Job Sharing

JOB SHARING SCHEME

(Should be read in conjunction with the General Provisions for All Schemes, and Definitions as laid out in Circular 0054/2019)

Please note: In response to issues raised in relation to teacher supply for the school year 2021/22, the restriction of engaging in substitute teaching imposed in the Job Sharing Scheme contained in Chapter 8, Paragraph 11.1(a) is suspended. A job sharing teacher may now be employed to work in a substitute capacity during the period he/she is rostered off duty. Please see Information Note TC 0016/2021 for further details.

The purpose of the Job Sharing Scheme is to assist teachers in combining work commitments and personal responsibilities/choices.

A Job Sharing teacher means a teacher who:-

is sharing a wholetime post on a 50:50 basis or
has applied to reduce their hours to 50% of a wholetime post.

A wholetime teacher means a teacher who is contracted for:-

28 hours 20 minutes per week in a Primary School

Eligibility

A teacher may apply for a Job Sharing arrangement where he/she:-

will have satisfactorily completed, at the end of the school year in which they are applying, 12 months of continuous service with the current employer. This requirement is waived where a teacher is compulsorily redeployed into a school or where a school is amalgamated provided that he/she has worked at least one full year in his/her former school prior to redeployment/ amalgamation.
holds a post for the following school year which is equivalent to or over 50% of a wholetime teacher (i.e. 14 hours 10 minutes per week in the case of a Primary teacher or 11 hours per week teaching in the case of a Post Primary teacher).

Job Sharing is not available to the following:

Primary: Principal, Home School Liaison Co-ordinator, teacher on secondment

A teacher on a Career Break or other approved leave of absence may apply to resume teaching duties on a Job Sharing basis.

Duration of Job Sharing Arrangement

The minimum period for a Job Sharing arrangement is one school year.
In exceptional circumstances, an employer may authorise a Job Sharing arrangement to commence during the course of the school year and to terminate no earlier than the end of the same school year i.e. 31st August.

Job Sharing Options

A teacher may make an application to share a wholetime post on a 50:50 basis or may apply to reduce their hours to 50% of a wholetime teacher. This amounts to 14 hours 10 minutes per week in the case of a Primary teacher or 11 hours per week teaching in the case of a Post Primary teacher.
There are 2 options for a Job Sharing arrangement:

Option 1: Share a wholetime post on a 50:50 basis:

Share a wholetime post on a 50:50 basis with an existing wholetime teacher:-

(a) in the same school or
(b) in another school under an inter-school Job Sharing arrangement (Primary schools only).

Option 2: Reduction of wholetime teaching hours to 50%

Reduction of wholetime teaching hours to 50% with a teacher recruited by the employer for the balance of the available hours on a (fixed term) contract which will terminate at the end of the school year.

Operation of the Scheme

In the case of an inter-school Job Sharing arrangement at Primary level, the hosting employer (the school to which the teacher is temporarily assigned for the purposes and duration of the Job Sharing arrangement) is considered to be the employer for both Job Sharers for the duration of the Job Sharing arrangement.
Schools hosting teachers for inter-school Job Sharing purposes must meet their statutory vetting obligations in accordance with The National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012 to 2016 and relevant Department Circulars.
It is a matter for the employer to decide the Job-Sharing arrangement(s) which it is prepared to endorse e.g. week on/week off, split week. Post-Primary schools, for example, may require a Job Sharing teacher to be timetabled over 5 days per week. Subject to the employer’s responsibility in this regard, timetable arrangements for Job Sharing teachers should be designed within the spirit of the scheme to facilitate the teacher, so far as is practicable.
In the case of Primary schools, the employer, having approved a Job Sharing arrangement, should inform parents, at the earliest opportunity by way of a meeting with the Principal/employer and the Job Sharing teachers that their child(ren) will be taught by Job Sharing teachers in the relevant school year. The meeting should not be replaced by any other means of communication.
In exceptional circumstances, the employer may permit a Job Sharing teacher to withdraw from the Job Sharing Scheme and return to his/her original teaching post earlier than expected if he/she can be accommodated within the approved staffing allocation, subject to contractual arrangements. However, such an application may not be considered beyond 1st November.

