An urgent review of the entitlements for part-time teachers at second-level will have to be undertaken following a judgment from the European Court of Justice, according to Charlie Lennon, ASTI general secretary. Judgement in a case involving a Bavarian tax official, Helen Gerster, makes it clear, he says, that part-time workers must be treated on a similar basis as full-time workers when promotions are made.
The judgment is likely to have major implications for part-time teachers in Ireland, says Lennon. It makes clear that service for part-time work will have to be taken into account when length of service has a bearing on the appointment. In arriving at this verdict, he explains, the European Court of Justice considered the 1974 equal pay directive and the 1977 equal treatment directive.
The fact that the Irish Government made written and oral submissions to the court, he explains, would suggest that the court is aware of the consequences for public service employment in Ireland. Service for part-time work will have to be taken into account when length of service has a bearing on promotion of staff. "As there is no such provision in Irish schools at present," says the ASTI secretary, "it would seem there is a clear case for changes which would benefit part-time teachers in Ireland."
The ASTI currently has its legal experts assessing the court's ruling in full and considering its consequences for the present system of incremental salaries.
A spokesman for the Department of Education said the department "will be assessing the implications and significance of the judgment where relevant". Alice Prendergast, president of the TUI, also welcomed the judgment. "We think it's very timely," she says. "We await the full conclusion of it." The judgment will also have implications for part-time workers at third-level, she explains, and "it will also effect job sharers."
Many unions in the public sector have been awaiting this particular judgement, says Prendergast. "We are very pleased with the outcome. It will affect permanent staff with year's of part-time service."
The ASTI has made an initial submission to the Labour Court as part of a case being taken to remove discriminatory elements of the job sharing scheme for teachers.
"It seems clear that teachers not being entitled to receive allowances as holders of posts of responsibility while they are job sharing is discriminatory, given that most job-sharers are women," says Lennon. "We have also objected to the loss of seniority for job-sharers and to the reduction in their pension benefits due to the partial reckoning of service for post-holders for the three years prior to their retirement."
