Staff employed by a school council

The Department of Education employs government staff such as teachers, assistant teachers and school business managers to deliver education.

As a school council, you should be aware of the staff or contractors employed to meet other school needs.

These staff are sometimes called school council or school board staff.

Find out below what that means for you as an employer.

Watch the video

In the video below, you will learn about:

• your school council’s role as a legal employer and what you need to know as a member
• what questions you should ask about school council staff.

Your role

The principal is responsible for recruiting and managing the performance and daily duties of all staff.

While you won’t be managing school council members, the school council is the legal employer under the Fair Work Act 2009. You can and should ask questions to make sure the school council is meeting its responsibilities as an employer.

As a school council member, you have legal protections if you make decisions fairly and in good faith.

Types of staff

Under the Education Act 2015, the school council can employ people to support students and the running of the school.

This might include:

• outside-school hours care workers
• canteen staff
• cleaners
• gardeners
• maintenance officers
• relief teachers
• school bus drivers
• support staff
• tutors
• vocational education and training (VET) trainers or instructors.

You can employ them on a casual, contract, or ongoing (permanent) basis.

You can also employ staff to deliver short-term programs funded by grants.

If you're not sure which positions at your school are employed by the school council, check with your principal.

Staff not employed by the school council

The body doesn’t employ Northern Territory (NT) public sector staff like:

• principals
• teachers
• assistant teachers
• business managers and administration officers.

They're subject to the NT Government employment rules and procedures.

Your responsibilities

As a school council member, you're responsible for all of the below.

Checking employment conditions

You must understand your school's employment practices. This ensures you can effectively oversee employees.

To do so, you must make sure your staff and contractors have the employment conditions that are outlined in the Fair Work Act 2009 and the relevant Fair Work award.

This means you should ask questions like:

• Minimum pay – are we complying with the right awards (employment law) for our staff?
• Workplace safety – are we complying with work health and safety legislation for our staff?
• Does the school have a membership with an industrial relations advisor, like the Chamber of Commerce NT, to get professional advice?
  • You may see a charge for this on the financial reports.
• How many employees are there? Are they casual or permanent?
• Has the school offered casual work to people who are entitled to be offered permanent work?
  • To find out who should be offered to convert from casual to permanent work, check the Fair Work website.
• Will you be told if an employee is facing termination?
  • There are particular processes for ending someone’s employment, depending on their situation. For example, if they are casual or permanent, or how long they’ve been employed for.
  • Knowing an employee is facing termination helps the school council make sure you're meeting your responsibilities as the legal employer.
  • It’s recommended that you get help from the department, NT COGSO or an industrial relations advice body.
• Are staff being offered professional development opportunities relative to the role they're carrying out?
  • For example, child and youth health staff should be offered professional development relevant to their specialised role.

Keeping confidentiality

Employment information is sensitive and personal information.

Your school council needs to handle any information it receives about employees confidentially and respectfully.

Developing a code of conduct

School council members are expected to follow a code of conduct.

The principal must develop a code of conduct for education sites and workplace participants which covers school council members.

The school council must vote to agree on this code of conduct at a meeting. Find out how on the Department of Education website.

Declaring conflicts of interest

You must make sure you declare and manage any conflict of interest between your personal and private business, and school council business.

This is especially important when it comes to employing staff.

Even though school council members don't recruit or manage staff, you must consider how things might look to people outside of the body.

Declaring any conflict of interest helps stop gossip and ensures the body makes good decisions for the school and students.

Read about managing and declaring conflicts of interest.