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NCT ASSESSMENT ASSOCIATE TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Version 1.3 created November 2014
1. CONTRACT DOCUMENTS
1.1. Your Assessment Associate (AA) contract with Pearson consists of the following
documents (where applicable):
1) AA Terms and Conditions
2) Offertory letter of work/allocations (Contract to Provide Assessment Services)
3) Conduct and Conflict of Interest Policy
4) Payment, Expenses and Travel Policy
5) International AA Payment, Expenses and Travel Policy
6) Public Interest Disclosure Policy
7) Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable Adults Policy
8) Whistleblowing Policy
9) Anti-Bribery and Corruption Policy
10) Dignity at Work Policy
11) Diversity Policy
12) Performance Management Policy
13) Personal Records for AAs Policy
14) Retirement or Withdrawal from Contract Policy
1.2. The Assessment Associate Terms and Conditions, together with the accompanying
documents (which contain details of the services you are required to perform),
contain the terms of your contract to provide services to Pearson Education Limited,
referred to as “Pearson”, as an Assessment Associate.
1.2.1 This contract relates solely to you providing the services described in
the accompanying documents. You may be offered more than one
contract at any one time; if so, each contract is independent.
1.3. Pearson is under no obligation to offer you any further work. You are under no
obligation to accept any further offer of work we might make.
2. RELATIONSHIP
2.1. This is a contract for services. Nothing in this contract makes you an employee,
director or officer of Pearson and you will not hold yourself out as such. It does not
create a relationship of principal and agent. This contract does not give you the right
to enter into any contract or make any promise on behalf of Pearson except with
Pearson‟s prior written consent.
2.1.1 Should your role require the use of a computer with a minimum system
specification this will be outlined in the accompanying documents.
2.1.2 It is your responsibility to ensure that your IT equipment is compatible
with our systems before you start the contract and at your own
expense (see also section 9.1 regarding expenses).
2.1.3 We will not accept liability for any damage, losses or costs relating to
your IT equipment arising from your use of our IT systems, unless our
IT systems were faulty or defective.
Prepared by: Relations & Development | Authorised by: JH, Relations & Development Manager | NCT AA Terms
and Conditions of Contract v1.3| November 2014
2.2. Meetings or training events that you are required to attend can take place on any
day of the week and are subject to change. On rare occasions meetings may need to
be rescheduled to be held on Saturday or Sunday. If this happens we will endeavour
to provide you with as much advance notice as possible.
3. PERIOD
3.1. This contract is for the duration of the period stated or for the performance of the
services specified in the accompanying documents. Pearson is under no obligation to
extend or renew this contract beyond the end of the period stated or the completion
of the services specified and no such extension or renewal is implied.
3.2. The issuing of this contract is made in good faith and is based on an anticipated
number of candidate entries or a particular business need. In the event that
candidate entries are lower than anticipated or there is no longer a business
requirement for your services, it may be necessary for Pearson to reduce the
number of scripts allocated to you or to withdraw the contract at any time. Pearson
accepts no liability for any direct or indirect loss, damage or costs incurred by you in
connection with this action.
3.3. At any time during the contract period Pearson may terminate this contract for any
reason without notice. If the contract has not been terminated sooner it will
terminate automatically at the end of the contract period or on the completion of the
required services whichever comes first.
3.4. You are required to provide the services described in the accompanying documents.
There is no requirement to work a minimum number of hours (either in total or per
day), unless expressly specified, but you should spend the necessary time to ensure
that you meet your deadlines and your work is completed within the specified
timescales. You should decide when, where and how you will carry out the work that
is necessary under this contract subject to any obligations imposed by the AA Terms
and Conditions (including but not limited to clauses 5 and 12 below) and the
accompanying documents.
3.5. If you are unable to perform your services through illness, injury or any other
substantial reason, you must tell Pearson immediately.
3.5.1 You are not entitled to be paid if you do not provide the services as
required in the accompanying documents.
3.5.2 If you are unable to perform your services in full but are able to
provide part of the services, you may be entitled to part of your fee in
accordance with clause 6.1 below.
3.5.3 As set out in clause 14.1 Pearson may terminate your contract on the
grounds of illness or injury or any other reason if you are unable to
perform your obligations under this contract.
4. CONFLICT OF INTEREST
4.1 You should read this section with reference to the Conduct and Conflict of Interest
policy for Assessment Associates, which can be found on Edexcel Gateway in order to
fully understand your obligations.
