In Short
-
Clearly outline employee roles, pay and entitlements in a written employment agreement.
-
Follow legal requirements for working hours, wages, and leave entitlements.
-
Handle flexible work requests fairly, and only decline them if there is a valid business reason.
Tips for Businesses
Review your employment contracts regularly, make sure pay and leave conditions comply with the law, and approach flexible working requests with an open mind. Keep clear records of discussions and decisions.
In the course of running your education or training institution, you will undoubtedly have to deal with the process of hiring teachers and instructors. The legal requirements surrounding hiring and employing in the education industry can be detailed and confusing. This article will take you through the key points to remember when dealing with employment law in the education industry. The article will review the requirements for drafting and executing an employment agreement, your obligations when setting your employees’ hours and pay, how to manage employee leave, and your options when an employee requests flexible working arrangements.
Employment Agreements
An employment agreement dictates what your employees must do for you and what you must do for your employees. For this reason, you must create an employment agreement that is right for you and your employees. Here are some key features you will need in your employment agreements:
- Your agreements should be written rather than verbal. This will allow you to quickly refer back to what you and youremployee have agreed to.
- Explicitly note your expectations and requirements so that it is clear to your employee what they have agreed to do during their employment.
- Include things such as hours and pay in the agreement, as well as entitlements in line with the National Employment Standards.
- Make sure to only include requirements on you as the employer that you know you will be able to do. If you breach the employment agreement, you may open yourself to legal action.
Hours and Pay
Hours
The law requires that employees work no more than 38 hours per week unless additional hours are reasonable. Full-time employees typically work 38 hours a week, whereas part-time employees work fewer than 38 hours a week. These 38 hours include authorised leave.
Where you require extra hours from your teachers and instructors, you must ensure the additional hours are reasonable. When deciding whether the hours are reasonable, you must consider:
- the personal circumstances of your employees, such as family commitments that you are aware of;
- the risk posed to the employee’s health and safety by imposing additional hours and work;
- whether you actually need them to work the additional hours for business reasons;
- whether you have given the employee enough notice to require them to work extra hours, and whether they have given you notice of their inability to work extra hours;
- the nature of the employee’s role and their responsibility level;
- whether other employees in the industry are required to work as many extra hours;
- whether the extra hours are compliant with the employee’s employment agreement; and
- whether the employee is being remunerated for the extra hours (this may need to be at overtime rates, depending on the employee’s base rate of pay).
Pay
Depending on what kind of business you run, you must meet different employee pay standards. The national minimum wage in Australia is $24.95 per hour. However, you may need to pay your employees more depending on whether they are teachers, their employment status and whether they are covered by a modern award. For more detailed advice on what you need to pay your employees, contact our experienced employment lawyers as part of your LegalVision membership.
Leave
The amount of leave you award your employees depends on what you offer in their employment agreement and the terms of any modern award or enterprise agreement that covers them. However, there are specific minimum leave entitlements for employees set out in the Fair Work Act 2009.
Parental Leave
To access unpaid parental leave, your employees must provide you with notice. Employees are eligible for unpaid parental leave if they have worked with you for 12 months before the birth or adoption of their child or when their leave starts.
Annual Leave
Permanent full-time employees are entitled to 4 weeks’ annual leave a year. Part-time employees are entitled to pro-rated annual leave, which accrues in accordance with their ordinary hours of work. Casual employees do not accrue annual leave. Some employees, such as shift workers, are entitled to an additional week of leave.
School Holidays
Unless they must be at school during the holidays for specific business-related reasons, teachers do not have to come into the workplace on school holidays. They are still required to do the work agreed to in their employment agreements.
Other Forms of Leave
Other forms of leave include:
- personal or carer’s leave;
- unpaid compassionate leave;
- paid family and domestic violence leave; and
- long service leave.
If your employee is not performing at the expected level, you may need to implement a performance improvement plan (PIP) to get them back on track. Our free PIP template will assist.
Flexible Work Arrangements
Your employees may request flexible work arrangements. Following COVID, many employees have pushed for arrangements such as working-from-home days or flexible hours. Employees are entitled to request flexible work arrangements for reasons such as:
- pregnancy;
- parental/carer responsibilities;
- disability;
- age; and
- family/domestic violence.
These arrangements can include job-sharing, changes in hours or working from home.
However, many such arrangements may be impractical for your educational/training institution. For example, it would be impractical for you to provide flexible hours to a teacher. You are allowed to reject requests for flexible working arrangements where impractical or unreasonable, so long as you have discussed the request with your employee and attempted to come to an arrangement that suits you both.
Key Takeaways
Understanding the employment law governing the employment of teachers, instructors, and other employees at your educational or training institution is crucial. Some key points to remember are:
- An explicit and well-drafted employment agreement is essential.
- There are minimum pay standards and maximum hours your employees can be expected to work, subject to your business’ needs.
- There are multiple forms of leave to which your employees are entitled by law.
- You must grant flexible working arrangements for your employees where practical if they are eligible, unless there is a reasonable business ground not to.
If you need help drafting an employment agreement or managing your other obligations, our experienced employment lawyers can assist as part of our LegalVision membership. For a low monthly fee, you will have unlimited access to lawyers to answer your questions and draft and review your documents. Call us today on 1300 544 755 or visit our membership page.
Frequently Asked Questions
An employment agreement should set out the employee’s role, duties, pay rate, working hours, leave entitlements, and termination terms. It ensures clarity for both parties and helps prevent disputes about expectations or obligations.
Yes, but only if you have a genuine business reason. For example, if approving the request would impact productivity, customer service, or staffing levels. Always communicate your decision clearly and keep a written record.
We appreciate your feedback – your submission has been successfully received.
