Recruitment (Casual Teacher Employment) Policy

1. Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to ensure the appropriate application of the casual mode of employment and the procedures for the engagement of casual teachers. This policy also informs casual teachers of their entitlements and their obligations to CIT.

The employment of casual teachers will be in accordance with the provisions of Section 110 of the PSM Standards, the ACT Public Sector Canberra Institute of Technology (Teaching Staff) Enterprise Agreement 2013-2017 or its successor (the Agreement) and the provisions of this policy.

2. Scope

This policy applies to all casual teachers, and is relevant to supervisors/managers of and delegates approving the engagement of casual staff covered by the provisions of the Agreement. This policy does not apply to casual general staff.

3. Principles

3.1 In line with the Agreement CIT is committed to minimising the use of casual teaching employment and promoting job security through temporary or permanent employment.

3.2 Casual teacher employment should, as with other staffing decisions, be based on the workforce planning strategies of the teaching college/division.

3.3 Under no circumstances should a person be permitted to perform the duties of a casual teacher without a current Eligibility for Employment, issued and signed by CIT HR and the casual teacher.

3.4 Employment of casual teachers is employment on a non-continuing basis with employment conditions set out in the Eligibility for Employment and the Agreement. There is no guarantee, and should be no expectation of work beyond the period defined by the Casual Teaching Schedule (the schedule).

3.5 Casual engagement should only be considered where the work required is unpredictable, irregular or intermittent, only needed for a short period of time, or where funding is uncertain.  For example: to fill in during staff absences, periods of peak workload, short-term projects or new initiatives.

3.6 Delegates must ensure that appropriately skilled and qualified teaching staff within the teaching college or as negotiated across teaching colleges, who do not have a teaching load applicable to the full or part time nature of their employment, are provided with the additional teaching hours prior to the engagement of a casual teacher.  Additional designated hours should not result in a liability for overtime to CIT.

3.7 Casual employment is intended to provide CIT with the flexibility to respond to short-term variations in workload or operational need and is only one of the employment options available to managers to meet identified needs.  Consideration should be given to other forms of employment and the working arrangements of existing staff before utilising casual employment.

3.8 The duties and working arrangements for casual teaching employment must be consistent with the hours of work, Work Health and Safety and other relevant employment conditions provided by the Agreement.

3.9 The rate of payment for casual teachers includes a loading in lieu of all forms of paid leave (excluding long service leave), notice of termination of employment and any access to redundancy provisions (see sub-Clause 14.9 of the Agreement for more information).

3.10 With the exception of unpaid parental leave and periods of compassionate leave as contained within the Agreement, periods of casual employment do not count as service for the purpose of determining an employee's entitlement to any benefit requiring a minimum period of service.

3.11 The Head of Department is responsible for verifying that the hours and duties undertaken accurately reflect those provided on the Schedule.

3.12 Schedules that are not approved by the relevant Head of Department will be deemed incomplete and payment will not be actioned until such approval is forthcoming.

3.13 The use of casual teachers should be monitored regularly to assess the current and potential continuation of the workload, skill requirements and funding.  If the requirements of a position have changed, then the casual mode of employment should be reassessed.

3.14 Subject to the provisions detailed at Clause 13 of the Agreement, and the relevant staffing policy, a casual teacher is eligible to take up a Temporary Teaching Only contract (for a period not exceeding 12 months) where, over two consecutive semesters (12 months), the teacher has undertaken not less than 144 hours of direct teaching activity during each individual semester, and further engagement as a casual teacher is expected. Alternatively, the eligible casual teacher may elect to continue as a casual teacher.

