Unvaccinated Queensland school workers to face pay cut
Roughly 900 Queensland school workers will have their pay reduced as disciplinary for being unvaccinated against Covid. This includes all teachers, teachers aides, administration staff, cleaners and school officers will be among those punished for failing to become vaccinated.
The department claims that the penalties are being “individualised” based on the worker’s “circumstances”.
“But generally, (penalties) involve a small-scale temporary reduction of one increment of pay for a period of 18 weeks,” the department said in a statement on Tuesday.
The department claims the school workers have been ”non-compliant with the lawful direction from their employer enforcing the chief health officer’s direction to be vaccinated against COVID-19”.
The penalties amount between $25 and $90 per week before tax. It claims reducing a worker’s pay is “not an uncommon” way to punish them for disciplinary breaches, and the move affects only 1% of the teacher workforce.
“School staff were given ample opportunity to follow the lawful direction or provide evidence as to why they should be exempt from the direction since the vaccination requirements were announced in November 2021,” the statement read.
The Queensland Teachers Union says of its 48,000 members, fewer than one per cent have “expressed concern” about being mandated to be vaccinated for COVID-19.
“Statistically, state school educators lead the professional workforce in vaccine uptake, continuing the selfless, hard work QTU members have delivered through the pandemic,” the union said in a statement.
Another union, the Teachers Professional Association of Queensland, has slammed the policy, labelling it “unconscionable”.
“It’s unconscionable that imposing a financial penalty or any disciplinary measure would somehow be appropriate because these educators have not broken any law or engaged in serious misconduct in the workplace,” secretary Tracy Tully said.
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