To ask the Minister of Education what action is she taking to ensure substitute teachers are paid for extra public and bank holidays.

Substitute teachers are only paid for the days they actually work in schools and do not receive payment for bank or public holidays. An exception has been made for the additional bank holiday which has been allocated in respect of the Platinum Jubilee. Substitute teachers who are already contracted to work in a school at the time of the additional bank holiday on Friday 3 June 2022 and who, as part of their contract, would be working in the school on that day had it not been designated as an optional additional closure date, will receive a day’s pay. Where this is the case, schools have been directed to book the substitute teacher on the NI Substitute Teacher Register on that date to ensure they receive payment.

The Department’s response to the additional bank holiday for the Platinum Jubilee is in line with the precedent set for the Diamond Jubilee in 2012. It ensures that the substitute teacher does not suffer any detriment and that the day is counted as reckonable service for any entitlement purposes, including incremental progression and future pension calculations.