Executive Director’s Update to Principals #34 - 18 July 2023
Strategies to Acquit Time-in-Lieu for Primary Schools
Thank you for contributing to the thinking about the acquittal of time-in-lieu during the Diocesan Leadership Gathering late last term. Education Consultants will seek to have this on the agenda at upcoming zone meetings, to assist with the response in individual school settings.
System response for 2023.
DOBCEL recognises that any system response needs to be flexible, respecting that a one-size fits all approach is not suitable at a time when we are still learning the implications of the new EBA.
From most reports, schools are tracking relatively well in terms of managing the acquittal of TIL through local management using acquittal strategies that best suit your school community.
Where there may be a deficit, meaning, you will not be able to acquit all of the TIL accrued before the end of the year:
- DOBCEL schools are authorised to finish one (1) day before the gazetted school year in Term 4. Please complete the link below outlining your anticipated need for the additional day across the majority of teaching staff. Where there are multiple Catholic schools within a community, there should be collaboration across schools for local consistency where possible.
- Should you determine that a second additional closure day is required to acquit Teacher TIL adequately across the majority of school staff, DOBCEL schools can apply for one (1) additional closure day. Again, please complete the link below outlining your anticipated need for the second additional closure day across the majority of teaching staff. Tom Sexton, Executive Director, will review applications for approval. Where there are multiple Catholic schools within a community, there should be collaboration across schools for local consistency where possible.
- A school may determine to pay out some/all of the remaining TIL at the end of the year if they can do so within the current budget as provided in Clause 59.3 (h) of the proposed CEMEA 2022 - As an alternative to time in lieu, the Principal, as the Employer’s representative and the Teacher may agree to payment for time in lieu owed at the Teacher’s ordinary rate of pay.
Note that while there may be additional funds available in 2024, we do not believe any additional money will flow in 2023. Any anticipated funds in 2024 are only expected to partially support the cost of TIL for camps.
The maximum possible lead time should be given to families in communicating additional closure days. The attached link will enable schools to request additional school closure days in 2023 and indicate your school’s approach to acquitting TIL.
Planning for system response for 2024.
We are continuing to review your feedback and will have a more detailed response for the 2024 school year throughout Term 4, aligned to the general strategies for the acquittal of TIL previously shared. Including:
Acquittal using days at the end of the year – before the end of the gazetted school year
Acquittal during the school year – strategies include the following:
- Utilise available days from the reduction in PPT (reduced from 3 to 2 days in 2023 and to 1 day in 2024)
- Utilise available hours from 8 hours within the ‘Other Duties’ component of the 30+8 Model – e.g. Full-time employee works 37 hours instead of 38 hours in a week, for weeks 3 to 8 of Term = 8 hrs of banked TIL
- Utilise a late start/early finish where appropriate for the school day
- Days during the school year - review the school calendar to ensure the best utilisation of pupil-free days and to acquit TIL, including days next to a public holiday where appropriate.
Payment of TIL – as an alternative to time off in lieu, where the Principal and the employee agree as provided for in Clause 59.3 of the proposed CEMEA 2022 and within budget capacity.
Acquittal with replacement - i.e. engagement of ET or use of internal resources to enable release of teacher when replacement is required
Any combination of the above options or as agreed upon by the principal and the teacher
Refer to the CECV Teacher Time-in-Lieu Implementation Guide for more information.
Further Resources and Support Available
- DOBCEL People and Development Team are available to support implementation issues for the new EBA. Please contact Maree Baker on 0436 460 275 or via email.
- DOBCEL is supportive of facilitating working meetings of school leaders to workshop solutions to TIL as requested through Education Consultants.
- Supporting correspondence will be provided to assist communication with families regarding additional closure days.
People and Development Update
Submission of Proposed CEMEA 2022.
Following the endorsement of close to 79% of employees who participated in the voting process for the Catholic Education Multi-Enterprise Agreement 2022: Diocese of Ballarat, Diocese of Sandhurst, Archdiocese of Melbourne and Lavalla Catholic College, Traralgon (CEMEA 2022), we are pleased to advise that the CEMEA 2022 has been submitted to the Fair Work Commission (FWC) for approval.
- Employees received notification of the submission of the CEMEA 2022 to the FWC through a direct email on 5 and 6 July 2023.