You are required to tell Pearson if:
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and Conditions of Contract v1.3| November 2014
4.1.1 You are closely related to or are teaching/training any learner who is
preparing for an examination, test, or other form of assessment for an
Pearson award; or
4.1.2 You receive scripts or other forms of work submitted for assessment
from learners who are known to you or known at the centre at which
you teach/train; or
4.1.3 You are related to any person who is a director, employee or contractor
of Pearson; or
4.1.4 Your work for Pearson would be affected by a personal interest or
personal association in any other way
4.2
In accordance with the AA Terms and Conditions you are required to declare all
centres in which you have a personal interest. Please ensure that all relevant centre
details are included with your contract acceptance and/or added to your “My
Conflicts of Interest Centres” from the sidebar of your Gateway Homepage.
4.3
You are free to perform services for any other person, firm, company or
organisation, provided that the performance of such services does not, or is not
likely to, result in a conflict of interest between the performance of your services as
an Assessment Associate for Pearson and your services for the other party or
parties. You may not, for example, provide any form of private tuition, training or
guidance to any teachers, students and/or learners in respect of any units whose
pre-published content you have had sight of or input on, with the exception of past
examination papers; this restriction does not apply to work carried out in the
normal course of a teaching role in a school or college.
4.3.1 You must tell Pearson immediately if you become aware of any
potential conflict of interest under this clause.
4.3.2 If you are a Senior AA, you must also notify Pearson of any instance in
which you have previously been involved in the preparation of
materials intended to support learners or assessments, for the subject
in which you are contracted as a Senior AA. You must notify Pearson if
this previous work still relates to current, live assessment material or
you have ever produced such material that is still currently in
circulation.
4.3.3 If you are involved in writing and approving assessment materials,
then you will not be able to contribute to any publication covering a
qualification for which you have had access to the related assessment
materials. You may contribute to a publication in your subject area as
long as it is not qualification specific. A general text about a
qualification subject would be acceptable, however contributing to a
text about a Pearson GCE or other qualification type in the subject
would be considered a conflict of interest.
4.4
You cannot carry out training services on behalf of Pearson if you have had sight of,
or are involved in writing or developing live assessment materials that have not yet
been seen by teachers or candidates. There are three provisos to this decision:
4.4.1 You will still be able to write the materials for the training sessions for
the qualification in respect of which you have sight of live assessment
material, but you will not be able to deliver the training.
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and Conditions of Contract v1.3| November 2014
4.4.2 You will be able to deliver training for Pearson for a qualification where
you have not had access or visibility of the live assessment materials.
You will be able to deliver training for the same subject but for a
different level of qualification, or for the same level but in a different
subject.
4.4.3 If you are involved in the coursework element for a particular level and
subject and do not have any sight of live assessment materials then you
will still be able to deliver training for Pearson. Please note that if you
fall within this exception and choose to deliver training events for
Pearson; you will not be able to attend any meetings relating to live
assessment such as QPEC meetings.
4.5 Senior Assessment Associates may be given access to live assessment materials.
Therefore, if you hold a senior role with Pearson, you may not provide services at a
senior level for any other Awarding Organisation.
5. OBLIGATIONS
5.1. You must provide the services specified in this contract and the accompanying
documents with care and diligence and in accordance with the timescales and
deadlines set by Pearson.
5.2. You may be required to attend training or other meetings, as set out in the
accompanying documents. Pearson is required to withdraw from you any contracts
for which training or meetings are compulsory and which you do not attend. In this
case no payment will be due to you, except for any part of the training and/or
meeting attended.
5.3. You will not, by your acts or omissions, prejudice the interests of Pearson or bring
the name or reputation of Pearson into disrepute.
5.4. Pearson is not liable for any acts or omissions by you. Pearson will, although under
no obligation to do so, make such efforts as it thinks fit to support you in any dispute
arising out of your services as an Assessment Associate provided you have properly
used your professional expertise and can support what you have done or said with
appropriate evidence.
5.5. If you wish to publicly express your views relating to any aspect of Pearson
qualifications, for example by seeking publication for text books, by giving lectures
and talks to outside bodies or by the provision of training packages, you must get
prior permission from Pearson.
5.5.1. If you are given permission by Pearson to publicly express your views
relating to Pearson qualifications then you must make it clear you are
acting in a purely individual capacity and not as an Assessment
Associate. You are reminded of your obligations under section 11.2.
5.6. You must obtain prior written permission from Pearson to use copyrighted material
in your work, including but not limited to material which is taken from the internet or
existing Pearson/Pearson publications. You will not use material in any of the work
you produce for Pearson for which Pearson does not own the copyright or for which
Pearson does not have copyright permission to use.
