§ Mr. Marlowasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if, when a woman teacher returns to work after receipt of maternity retention pay, she is required, under existing arrangements, to work a full 13 weeks, or merely be available for work; and what is the effect of any intervening school holidays.
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§ Dr. BoysonMy right hon. and learned Friend does not employ teachers. They are generally employed by local education authorities or by governing bodies of schools or colleges, and their conditions of service are negotiated directly with their employers.
Codified conditions of service—other than pay—negotiated and published jointly by the Council of Local Education Authorities (CLEA) and the teachers' associations recognised by CLEA, provide for payments under the teachers' maternity scheme to be conditional upon the teacher
being available for ful-time, or equivalent part-time, duty for a period of 13 weeks from the date of return to her job".In the event of her not being available, the teacher is required to refund such sum as the employing authority at its discretion may decide.The requirement to return to duty for at least 13 weeks may be reduced at the discretion of the employing authority. The period of 13 weeks—inclusive of any school holiday periods and dates of school closure—begins from the date on which the teacher returns to duty or, if it is a date within a school holiday, the date on which, having been declared medically fit, she is deemed to be available for duty.