- Many of the benefits of the CEMEA 2022, including the July 2023 salary increases apply ahead of the formal FWC approval. Once the CEMEA 2022 is approved by the FWC, the remaining benefits and conditions will apply seven days after the FWC approval.
- The timing of FWC approval of the CEMEA 2022 is unknown as approval timeframes are set by the FWC, however, employers and Principals will be notified once this has occurred.
We are grateful for the dedication and leadership of our Principals and employers throughout the bargaining process and for your continuing commitment to delivering a high quality Catholic education to the students in your care.
OHS Update
Psychosocial Risk Assessment eLearning module.
The Victorian Government is currently considering an amendment to Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 - Occupational Health and Safety (Psychological Health) Regulations (proposed regulations).
The proposed regulations will strengthen the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Framework and recognise that hazards that pose a risk to psychological health are no less harmful to employees' safety and wellbeing than physical hazards. The proposed regulations aim to promote the importance of psychological health and safety in the working environment.
In anticipation of the approval of the amendment to help schools prepare for the proposed legislation changes, DOCBEL has purchased an eLearning module from our EAP provider, Converge International that gives a great introduction into what psychosocial hazards are and how to assess the risk and control the hazards that may be present.
We are currently working with the Education Consultants on how best to introduce this one hour eLearning module across our schools. We have also made a change in HINT to ensure any psychological injury or incident entered is automatically deemed serious, therefore immediately escalating these incidents for actioning.
Chemwatch.
The Chemwatch implementation is progressing with over 40 schools/sites having sent the required data to Chemwatch to build their portfolio. We continue to work with the schools that are yet to forward their data to Chemwatch. Once this data is submitted, the designated school Chemwatch administrators are invited to online training and a further information package is sent to schools which includes:
- CECV Chemical Management training video
- OHS noticeboard poster – FAQ and guidance how to access the Safety Data Sheets
- New Chemical Management Procedure
This has been a great effort and we thank everyone for their work. Please see the attached Chemwatch noticeboard FAQ for display once the Chemwatch implementation has been completed.
Concussion.
Children often bump or bang their heads and it can be difficult to tell whether an injury is serious or not. Any knock to the head is considered a head injury. When a student suffers a concussion at school it is deemed a Worksafe notifiable incident.
Please see attached an updated information poster to be displayed in First Aid rooms of what to do if a concussion occurs at school. This is to be used in conjunction with the Concussion Recognition Tool 5 Concussion Recognition Tool 5.
It is important for schools to be made aware of a concussion that has occurred outside of the school setting (on weekends or during extracurricular activities) to ensure that on return to school the student is monitored for ongoing symptoms. We suggest that an article be included in the school newsletter to remind parents of the recommended care of a child suffering from concussion.
Concussion – Important information
If your child has experienced concussion, it is important that you follow recommended medical advice. Returning to school can be a graduated approach with the aim of increasing tolerance to a full day, the same situation could occur with sport. It is always important to check with your doctor and seek medical treatment after a child sustains a concussion.
It is important to inform the school if your child has sustained a concussion outside of the school setting so we can monitor for ongoing symptoms and adapt activities if required.
This factsheet link below from the Royal Children’s Hospital is valuable to read and understand.
https://www.rch.org.au/kidsinfo/fact_sheets/Head_injury_return_to_school_and_sport/
There is also a great evidence-based app from the Murdoch children’s research institute that walks you through what to do in the result of a concussion.
Destruction of Vaccination Information.
On 12 July 2022, the Occupational Health and Safety Amendment (COVID-19 Vaccination Information) Regulations 2022 (Vic.) (Amending Regulations) came into operation for a 12-month period to continue to enable employers to collect, record, hold and use COVID-19 vaccination information in the absence of pandemic orders. The Amending Regulations outline that stored vaccination information must be destroyed by Friday 11 August 2023.
The Information Technology team will destroy vaccination information stored on Personnel Record System (PRS) and ICON servers, however, schools are required to ensure the destruction of vaccination information stored locally, such as within email servers, Google Drives, local files, hard copy employee file documents and any other local storage methods. The ER team, in consultation with the Information Technology team, prepared Document and Email Deletion Guidance to assist schools with the process required to ensure that vaccination information is destroyed by the destruction date.
If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact:
- EBA/HR - Maree Baker, HR Manager on 0436 460275
- OHS - Leah Crough, OHS Coordinator on 0419 687893