5.7. You must tell Pearson immediately if you have either outstanding (unspent) criminal
convictions or are convicted of any criminal offence which might have a bearing on
your suitability for the role of an Assessment Associate (such as dishonesty or fraud
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and Conditions of Contract v1.3| November 2014
or in relation to children). Convictions for driving offences without imprisonment do
not need to be notified.
5.8. You may be required to travel to the offices of Pearson in the United Kingdom or any
other place in the countries where Pearson operates, as may be reasonably
necessary to fulfil this contract.
5.9. You must give Pearson a suitable address to which scripts can be delivered. You can
give an address other than your home address if you wish; however, once scripts
have been signed for at the address given they become your responsibility. Please
take all necessary steps to ensure the candidate data and scripts are handled with
care and kept secure whilst in your possession. Pearson is not liable for the security
of scripts whilst they are in your possession.
5.10. You must be mindful at all times of your responsibilities under the Equality Act
2010 to ensure that you do not discriminate, either in the performance of your
duties under this contract or otherwise, against people on the grounds of their age,
disability, sex, sexual orientation, race, religion or belief, marital or civil partnership
status, pregnancy, or gender reassignment.
5.11. Pearson is committed to conducting its business ethically in every country where it
operates, as well as complying with all applicable laws, including in relation to antibribery and anti-corruption policies. It is essential that Assessment Associates are
vigilant against acts of bribery and corruption in all of their duties for Pearson.
6. FEES
6.1. The fees you will be paid for the services under this contract are shown in the
accompanying documents. Payment will be made direct to your bank account. We do
not accept invoices from Assessment Associates.
6.1.1
Pearson reserves the right to reduce or not to pay the relevant fees if
your work is below the standard expected in terms of quality, quantity,
timing of delivery and/or if it has been necessary for you to redo any
work because of the standard of the initial work carried out by you.
7. WORKPLACE PENSIONS
7.1. We are required by law to assess all AAs who are contracted with Pearson. This
assessment is to determine your eligibility to make contributions to a workplace
pension scheme. Eligibility is determined by your age, residence and all earnings
from work undertaken with Pearson. The assessment will take place three months
after your first payment and you will be re-assessed after each subsequent payment.
If after assessment you are categorised as an Eligible Jobholder you will be
automatically enrolled in the scheme and contributions will be deducted from your
pay. For further information please see our AA Pensions FAQ‟s (available on Edexcel
Gateway).
8. INCOME TAX
8.1. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have determined that assessment services are
always subject to standard PAYE rules. Pearson is therefore required by HMRC to
deduct income tax at the rate determined by your tax code from any payment of
fees to you, unless you are a non-UK resident working on non-UK based contracts
(such as International Local Standards Verifier), or are otherwise exempt from UK
taxation (such as residents of Jersey, Guernsey, Isle of Man).
Prepared by: Relations & Development | Authorised by: JH, Relations & Development Manager | NCT AA Terms
and Conditions of Contract v1.3| November 2014
8.2. Any disputes over your tax code will need to be communicated to HMRC or your local
tax office directly, as Pearson has no authority to amend or investigate tax codes or
their application.
8.3. The obligation on Pearson to comply with HMRC guidance in respect of tax matters
does not alter the status of this contract as a contract for services or your status
under this contract as a self-employed person.
9. EXPENSES
9.1. You will be reimbursed for reasonable travelling and other expenses necessarily
incurred in the performance of your services as an Assessment Associate as laid out
in the Travel, Payment and Expenses policy for Assessment Associates (available on
Edexcel Gateway).
9.1.1 You must follow the Travel, Payment and Expenses policy when
booking accommodation or buying food or drink. This includes booking
accommodation through the Pearson approved agent. No claims for
expenses incurred by you for accommodation or food or drink outside
of the policy will be reimbursed. You may be asked to get Pearson‟s
approval in advance for overnight accommodation.
9.1.2. You must use the most economical means of travel and confine
expenses to the minimum necessary for effective discharge of your
responsibilities.
9.1.3. Expenses should be claimed on the relevant form accompanied by
receipts and/or vouchers supporting the claim.
9.1.4. Payment of expenses will be made direct to your bank account.
9.2. If you have more than one contract with Pearson you may only claim once for
expenses incurred. Expenses incurred for the same day‟s work under more than one
contract will not be reimbursed except travel expenses for clearly separate and
identifiable journeys under different contracts.
9.3. Pearson reserves the right to place limits on the reimbursement of expenses of a
particular type and to refuse reimbursement where it considers expenses claimed
are unreasonable.