1. Where a casual teacher elects to continue as a casual teacher, regardless of the hours of engagement, the total engagement may only continue for a further period of 12 months to a maximum total engagement of 24 months.
2. At the end of this 24 month period no further casual engagement will be available to the casual teacher unless there is a break in service of no less than 3 months and 1 day.
3. The teaching college/division may offer the individual a temporary contract should they wish to re-engage that individual beyond the 24 month period.
   Note. Short term temporary engagement must involve selection from the casual/temporary register, and long term temporary engagement will require advertisement of the position. Similarly, subject to the conditions detailed at subclause 14.4 of the Agreement, a casual teacher may at this time request CIT appropriately advertise a position as either permanent or temporary (for a period of no less than 24 months).

3.15 Where a teaching college/division seeks to re-engage a casual teacher beyond the total 24 month period detailed above, a written application must be submitted to the Chief Executive for approval.

1. Applications may include, but are not limited to, evidence of the engagement being truly irregular or intermittent, highly specialised, and/or that CIT will not be the casual teacher's primary source of income.
2. Sequential continuation of casual engagement will only be approved under exceptional circumstances, and each new engagement will require a new written application with up-to-date evidence provided.

3.16 In line with the Fair Work Act, a casual teacher's employment may be terminated by either the casual teacher or CIT without notice. Hours scheduled by a CIT department may be changed or withdrawn by the department without notice.

1. Clause 52 of the Agreement provides provisions for payment for the cancellation of scheduled classes.
2. Any action that will alter a casual engagement should be discussed with HR Employment Relations.

4. Documentation

Authority Source

1. Fair Work Act 2009
2. Public Sector Management Act 1994
3. Public Sector Management Standards 2006
4. The ACT Public Service Canberra Institute of Technology (Teaching staff) Enterprise Agreement 2013 - 2017

5. Definitions

Agreement - means ACT Public Service Canberra Institute of Technology (Teaching Staff) Enterprise Agreement 2013 - 2017 or its successor.

Casual teacher - means a person engaged by CIT under the PSM Act to complete teaching activity (direct teaching) or hourly non-teaching work for a short period on an irregular or non-systematic basis.

Casual/temporary Register - means a register to which applications are submitted annually in response to advertisement.

Casual Trigger - means a process for eligible casual teachers to request advertisement of either temporary or permanent positions, subject to conditions provided at Clause 14 Casual Teacher Employment Arrangements in the Agreement.

Delegate - means the person authorised by the Chief Executive to perform specific functions such as the engagement of casual teachers.

Direct teaching - means teaching activity associated with the teaching of students as outlined in the Agreement at Clause 20 (Direct Teaching and Duties other than Teaching)

Director - means a person employed with responsibility for the efficient management of a teaching college/division.

Employee - means a casual, temporary or permanent employee who is employed or engaged in the CIT in a classification set out in the Agreement at Annex A.

Engagement - means to recruit or employ an individual to undertake paid work.

Head of Department - means a person who is responsible for managing staff and other resources.

Intermittent and irregular - means work which is ad hoc and for which there is no discernible pattern.

Manager - means a person who has responsibility for planning, organising and leading a work unit or group activity and also has direct or indirect supervisory responsibility for teaching staff.

Rate of Payment

• Teaching rate - is the rate of payment applicable to a casual teacher undertaking a direct teaching activity as outlined in the Agreement.
• Non-teaching rate - is the hourly rate of payment applicable to a casual teacher who is undertaking duties other than direct teaching activity.

Regular and systematic - means work that is able to be scheduled and for which there is a pattern.

Satisfactory performance - means that duties assigned and undertaken by an individual meet the expected standards as articulated by the manager or supervisor.

Supervisor - means a person who has direct supervisory responsibility for one or more teachers in a work unit or group activity.

Temporary contract - means a contract of employment which is for a finite period of time and for which there is no expectation of permanency or continuity.

Temporary Teaching Only - means a temporary contract of employment to undertake direct teaching only as provided for at Clause 13 Temporary Teacher Employment Arrangements of the Agreement.

Termination - means the cessation of the employment relationship between an individual and CIT.

6. Policy Contact Officer

Manager, Safety and Employment Relations.

Contact CIT Student Services on (02) 6207 3188 or email infoline@cit.edu.au for further information.