From 1 July, the 2.4% minimum wage increase granted by the Fair Work Commission will take effect. This increase is also applied to all award rates, including those in the Educational Services (Post-Secondary Education) Award 2010, the award that applies at any private college that doesn’t have an enterprise agreement in place.
For those teachers on Level 2, the annual salary will increase to $46, 552.76, and the casual hourly rate will go up to $44.59. For those on Level 7, the new annual salary will now be $52, 853.99, and the casual hourly rate will be $50.63, and for Level 12, the annual salary will now be $60, 131.01, with a casual hourly rate of $57.60.
It is worth noting that these are only the minimum rates that must apply. It is open to your employer to pay you more, and the best way to make sure that happens is by negotiating an enterprise agreement with your employer. The Fair Work Act contains provisions that mandate good faith bargaining where it can be demonstrated that a majority of employees (or section of employees, such as teachers) wish to start negotiations. Contact your Union to find out how this might work at your college.
Government programs
Many IEU members in the English teaching market are often employed on government funded programs such as the Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP) or the Skills for Education and Employment Program (SEE). Funding for SEE classes is mostly guaranteed until June 2017, and the government recently extended the existing contracts for the AMEP to the same date.
The Commonwealth Department of Education and Training will soon begin the tender process for the next round of AMEP funding, to commence from July 2017. Meetings with stakeholders are expected to start around September this year, and new contracts are expected to be awarded early in 2017. Arrangements for SEE are yet to released, but will presumably follow a similar timeline.
Agreements
Regular readers would be aware that your Union has been busy bargaining with various colleges this year. Agreements have been finalised at UoW College, Insearch and EF, and agreements in principle have been reached at Sydney College of English, Access and Universal English College. Negotiations remain ongoing at Navitas English (though the end may be close here), NewSouthGlobal, WSU The College, Navitas English Services and SELC. Later in the year, negotiations will commence with Australian Pacific College, Kaplan and Embassy.
Visits
Your Union is always eager to come and visit with members in every workplace, and that includes yours. If you would like to meet with officers from the IEU for any reason, all you need to do is ask. Union officers possess the relevant ‘right of entry’ permits, and so are legally entitled to enter the premises of any college, though equally we understand the sensitivities of the sector, and we are happy to meet off site if that’s what you and your colleagues prefer (the IEU also boasts excellent meeting facilities at our various offices). For any enquiries to the Union, call 8202 8900 or email kendall@ieu.asn.au.