Application Procedures

A teacher seeking to Job Share must submit, on an annual basis, the completed Application Form at Appendix A; Chapter 8 of Circular 0054/2019, to his/her employer not later than 1st February prior to the school year in which he/she proposes to commence or (in the case of a teacher wishing to extend an existing arrangement) continue Job Sharing.
Each Job Sharing application must be considered on its own merits by the employer within the context of the school’s policy on teacher absences.
The employer must issue a decision in writing to approve or refuse the application (including the basis for refusal, where applicable), to the teacher no later than 1st March. The decision of the employer is final.
Taking account of the extent of arrangements to be put in place by the employer to cater for a Job Sharing post, the teacher should not be permitted to withdraw his/her application after 14th April, or from once the replacement teacher's contract has been signed, whichever happens first.

Notification and Recording of Leave

The employer must list the names of all teachers availing of Job Sharing arrangements on the annual Change of Staff form.

Pay Arrangements

A Job Sharing teacher will receive, where applicable, remuneration equal to 50% of a full-time post inclusive of qualification allowances (i.e. Higher Diploma, Primary, Masters and Doctorate Degree, Ard Teastas Gaeilge). Please refer to relevant Department publications for more information regarding retention of specific job role allowances.

Status while Job Sharing

Each year of Job Sharing service given, will reckon as one year of service for promotion and incremental purposes.
Employers shall ensure that appropriate communication processes are in place between teachers sharing a post in order for them to fulfil the responsibilities of the post.
A Job Sharing teacher must be available for relevant staff and parent meetings in accordance with school policy and agreements.
The obligation to provide additional hours under the existing Public Service Agreements is pro-rata for teachers who are Job Sharing.

Replacement Teacher

The position of a replacement teacher must be filled in accordance with current rules for teacher recruitment. He/she shall be offered a fixed term contract.
Such a contract must include a condition that the contract will terminate if the Job Sharing teacher resigns, retires or returns to full-time employment (provided this return to full-time hours takes place prior to 1st November and can be accommodated as outlined at paragraph 5.5, Chapter 8 of Circular 0054/2019).

The replacement teacher may apply for any available hours including substitution in any school up to the maximum of a wholetime post.

Employment while Job Sharing

A Job Sharing teacher may not

engage in any substitute teaching
act as a special needs assistant in the school in which he/she is employed or any other school
engage in paid employment without the consent of the employer. The employer will not approve outside employment where a conflict with the teacher’s current role exists.

Leadership and Management Posts

The entitlement to fill a Leadership and Management Post and/or appointment to and payment in respect of Acting Leadership and Management Posts will be in accordance with relevant Department publications and/or other regulations.
The employer should keep the operation of Leadership and Management posts held by Job Sharing teachers under review to ensure responsibilities are adequately discharged.

