Fórsa have received further clarification at the recent SNA Industrial Relations (IR) forum, which was attended by Fórsa Assistant General Secretary, Shane Lambert, and from the Department of Education regarding the 72-hours circular.

It had already been confirmed to Fórsa that the use of the hours is task dependent and that if appropriate work was not identified then the hours were not required. However, we have now also confirmed that if a block of hours is allocated for a certain task, the hours are finished whenever the work finishes and SNAs receive the credit for the block (1 hour or 2.5 hours).

As previously confirmed the duties also must fall within the agreed circular. This means that SNAs working on book clubs, homework & breakfast clubs, extra-curricular / additional activities etc. are not in line with the provisions of the circular and as such are not appropriate.

Fórsa had always taken it that if an SNA completes the defined tasks in a shorter time than the block scheduled, they can leave and still get the credit for what was scheduled e.g. if they finish in 1 hour or under, they should get the credit for the 1 hour and anything beyond that is credited as 2.5 hours (2.5 is the maximum amount of time that can be scheduled).

Shane commented at the meeting that there are still instances where there is non-compliance with the circular: “There have been instances where the employers were not complying with this, and they were allocating hours work on a time for time basis.

“We sought clarification through the IR forum back in May and there was no objection or alternative view put forward at that time. The minutes of that meeting confirming the position were signed off at our IR forum meeting last Thursday, the 12th of October.

“We will continue to support our SNAs and ensure that the proper measures are followed by school authorities when dealing with our members. Management bodies requested that where such issues arise, members should engage directly with their management first.”

“Fórsa requested that the management bodies advise their members that such engagement should always be seen as non-confrontational and treated as such. If members have concerns in this regard, they are advised to contact their local Fórsa representative for assistance in how the matter should be approached.”