The scope of direct pedagogical activities is defined by the provisions of Section 23 of Act No.563/2004 Coll., on pedagogical staff and on amendments to certain other acts (hereinafter referred to as the "Act on pedagogical staff").
Since 01.09.2012, an amendment to the Teaching Staff Act has been in force, which redefines the overtime hour (see Act No. 198/2012 of 02.05.2012).
Text of the provisions of Section 23(4) of the Teaching Personnel Act, indicating the changes effective from 01.09.2012:
"Direct pedagogical activity beyond the range of hours set by the headmaster of the school or social services institution shall be considered as direct pedagogical activity carried out pursuant to paragraph 3 even if the pedagogical worker has not fulfilled the weekly range of hours of direct pedagogical activity set by the headmaster resulting from the weekly schedule of direct pedagogical activity because he/she did not carry out direct pedagogical activity during the period assessed as performance of work, or instead of carrying out direct pedagogical activity he/she carried out work related to direct pedagogical activity. In the case of teaching staff with shorter working hours, direct teaching activity in excess of the established scope shall be direct teaching activity in excess of the weekly hours of direct teaching activity corresponding to the established weekly working hours; such teaching staff may not be ordered to carry out direct teaching activity in excess of the established scope."
I would like to point out that, pursuant to the provisions of Section 23(3) of the Teaching Staff Act, the director of a school or the director of a social services facility may order a teaching staff member to work no more than 4 extra hours per week, and may agree on additional hours with the staff member.
According to the wording of the provisions of Section 23(4) of the Teaching Staff Act in force until 31 August 2012, overtime hours were always paid to teaching staff, regardless of the fact that the staff member had not fulfilled his or her weekly scope of direct teaching activity (basic teaching time). Therefore, if a teacher did not perform some hours of his/her basic teaching time due to personal obstacles at work or for organisational reasons on the employer's side, in both cases this time was considered as worked (taught).
In the context of the above amendment, the employer will have to distinguish the reason why the hours from the basic teaching time were not worked.
If the reasons listed in Section 348 of the Labour Code, i.e.
- personal obstacles on the part of the employee (incapacity for work, treatment of a family member, medical treatment, study, training)
- obstacles on the employer's side when the employee is not working and is receiving a salary replacement
- Obstacles of general interest
- holidays, self-study
- compensatory time off for overtime or public holidays
- a national holiday,
the hours not worked (not taught) will be recognised as hours worked (taught) and any overtime will be reimbursed.
If there is a reason for cancellation of teaching by the employer, e.g., teaching is cancelled due to extracurricular events (field trips, excursions), graduation exams, or other operational reasons, and the teacher performs related work instead of the originally scheduled direct teaching activities, any overtime hours will not be reimbursed until the basic weekly teaching time is exceeded.
As can be seen from the above, in addition to the principle that overtime hours can only be paid at the appropriate premium if the teacher has actually performed these hours, it will therefore also be necessary to monitor whether the teacher has met the weekly scope of his/her time and to distinguish the reasons for any non-compliance under the new statutory rules. As before, it is advisable to indicate in the timetable the regular overtime hours ordered by the head teacher or agreed with the staff member, so that there is no doubt as to which day the overtime hours were scheduled in the event of a disruption.
Examples:
Primary school teacher - the weekly scope of direct teaching activity is 22 hours. Related work is performed 18 hours per week. The total weekly working time is therefore 40 hours.
1) This teacher substituted one hour for an absent colleague on Wednesday and therefore carried out direct teaching activities beyond the originally scheduled lessons.
By ordering Wednesday substitute hours, the school principal changes the ratio between direct teaching hours and hours of related work. The teacher will therefore perform 23 hours of direct teaching work and 17 hours of related work. The established weekly working time of 40 hours remains unchanged. When working overtime, the teacher has less room for preparation and other related work and the direct teaching activity is considered more demanding. For this reason, the teacher is entitled to a supplement of twice the average hourly earnings for the hours worked.
2) This teacher did not teach one hour of his direct teaching activity on Friday due to a doctor's appointment. On Wednesday, he substituted for an absent colleague and therefore performed one hour of direct teaching activity on this day beyond the originally scheduled teaching hours.
Wednesday substituted hours will be reimbursed as overtime because a Friday hour that the teacher did not teach due to a doctor's appointment is considered missed. (Hours taught: 21 actually taught + 1 hour at the doctor's office judged as taught + 1 substituted, for a total of 23 hours, with one hour earning a premium of twice the average hourly earnings).
3) This teacher did not teach a lesson from his direct teaching activities on Tuesday due to the class going on a school trip. The teacher stayed at the school and did related work. On Wednesday, he substituted for an absent colleague and therefore performed one hour of direct teaching activity on that day beyond the originally scheduled teaching hours.
Wednesday substituted hours will not be reimbursed as overtime because a Tuesday hour when the teacher did not teach due to the class going on a school trip is not considered to be taught. (hours taught: 21 actually taught + 0 (school trip) + 1 substitute, for a total of 22 hours).
Remark:
In the AVENSIO SOFTWARE payroll program, the code 466 is used to enter the additional payment for overtime hours on payroll items.
Related legislation:
- Act No. 262/2006 Coll., Labour Code
- Act No. 563/2004 Coll., on teaching staff and on amendments to certain other acts
- Act No. 198/2012 amending Act No. 563/2004 Coll., on teaching staff and amending certain acts, as amended
- Government Regulation No. 75/2005 Coll., on determining the scope of direct teaching, direct educational, direct special education and direct pedagogical-psychological activities of pedagogical staff
