Equal Education Partners continues to pay furloughed staff as CJRS costs increase

Earlier this year, Equal Education Partners was the first education recruitment company to commit to paying teaching and learning support staff through the government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS). Since April, over 100 team members have benefited from this decision.

You can read about that decision here.

Since August, employers have been required to contribute to the CJRS scheme. In September, employer contributions increased even further.

To help ensure the safety of our schools and communities by preventing our staff from making difficult choices between their health and that of others and their economic security, we’ve decided to continue to pay (fully and part) furloughed staff through the CJRS (contributing to the costs of doing so) through September.

We pride ourselves on being an ethical employer and doing our utmost to support our teaching and support staff at all times, not least during the COVID-19 pandemic. As the autumn school term progresses, demand for staff from the 120+ client schools we work with is increasing steadily even amid the current pandemic. Despite this, we recognise that this is an extremely difficult time for all of our staff, particularly those who aren’t back in work yet.

Equal Education Partners is a recommended provider of staff to schools and colleges across all 22 Local Authorities in Wales (through the Welsh Government and National Procurement Service framework) and we’re on the Department for Education (DfE) supply staffing framework in England.