10. INSURANCE
10.1. You should ensure that your vehicle insurance policy covers you for business use
if required.
11. CONFIDENTIALITY
11.1. In the course of providing your services as an Assessment Associate you are likely
to handle confidential information. „Confidential information‟ means any information
belonging to Pearson and/or relating to Pearson‟s business other than information
which is public knowledge. This includes but is not limited to trade and commercial
secrets, examination scripts, examination papers, assessment content, assessment
processes, IT systems and information in respect of which Pearson owes an
obligation of confidence to any third party. „Confidential information‟ also includes
any information which an employee, director or officer of Pearson has notified to you
as being confidential. In respect of this confidential information you agree:
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and Conditions of Contract v1.3| November 2014
11.1.1. To keep all confidential information secret and confidential at all times
and to maintain any documents, records, computer files and any other
means of recording information which contains confidential information
in a secure place at all times;
11.1.2. To hold as strictly confidential the proceedings at all meetings related
to examinations, tests and other forms of assessment, and also at all
times to regard the proceedings at all meetings of examiners or
assessors as strictly confidential;
11.1.3. Not to disclose in any way or facilitate the disclosure of confidential
information in whole or in part to any third party unless you have
Pearson‟s written consent;
11.1.4. To use confidential information solely for the purposes of providing your
services as an Assessment Associate and not for your own benefit or
for that of any third party, either directly or indirectly;
11.1.5. Other than for the purposes of providing your services as an
Assessment Associate, not to make or have made any copies or
duplicates of confidential information in any form, or record, store or
transmit any confidential information in any way, including but not
limited to electronic copies;
11.1.6. To return to Pearson or destroy any documents or other articles
containing confidential information when asked to do so by Pearson and
on the termination for whatever reason of this contract; and
11.1.7. To confirm in writing, if Pearson asks, that the obligation in 11.1.6 has
been carried out.
11.2. You must not disclose any information to the media or any other forum in the
public domain, including online forums and social networking sites, about any
aspect of your work with Pearson without its express permission.
11.3. The obligations set out in clause 11.1 and 11.2 above apply both for the duration
of this contract and after the contract has been terminated for any reason.
11.4. Pearson is and remains at all times the owner of all documents and other media
containing any information supplied by or on behalf of Pearson whether produced
by you, by Pearson or by any other person.
11.5. As an Assessment Associate you must not mark scripts or complete other
assessment documentation in public places or on public transport; in this respect
a school, college or other assessment centre is regarded as a public place.
11.6. You are required to abide by the Pearson Public Interest Disclosure Policy. If you
have concerns about any aspect of Pearson‟s working practices or behaviour,
including that of Assessment Associates, which you discover in the course of your
services, you should raise the matter through the Public Interest Disclosure Policy
(available on Edexcel Gateway). Clause 11.2 (above) applies in these
circumstances.
12. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS
12.1
All intellectual property rights in all work created by you or on your behalf in the
course of performing any services for Pearson or in any way related to the
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and Conditions of Contract v1.3| November 2014
services provided to Pearson (Service IPR) shall belong solely to Pearson. This
includes but is not limited to all copyright, design rights, trade marks, patents,
rights in data and all other equivalent or similar rights whether or not registered
or capable of registration, including the right to apply for any of the foregoing.
12.2
All rights, title and interest in any Service IPR are hereby assigned by you to
Pearson by present assignment of future rights.
12.3
You hereby irrevocably and unconditionally waive in favour of Pearson all moral
rights attached to any Service IPR.
12.4
You will, at Pearson‟s request, sign such documents and carry out all such acts as
Pearson may require to fully and effectively vest in Pearson, free from
encumbrances, all rights, title and interest in the Service IPR, so that Pearson
may obtain patents, registered designs or other protection in its own name in the
United Kingdom and/or other countries.
13. DATA PROTECTION
13.1
„Data‟ and „processing‟ are as defined by the Data Protection Act 1998.
13.2
You will carry out any processing of data in accordance with the UK‟s data
protection laws and only to provide the services under this contract. You will not
divulge the whole or any part of any data to any person, except to the extent
necessary, for the proper performance of this contract.
13.3
You will maintain throughout the term of this contract, appropriate measures and
security to prevent accidental or unauthorised destruction, loss, alteration, access
to or disclosure of data.
13.4
You will notify Pearson immediately of any data breach in relation to clause 12.3
via email to [email protected].
13.5
Your personal data will be processed for the purposes of the services that you will
provide to Pearson in accordance with this contract. Pearson may share your data
with service providers only if they have undertaken to process such data securely
and according to Pearson‟s instructions.
