Fixed Term Teacher Employment – School Vacations
Introduction
The following information is provided to assist principals and school HR
administrators in ensuring fixed term teachers and paraprofessionals are paid
correctly during school vacation periods.
There are two separate, but related steps involved in ensuring that a fixed term
teacher has the relevant school vacation periods included in their period of
employment.
These are as follows:

Determining the duration of the vacancy which is to be specified in the Job
Opening on Recruitment Online;

Determining the employment period and termination date that is entered in
Job Data when hiring or rehiring the person on the payroll (this applies
whether the person is being employed for the first time or is being rehired, in
the same or a different school).
Teachers employed fixed term must have relevant school vacation periods included
in the period of employment. This policy is set out in the Recruitment in Schools
Guide, which is available on HRWeb, and is summarised below:

For a teacher employed on a fixed term basis for a full school year,
continuously in one or more schools, the employment end date will be the day
before the commencement of the next school year.

The end date of employment for a teacher employed on a fixed term basis for
1, 2 or 3 complete terms (other than term 4) will be the day before the
commencement of the next school term.

For a teacher employed on a fixed term basis for less than a full school year
that concludes at the end of term 4, the period of employment will include
the appropriate component of the Christmas school vacation period (that is,
pro rata payment during this period ie: ¼, ½ or ¾ of the Christmas vacation
period).
These provisions mean that offers of employment are not backdated where there is
employment on both sides of a school vacation. Commencement dates in letters of
offer are to be the actual date of commencement in the position with end dates to
include vacation periods where applicable.
The Fixed Term Teacher Vacancy End Date Ready Reckoner was developed to
assist schools in determining the vacancy duration for entry on Recruitment Online
and the employment period when hiring or rehiring a fixed term teacher on the
payroll. A number of vacancy/employment end date scenarios are available in
Appendix 1 of this document.
Fixed Term Teacher employment – School Vacations
Last updated 1 October 2013
Principals are required to ensure that where a classroom teacher vacancy is filled for
a fixed term, the duration of the vacancy as specified in the Job Opening on
Recruitment Online includes the relevant school vacation periods.
This policy also applies:

to positions advertised as part of the Teacher Graduate Recruitment Program;

to classroom teacher vacancies advertised in the Classroom Teacher Range 2
category; and

where a paraprofessional is employed as a result of a classroom teacher
vacancy.
This policy does not apply to Education Support Class employees.
Determining the employment end date
Employment for a complete school year:
For a teacher employed on a fixed term basis in one or more fixed periods for a full
school year (that is, the first day of the school year to the last day of the school year)
the employment end date will be the day before the commencement of the next
school year (the termination date on the payroll is the day after the last day of
employment). This ensures that a teacher employed for a complete school year is
paid during all school vacation periods.
Employment for one term or longer:
For the Christmas vacation, the calculation is based on the number of weekdays
(including public holidays) that fall between the last day of term 4 and the first day of
term 1 of the following year. As the payroll system will not accept an end date during
a day, the entitlement has been rounded up to the nearest whole day.
For example, in the 2013/2014 Christmas vacation period there are 26 week days
(including public holidays). A teacher who has worked for the whole of term 4 is
entitled to ¼ of the Christmas vacation period, i.e. 7 days (rounded). This is added
on to the first week day after the last day of term 4, Friday 20 December. The
teacher’s employment end date is therefore Tuesday 31 December 2013 (the
termination date on the payroll system is the day after employment has ended, i.e.
Wednesday 1 January 2014).
For other school vacation periods, in the Job Opening created on Recruitment Online
and the written offer of employment, the day before the commencement of the next
school term is to be used as the end date for employment. This is usually the last
Friday of the vacation and the following day, that is, the Saturday is entered as the
termination date on the payroll system.
Vacancies for less than one term:
For a teacher or paraprofessional employed on a fixed term basis for less than a
complete school term the employment end date is extended by the amount of
accrued annual leave (1⅔ days for each complete month of employment). Payment
is made by extending their end date on the payroll system by the relevant number of
days. (As it is not possible to enter a termination date part-way through a day, the
entitlement must be rounded up to the nearest whole day.)
Fixed Term Teacher employment – School Vacations
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Additional information
Using the Ready Reckoner:
It is important that the exact date specified in the Ready Reckoner is used on the
payroll as the termination date, even if it is a Monday; although there is no impact on
the person’s pay, the period of employment will be incorrect, which will affect leave
and service entitlements.
The exception to this is where a public holiday falls at the end of the term 1 vacation,
in which case the Monday is the last day of employment and the Tuesday is the
termination date on the payroll system.
The policy relating to payment during school vacation periods covers employment
situations where a teacher is employed for a complete school term(s) or school year,
that is, from the first day of the school year for teachers. As the Ready Reckoner
reflects this, it does not cover all employment scenarios, for example, when a teacher
commences in the second week of a term.
Employment in different schools:
Employment in one or more fixed periods, in different schools during the school
term or year, provided it is continuous, does not affect the person’s entitlement to be
paid for the relevant part of the Christmas school vacation period.
Regardless of the vacancy end date that was entered on Recruitment Online, the
period of employment entered on the payroll for a teacher employed for a fixed
term must include any relevant vacation periods. This applies whether the person is
being employed for the first time or is being rehired, in the same or a different school.
Where a person is being rehired, the person’s employment records need to be
checked to determine whether they have been previously employed in a school(s)
during that school year.
Funding of Salary payments during school vacation:
The school in which the teacher is employed prior to the school vacation period is
responsible for meeting the full cost of the salary payments for the school vacation
period (or part thereof, in relation to the Christmas vacation).
Further information and assistance
Contact the Schools HR Service Centre for further assistance on 1800 641 943


