SA Is the Employment Contract Legal?

[Luke7]

I'm an Art, Design and Digital Media Teacher. Recently I was employed for a few weeks as Temporary Relief Teacher at a DECD school. While I was there I found out that an art teaching employment contract (for the entire term) had been given to a young female English Teacher with zero art teaching experience by the Department of Education and Child Development.

To be honest, I'm absolutely perplexed as to why that contract was given to a young English teacher rather than an Art Teacher with 10 years of art teaching experience and an excellent resume/portfolio and glowing references.

I suppose at the end of the day it comes down to whether it was legal or not, and that's what I would like to find out.

Thanks in advance for any help on this matter.

 

[Lance]

Hi Luke,
My understanding was that teachers are on the same award so it shouldn't make a big difference who was engaged in either role. It may be a case of having a certain number of teaching positions in various specialisations and this young teacher was at the school for longer, so she was given the permanent gig. At the end of the day they have a right to engage who they want and if you approach it from a legal position, it doesn't mean you would get the job.

 

[Luke7]

Thanks for your response Lance.

Just to clarify, this was a contract for a term (about 2.5 months) and not a permanent position. In addition, this particular teacher had not previously worked at this particular school prior to this, and since she was a younger, less experienced teacher, she would be getting paid less than I.

Lastly, and I suspect this is more of a practical issue rather than a legal one, the school essentially hired an english teacher to teach art, when an experienced, but more expensive art teacher, was available.

I wonder, hypothetically, what the parents' responses would be if for example their school had hired a home economics teacher to teach their kids science when an experienced science teacher was available.

 

[Lance]

Hi Luke,
I might have misinterpreted you original post. So this teacher was placed at the school by the DECD in much the same way you have been awarded the temporary relief position. I think you have grounds to approach the DECD, but all the other stuff about parents views and what not would be speculative and probably not help your argument. When you speak to them lay out your case, but stick to the facts. It sounds like a reasonable argument. As far as having a legal stance, maybe! but I suspect this is the type of thing that would lead to costly arbitration with a department you would like to gain employment with in the future.

 

[Luke7]

I have no intention of taking legal action against the department, I just wanted to make sure that I have a reasonable argument. At the end of the day I just want to be treated fairly and to be considered for positions for which I am qualified, and in which I have I excelled in the past.

To be honest I'm even apprehensive about taking this to the department as it might end up blowing up in my face, but I think if I come across something like this again I will feel compelled to alert them to what's going on.

 

[Lance]

Hi Luke,
The difficulty is that its hard to know why they did what they did and yes I guess it could blow up in your face. Not being privy to the management decision makes it difficult to know what to do. You might find awarding the other teacher this short term contract my be due to her having taken a less favourable one for the department in the past. But who knows. I'm in WA and my understanding is that male teachers are getting a far better choice of positions due to a shortage of male teachers. Good luck. Think through what you want to say and try to keep any emotion out of it. Your argument will present much better if you keep it a bit clinical.

 

[Luke7]

Thanks for the advice Lance.

Indeed, the decision does seem very perplexing, especially given the fact that this particular school has 4 art teachers: all of them female.

Furthermore, the English teacher who was given this visual art teaching position only had one previous appointment with the department, and this was teaching English, which is her area of expertise.

As for male teachers getting preferential treatment of positions, to be honest my experience seems to indicate the exact opposite.

 

[harryluther]

I think reading the employment contract carefully is one of the best thing you can do first.