Employment

Know your limits

Ask any Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) member working in the independent sector what their biggest current concern is and they will invariably reply “workload”. John Richardson reports

The Working Time Regulations came into force in 1998 to provide statutory regulation of working hours in the UK. The regulations cover England, Scotland and Wales, while similar regulations apply in Northern Ireland. The ATL survey of pay and conditions in October 2009 revealed that, during term time, 64 per cent of teachers work more than the maximum 48 hours per week recommended by the EU.

While these long hours are rarely disputed, some employers feel that they are compensated by the long holidays. Unfortunately, this misses the point: working excessively long hours over a period of time can cause damage to health. Moreover, it can impair their judgement, which could have consequences for them and those in their charge. For instance, is it reasonable to expect a teacher who has worked a long day to then drive the school minibus at night? Of course, this is not a problem for every teacher in every independent school but it is an issue that needs to be taken very seriously.

The long-hour culture can be particularly bad for support staff, where the combination of long hours and low pay can be particularly toxic. ATL has taken on a number of successful legal cases against boarding schools for breach of the National Minimum Wage and for failing to provide reasonable time off.

Unlike most jobs or professions, teachers in the independent sector have the dubious distinction of not having their hours of work defined in their contract of employment. However, there are legal limits to the number of hours that can be reasonably worked. Senior managers and employers need to make sure that their school is in compliance.

The Working Time Regulations
The working week is limited to a maximum of 48 hours, averaged over 17 weeks. In residential institutions, the averaging period is 26 weeks. Individual agreements are possible between worker and employer excluding the standard 48-hour limit. These agreements must be in writing and contain a notice clause.

Rest breaks
Most workers are entitled to an uninterrupted rest break working time regulations of at least 20 minutes away from the workstation during the working day, if it exceeds six hours. ATL recommends a minimum uninterrupted break of 40 minutes.

Daily rest period: most workers have a right to a daily rest period of at least eleven consecutive hours in each 24.

Weekly rest period: employers must provide a minimum weekly rest period of at least 24 hours in each seven-day period for most workers. The rest period is not required to include Sunday.

Annual leave: workers are entitled to four weeks per annum.

Night work
Night workers’ hours are limited to eight hours in each 24-hour period, averaged over 17 weeks. A night worker is one who, as a normal course, works at least three hours of daily working time between 11pm and 6am.

Record-keeping
Employers must keep “adequate” records to show that the average weekly working time limits are being observed.

Partial exclusions
The legislation provides for some flexibility from the full rigour of the regulations, firstly to accommodate various sectors of employment and also to cover certain exceptional circumstances at work.

The key ones are:
• residential institutions (such as boarding schools);
• foreseeable surges of activity; and
• unusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond the control of the employer (including accidents).

In each of these cases, the worker is not entitled to the standard daily and weekly rest periods nor to the daily rest break. However, s/he is “wherever possible” to be allowed to take “equivalent period of compensatory rest”. Significantly, in these cases the limits on working time will still apply.

So what do the regulations mean for employees
working in educational institutions?

Working time
As the 48-hour limit is averaged over 17 or 26 weeks, term-time hours are inevitably diluted by holiday periods. Nonetheless, some boarding schools where “on duty” periods are especially onerous may be affected. Note that boarding schools are not exempted from the normal 48 hours averaged limit.

Rest and breaks
Residential institutions, such as boarding schools, are excluded from the usual requirements on rest and breaks – but staff are “wherever possible” entitled to claim “an equivalent period of compensatory rest”. For some, this might mean coming in late the next day, after working late the night before. ATL members in a number of boarding schools have successfully negotiated compensatory rest to be taken in blocks of time.

Similarly, the flexibilities for “surges of activity” and “unforeseeable circumstances” are likely to apply to events such as school trips, where short periods of unusually long working hours are required. Again, in these cases, compensatory rest should be given.

So what should be done?
As well as the obligations under the Working Time Regulations, all employers have a duty of care towards their employees and the school’s needs must be balanced with those of staff. Monitoring workload should be a priority. Workload should be discussed with individual staff in regular one-to-one meetings with their line manager and also at their appraisals. As a collective issue, workload should be on the agenda of the school consultative meetings or joint negotiating committee.

Of course, it is always easier to identify problems than solve them. ATL members are committed to working with managers and employers to help find solutions. ATL has produced a Work Life Balance Toolkit, which includes practical surveys to instigate discussion and assist problem-solving.

The toolkit is not prescriptive, as circumstances will be different from school to school. Many independent schools have already found considerable benefit from using the toolkit and have discovered that not all measures taken have a cost implication. It is free of charge to ATL members and can also be accessed via the ATL website: www.atl.org.uk.

John Richardson is the national official for the independent sector for the Association of Teachers and Lecturers.

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