Late cancellation loophole exploiting casual relief teachers
Casual relief teachers are being routinely dumped from shifts at the last minute without pay – sometimes in the school car park on the day of their shift.
Casual relief teachers say they are being routinely dumped from shifts at the last minute without pay, as labour-hire agencies exploit a loophole in Victoria’s late-cancellation rules.
Under a union-negotiated agreement, schools cancelling after 12pm the day before must pay casuals for the full day, but this is only enforced if the teacher is directly employed by a school council.
Labour-hire agencies, which supply a large share of casuals to schools, are not bound by the deal and are free to set their own cancellation conditions.
It’s a gap in the system that longtime casual teacher Nicholas Decker says is leaving casuals feeling like “the bottom of the food chain.”
“I’ve been cancelled in the carpark, on the way into the school, once while I was signing in,” he said.
“Schools book us weeks or even months in advance just in case, but an hour before the shift they’ll say, ‘no absences today,’ and that’s it there’s no repercussions.”
Mr Decker has worked across dozens of schools in Melbourne’s west, but now dreads the mornings he’s rostered on to teach.
“I’m worried every time my day to come and teach comes up, do I get paid this week?” he said.
“In the last term alone I lost five days.”
Casuals rely heavily on agencies to secure enough work to “survive”, and are struggling with low pay, unreliable work, and difficult work conditions, Mr Decker said.
Mr Decker used agencies endorsed by the Department of Education’s CRT panel, one of which allows cancellation up to 90 minutes before the shift with teachers only entitled to a half day’s pay or alternative work if it can be found.
It is understood agencies may opt to charge a fee to a school if it cancels a booking after 12pm the day before, but the fee is ultimately applied at the discretion of each agency.
But AEU Victoria Branch President Justin Mullaly said agencies are “required to comply with the same rules as school councils.”
“Casual relief teachers play a crucial role in Victoria’s schools in ensuring the delivery of high quality learning opportunities for students when their usual teacher is away. It is essential that their workplace rights to full and fair pay, including when their shift is cancelled at short notice, are upheld by employers,” he said.
“In Victoria, if a public school needs to cancel a casual relief teacher’s shift, and the school provides late notice to the teacher or their employment agency after 12pm the day prior and an alternative shift is not provided, the teacher is required to receive full payment.”
“These rules apply whether the teacher is employed directly by a public school, or by an agency.”
Victoria’s public schools are already under strain, with 73 per cent of principals reporting staff shortages in the past year and almost 1000 teaching jobs are currently advertised on the government portal.
Nearly one in five Australian teachers are employed as a casual, and CRTs now deliver about 10 per cent of all student learning, according to the Australian Education Union.
It is understood a tender process is underway to replace the current CRT panel arrangement
“The Department has clear rules when it comes to cancellation of casual relief teaching shifts,” a Department of Education spokesman said.
“The arrangements for Casual Relief Teachers include provision to deal with shift cancellation.”
