Stop stand downs of support staff in independent schools, unions demand

<p>A small number of independent schools may stand down support staff without pay in Term 2 because of COVID-19&comma; according to the Independent Education Union of Australia&&num;8217&semi;s NSW&sol;ACT branch&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>The union is calling for an immediate stop to any such steps&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<blockquote>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;In light of the government’s recently announced job-keeper wage-subsidy payments&comma; there is no reason to stand support staff down&comma;” said IEUA NSW&sol;ACT Branch secretary Mark Northam&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;blockquote>&NewLine;<p>Businesses will be paid a wage subsidy of up to &dollar;1500 per fortnight per employee&comma; under a Federal Government plan to keep Australians in work during the coronavirus crisis&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<blockquote>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Staff must not be stood down while these plans are still evolving&comma;” Northam said&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The union is seeking for all staff in schools and early learning centres to remain fully employed&comma; even while schools and centres are operating with reduced numbers of students&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;blockquote>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;There is no shortage of work to be done&period; Schools need to creatively explore ways to ensure school sites remain safe for the staff and small numbers of students who attend and to enhance online learning provided to students&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Support staff are already playing a valuable role in assisting teachers to provide online learning and maintaining contact with students and their families&period; Schools cannot be expected to deliver a new hybrid model of education without teachers and support staff working together&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3>All awards and enterprise agreements require the employer to consult with employees and the union about potential stand-downs&period;<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<blockquote>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;It is not clear that schools will need to stand down employees in the current situation and they must consider all the issues before taking any drastic steps&period; Schools delivering online education are NOT shut&period; We are calling for an immediate halt to any threatened stand-downs&comma;” said Northam&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;blockquote>&NewLine;<p>Teachers and support staff can call their union if they are concerned about work health and safety at their school&comma; their requests to work from home&comma; or their employment rights&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;