If you are a teacher working in a Catholic systemic school, some forms of overseas teaching experience are now recognised by employers – and this can mean a big increase in your pay!
This was the case for Kathleen Bowen, a teacher at Gilroy College Castle Hill. Despite having experience working in the UK for two years, Kathleen was being paid at the level of a newly graduated teacher.
Kathleen said: ‘It just didn’t seem right that I wasn’t being paid for the experience I did have.”
Upon contacting the IEU for advice, Kathleen discovered that it was because she was not having her overseas service recognised.
In the past, only service in Australian schools was recognised in the Catholic systemic sector. However, thanks to the strong actions of members during the enterprise agreement campaign in 2017-2018, IEU was able to win significant advances. For Kathleen, this meant that her overseas service could be recognised.
Once the agreement was approved, Kathleen and the IEU contacted payroll at Catholic Education, Diocese of Parramatta and sought reclassification. Kathleen also provided a statement of service from her UK employer. Kathleen was then reclassified to a higher level, and was back paid the difference between this and her previous salary back to the first pay period of 2018.
“This was a great result for Kathleen. But there are many other teachers in this category – they should make sure they contact the IEU to see if they can get the benefit too,” IEU Organiser Keith Heggart said.