Lecturer and Senior Lecturer 1 grades lecture a norm of 16 hours per week. Assistant Lecturers lecture a norm of 18 hours per week.
The Haddington Road Agreement, Lansdowne Road Agreement and the Public Service Stability Agreement continued the Public Service (Croke Park) Agreement provision that individuals in lecturing grades may be required, at the discretion of management, to ‘flex’ upwards by up to two lecturing hours above the current norms in each of the lecturing weeks in the year.
However, as a result of the acceptance by TUI members of the Department of Education and Skills/TUI agreement in May 2016, a review of matters relevant to lecturing in Institutes of Technology was to take place involving TUI, the Department of Education and Skills, the HEA, and institute management representatives. This was to have regard to, as a priority, usage of the full ‘flex’ hours for duties other than teaching in accordance with institute needs.
In acknowledgement of this process and to facilitate its successful outcome, an interim measure was introduced from January 2017 to re-designate half of the additional flex hours (ie one hour) required of each lecturer to wider duties other than teaching, in consultation with the lecturers and in accordance with Institute priorities and needs.
As the review was not completed by March 2017, TUI balloted members in March 2018 on a campaign of industrial action over the re-designation of the second ‘flex’ hour. Members voted overwhelmingly (96% to 4%) to engage in this campaign, the initial action of which would include delivery, at maximum, of the weekly norm of class contact hours for the relevant grade (16 hours for Lecturer, or 18 hours for Assistant Lecturer) from the beginning of the 2018/19 academic year. However, following negotiation, the TUI has secured an agreement that obviates the need to engage in this industrial action and that secures redesignation of the second ‘flex’ hour for the 2018/19 academic year.
Under the Haddington Road Agreement, a weighting of 1.25 hours applies to hours worked after 6.00 p.m. When an Assistant Lecturer, Lecturer or Senior Lecturer is supervising a Tutor/ Demonstrator a reduction in teaching hours applies on the basis of one hour reduction per three hours demonstration/tutorials supervised.
Also under the Haddington Road and Lansdowne Road Agreements, academic staff work an additional 78 hours per
annum. This is fully absorbed by being applied towards evening weighting (which was reduced from 1.5 to 1.25) and church
holidays.