Answers about the workload agreement
Is your school team already trying to determine what the money from the workload agreement will be spent on? Then it may be that questions arise. Can the school board, for example, have a say in the money? We have listed most of the questions that school teams encounter.
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Must the staff section of the Participation Council (pmr) or the staff section of the Joint Participation Council (pgmr) agree to the spending plans from the workload agreement?
The staff section of the participation council, the pmr, has the right of consent to the spending plan. The personnel section of the Joint Participation Council therefore does not.
Where does it say that the pmr has the right of consent?
The trade unions and the employers' organization PO Council have agreed on this with education minister Arie Slob in the agreement. The fact that the pmr has the right of consent will also be stated in the new collective labor agreement for primary education.
What should we talk about as a team when it comes to the workload agreement?
Every school team should have a conversation about the bottlenecks that employees experience with the workload. In the conversation, the solutions that your team sees for the problems should also be determined. This forms the basis for the spending plan.
Who makes the spending plan?
The school principal or school board draws up the spending plan. This is done on the basis of the discussion with the entire school team (teachers, school leader/school director and other staff).
How do we know afterwards at school whether the money has indeed been spent on reducing the workload?
The school board or the school leader must inform the pmr of the school after the end of the school year about the use of the extra workload resources of their school (BRIN level) in the previous school year. If money has not been spent, the school leader must, in consultation with the school team and the pmr, make further spending agreements that meet the goals and expectations of the spending plan.
What amount are we entitled to?
The amount your school receives depends on the number of pupils. Through this link on the AObwebsite you can calculate how much your school will receive to deal with the high workload.
How much money is available in total?
From 1 August 2018, 237 million euros per year will be structurally available. There will be an evaluation in 2020, depending on the outcome, the amount may rise to 2021 million euros per year from school year 2022/430.
Can my board determine how (part of) the money is spent?
No, the school board cannot. The extra resources that the government makes available for managing work pressure will be made available to school teams in schools. They themselves choose which measures are needed in their school to reduce the workload.
My board says that the money is not structurally available, is that correct?
No, that's not right. Up to the 2021/2022 school year, 237 million euros per year will be structurally available to reduce the workload. From the 2021/2022 school year, this will even be able to rise to 430 million euros structurally per year.
What guidelines can a school board give to the team?
A school board is not allowed to determine what the money for work pressure reduction is spent on, but a school board can give some guidelines. For example, hiring staff can have long-term cost implications. A team may of course choose to hire staff, but a school board may determine the conditions under which this can be done. This is necessary, because the school board is responsible for the quality of education, but also for the finances in the longer term.
Our school board is faced with cutbacks (for example, shrinkage and fewer educational disadvantaged resources) and therefore employees must be fired. How does this relate to the workload resources?
The team may determine how the workload resources are deployed, of course they may choose to retain staff. We are in talks with the Participation Fund to ensure that the workload resources do not affect redundancy options.
