G8 Education commits to above award for ECTs

All early childhood teachers (ECTs) employed with G8 Education will be paid above award salaries, effective 8 October 2018, the company has announced.

G8 Talent Acquisition Manager Charmaine Scott says that the decision to move to above-award salaries is in further recognition of the contribution and impact that ECTs have on inspiring and educating the families and children who attend G8 centres. It is also hoped that the salary increase will attract bachelor-qualified teaching professionals to support G8 now and into the future.

Ms Scott said that G8 Education has enjoyed increasing growth across its early education centres, which meant there were exciting career opportunities within the group for experienced and graduate teachers.

The G8 announcement is timely, given the current application by the Independent Education Union Australia (IEUA) to have the FairWork Commission review the disparity between the roles of bachelor-qualified primary teachers, and bachelor-qualified ECTs, as well as to consider comparable pay rates for the female dominated profession of early childhood teaching with male primary school teachers.

Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) secretary Sally McManus is quoted as saying “This case will test whether the equal remuneration principle under the Fair Work Act can help women who are paid less because of the feminised nature of their work.”

The application by the IEUA sits alongside an application by United Voice and the Australian Education Union earlier in the year, for an equal remuneration order in relation to the children’s services and early childhood education sector. The application related to employees working in long day care centres or preschools, and was dismissed by the commision, who found that the applicant unions fell short in attempting to satisfy the jurisdictional prerequisite for the making of an equal remuneration offer.