What’s the big (Victorian Catholic) DEAL?

“This is the most significant change to workloads I’ve seen.”

So said an experienced teacher about the IEU’s in-principle Agreement in Victorian Catholic education.

And despite all the detail and technicalities of the deal, which arrived after such long and arduous negotiations, that is the most important thing to remember – it’s all about tackling workloads and improving our working lives.

All staff will soon be asked to vote to approve this new Agreement, so it’s important to understand what’s in it. This will also be key to ensuring that it is implemented correctly. IEU Organisers have been hitting the road as never before this term, going through the proposal with as many Reps, principals, and members as possible.

Below are some of the key things to know about this deal – for more detail head to the IEU website, where there are fact sheets, frequently asked questions, explainer videos and more.

Workload improvements:

·         Scheduled Class Time reductions of 1 hour in 2023 and a further half-hour in 2024 - the biggest reductions to SCT in decades.

·         Limits to before- and after-school meetings of two hours per week (no more than one hour per day).

·         Annual extras allocation reduced to 10 hours this year, 5 hours in 2024, then eliminated in 2025

·         Regulation of teacher working hours through the ‘30 plus 8 model’, providing teachers with more control over their time.

·         Time in lieu for employer-directed work outside the 38 hour week

·         Commitments to better manage workloads, deal more efficiently with administrative burdens and limit spread-of-hours for part-time staff.

Leave and conditions:

·         ‘Special Leave’: one day of personal leave to be used for other purposes

·         Stronger consultation, and better-trained, better-empowered Consultative Committees

·         Paid parental leave increasing from 14 to 16 weeks

·         Paid partner leave increasing from 1 to 4 weeks

·         Eligibility for paid parental leave after 3 terms (down from 4)

·         Superannuation & recognition of service for 12 months parental leave

·         Paid pre-natal leave for pregnant employees and partners

·         Paid Kinship and Foster Care Leave

·         Paid Family & Domestic Violence and Sexual Abuse Survivors Support leave

·         Casual employees eligible for Long Service Leave

·         Improved redundancy payments

·         Commitment to endeavour to limit ‘spread of hours’ for part-timers

·         Accident Make-Up Pay extended from 26 to 39 weeks for staff injured at work.

The Bottom Line

This deal:

• Achieves an historic shift in the way the work of teachers is regulated and valued, introducing a hugely important new model for managing workloads

• Reduces Scheduled Class Time for teachers

• Ensures that teachers and Education Support Staff have access to Time in Lieu for directed out-of-hours work

• Improves Education Support staff classification structures and salaries

• Introduces big improvements to parental leave provisions and tackles the gender pay gap

• Puts a brake on spread of hours for part-time staff

• Maintains pay parity with Victorian government schools

• Strengthens workplace consultation

• Introduces and strengthens a range of other important conditions.

We endorse this deal, and believe that if implemented correctly it will significantly improve the working lives of our members in Victorian Catholic education. We encourage you to vote YES to this Agreement, to explain the benefits to your colleagues – and of course to invite them to join you in your union!