The NASUWT Representative has many rights. Some of these rights are covered by legislation and some are the result of agreements reached between trade unions and employers.

There is a common facilities agreement for grant-aided schools and a common agreement for all colleges.

The teachers’ unions and the employing authorities have agreed on the facilities to be made available to accredited representatives.

To be accredited, an NASUWT Representative must be elected annually and must apply to the NASUWT Northern Ireland Centre for an official accreditation card.

Amongst the rights enjoyed by NASUWT Representatives are:

Agreed rights

General facilities

The agreement stipulates that the NASUWT Representative shall be permitted reasonable opportunities and be given necessary facilities to discharge their functions. These include:

  • recruitment;

  • maintaining membership;

  • communicating with members;

  • carrying out industrial relations activities such as negotiating with management and handling members’ grievances.

Specific facilities

The following must be provided:

  • reasonable notice board facilities; all notices must bear the full name of the union concerned. Notices should also bear the signature of the accredited representative;

  • necessary use of a telephone for Union business with reasonable privacy and with the cost of calls to be met by the Union;

  • provision of a room for Union meetings as required, providing reasonable notice is given;

  • use of school reprographic equipment for essential Union work within the school, the cost to be met by the Union.

Access to information

The accredited Workplace Representatives should be provided with access to:

  • information required for collective bargaining purposes, e.g. structure and allocation of promotion;

  • staffing establishment;

  • unit total and school group;

  • school budget;

  • management plans.

Facility time

Accredited Workplace Representatives are entitled to leave with pay on the following basis:

Schools

5-30 members

one period per week (regardless of the length of a period)

31-60 members

two periods per week (regardless of the length of a period)

over 60 members

three periods per week (regardless of the length of a period)
(in primary schools, at least 30 minutes should be allowed for one period)

leave with pay for one day in each two school years to attend Union training courses
FE College

5-30 members

one hour per week

31-60 members

two hours per week

61-100 members

three periods per week

Over 100 members

four hours per week

Accredited Representatives should be allowed reasonable paid time off work for initial basic training and for further training, where such training is necessary, to meet circumstances such as changes in legislation affecting the Representatives’ duties.

Statutory rights

Under Article 90 of the Industrial Relations (Northern Ireland) Order 1992, the Labour Relations Agency has a duty to provide practical guidance on time off. The Code of Practice on Time Off for Trade Union Duties and Activities, published in 2012, is intended to provide such guidance.

NASUWT Representatives therefore have a statutory right to reasonable paid time off from employment to carry out trade union duties and to undertake trade union training.

NASUWT Representatives also have the right to:

  • not be disciplined before discussions have taken place with a senior official of the Union;

  • time off with pay for the performance of trade union duties, e.g. representing a member at a grievance hearing;

  • information from the employer for the purposes of collective bargaining (note: collective bargaining takes place at the Teachers’ Negotiating Committees (TNC) and Lecturer Negotiating Committees (LNC), not at individual school level);

  • be consulted before changes to working conditions are introduced.

For further information: