The union had a recent win for a school secretary when an issue arose over the point at which she was placed when moving to the new school secretaries’ proposals and associated salary scale. 

The member was initially hired under the premise of a 44-week salary arrangement, however, in a common practice observed among school secretaries and with the agreement of school management, this salary was averaged out and paid over 52 weeks.

The issue arose when the initial offer placed the school secretary at point 10 on the pay scale, despite the union’s calculations contending that the correct placement being at point 15. Despite several appeals made by both the school secretary and school management to rectify the discrepancy, the Department upheld their decision and insisted that the secretary was correctly placed on point 10 the pay scale, in their view.

The school secretary turned to Fórsa for support, where Industrial Relations Officer Dave Sexton stepped in to support them and offer assistance. 

“On consulting with the school secretary, I was able to determine that they were indeed on the incorrect point on the scale.  I was able to clarify this by requesting payslips and school documentation that clearly showed that the 44 weeks of pay had been spread out over 52 weeks.  Which meant that when the correct hourly rate was calculated it should have done on the value of 44 weeks rather than 52 weeks which would give a higher rate of pay per hour,” Dave said.

After the union’s intervention the Department moved the school secretary to point 15 on the pay scale and agreed that any underpayments made during their time on point 10 of the pay scale would be backdated and paid retrospectively.

“Situations like this demonstrate the real value of being a union member, where members in the first instance try to resolve matters themselves and have no resolution, members can turn to us and we will intervene on their behalf and progress matters to favourable outcomes for them,” added Sexton.

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