Our March Survey in Class Action asked members a number of questions about Enterprise Agreements in order to understand member’s knowledge and also to identify and questions that members needed answered.

Here are the most requested Q&As…

I am a teacher – what is the maximum workload?

Depending on your employer, you may have workload incorporated into your Enterprise Agreement (EA). It is important to have this recorded in an EA as it sets a benchmark for the basic components of what a teacher is asked to do.

Catholic and Lutheran EA’s set out maximum Student Contact Time, the amount of meetings you can attend and the amount of extra-curricular activities you can be asked to do. These amounts will vary depending on where you work and whether you teach in a primary or secondary setting.

For example, a full time teacher in a primary Catholic school could be asked to do 24 hours of student contact time and 4 hours of meetings and duties per week.

Many Independent schools have workload written in school policy; others do not formally state workload.

It is important to understand that an EA must be negotiated with employees, but school policy can just be enacted, changed or withdrawn at the discernment of the employer. So it is important that you and your colleagues act collectively and fight for workload to be included in your next EA Log of Claims.

Contact your IEU Organiser for assistance in finding workload limits under your current school EA (if it is included).

If you work in a Catholic school we have developed a workload calculator, you can access this in the members section of our webpage – http://ieusa.org.au/members/login

I am a teacher – what is the amount of NIT that I get in my Timetabled Time?

The amount of Non Instruction Time (NIT) will vary depending on who your employer is.

As detailed in our answer about teacher workload above, many EAs (but not all) define the amount of Contact time, the amount of Timetabled Time and NIT.

For example, at a Catholic school, the amount of NIT for a teacher is the difference between the Timetabled Time (think of that as the total time of student attendance) minus the Student Contact Time. So for example a Full-Time secondary teacher in a Catholic school has a maximum Student Contact Time of 22.5 hours a week. If the Timetabled time was 26 hours then they would be entitled to 3.5hrs of NIT a week.

If we are trying to quantify workload though, the better measure is Student Contact Time and setting a maximum for this.

Measuring workload by the times that a teacher is not in front of students could actually increase workload. For example take the same situation as above. If there was just a guarantee for 3.5 hrs NIT a week, the Timetabled time could be increased to 28 hours, now that teacher would be doing 24.5hrs of Student Contact Time. So just having an amount of NIT specified (in an EA, contract or policy) is not sufficient.

It is very important for NIT to be measured in meaningful amounts. Occasionally, we encounter examples where teachers are having NIT in small amounts (sometimes as little as 10 minutes at a time) which makes it difficult for teachers to undertake meaningful tasks.

If this is the case at your school, at your next EA negotiations make a claim for a minimum amount of NIT release per occasion, say 30 minutes, to ensure that teachers are able to do meaningful tasks in this time.

I am an ESO/SSO/Support Staff – how do I get reclassified?

Getting re-classified is important if you believe that you are doing tasks which are higher than the grade for which you are currently employed and being paid. Your EA should define the reclassification process.

In general terms, you need to submit written evidence of the tasks you are doing that are at the higher grade. This would normally be accompanied by your latest PID / Job Description. If your principal does not agree with your claim, or it goes unanswered, a panel would then be convened to decide on the validity of your claim or you can access the dispute resolution process in your agreement.

Your claim needs rigorous evidence and unfortunately members often start the process before contacting us for advice and fail to achieve the reclassification.

We regularly encounter Support Staff members who don’t have a recent Position Information Document (PID)/Job Description. In most EA’s there is a requirement to update PIDs regularly, often every few years. If that hasn’t been done it may be a breach of the EA.

If you believe that you are doing tasks that are above your grade, contact your IEU Organiser and they can assess whether those tasks are of a higher grade. If they are, your Organiser can advise of the process and help you to form your evidence before submitting.

Keep in mind, if you are undertaking higher duty tasks for a short term you could be eligible for higher duties. The other criteria that you need to consider is the level of autonomy and or supervision that you have in your role.

Your IEU Organisers can assist you with this – be sure to check with them for clarification.

I am an ESO – What is the correct salary for my grade/level?

This will depend on your employer and what is set out in the salary schedule in your EA or Award.

ESO/SSO/Support Staff salary grade is dependent on the tasks they are being asked to do.

Simpler tasks with greater oversight and less rigor will be at a lower Grade.

Higher grades may have qualification requirements and generally will have a level of complexity and/or autonomy which is greater than lower grades.

Within each grade there will be levels and after a certain amount of experience (usually a year), you should move up to the next salary level.

