Workplace flexibility in the Education sector
During COVID-19 lockdowns, employers rapidly adjusted to a work from home environment, and many chose to maintain this flexibility through a hybrid model post-COVID. Teachers faced challenges during this period as they adjusted to remote learning themselves, whilst also helping students adjust to this new environment. The education sector is not inherently flexible by nature, however, there have been recent changes that have called this into question.
In 2024 Queensland public schools will be implementing new work hours and a four-day school week after successful trials in 2023. The Department of Education aims to manage teacher availability and bolster student and staff wellbeing and engagement by methods such as changing class times and shortening the school week. For some schools this will mean that students may start as late as 10.45am or finish early with the option to go home or stay at the school and study. Staggering start and finish times by grade with a split shift timetable means that students will have sole access to teachers and facilities during certain times of the day. These flexible arrangements will be determined by the school Principal in consultation with the school community, however, many parents have expressed opposition to such arrangements.
Parents are concerned that flexible school hours and days could cause a logistical burden and have a negative impact on families. Similarly, many teachers are concerned that this could increase their workloads. Reshaping the school day or week is a vast change that requires extensive stakeholder engagement between schools, parents, teachers, and community stakeholders.
In 2023 the Senate Select Committee on Work and Care released a report that recommended increases to workplace flexibility to help employees manage caring commitments and other beneficial improvements for employees. The report noted that a four-day work week has positive impacts on gender equality in employment participation with success evident in Iceland, Belgium, and the United Kingdom. What this recommendation fails to recognise is that, for the education sector, workplace flexibility is more than a matter between employees and their employer, it impacts communities.
Employees with caring commitments may be entitled to request flexible work arrangements as discussed in our podcast, however, workplace flexibility is not a one size fits all arrangement. Families arrange their lives around school commitments and any change to the days or hours of schools will not only impact teachers, but students and their families. This isn’t to say that workplace flexibility in the education sector is impossible. What is clear is that any significant movement towards school flexibility should involve school community and any significant changes should be implemented with support for families with diverse needs.
“In November 2023, Queensland’s Education Department provided its schools with guidelines to change class hours from Term 1, 2024, giving them the option of implementing flexible school timetables to suit their own contexts.”