Know Your Agreement: 30+8
This is a huge change - for the first time, this Agreement defines the working week of teachers, and protects their professional autonomy by putting strict limits around the amount of time in any week that a teacher can be directed by their employer.
The ‘30 + 8 model’ needs to be understood in tandem with the new Time in Lieu provisions won in the CEMEA.
Teacher workload under the Victorian Catholic Agreement
Under the proposed Agreement, normal attendance time for full-time teachers is 35 hours per week (seven hours per day, commencing at least 10 minutes before the start of the school day), plus up to 3 additional hours as directed by the employer.
30 hours per week consist of scheduled teaching and teacher-directed ‘class focus’ time.
8 hours per week can be directed by the employer for other tasks. This includes a 30-minute daily paid lunch break, leaving 5.5 hours per week for directed meetings, duties, classroom or eating supervision, professional development and compliance and other tasks.
– Up to two of the additional three hours may be allocated to meetings adjacent to the seven hours of attendance (these meetings should not exceed one hour, unless otherwise agreed by the Consultative Committee).
– The third hour can consist of other directed tasks outside the seven-hour attendance time, including supervision duties, collaboration, compliance and professional development, or attendance at school events adjacent to the seven hours of attendance.
Teachers have the right to leave the workplace when they do not have scheduled duties.
What falls into the eight hours of employer-directed time?
Teachers can be directed by their employer to perform up to eight hours of non-classroom duties each week. Five of these fall within the seven-hour day, and three are adjacent to it. These hours consist of:
teacher lunchbreaks free from assigned duties (5 x 30 minutes per week)
meetings (capped at 2 hours outside the seven-hour attendance time)
student supervision (such as yard duty, bus duty, detention, assemblies, before and after school, and supervised eating)
directed collaboration
whole-school curriculum development
implementation of government education initiatives employer-directed compliance and professional development required school events and activities within the school day (outside of attendance at school Mass)
Can the additional three hours adjacent to attendance time be done at home?
Absolutely, if agreement is reached between employer and employee. There may be capacity for teachers to join meetings online, or for some types of directed PD or compliance work to be performed from home. This could particularly suit part-time staff not at the workplace (keeping in mind though that part-time staff can only be required to undertake a pro-rata portion of these three hours).
Does it have to be 3 x 8-hour days and 2 x 7-hour days?
Attendance time provisions in the Agreement are based on a 38-hour week for a full-time teacher. Schools have the flexibility to (through the Consultative Committee) make local arrangements on how this is implemented. For example, it could be agreed that the week could consist of two 8-hour days (with meetings) and three days of 7 hours and 20 minutes.
Does the 38-hour week mean we lose the right to leave the workplace during the school day?
No, this right to on occasion leave the workplace has been retained. Clause 59.1 of the Agreement states:
Teachers’ work includes the work undertaken to meet their professional responsibilities. This work may be performed in other locations including, for example, the Employee’s home.
Teachers may absent themselves from the attendance requirements … when they are not required to participate in scheduled duties.
Are formalised collaboration meetings in the teacher’s time? the 38-hour week mean we lose the right to leave the workplace during the school day?
If a teacher is directed to collaborate in a particular way at a particular time, then this is considered employer-directed time. However, it remains a professional expectation for teachers to collaborate, and they will be required to collaborate within the 30 of hours of their planning and preparation component of the 30 plus 8 model. For example, a team meeting which teachers are required to attend must come out of employer directed time whereas collaboration initiated by teachers amongst themselves can be part of the 30 hours.
30 + 8 Example –
Catholic Primary school
Primary
School day runs from 8.50 – 3.30
Seven-hour ‘attendance time’ for teachers: 8.40 – 3.40
Scheduled Class Time:
21.5 hours per week (2023), 21 hours per week (2024)
This includes all scheduled classes, scheduled assemblies, sport / activities scheduled during class time.
Class Focus Time:
8.5 hours per week (2023), 9 hours per week (2024)
This time is for work related to the learning and teaching program. Teachers have the professional autonomy to determine the work they conduct during this time, and they cannot be directed. This time must be in usable blocks – short breaks between other duties should not be considered Class Focus Time.
Employer-directed time during attendance time (up to 5 hours per week):
Half-hour lunch breaks x 5 = 2 hours 30 minutes
Classroom supervision: 8.40-8.50 = 50 minutes
Supervised eating: 8 minutes per day = 40 minutes
Yard duties: 3 x 20 mins = 1 hour
= 5 hours
Employer directed time outside of attendance time (up to 3 hours per week):
1-hour all-staff meeting: 1 hour
1-hour team meeting: 1 hour
Gate/bus duty before or after attendance time x 1: 10 mins
Professional development / compliance (40 mins every second week): 20 mins
PSGs: 30 mins
= 3 hours
30 + 8 Example –
Catholic Secondary school
Secondary
School day runs from 8.50 – 3.15
Seven-hour ‘attendance time’ for teachers: 8.35 – 3.35
Scheduled Class Time:
19 hours per week (2023), 18.5 hours per week (2024)
This includes all scheduled classes, homeroom, scheduled assemblies, sport / activities scheduled during class time.
Class Focus Time:
11 hours per week (2023), 11.5 hours per week (2024)
This time is for work related to the learning and teaching program. Teachers have the professional autonomy to determine the work they conduct during this time, and they cannot be directed, except to take extras (up to 10 hours in 2023, 5 in 2024, eliminated in following years). This time must be in usable blocks – short breaks between other duties should not be considered Class Focus Time.
Employer-directed time during attendance time (up to 5 hours per week):
Half-hour lunchbreaks x 5 = 2 hours 30 minutes
Yard duties: 3 x 25 mins = 1 hour 15 minutes
Meetings during the school day = 20 mins
Before/after school yard/bus/gate duties within attendance time: 15 minutes
Before-school briefings (within attendance time): 2 x 10 mins = 20 minutes
Other supervision (student clubs / sports / detention) = 20 minutes
= 5 hours
Employer directed time outside of attendance time (up to 3 hours per week):
Weekly all-staff meeting: 1 hour
Weekly team meeting: 1 hour
Gate/bus duty before or after attendance time x 1: 10 mins
Professional development / compliance (40 mins every second week): 20 mins
PSGs: 30 mins
= 3 hours
New teacher workload clause
59.2 Allocation of Teacher work
(a) A Teacher with scheduled class time at the maximum (as set out in clause 60.4) will be provided with 30 hours per week to undertake work directly related to the learning and teaching program of their class(es). This 30 hours will comprise the maximum scheduled class time in accordance with clause 60.4 and class focus time in accordance with clause 59.2(b).
(b) Class focus time includes work directly related to the learning and teaching program of a Teacher’s class(es) (such as planning, preparation, collaboration, assessment). The Teacher has professional autonomy to determine the duties undertaken in class focus time.
(c) The remaining eight hours are available for Employer-directed activities such as yard duty, meetings, supervision, other duties and a paid break of not less than 30 minutes per day (free from assigned duties).
(d) Both the 30 hours for learning and teaching focus, and the eight hours for Employer-directed duties will be adjusted for part-time Teachers according to the proportion of scheduled class time in accordance with the following formulas:
(actual scheduled class time / maximum scheduled class time) × 30 hours
(actual scheduled class time / maximum scheduled class time) × 8 hours