to think that term time, office hours work is not really 'full time'?

[GuybrushThreepwoodMightyPirate]

I'm not saying it's exactly part time, but if you work in the school office from 9-5 or similar (no evenings, no weekends, no taking your work home with you, no overtime) then AIBU to say that this isn't the same as a full time job? 13 weeks of holiday a year!

Before I get flamed I am not remotely saying that teaching isn't full time. I am a teacher so I know how it rules your evenings, weekends and 'holidays' with planning, marking, meetings, extra curricular etc.

I only ask as I had to bite my tongue when talking to a colleague in the school office recently who moaned about her tiring full time job. I'm not after a bun fight about who has the hardest job with the longest hours and fewest holidays, just clarification on this niche situation.

The school office closes down completely in the holidays?

When they are working it sounds like full time to me. It could well be tiring them tbh. Would it be better if she said she was tired at the moment but appreciated the fact that she had longer than average holidays?

Why care? Don't let it bother you.
Another Harry hard-done-by teacher thread. Yawn.

Well of course it's full time during term time, and therefore no less tiring than any 9-5 mon-fri office job. She just gets more holidays than the average office worker.

I'm a TA , currently on Easter break and still lying in bed [ wink].

I am contracted 31 hours a week but probably put in an hour a day extra unpaid, I consider it a full time job.

It's not a well paid job and the holidays make up for it imo.

merry mouse the main office does, yes. This colleague does not go in at all during holidays or 'out of hours'.

Miranda yes, I suppose so (though life would be very tiring if we had to add caveats to every moan we had!) it probably wound me up more as she was basically saying our jobs were the same in terms of hours, stress, workload which I strongly disagree with.

I take it this persons salary reflect her work or does she earn the same as you?

Our neighbour works 8.30 till 5 in a school office. It's an exhausting job as she has to manage all the admin with a constant stream of people coming to the window and the phone never stops. I don't begrudge her the holidays at all. Much prefer my 9.30 to 3.30 job with statutory hols where I just sit doing the accounts mostly uninterrupted.

Perhaps she was fed up hearing about all your marking and planning.

It's full time if that is the maximum contractual hours for the job.

DoItTooJulia yawn.

Perhaps I'm being mean. I just get bored of all the I'm an undervalued teacher that volunteers to go camping with your kids and you don't care, we work through our holidays, we can't just leave at 3:15 etc. it's not a secret that teaching is full on, that's why I'm not a teacher. But it always seems like a bit of a surprise to some teachers. I don't get it.

This would be reflected in salary. (although our school admin office doesn't close during all school holidays).

I earn more than my neighbour btw for my part time job.

I judge full time on hours each week so it's full time. Also, I haven't heard of anyone doing term time only other than to look after children, so she's not exactly getting holidays in the time she is not at work either. But moaning about how tired your job makes you is irritating, I know (I do it myself, but others are worse )

Of course it is full time. She is still working a full week which is generally tiring for anyone. She just happens to get more holidays (nd probably less pay) than most office jobs. Unfortunately you can't store sleep, rest and energy so for the 6 or 7 weeks of a half term she is working full time.
Thankfully work hours and stress are not a competition and we can all sympathise with each other, huh?

wanttisqueezeyou I doubt it, as I hadn't mentioned my workload to her at all.

Of course she works full time. You also work full time but do more than the 35 hours she does. There'll be someone who works longer and harder than you but who cares? It's not a race to the bottom, if she's tired she's tired.

I like your username, btw.

YABU. Admin staff get paid significantly less than teachers (in spite of often being graduates) and do not get paid for all the holidays. They would usually only get paid for 43 or 45 weeks a year. The rest is unpaid. They often go in during holidays and take work home, check emails from home and take calls/texts from the Head at home. I have much respect for and sympathy with teachers but you're not the only people with stressful jobs.

I worked in a school office doing secretarial work and doubling up for the receptionist when she had to leave her desk (loo or taking an urgent message somewhere or her lunch break or when the queue at the window was becoming longer).

My contracted hours were 8.30am-3.30pm but I worked from 7.45am until 4.00pm just to get my work done (45 mins lunch). When I left 10 years ago, my salary was something like £15,000. Yes I had school holidays off until a new head wanted all support staff (office, laboratory technicians, librarian etc) to work at least one day a week during the holidays. We swapped our days around so we could each take a week's holiday here and there. The Head didn't last long.

I was always busy. the receptionist? Hmmm.

DoItTooJulia in my OP I did say I wasn't after a bun fight regarding who has the hardest job, just trying to work out if IABU about this particular situation. I didn't start all the other treads which have annoyed you!

YABU Until you've spent a day in a school office you cannot comment on how busy or tiring it is! I know teaching is hard work with planning and marking etc but you control your day you plan what to teach when and how, you control the students talking, not talking etc. In a school office you have no control over who is going to call/ come through the door. on top of this uncertainty you have specific tasks that must be done by a certain time, ie dinner numbers to kitchen, registers read, absences chased up, these are done to a background of the office phone ringing off the hook with parents checking if clubs are on, reps calling for the head and expected visitors arriving at the office window, as well as teachers asking for information on x, y & x. Our previous Dep Head, lovely guy who'd been teaching 9 years, had his office off the main school office,after a week full time in the office sorting the SEF he told us he had no idea how manic it could be, and his biggest nightmare was us both being out of the office at the same time and the phone ringing /entry buzzer going as he felt completely unsure of what to do.

I agree we don't take work home, but I know of no school office job that doesn't expect you in for a few days during each holiday to sort post, emails etc. Most are term time plus 10, so all the onset days and 5 others. It's full time and knackering when you're there but a proper rest when you're not.

losingmyereligion As I said in my OP, I'm not asking who has the hardest job, just for a reality check around term time hours and whether my reaction was BU. It seems I am being a bit U so it's probably a good thing that I asked on here rather than voicing my thoughts at the time! I had imagined that some FT office hours workers with 'normal' leave allowances might have seen my PoV. It seems not.

Well I think it's safe to say YABU

Our school secretary works 8 till about 4 and her job is absolutely full on every single day. She is amazing.