Commission agrees – Teachers’ work undervalued by 10%
In a long running case originating in obtaining pay justice for teachers in early learning settings, the Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission has determined that a new award salary scale with significant increases of the order of 10% should apply because of changes in the value of the work of teachers over time.
The Full Bench found that change in the work value of teachers since 1996 occurred in four main areas:
(1) Additional training requirements for entry into the profession.
(2) Increased professional accountability associated with registration requirements, standardised testing and greatly increased expectations concerning reporting and being accessible to parents and families.
(3) Greater complexity of work resulting from a shift to outcomes-based education and differentiated teaching, with associated requirements for greater documentation and analysis of individual educational progress.
(4) Teaching and caring for a more diverse student population including, in particular, additional needs children.
Any eventual changes to the Teachers Award will flow on to all teachers covered by that award, not just those in Early Learning Centres. Enterprise Agreements override awards, so staff working under an existing enterprise agreement would not be directly impacted.
Read Decision Commission summary from para [11] to [15] in particular
https://www.fwc.gov.au/documents/documents/summaries/2021fwcfb2051-summary.pdf
Read full decision
