The example below shows the impact for teachers at the top of the main grade pay scale:

Q14. Why does the offer include a permanent movement of the settlement date from April 1st to August 1st?

The Teachers’ Side of the SNCT has been trying for a number of years to get the settlement date moved to August for a number of reasons:

1. It aligns better with the academic year- August is usually when most teacher contracts are commenced.

2. It should prevent the very long delays to pay settlements caused by local and national election cycles. (One excuse given by COSLA for the delay to the very first offer being made was that local government elections took place in May.)

3. It will help to disentangle teachers’ pay claims from COSLA’s One Workforce Agenda and to strengthen sectoral collective bargaining for teachers as we continue the campaign for pay restoration beyond August 2024.