How does this apply to teachers and school leaders?
The right to disconnect from work
Since the 26th of August 2024 most employees in the fair work system have had a new right: The right to disconnect. This means eligible employees have now the right to refuse employer or third-party contact outside of working hours in some circumstances. They can refuse to monitor, read or respond to contact outside their working hours, unless doing so is considered to be unreasonable. Their potential right to disconnect to work content is, however, dependent on:
- Role and level of responsibility
- Personal circumstances
- Method and reason for contact
- Degree of disruption
- Compensations for extra work
Navigating the right to disconnect for schools
Incredible as it seems, Australians are depending on legislation to enforce their right to electronically disconnect outside of work hours. In an education sector context, the new law presents some unique challenges as schools are now required to carefully evaluate and adjust out-of-work-hours for teachers. On the one hand, schools have legitimate operational needs that may require teachers to work outside of normal school hours, such as supervising school camps, sports activities, and extra-curricular programs. On the other hand, teachers should be allowed to have a private life as well and not be "permanently on call", but disconnect from work demands during their personal time.
Reasonable Expectations: Schools need to carefully evaluate what constitutes reasonable out-of-hours expectations for their teaching staff based on factors like roles, responsibilities, and compensation.
Co-Curricular Activities: Clear policies are needed for overseas trips, sport events, and camps to notice, compensate, and alternate staff.
Parent/Student Communication: Schools have to implement strict protocols around communication channels and response time for teachers and parents/students.
Work-Life Balance: Schools should limit out-of-hours work to promote better work-life balance for their employees.
"Of course, we recognise that overnight excursions and camps, Saturday sport and boarding house supervision are an essential part of life in many independent schools, and staff need to be available for these times and activities. But teachers and school staff also have the right to downtime and are still entitled to the legislated right to disconnect when they are not performing an allocated or rostered duty. School staff should not be required to be on call at 8 pm on a weeknight if a parent or student wishes to contact them."
Carol Matthews, NSW/ACT Branch Secretary
A matter of urgency to retain teachers
Primary and secondary teachers, principals, and school staff are already carrying heavy workloads. They often experience unsustainable workloads, have trouble sustaining a healthy work-life-balance, or are even experiencing burnouts. To counteract the rising attrition rates and school workforce crisis, school staffs well-being needs to be protected. One way is the right to disconnect in order to guarantee them uninterrupted personal time. Another way is to lower their stress levels by equipping them with the skills they need to become the best teacher they can possibly be and show them how to remain calm even in challenging situations. The Anxiety Project is designed to help with the latter by improving teacher's confidence in recognising and reducing student's anxieties, which ultimately also impacts their sensation of stress at work.