Facilities Time

Protecting facilities time for Local Officers and Reps - Why?

The NEU is a lay-member led Union. This means your local Officers are teachers and/or support staff who normally would be working in schools. How do your Local Leeds Officers get released to represent, consult on policies and negotiate with management on behalf of members? How do School Reps get time from their working day to attend meetings supporting member colleagues?

The answer is… through Trade Union Facilities time…

Trade union facility time and facilities are the time and resources that unions negotiate from employers so that they are able to represent members both individually and collectively in negotiations with managers. Union representatives have had a statutory right to reasonable paid time off to carry out trade union duties since 1975, and most of the current provisions come under the Trade Unions and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, introduced by the then Conservative government. Guidance on the practical application of these provisions is provided in the recently revised ACAS Code of Practice ‘Time Off for Trade Union Duties and Activities’

Union representatives are kind supportive individuals, but they are not unpaid volunteers. They are entitled to paid time off for a relatively tightly defined set of DUTIES - meaning they are released from their timetable for;

Negotiating with employers
Representing members
Performing the duties of an accredited Health & Safety rep
Performing the duties of an accredited Union Learning Rep (ULRs)

Union representatives also get paid time off to attend training to enable them to carry out the above duties. This training is provided by unions and the TUC.

Trade union representatives carry out a range of complex and demanding activities and the Facilities Funding for time off allows representatives to attend meetings during the working day. Without it, meetings involving trade union representatives - disciplinary, grievance, ill health and capability meetings, flexible working request, formal or informal, and consultation meetings on changes to working arrangements - would be much more difficult to arrange and manage even though some are statutory obligations.

Union representatives help to resolve issues at an early stage. If less facilities time was provided, fewer issues would be resolved informally, resulting in a significant increase in costs to schools and workload for school leaders and local authority officers. Disciplinary, grievance and capability issues would be more likely to escalate, with cases more likely to reach employment tribunals.

Research shows that involving trade union representatives effectively can help reduce dismissal and exit rates, meaning lower recruitment costs and better staff morale and productivity. It also reduces workplace-related injuries and illnesses through better health and safety standards.

The return on the investment made in trade union facility time is many times the sum spent. Research commissioned for the TUC from the University of Hertfordshire stated that for every £1 spent between £3 and £9 of benefits were accrued.

So what are the difficulties?

When all schools were maintained by the Local Authority, Facilities funds were top-sliced from each school to pay for the release of Local Officers to represent and consult. Now, academies and Free schools can decide not to pay into a local fund (still held by the Local Authority). In such cases it is difficult to understand how statutory obligations can be met, especially where there are no on-site Union Reps.

Several Trusts do still pay for Local Officers to continue coming into schools and academies - they can see the benefits! However, some Multi Academy Trusts have opted not to pay in, and in such cases union support and representation on behalf of their employees is made very difficult, as local Officers are not allowed to engage with employers during working hours.

The NEU want to make sure employers do not cut corners and follow due processes fairly. We continue to attempt holding discussions with those employers who currently do not have a TURA or contribute to the Facilities Fund. Once we can establish Union Recognition, we will be able to ensure Reps have the required training and non-contact time for supporting member colleagues.

If you are interested in being a workplace Rep, please contact Leeds Branch who can support you, on leedsbranch@neu.org.uk or Tel: 07778 158 819