School staff unpaid leave. Help!

[LyndaSnellsSniff]

I work in a school but only for 3 hours a week - support staff role. When the schools returned on June 1st, I decided to take unpaid leave (this was offered as an option for, and I quote, "those that are scared to work and don’t have a medical reason"). My decision was based on a balance of risk of infection vs relatively small financial return. For info, I am asthmatic but not asthmatic enough to shield from work on health grounds. My asthma is managed and well under control thanks to a daily steroid inhaler.

My decision was relayed to the head through my supervisor and I’ve heard nothing from school until today when I have received a letter advising me that because I haven’t worked this term, my unpaid leave will extend through the summer holidays. No reason or contractual obligation was cited.

Now, if that’s the case I’ll just have to accept it and I am grateful that my role has been left open for me to return to. However, I have been through my contract and cannot find any thing relating to this advisement. I also feel that those of us who opted for unpaid leave should perhaps have been warned about it when we took that decision.

Does anybody have any experience of term time worker contracts/rights and be able to explain the decision to me?

Thanks!

Hi. I can't help with advice but I work in a school and staff who are asthmatic or shielding have been told that they must return to work or be on unpaid leave. It must be a very difficult decision to make. I have just been told I have to self-isolate for 14 days because one of the pupils in my class bubble has tested positive. This whole thing is awful. Good luck.

I don't quite follow what it is you had hoped would happen?

Had you hoped that you could return to work at the start of the summer holidays, get paid for the six weeks holiday and then start working in September?

But you said you were a term time worker only, so presumably you don't normally get paid for school holidays?

You really need to do the maths and work out how many hours you have worked and how many you have been paid for this year so far (including paid holiday). It complicated but doable. If you have worked more hours than you have been paid then its probably worth the argument that they should pay the balance. If it isn't then I don't see that you have anything to complain about.

My understanding is that term time only staff are paid only during term time work (plus statutory holiday) and then it is divided by 12. So I’m not sure they can or should be treating it as unpaid leave over summer as you were never due to work then. I think that they should take the number of weeks you chose to have off (not where you couldn’t have worked) e.g 6/39 and calculate summer pay accordingly. My figures might be off but I think the principle holds true. Are you a LA school? Maybe contact their HR department.

If you’re paid term time only as most support staff are, they can’t not pay you. Our staff are paid for 40 weeks, spread over 52 weeks. If they took 4 weeks unpaid leave, the remaining 36 weeks would be spread over either 48 or 52 weeks.

What @Soontobe60 said much more clearly!

This is what’s happening to me, I live with someone who is shielding, all very stressful I returned for one week and didn’t feel safe at all. I won’t go into details as it could be outing. Then risk assessment changed and said I wasn’t allowed and changed back saying I am allowed. I’m now unpaid until we break up. We always get paid during the 6 week break, all half terms in fact.

Thank you all.

Yes, I am usually paid for the holidays.

@TheLastSaola I had assumed I would not be paid for the 7 weeks I took as unpaid leave but would be paid again from the start of the holidays. I will return then to work in September.

As a term time worker I obviously have no option but to take accrued annual leave during the school holidays therefore I am still paid through the school holidays.

You need to look carefully at the wording of your contract. Does your contract state that the 6 weeks is accrued paid holiday ? Does it mention unpaid leave at all ?