Workloads for teachers
- It is a popular misconception that teachers only work from 9am-3:30pm. The school day may be shorter than the standard office day but teachers put in extra hours before and after the school day and at weekends. Teachers spend many extra hours planning lessons, marking work, assessing pupils, inputting data, organising and running extra-curricular activities and taking on wider-school roles and responsibilities.
- Another misconception is that teachers are not covered by the Working Time Directive. In fact all teachers are covered by the EU Working Time Directive2 and by the UK Working Time Regulations 19983 as amended. A further myth is that the statutory working time protections are negated by the School Teachers’ Pay & Conditions Document (STPCD). The STPCD reinforces the legal position that it does not conflict with the Working Time Directive4. It goes on to state explicitly that governing bodies and head teachers must have regard to the working limits set out in the Working Time Regulations 1998 when allocating work to teachers5.
- Working time should not exceed on average 48 hours a week over a 17 week period6. The requirement on teachers to ‘work such reasonable additions hours as may be necessary to enable the effective discharge of the teacher’s professional duties’7 does not displace this protection. Teachers are not included in the list of ‘exceptions’ to whom the 48 hour limit does not apply8 and the employers of those teachers have a duty to ensure that the working time limit is complied with9.