For example, the following table sets out the salary of various grades and levels

Grade 1

Grade 2

Grade 3

Grade 4

Grade 5

Grade 6

For example, if you are starting your job as a Grade 2 ESO, without experience you will note in this salary table that there are 3 levels, each with slightly higher salaries. On engagement you would start at Grade 2 Level 1. After one year you would progress to Grade 2 level 2. After a further year, you progress to Grade 2, Level 3

Once you reach the top level of the grade your classification would not progress further unless you were being asked to do tasks from a higher grade — in which case you could request a reclassification. See the explanation above on how to get reclassified.

Contact your IEU Organiser if you believe that you are not being paid correctly or want to compare salaries.

I am an ESO. My workload is not manageable within the contracted hours so I keep doing unpaid overtime – what can I do?

This can be a tricky situation as often support staff report that the expectation at their workplace has developed over time to allow unpaid overtime to establish as the norm.

This is clearly not ok, as hourly paid employees need to be paid for all the time they are engaged to undertake work.

We are aware of ESO/SSO/Support Staff routinely working through lunch breaks and for periods after their paid employment, or not taking their paid recess break.

Unless individuals or the collective make a stance to stop this, unpaid overtime gets embedded as the norm.

Communication here is key. Merely recording the amount of unpaid overtime you are doing may not be sufficient as it may be necessary to demonstrate that you were directed to do that overtime (rather than just make the decision yourself).

Requesting approved overtime

We would suggest that at the earliest possible point in the day you make contact with your line manager to state that you are not tracking to be able to complete the tasks set and ask the question do they want you to work overtime or complete the tasks the next workday.

Requesting this in writing, and receiving the answer in writing, is very important as it will be your evidence of approval should a disagreement occur about whether the overtime was authorised.

IEU Organisers are experienced in dealing with these issues and can talk through with you how to approach it, having consideration for the workplace and the management.

I am an ESO – can employers keep adding roles/jobs to my workload without paying me more?

It depends.

There are two important factors here:

• Is the task adding to your workload and resulting in you not being able to complete your work in the given time frame?
• Is the task at or below your current salary grade/level?

It may be reasonable and not attract any extra pay through extra hours if the added role/job replaces or displaces another. In this case, it is a change in duties and this should just be captured in an updated PID/Job Description.

On the other hand, if the additional role/jobs prevent you from completing the tasks assigned to you, then either other roles/jobs should be reduced or taken away from your load, or, you need to be employed for longer hours or receive overtime (see the above explanation about requesting approved overtime).

If the role/job is at a higher grade than you are currently paid, a reclassification may be the right course of action (see ‘I am an ESO/SSO/Support Staff – how do I get reclassified?’)

Time off – how do I know what events I can get time off for?

Many EAs have provision for leave for family events. In some EAs there is a right to these and in others you need to apply and it is at the Principal’s discretion.

In both the Lutheran and Catholic EA’s, there is the right to 2-days paid leave a year for family events (eg. moving house, participation in representative sport for yourself or a family member, significant family events such as wedding/family reunion). You may need to provide evidence that the event qualifies for this leave.

If you current EA doesn’t provide for paid leave, consider raising it when the Log of Claims is being discussed and developed for your next EA.

Your IEU Organiser can assist you with this.

Called to a meeting: I have unexpectedly been called to a meeting. What are my rights? What should I do?

We have an excellent Fact Sheet for members – you can access this in the Member Area (Fact Sheets) of our website. It is called ‘So you have been called to a meeting’ and it outlines procedural fairness in performance and conduct matters.

Briefly, the Fact Sheet will inform you on:

• The right to know the case one has to meet
• The hearing rule
• The rule against bias
• The ‘no evidence’ rule.

Click here to access the Members Area – http://ieusa.org.au/members/login

IEU Fact Sheets are a key benefit of IEU membership. You can access these Fact Sheets in the member area – http://ieusa.org.au/members/login

• So you have been called to a meeting (Procedural Fairness)
• Family and Domestic Violence Leave
• EA Bargaining Salary Impasse Options
• Voice Care
• Risks during pregnancy
• Health & Safety Reps
• Consultative Committees – What are they?
• Consultative Committees – Get one underway
• You want me to run a Branch Meeting?

Catholic School Specific*

• Reporting Incidents in Catholic Schools
• Catholic EA 2020 – Workload Flyer
• Catholic SDNCT Flyer

*These fact sheets are only downloadable by IEU members in the Catholic system. If you are not in the Catholic system you will get a ‘Not Found’ response. If you are currently working in the Catholic system and can’t access these documents, it may be that we need an update from you. Please contact our office – 8410 0122

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