Primary

Where a Primary school Deputy Principal is approved for Job Sharing he/she must relinquish his/her Leadership and Management post and the appropriate allowance for the duration of the Job Sharing arrangement.
An Assistant Principal I or Assistant Principal II may retain his/her Leadership and Management post allowance while Job Sharing provided the employer decides that the roles and responsibilities of the post can be performed in full.
Where an employer decides that it is not possible for the Job Sharing teacher to perform the full roles and responsibilities of the Assistant Principal I or Assistant Principal II post, an acting Assistant Principal I or Assistant Principal II may be appointed and the allowance will be shared equally between the two teachers (i.e. the acting post holder and the Job Sharing teacher). The allowance shall be restored to the actual post holder on resumption of full-time roles and responsibilities.
The acting post holder will not establish personal entitlement to the allowance and will therefore relinquish same when the Job Sharer resumes full-time roles and responsibilities.
A teacher who holds a Leadership and Management post allowance (including holders on a personal basis), on an inter-school Job Sharing Scheme must relinquish his/her Leadership and Management post for the duration of the inter-school Job Sharing arrangement. The Leadership and Management post vacated by a teacher is subject to the terms as outlined in Department Circulars.
A teacher on an inter-school Job Sharing Scheme may apply for Leadership and Management posts arising in his/her base school but is not eligible to apply for post(s) in the host school. If successful in obtaining a Leadership and Management post in their former school, an acting Leadership and Management post is appointed subject to the post still being warranted and subject to the terms as directed from time to time by Department Circulars.
If a teacher who holds a Leadership and Management post allowance enters into an inter-school Job Sharing arrangement, he/she must relinquish the allowance for duration of the Job Sharing arrangement. An acting post holder may be appointed if required, subject to the need for the post being warranted.
Where an acting Leadership and Management post is warranted, the filling of such a post will be subject to the terms as directed from time to time by Department Circulars.

The acting post holder will not establish personal entitlement to the allowance and will therefore relinquish same when the Job Sharer resumes full-time duties. Where a post holder has carried out the role for a period in excess of 5 consecutive school years, refer to the relevant Department publications in relation to Recruitment/Promotion and Leadership.
Where there is a change in the job-sharing arrangement i.e. the teacher is carrying out full duties or has returned to his/her original teaching post, the employer is reminded to notify the Paymaster.

Maternity Leave/Adoptive Leave

A full-time teacher on Maternity/Adoptive Leave, opting to Job Share in the next school year, will be paid at the full-time rate of pay up until the beginning of the next school year at which point the teacher will be paid the Job Sharing rate of pay for the remainder of the leave.

A Job Sharing teacher on Maternity/Adoptive Leave, opting to return to full-time duties in the next school year, will be paid at the Job Sharing rate of pay up until the beginning of the next school year at which point the teacher will be paid the full-time rate of pay for the remainder of the leave.

Resignation while Job Sharing

A teacher engaged in a Job Sharing arrangement who wishes to resign from his/her teaching post must notify the employer in writing in accordance with the teacher’s terms and conditions of employment.

PRSI Arrangements

Teachers who propose to enter into a Job Sharing arrangement should clarify (by contacting the DEASP if necessary) whether the proposed pattern of Job Sharing will have any implications for their PRSI contributions/credit record.

Pension

In accordance with Department publications and/or other regulations, a Job Sharing teacher is eligible for superannuation benefits on the same basis as full-time staff. However, each year of service given in a Job Sharing capacity will reckon as 6 months full-time service for superannuation purposes.
It may be open to a Job Sharing teacher to purchase notional service for superannuation purposes. Further information in relation to the purchase of notional service and other pension related matters is available on the Department’s website Retirement-Pensions. Any queries regarding the purchase of notional service should be submitted by email to pensions@education.gov.ie.

In Service/School Planning Days

A Job Sharing teacher who is required to attend courses/school planning days on days he/she is not rostered shall be granted leave in lieu for such days. Leave in lieu will not be granted where the teacher’s attendance on such days is part of the additional hours commitment under the current Public Service Agreements.
Where leave in lieu is granted, confirmation of attendance at the course/school planning day should be submitted in writing to the employer who must notify the Department via the OLCS. Substitution for such days is not paid by the Department.

Redeployment

Job Sharing teachers will be subject to the same conditions of redeployment as full-time teachers.

Termination of Job Sharing arrangement

Employers must ensure that teachers participating in the Job Sharing Scheme are aware that the arrangement may be terminated at any time if it is not operating in the best interests of the pupils.
It is the responsibility of the employer to ensure that the Paymaster is informed in advance of the termination date of the relevant teacher’s Job Sharing arrangement and the termination date of the replacement teacher’s employment in order to avoid any overpayments of salary.