Fair Work Commission confirms that supervising school camps is round-the-clock work

The IEU congratulates the AEU for taking a strong stance on its dispute over the accrual of time in lieu while on school camps, which it has just won in the Fair Work Commission.

The win puts an end to the untenable argument that teachers could be ‘off duty’ while on a school camp. Importantly for many IEU members, this win flows to staff in Victorian Catholic schools thanks to an agreement the IEU reached with employers that the outcome of the dispute would be observed.

The outcome means that when a teacher or education support staff member is required at a camp overnight or to meet student supervision ratios, they cannot be deemed to be off duty. Teachers on camp will accrue Time in Lieu at full rates for every hour they are performing duties, and at half rates for every hour they are ‘on call’, including overnight.

As Justin Mullaly, AEU Deputy President said, “The idea you can be ‘off duty’ (on camp) doesn’t make sense”.

It was ridiculous, given the duty of care owed to students by teachers and education support staff for employees not to be considered ‘on call’ when working outside of normal attendance hours on camp.

Emily Streitberg, principal of Guthridge Primary School in Sale, told The Age the situation prior to the ruling was “farcical”.

“A teacher is never off-duty on a camp. You can’t turn off the duty required for the care and supervision of students in the sense that you can’t turn off children,” she said.

Mullaly said the Department of Education had for a long period of time “relied upon the free labour of teachers”.

IEU members in Catholic schools would remember this refrain from 2022’s No More Freebies campaign, when the union argued that employers in that sector were “addicted” to the free labour of employees.

The union’s members have campaigned fiercely to stem employer reliance on volunteerism and unrecognised and unremunerated work, in a bid to curb workload creep and create sustainable workplaces.

The IEU has argued long and hard that educators must be paid or provided with time in lieu for extra-curricular activities. It has been a cornerstone of the proposed “Workload Agreement” which will soon be voted on in most Victorian Catholic schools.

Under the new arrangements in government schools, an overnight on call payment will apply to all school camps, other than overseas school camps or any period of a school camp occurring during a school holiday period.