13.5.1 Information about your ethnic origin and any disability is provided by
you on a voluntary basis. This information is considered sensitive
personal data by the Data Protection Act 1998 and will only be
processed for the purpose of monitoring equality of opportunities within
Pearson. By accepting this contract you consent to the processing of
your sensitive data for the purpose described above.
13.6
Pearson may send you information about its products and services, new vacancies
you might be interested in and other Pearson news. You will be given the option
to unsubscribe from each notification.
13.7
Learner work must not be mailed from one country to another to be marked or
assessed except where you are expressly required in the accompanying
documents to receive learner work from international centres.
13.7.1 If you are required to mail learner work internationally to fulfil the
duties of this contract you should seek prior permission from the
Pearson Allocations team.
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and Conditions of Contract v1.3| November 2014
13.7.2 All learner work must be shipped or posted in accordance with the
current Pearson shipping guidelines.
14. TERMINATION
14.1 Notwithstanding the provisions of clause 3.3, this contract may be terminated or
suspended for any period by Pearson at any time during the contract period without
notice and without further obligation of payment, except for payments accrued at the
date of termination, if:
14.1.1 You commit any material breach of the provisions of this contract; or
14.1.2 You commit any breach, whether material or not, of the obligations of
confidentiality under clauses 11 or 13; or
14.1.3 In Pearson‟s opinion, you fail or substantially neglect to provide the
services as an Assessment Associate or fail to meet the standards set
out in clauses 3.4 or 5.1; or
14.1.4 In the opinion of Pearson your conduct is such as to cause doubt about
your integrity and/or honesty; or
14.1.5 You in any way bring into disrepute the name, reputation and interests
of Pearson, its employees, directors, offices, other people associated
with Pearson, or its products or services; or
14.1.6 You are convicted of a criminal offence which affects your position as
an Assessment Associate; or
14.1.7 You are unable to perform your obligations under this contract due to ill
health or injury or for any other reason.
14.2
You shall cease to provide your services under this agreement for any period for
which Pearson informs you it is investigating any allegations concerning your
actions which could lead to the termination of this agreement under this clause
14.1. Pearson is not obliged to make any payment for any period of suspension.
15 FORCE MAJEURE
15.1
Neither party shall be liable to the other for any delay in or non performance of its
obligations under this contract arising from any cause beyond its control including,
without limitation, any of the following: Act of God, governmental act, war, fire,
flood, explosion, widespread outbreak of disease or declared epidemic or
pandemic, civil commotion, chemical, biological or nuclear contamination or
terrorist act.
16 ASSIGNMENT AND SUBCONTRACTING
16.1
Pearson may assign, transfer, sub-contract or otherwise dispose of any of its
rights or obligations under this contract whether in part or in whole to any other
member of the Pearson Group without your prior written consent. For the
avoidance of doubt, Pearson shall not assign, transfer, sub-contract or otherwise
dispose of any of its rights or obligations under this contract whether in part or in
whole to any other party who is not a member of the Pearson Group without your
prior written consent.
17 NOTICE
Prepared by: Relations & Development | Authorised by: JH, Relations & Development Manager | NCT AA Terms
and Conditions of Contract v1.3| November 2014
17.1
18
Any notice to be given under this contract will be given in writing and sent by
hand, by post or by any electronic means available to both parties. Such notice
may be sent to the registered office of Pearson or to your last notified address as
appropriate. Any notice sent by post will be deemed to have been served 48 hours
after being posted.
SAFEGUARDING CHILDREN AND VULNERABLE ADULTS
18.1
You must read and abide by the Pearson Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable
Adults policy (available on Edexcel Gateway).
18.2
Under the Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable Adults policy, representatives of
Pearson must never be alone with children or vulnerable adults whilst performing
Assessment Associate duties. Centres are expected to provide a responsible adult
to accompany the Assessment Associate in these circumstances or, if appropriate,
the candidates are to be barred from entering the allocated area for the period
when it is occupied by the Assessment Associate. Accordingly:
18.2.1 You agree to abide by this policy where necessary by refusing to carry
out assessment services at centres where the Safeguarding Children
policy criteria are not met - therefore removing yourself from any
situation which may bring about allegations of unsupervised
misconduct.
19 AMENDMENTS TO THIS CONTRACT
Pearson reserves the right to vary the terms and conditions and duties and
responsibilities of this contract at any point during the contract period. Notice of any such
variation will be communicated by email or post.
Prepared by: Relations & Development | Authorised by: JH, Relations & Development Manager | NCT AA Terms
and Conditions of Contract v1.3| November 2014