Non league contracts changing

[Roger D]

The FA have changed the standard contract for non league players, according to The Athletic. Injured players will now get full wages for 12 weeks in the National Conference and 6 weeks below. After that it's a maximum of £99.35/week for up to 28 weeks. Injured players can also now have their contracts terminated with three months notice, subject to the injury being expected to prevent them playing for four months. A club appointed person is responsible for making that call.

Clubs have the right to opt out and pay full wages, if this is agreed in the contract.

The PFA are not happy and have warned members considering signing a non league contract in preference to a league contract to be mindful of this. You can see the possible issues if someone like Paul Mullins got an ACL....

The report states the backdrop is the extreme financial pressure in non league. Perhaps clubs should pay less and be able to afford to continue paying those injured at work then. Frankly this seems pretty shabby.

 

[Ben Clasper]

The FA have changed the standard contract for non league players, according to The Athletic. Injured players will now get full wages for 12 weeks in the National Conference and 6 weeks below. After that it's a maximum of £99.35/week for up to 28 weeks. Injured players can also now have their contracts terminated with three months notice, subject to the injury being expected to prevent them playing for four months. A club appointed person is responsible for making that call.

Clubs have the right to opt out and pay full wages, if this is agreed in the contract.

The PFA are not happy and have warned members considering signing a non league contract in preference to a league contract to be mindful of this. You can see the possible issues if someone like Paul Mullins got an ACL....

The report states the backdrop is the extreme financial pressure in non league. Perhaps clubs should pay less and be able to afford to continue paying those injured at work then. Frankly this seems pretty shabby.

We were sent this news contract about a month ago. Came out of nowhere and is revolutionary and was certainly needed as the old ones were incredibly outdated.

The injury clause is there but is optional and we have already discussed how much of a differentiator that could be - if you have an offer from one club who insists on that clause and another who waived it that’s probably enough to sway the decision.

What worries me most is we already compete with many clubs who bypass their contractual and tax obligations and this contract will trigger even less compliance. When we introduced a new pension scheme this year (also now in the contract for the first time) and sought advice from clubs on how players were assessed we got crickets and so I have little doubt we are one of the few who fully comply with all of our employment obligations.

So, having never bothered to enforce the law or rules surrounding the old contract will be interesting to see if they govern this one.

 

[B.I.G]

Our Game Football – The UK's NO.1 Football Family

ourgamefootball.com

 

[Roger D]

Francis' work with Our Game was the subject of a lengthy piece in The Athletic last year. They've included a link to it with the article on the new standard contract.

 

[B.I.G]

Francis' work with Our Game was the subject of a lengthy piece in The Athletic last year. They've included a link to it with the article on the new standard contract.

Would you consider joining the board if asked?

Meetings could be attended remotely.

 

[Roger D]

An Oldham player has told the Press Association he thinks a strike may follow if the new contract is not amended. It's not clear who he has consulted with prior to making this statement.

 

[Scolly]

I can confirm that Oldham players have been striking for many years

 

[Monkeygrinder's Organ]

I can confirm that Oldham players have been striking for many years

If their strikers are on strike are they then simultaneously striking and not striking?

 

[Paula_G]

Macclesfield have already made their position on these new contracts very clear.

 

[Ben Clasper]

An Oldham player has told the Press Association he thinks a strike may follow if the new contract is not amended. It's not clear who he has consulted with prior to making this statement.

I hope people take the time to explain this properly and be objective. New contracts are needed as the old ones are just so outdated; they can’t update them without ensuring they are compliant with employment law and benefits and employee rights are added not just the sick pay. It creates a legal floor for the player and then each employer can decide to what extent they want to offer in addition to that floor and the player can choose the club that offers the best deal. Hopefully this will result in more clubs paying pensions, sick leave, holiday pay etc something we do for all staff and until now the only people not contractually entitled to all those things were the players due to the old out of date FA contracts. Personally I don’t think sick pay rates are appropriate for injuries as players are unable to work due to an injury caused by their line of work and I would hope all clubs take that view but they should still be in the contract so their legal rights are protected. Totally understand the nervousness from players many know how quickly some clubs will seek to take advantage.

 

[Stuart Fordyce]

Given at our level a lot of players are part time, could we see clubs offering folk sham self employment as "contracters" to get round offering pensions etc?

 

[Monkeygrinder's Organ]

Given at our level a lot of players are part time, could we see clubs offering folk sham self employment as "contracters" to get round offering pensions etc?

They could try but it would definitely fall under employment if anyone challenged it as players are very explicitly prevented from working for other clubs.

 

[Roger D]

I suspect a key issue for players will be the benefits of the new contract - and there certainly are some - simply won't outweigh the risk of doing an ACL in the first match of the season, leading to sick pay and unemployment.

Paternity Pay - most clubs seem reasonable about a bit of time off training and for births. I doubt many players will want to miss matches other than for a birth. If someone wins their shirt that's their bonuses gone at a time they need money. Not worth surrendering your right to be paid until the end of a contract if injured or ill for.

Pension - excellent but the devil is in the detail. If it's a 3% workplace scheme your average non league footballer won't accrue much of a pension. Again not worth surrendering financial security for the duration of your contract for unless this is the equivalent of an MP's pension...

Holiday pay - nice but not likely to be much use if you are unemployed and laid up in bed for months. Also not worth surrendering financial security if injured or ill for

(I'm hoping there's more benefits but those are the three I have seen mentioned.)

Also, will it be enforced or is it just another obligation certain clubs will skip?

The FA's aim is laudable but the proportional financial risk to the players seems to outweigh their gains. There's probably a deal to be struck with a bit of a rebalancing act.

Personally I think it's fundamentally wrong that someone could struggle to pay a mortgage or rent after being made redundant due to an injury sustained fulfilling contractual obligation to the same employer who then released them.

 

[Stuart Fordyce]

They could try but it would definitely fall under employment if anyone challenged it as players are very explicitly prevented from working for other clubs.

True, but a lot of them appear to have jobs such as fitness trainers where sham self employment is very common

 

[Christian Burt]

Apologies if I’ve missed any detail in this thread, but do non league footballers take out personal insurance to cover long term injury etc?

 

[Roger D]

Some do. It can be pretty expensive though. If the new contract comes in I wonder whether the league might try to strike a deal with a provider to try and get a bulk price discount.