Fórsa officials have requested a conciliation hearing from the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) in relation to assault leave provisions for SNAs. 
Over the past 24 months officials have been engaged in extensive discussions on the issue of assault leave.

Fórsa assistant general secretary Shane Lambert expressed disappointment, saying: “We made suggestions on how to expand on some of the provisions which would alleviate many of the issues encountered by members on the ground. But despite all the effort from our side, the department has not taken any of our suggestions on board.”  

Shane flatly rejected the department’s stance on the issue. He said “At the last IR forum they stated that they saw this as more of an employer/management issue. We do not accept this.” 

“We believe the department has a greater role to play with health and safety. They need to provide increased guidance and support to schools and school management” he continued.

The Department of Education has been engaging with teachers’ unions separately on the issue of an Occupational Injury Scheme. They have indicated their intention to discuss the issue with Fórsa following completion of discussions with teachers’ unions.

Shane said “This is a delicate issue, and we should be included in such discussions from the start. SNAs are often reminded that they are a separate and distinct grade from teachers when we raise inequalities and disparities in conditions, so the department should not take for granted that we will accept whatever is agreed with teaching colleagues by default.”

“We cannot delay acting on this any further, as time passes while we discuss things SNAs are being injured in the workplace and are not being supported appropriately by these inadequate provisions, so we have now referred the provisions on assault leave as well as general health and safety to the WRC for discussion.”

Included in the referral is a claim to amend health and safety leave for pregnant SNAs to ensure equal provision to teacher and education colleagues. This was another claim put forward by the union, seeking to amend the health and safety leave available for pregnant SNAs to afford them identical provisions to their teaching colleagues, however this claim was also rejected by the department.

Shane concluded “Being an SNA can often be dangerous, given it is a physically demanding role.  However, it should not mean that is an accepted fact that injuries and assaults occur. More must be done to mitigate the risks and to consistently improve the level of safety.  Many SNAs have seen an increasing frequency of incidents and assaults in classrooms. We need to do whatever we can to secure their safety in the classroom and secure better supports for them should the worst happen.”

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