5th September 2019
If you work in a school or Academy, chances are you’ve just had the quickest 6 weeks of your year. The Summer holidays have flown by and it’s nearly time to start talking about the C word. But there’s still lots to get done between now and then, even more so now that workload in the education profession is such a hot topic.
The workload of teachers, headteachers and ALL school staff is often in the spotlight these days. And the consequence of an overly heavy workload is not just being busy…according to an Ofsted report, “Work overload has been associated with aspects of burnout such as exhaustion and the coping mechanism of distracting oneself emotionally and cognitively.”
Given this, it’s only sensible that schools look to reduce workloads on their staff wherever possible. However, this can be easier said than done. Consider payroll, for example. Traditionally, schools were largely under the control of the Local Authority, meaning business decisions and functions were out of their remit; taken care of by the powers that be and not on the radars of those who work at the school. Fast forward to 2019, and we have record numbers of schools falling under the ownership of an Academy or Multi-Academy Trust (MAT). Over 72% of secondary and 27% of primary schools now fall under these umbrellas. Suddenly, the inner-workings of your school are a business, and systems and procedures that were previously dealt with offsite suddenly have to be looked after closer to home. Another bunch of tasks to add to your already excessive to-do list.
This is when you might consider getting expert help, such as implementing software to help you, or even outsourcing the functions completely. Many schools lack the structure and know-how to handle financial obligations such as pay spines, teacher’s pensions, temporary staff and split roles without expert help. And attempting these things and getting them wrong is definitely not an option. Plus, there may be more benefits than you realised…
- Financial
Do you definitely need to employ full time payroll staff? If you get an expert payroll company to help you, you may not need to.
- Compliance
Do you want to have to worry about whether you’re meeting legal requirements with your payroll processes? No, and if you have the experts take care of it, you won’t need to.
- Time-saving
This brings us back to workload…do you need to spend hours and hours per month making sure everyone gets paid correctly and on time? No you do not! With an expert payroll company on board you can dedicate your time to what is most important in your school: educating and developing your students. It’s about priorities, and surely that should always be your priority?
We hope you have a fantastic school year ahead. Don’t forget that there are some things that you don’t have to have on your own workload. The financial, compliance and time-saving benefits will come second to the health benefits you will see from alleviating your stress and responsibilities!
