School caretaker pay: lettings, call-outs and unsocial hours

A school caretaker’s basic pay is a point on the NJC pay spine set by the council or trust, and the National Careers Service gives a typical salary of £22,000 for a starter and £30,000 for an experienced caretaker. Extra payments for evening lettings, standby, recall and weekend work are set by the Green Book rules and by your own contract. The headline salary on an advert often leaves them out.

The basic salary

The National Careers Service lists caretaker hours as 38 to 42 a week. The figures are a general guide for the job across all employers, not a school pay scale. In maintained schools in England and Wales, site staff are normally graded by the council on the NJC spine, and many academy trusts use it too. From 1 April 2026 the spine runs from £25,614 at SCP 3 to £56,293 at SCP 43 after a 3.3% award, with values in the NJC pay spine guide. Grades differ between employers, so compare the SCP range in the advert and not the job title.

The National Careers Service also says that you can apply directly for caretaker vacancies, that you need good practical skills, and that some employers ask for GCSEs in English and maths. Caretakers look after buildings such as schools, community centres and apartment blocks, so the same title can cover jobs outside schools with different pay rules.

What the Green Book says about extras

Part 3 of the Green Book lists the working patterns that need pay arrangements. Anyone required to work beyond full-time hours, at weekends, at night, on public holidays, on standby, in the evening or on split shifts must have the arrangements for pay set out in their contract. So must anyone managing evening lettings. The contract may use an inclusive rate of pay, locally agreed premium payments or another method agreed by the local parties.

If your basic pay is at or below point 22, a default scale applies where nothing local has been agreed:

• additional hours beyond your working week: time and a half Monday to Saturday, and double time on Sundays and public holidays, with a minimum of two hours
• Saturday as part of your normal week: time and a half
• Sunday as part of your normal week: time and a half above point 3 and double time at or below it
• night work between 8.00pm and 6.00am as part of your normal week: time and a third
• sleeping-in duty: a fixed allowance covering the duty and up to 30 minutes of call-outs a night, after which the additional hours rules apply

Standby, recall to work including travel time, split shifts and lettings fall under “other non-standard patterns”, where compensation is negotiated locally. From point 23 upwards the council has discretion to pay these allowances or an inclusive rate. The copy of the Green Book used here is the May 2024 edition, so confirm the point numbers against the version your employer uses, because point 2 has since been deleted from the spine. The overtime and weekend pay guide goes through the rules in more detail.

A worked example

Say a caretaker on SCP 12, £29,542 a year, is called in on a Saturday after the week’s hours are done. The hourly rate is £29,542 divided by 52.143 weeks and 37 hours, about £15.31. Time and a half is about £22.97 an hour. If the same call-out were on a Sunday and counted as additional hours, the rate would be double time, about £30.62 an hour, and the two-hour minimum means at least £61.24. These are illustrations of the default scale, and a local deal can replace it.

Questions to ask before you accept

Check the contract for three things. First, whether hours are annualised or fixed, and whether lettings are included in your basic pay. Second, how standby and call-outs are paid, and whether travel time counts. Third, whether you are on a term-time-only contract, which spreads a reduced salary over the year as explained in term-time-only pay.

The site manager profile covers duties, qualifications and career steps. If a payment is missing or looks wrong, ask payroll first, then your union representative.