Select Schools Recruitment Unit options if your enquiry is regarding the vacancy
to be created OR
Select Schools HR then your regional option number if the enquiry is regarding
processing the employment on the payroll.
Fixed Term Teacher employment – School Vacations
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Appendix 1
Vacancy/Employment Scenarios
Terminology
End date = the last day of paid employment
Termination date = the day after the end date
Vacancy/employment for complete school year
Example 1: The vacancy is from the first day of the 2013 school year to the last day
of the 2013 school year. The start date of the vacancy on ROL will therefore be 29
February 2013 and the end date will be 27 January 2014 the day before the
commencement of the 2014 school year. The period of employment on the payroll
for the person employed into the vacancy will be from 29 February 2013 to
termination 28 January 2014 irrespective of whether they were employed in term 4
2012 or not.
Example 2: The vacancy is from the first day of the 2013 school year to the last day
of the 2014 school year. The start date of the vacancy on ROL will therefore be 29
January 2013 and the end date will be 27 January 2015, the day before the
commencement of the 2015 school year. The period of employment on the payroll
for the person employed into the vacancy will be from 29 January 2013 to 28 January
2015.
Vacancy/employment for less than a complete school year that concludes
other than the end of term 4. (That is, at the end of Term 1, 2 or 3)
Example 1: The vacancy is from the first day of term 1, 2013 to the last day of term
2, 2013 The start date of the vacancy on ROL will therefore be 29 January 2013 and
the end date will be 12 July 2013. The period of employment on the payroll will be
from 29 January 2013 to 13 July 2013.
Example 2: The vacancy is from 4 March 2013 to the last day of term 2, 2013. The
start date of the vacancy on ROL will therefore be 4 March 2013 and the end date
will be 12 July 2013. The period of employment on the payroll will be from 4 March
2013 to 13 July 2013.
Example 3: The vacancy is from the first day of term 1 2013 to 24 May 2013. The
start date of the vacancy on ROL will therefore be 29 January 2013 and the end date
will be 24 May 2013. The period of employment on the payroll will be from 29
January 2013 to 25 May 2013.
Vacancy/employment for less than a complete school year that concludes at
the end of term 4
Example 1: The vacancy is from the first day of term 2, 2013 to the last day of term 4
2013. The start date of the vacancy on ROL will therefore be 15 April 2013 and the
end date will be 20 January 2014. The period of employment on the payroll will be
from 15 April 2013 to 21 January 2014. The exception to this is where the successful
applicant was employed all of term 1 in the same or another school immediately prior
to this appointment. If so, the termination date on the payroll will be 28 January 2014
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Example 2: The vacancy is from the first day of term 3, 2013 to the last day of term 4
2013. The start date of the vacancy on ROL will therefore be 15 July 2013 and the
end date will be 9 January 2014. The period of employment on the payroll will be
from 15 July 2013 to 10 January 2014. The exception to this is where the successful
applicant was employed all of term 1 and 2 continuously in the same or other schools
prior to this appointment. If so, the termination date on the payroll will be 28 January
2014
Example 3: The vacancy is from the first day of term 4, 2013 to the last day of term 4
2013. The start date of the vacancy on ROL will therefore be 7 October 2013 and
the end date will be 31 December 2013. The period of employment on the payroll
will be from 7 October 2013 to 1 January 2014. The exception to this is where the
successful applicant was employed all of terms 1, 2 and 3 continuously in the same
or other schools prior to this appointment. If so, the termination date on the payroll
will be 28 January 2014.
Example 4: The vacancy is from 12 August 2013 to the last day of term 4, 2013.
The vacancy is for part of term 3 and all of term 4, only one complete term is
applicable (term 4) therefore, only 1/4 of the Christmas vacation period is to be
included in the vacancy dates. The start date of the vacancy on ROL will be 12
August 2013 and the end date will be 31 December 2013. The period of employment
on the payroll will be from 12 August 2013 to termination date, 1 January 2014.
Vacancy/employment of less than a complete school term
The vacancy is from 7 October 2013, the first day of term 4 to 29 November 2013.
The successful applicant to be employed into the vacancy was not employed in any
school in term 3, 2013
As the employee will be employed for 1 complete month they will be entitled to
annual leave of 1.67 days. This is rounded up to 2 days so that the termination can
be entered correctly on the payroll system. Therefore the termination date to be
entered will be 4 December 2013 (inclusive of the 2 days annual leave entitlement).
Ignore weekends.
All day calculations are pro-rata by time fraction for a part-time employee. In the
above example a person that is employed at 19 hours (0.5 t/f) would be entitled to
1.67 days * 0.5 t/f = 0.835 days rounded to 1 day. Termination date would be 3
December 2013.
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