Am I entitled to work remotely?
Staff who are medically vulnerable or those with caring responsibilities for a person who is medically vulnerable should be allowed to work from home according to the national health recommendations for schools. You may be required to provide evidence of the medical condition if your employer is not already aware of it. In most cases, other staff will be permitted to work from home on a roster basis, although this may change if student attendance at school increases in Term 2.
Will I be paid for working remotely?
If you continue to carry out your work or similar/alternative duties at the direction of your employer, you are entitled to be paid.
What if I get sick while I am working remotely?
As is normally the case, if you are sick there is no requirement for you to work. You will be paid your normal sick leave provided you follow the usual school notice and evidentiary requirements.
The IEU recommends you confirm with your school what evidence requirements are appropriate as we assume employers would not wish to unnecessarily burden the medical system.
Am I covered by workers compensation when working from home/externally?
You are covered by normal workers compensation provisions provided you are actively engaged in employer directed duties.
Who will pay for my internet usage/hotspot data?
All teachers are advised to keep accurate records of data usage and payment plans in the event of there being a future claim from your employer.
Teachers are also reminded there will be tax deduction implications for home office work.
Should a substitute teacher be engaged to replace me if I am sick?
It is the expectation of the union that the usual process of engaging casual teaching staff will continue, however, it is not entirely clear how schools will be able to respond to this situation. This may depend on the availability of casual staff and how feasible it is for casual teachers to have access to the school’s Learning Management System (LMS). The expectation from the union is that no member should be required to accept any additional workload due to the staff absences. All relevant Industrial Instruments continue to apply with respect to class sizes and teaching hours.
Do I have to provide work for students when I have some at school and some working from home?
Teachers should expect to contend with only one mode of instruction, face to face or online, and staffing arrangements at the local level should be organised so as to facilitate this. This may involve collapsing classes and/or forming multi-year instructional groups in primary, especially in the face to face context.