Minister Foley advances process to resolve the claim by school caretakers
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From: Department of Education
- Published on: 27 May 2024
- Last updated on: 29 September 2024
Minister for Education Norma Foley is today announcing a critical step in the process to resolve the claim by school caretakers.
A survey is being issued to all recognised primary and post-primary schools regarding school caretakers, following the successful implementation of a range of measures on the terms and conditions (including the provision of a payroll service) for school secretaries,
Caretakers are employed directly by many of the 3,089 primary schools and 722 post-primary schools. The purpose of the survey is to gather information from schools who employ grant-funded caretakers regarding the current rates of pay and hours worked by caretakers. As caretakers are employed by schools, it is necessary for the department to engage with the school sector to gather this important information. This is also the process which was used in relation to school secretaries. This survey will facilitate further engagement with Forsa – the union representing school caretakers.
Minister Foley said:
“I recognise the very important work carried out by school caretakers and the valuable contribution they make to their school communities.
“The information gathered as part of this survey will play an important part in understanding the individual working conditions of caretakers and will enable officials in my department to make progress on resolving this claim. I urge every school to play their part in ensuring that we have comprehensive and robust information to inform this very important work."
Schools will be emailed a link to the electronic survey and asked to complete it by Friday 14 June 2024. The department is asking all schools for their assistance in completing the survey by this date.
Notes
In February 2022, following a series of engagements at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), a package to settle a claim on terms and conditions for grant-funded school secretaries was proposed. A ballot was subsequently undertaken and the deal was accepted by Fórsa’s membership.
The package agreed also included the provision of a payroll service. The department is providing this service for school secretaries since 1 September 2023.
Negotiations on a similar deal for school caretakers will shortly commence.
In February 2022, following a series of engagements at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), a package to settle a claim on terms and conditions for grant-funded school secretaries was proposed. A ballot was subsequently undertaken and the deal was accepted by Fórsa’s membership with 95 per cent in favour of the agreement.
The package agreed also included the provision of a payroll service. The department is providing this service for school secretaries since 1 September 2023. There are currently 2,745 individual secretaries on payroll, covering 2,984 school secretary positions. 203 secretaries have multiple employments.
Offers by schools to secretaries under Circular 0036/2022:
Circular 0036/2022 was issued by the department in June 2022. The Board of Management of each school was requested to offer the school secretary the option of accepting the revised terms and conditions which included payment of salary by the department. The circular provided information on the pay rates and annual leave entitlements which assisted School Secretaries with the decision-making process on whether to accept the revised terms and conditions including a payroll service. Offers to secretaries by schools was completed by schools by the end of September 2022.
73 per cent of school secretaries accepted the offer for revised terms and conditions with 27 per cent not accepting the offers. There are 808 secretaries who opted-out of the new arrangements.
The department is currently finalising arrangements to give previously opted-out secretaries a further opportunity to accept the agreement and be onboarded to payroll from September 2024.