School secretaries are to be paid through the Department of Education payroll system for the first time on September 14th. Previously, the amount paid varied from school to school – and some secretaries were paid less than the minimum wage.

The agreement, negotiated by Fórsa, significantly improves incomes and paid leave arrangements for low-paid secretaries, who the union says have been overlooked and undervalued for years.

Secretaries’ salaries will now be averaged over 52 weeks, including the cash value of job seekers benefit, which means secretaries will no longer have to sign on for unemployment benefits during school holidays. This new arrangement will commence as soon as staff go live on payroll.

Fórsa has worked tirelessly throughout the summer in anticipation of these changes. During these months a small number of schools refused to pay their secretaries which has resulted in the union securing payments for its members. In two instances, Fórsa members received over €10,000 in wages due back from the summer.

Chair of the school secretaries branch and member of the Divisional Executive, Luisa Carty, welcomed the historic new pay structure saying that the campaign has spanned years – but started gathering momentum in 2019 with the “Support our Secretaries” or SOS campaign.

“School secretaries are the hub of the school. They’re the first person you meet as you walk in the door. Originally there were huge numbers of school secretaries who weren’t even getting the minimum wage.

“We went to meetings across the country and found huge disparity. Fórsa officials have worked tirelessly to get this across the line. Not all school secretaries are happy with the deal, but most are, and we’ll move forward from this and get our pensions, sick leave and bereavement leave from our next campaign,” she said.