Well this has been a debateable topic and over the years there have been lots of different approaches. Some recent case law has sorted this out….almost!

In Hartley v King Edward VI College there was a dispute which ended up with the County Court which ruled it should be 1/365th of annual salary in accordance with some very, very old legislation – The Apportionment Act 1870. 

Well this has been a debateable topic and over the years there have been lots of different approaches. Some recent case law has sorted this out….almost!

In Hartley v King Edward VI College there was a dispute which ended up with the County Court which ruled it should be 1/365th of annual salary in accordance with some very, very old legislation – The Apportionment Act 1870. 

The Court of appeal overruled this in May this year, saying that teachers are paid for 5 days per week (260 a year).  Therefore 1/260th should be deducted.  Ah, sorted then, here’s the definitive rule.  Think again !

The Burgundy Book stipulates that 1/365th is the contractual requirement.  So you can go with that….UNLESS….(here we go again), the Burgundy Book is not applied in your school/academy (more likely to be an Academy) in which case if your sick pay policy is silent then the 1/260th should be applied.

Potentially, in future cases, there may be an argument for 1/195th per day, the number of days teachers normally work. Of course teachers might argue they could be required to work more than that with planning etc. Funnily enough, this didn’t come up at this tribunal.