Durham County Council has approved plans to dismiss 2,700 teaching assistants and re-employ them on different terms and conditions.
The new contracts would stop teaching assistants from being paid during school holidays, in a move that will reduce costs by £3m a year.
The council said the move would bring staff in-line with other council employees and avoid the risk of equal pay challenges being made in the future.
The council report on the proposal states: ‘The council has equal pay obligations and the current arrangements expose the council to the risk of equal pay claims that would have no realistic defence.
‘Continuing such arrangements in this knowledge knowingly exposes the council to expensive claims that it will ultimately lose and would be an inappropriate approach to the council’s fiduciary obligation to protect the public purse.’
However, unions have warned that the new contracts would see teaching assistants lose up to £400 per month, and they would be balloting members for industrial action.
