QTAD Q&A

I recently lost two spares when I attended a school sports carnival. Can this time be made up?

Secondary school teachers are entitled to a minimum of 210 minutes of non-contact time per week. In many secondary schools, teachers are scheduled with more than the basic entitlement.

Generally these additional spares are allocated so that the teacher is available to the school for internal relief purposes in the place of absent teachers. This being said, a teacher must still receive their minimum NCT entitlement each week. Unlike primary and special schools, there is no provision for aggregation of NCT entitlements, i.e. if a teacher has an additional spare in one week (over 210 minutes), this should not allow for a reduction of NCT/spares the following week (under 210 minutes).

In relation to loss of spares due to attendance at sports carnivals, the Union suggests that teachers should be given the option of taking their NCT during the day and therefore no spares are lost. This way those teachers with an over-allocation of spares could still be made available for supervisions, provided they still receive the minimum of 210 minutes NCT that week.

Having said this, there may be an opportunity for admin to negotiate with a teacher to take on a supervision/internal relief (for emergent situations) which may take them under their allocated 210 minutes for the week, with an agreement not to allocate any supervisions the following week. This arrangement could be with the agreement of the teacher and not simply a mandated decision from admin. We would suggest any such agreement be confirmed in writing.

I am a permanent teacher currently on unpaid leave from my base school but am employed on a contract for semester two. Am I entitled to any payment during the Christmas break?

Entitlement for the summer vacation period is based on the number of school days that were worked during the school year. Remote schools attract an entitlement of 33 days vacation. All other schools are entitled to 28 days vacation. Leave loading entitlement will be paid in December 2014.

Permanent teachers who undertake periods of contract work during unpaid leave will receive a pro-rata entitlement to Christmas holiday pay in accordance with the portion of the year worked, i.e. one semester contract = 50 per cent of Christmas holiday pay.

Formula: Number of days teaching service multiplied by 28 (or 33 days) vacation divided by the number of days in the school year.

Teachers on pay suspend (leave end date last day of the summer holidays) over the summer vacation will be paid their entitlement as a lump sum payment in late December 2014.

Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 119 No 7, 3 October 2014, p26