Yes, if you are a governor in a maintained school.
Maintained school governors are legally entitled to time off work unless their job is on a short list of excluded professions. There is no legal requirement to pay you while you are absent.
Academy trustees do not have an equivalent legal right to time off.
Under the Employment Rights Act 1996 you have the right to time off work under section 50, Right to Time Off for Public Duties.
This includes serving as a member of a “relevant education body” and this is defined as “a managing or governing body of an educational establishment maintained by a local authority”.
This definition covers a maintained school but not an academy, because academies are independent from the local authority.
Who cannot ask for time off?
Guidance from the DfE sets out when you can take time off work for public duties.
It explains that you can’t ask for time off work to be a governor (or to carry out any other public duty except jury service) if you work:
- for an agency
- in the police or armed forces
- on a fishing boat, or a gas or oil rig at sea
- as a merchant seamen
- as a civil servant if the public duty you wish to undertake is connected to political activities restricted under the terms of your employment (being a school governor would not apply in this instance).
How much time off can I take?
The law refers to “an amount of time” that is “reasonable in all the circumstances” which is rather vague. It does say that you should consider:
- how much time off is required for the public duty involved, and how much time off is required for the performance of that particular duty
- how much time off the employee has been granted so far
- the circumstances of the employer’s business and how the business will be affected by the missing staff member.
Many schools hold their governor meetings either in the late afternoon or evening so you may be able to arrive straight after work or only miss one or two hours at the end of the working day.
Bear in mind that governors will also be asked to visit their school during the day and may also need to attend training sessions and other responsibilities (such as meeting OFSTED inspectors) during the school day.
What if my employer refuses to give me time off?
You could try persuading your employer by listing the skills that governors must develop which you can use in your job: analysing data, taking responsibility for high-level planning and results, strategic thinking, interpersonal skills, respecting confidentiality and holding leaders to account.
If your boss still refuses you could raise a grievance at work by following your employer’s written grievance procedure.
If they still disagree you can contact the Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) which will work with both sides to try to find a solution. Ultimately you could take your complaint to an employment tribunal.