Support staff are working overtime due to increasing workloads, survey finds

School support staff such as teaching assistants and school administrators are working overtime as a result of increasing workloads and cuts to school staff, new research shows.

According to a National Education Union (NEU) survey of more than 1,700 teaching assistants, cover supervisors, administrators and lab technicians, nearly eight in ten are doing overtime every week.

Seventy-three per cent of participants blamed this on workload and a further 20 per cent said that overtime was expected of them.

In addition, 60 per cent stated that their school does not pay them for the extra hours worked.

The findings also show that 32 per cent work more than two extra days in a month and 13 per cent work a minimum of an extra seven hours a week.

Just over 30 per cent rarely or never take their lunch break as a result and 40 per cent state that they rarely or never take a mid-morning or mid-afternoon break.

Dr Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), said: “Support staff are feeling the brunt of school cuts as schools struggle to make ends meet. Many are being made redundant, and those remaining are being expected to do more for the same pay.

“Not only is this blatantly unfair, it is also putting support staff under considerable pressure and making many ill. If the Government fails to find any more money for schools, children will start suffering as more staff go off sick with stress.”