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Teachers’ time budget arrangements in Northern Ireland

No teacher in Northern Ireland should be directed to work more than 32.4 hours in a single week.

As negotiated by NEU along with colleague in the Northern Ireland Teachers Council (NITC), until individual time budgets are in place, no teacher should be directed to work more than 32.4 hours in a single week.

It has been agreed that each working day since 31 July 2020 is deemed as 6.5 hours and deducted from the 1265 annual hours maximum.

Please also note that teachers can be directed to carry out duties from home or school.

What you should do:

  • Share this information with NEU teaching colleagues.
  • Note the revised deadline of 30 October.
  • Share the NEU Check-list, advice and Flow Chart with teaching colleagues
  • Keep a ‘tally’ of days worked from 1 August (deemed 6.5 hours allocation per day).
  • Make sure they know now (not 30 October), which 195 days they are required to work, and whether their allocation is correct*.

* Monitor if the school has “missed” or not recorded any days that you have worked – for example, Exam result days, August INSET days, or Saturday sports for those contracted to work them.

If you have any concerns, please contact us.

Understanding your teacher’s time budget

Advice to help NI teacher members understand their entitlements and what to do if they have concerns about workload.

Find out more
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