Substitute teachers at schools in Brabant are increasingly self-employed and teachers with a temporary contract. Hiring a teacher through an employment agency is twice as expensive, according to a calculation by the Court of Audit. For this reason, the secondary schools in our province stopped hiring teachers through employment agencies a year ago.
Danique Pals
A school director wants nothing more than for all lessons to continue. Even if a teacher is ill, goes on maternity leave or is absent for a longer period of time for some other reason. It can be quite a challenge for schools to find a replacement. That is why many schools hire substitute workers through an employment agency. There are high costs involved because the agencies ask for a high margin.
“It is annoying that employment agencies are taking advantage of the teacher shortage,” says Martin van den Berg of the Christiaan Huygens College in Eindhoven, who speaks on behalf of all school boards.
In June last year, the school boards decided to send a letter to employment agencies that supply educational staff. They stated in the letter that they will completely stop hiring through these agencies.
“There are eight teachers who switched to us from a temporary employment agency.”
Now, almost a year later, Van den Berg is taking stock. He has no idea what financial savings it has saved, but eight teachers have already switched from a temporary employment agency to paid employment.
Van den Berg sees that employment agencies are now also noticing that it is pointless to offer temporary workers to school boards. “We won’t accept them anyway. This increases the risk for a temporary employment agency to hire people.”
The aim of the school boards is for employment agencies to stop recruiting for the public sector. Even if that means that it is sometimes more difficult for the schools themselves to fill all the gaps.
“You have to keep your back straight. You have to look a little further than normal. Especially if someone suddenly drops out,” says Van den Berg. The schools solve this by exchanging teachers and using their own network. “HR employees know where to find each other and we have a wide reach. Sometimes a retiree is temporarily employed again and sometimes a self-employed person comes forward.”
Difference between temporary workers and self-employed people
A hired teacher from an employment agency is not the same as a self-employed person. A self-employed person is self-employed and therefore not affiliated with an agency. A teacher through an employment agency is a lot more expensive than a self-employed person. According to a calculation by the Court of Audit, a temporary worker is twice as expensive. The costs mainly consist of VAT and the margin of the employment agency.
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