Missed 3 hours of lunch break

[ThereIsNoLeftFalangie]

AIBU to feel quite pissed off that I've missed out on 3 hours of my lunch break.
Work in a school, have been on quite a few trips for the last term. On trips the children get 30 mins lunch with staff eating alongside and supervising. Normally at school staff will get an hour lunch which is not paid. I don't mind missing out 30mins on the odd trip but it's taking the micky when im owed 2 hours. We're all expected to do things out of goodwill but thoses favours are never reciprocated by management. If they had to pay me for all the times I've worked passed my finish time they'd be in for a shock. Should I mention the 3 hours im owed?

Scotland32 - what are you supposing a TA will get promoted to? Those that work through their unpaid breaks, stay late and come in early without claiming for the work done just work harder and get paid less than the TAs that fill out the overtime form requesting money their employer is contractually obliged to pay them for working the overtime they did.

@Scotland32 I've never worked anywhere that expected me to work for free.

Every single job I've ever had has been hourly paid and if I work late or start early then I get paid overtime.

I work in social care and we get no breaks at all(without our charges) during the working day.

The OP must be a TA she is thinking in terms of contracts and hours. A teacher is a salaried professional who would not consider nitpicking over hours worked. When I was teaching we used to laugh about the unpaid work we did. We knew that if we did the hours we were contracted for we could have packed up and gone home in May or June.

@Walkaround
Just one example....I know a number of TAs who have/had ambition to do teacher training and require a good reference...I don’t think you’ll get that if you become known as the person who is never prepared to put in a little extra effort/moans about 2 hours.

Scotland32 - you need to read the thread properly. The OP is already a qualified teacher. She accepted the far lower pay of a TA because of the difference in hours and responsibility.

And schools absolutely ve qualified teachers working as, eg, HLTAs, because they can squeeze more out of them than they are contractually entitled to, because of all the skills they are getting on the cheap.

@adaline Often hard work and enthusiasm are valued and recognised and lead to better things. E.g. Senior nurses become senior nurses partly because they go a little above and beyond and make themselves noticed. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t climb the ranks.
That’s life and it’s the same in every field, to some degree. If everyone in this country put in the minimum effort required and no more then exceptional/great things would never happen.
If people don’t want to do extra and want to complain about 2 missed lunch breaks they are perfectly entitled to do that. But they aren’t the people who will fundamentally improve their own lives or the country/world.
I just find that sad. I’d rather put in a bit more and benefit myself as well as make a wider difference too if I am able.

(Love, not ve!)

By the way, it is an extremely peculiar argument to claim that someone working overtime is putting in minimal effort. I would not be impressed by an employer who thought someone asking to be paid money to which they are entitled is "putting in minimal effort."

A teacher is a salaried professional who would not consider nitpicking over hours worked.

Whilst many are, this statement just is not true.

I've known part time teachers to "nitpick" over being asked to do a parents' evening on their day off; I've known teachers "nitpick" over their PPA entitlement; I've known teachers "nitpick" over whether they can be obligated to turn up to help at a PTA event, etc, etc, etc... And I have known teachers to complain bitterly about parents who always turn up late to collect their children from school so that they have to act as unpaid babysitters for recalcitrant parents.

One person's "nitpicking" (usually the employer's) is another person's hard won contractual entitlement.

You're a dinner lady innit.

Bloody hell can't remember the last time I had a lunch "hour" 🤔 supposed to get half an hour but most days work through and today myself and my colleague were so busy we didnt get lunch. By the time we thought about food it was almost time to go home! But I love my job and I can have a cuppa and a biscuit whenever I fancy it (&have time to make one ) and if I added up all the time I do unpaid and ask then to pay me they'd probably go bust

lunch break ??
what’s a lunch break 🤔🙄🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Why are people so keen to accept shitty work conditions? Of course OP deserves breaks.

@Bezalelle, can you explain how the logistics of that are going to work on a school trip please?

@Scotland32 I do plenty of extra work and overtime but I'm not going to do so if there's no direct benefit for me.

Why should I spend less time at home with my family or friends for nothing? If I'm at work then I expect to be paid for that. I'm not some high flying professional - I work in retail and would be replaced in seconds if I left. I'm not giving my time away for free - if it's so important that I stay an hour later or come in an hour earlier then they can pay me for it. If they're not willing to pay me for my time then it can't be that important.

Nobody goes to their grave wishing they'd done more unpaid overtime!

@BackforGood if OP can't get her breaks in due to logistics then they need to give her TOIL or compensate her financially.

I imagine that as a TA she is being taken below the minimum wage if she doesn't take her breaks each day, which is illegal.

I think the real problem for the OP here is management's attitude - expecting staff to be at work before work starts, expecting them to give up lunch breaks, expecting staff to stay late, expecting them to take on responsibilities that are beyond the level at which they are paid, and never acknowledging this and never giving any leeway in return when needed. Goodwill needs to be reciprocal for a happy employment relationship rather than an exploitative one. Plenty of schools get huge quantities of goodwill, unpaid overtime from staff, because they acknowledge and appreciate the effort put in, rather than brushing it under the carpet or demanding it.

Plenty of schools also honour their contractual obligations and give time off in lieu or pay overtime to low paid support staff. As they bloody well should. Support staff frequently don't ask for it, though - but generally expect goodwill in return...

Schools are now obliged to consider teachers' wellbeing and working conditions or they get criticised for it. This should not be achieved by dumping on the few remaining support staff who have not already been made redundant in order for the school to be able to afford teacher pay rises.

It's not only teachers who miss out on lunches also just because I 'finish at 4' doesn't mean I finish at 4....if needs of the job mean I miss lunch or finish at 5 so be it

So over teachers and their woe is me

redandwhite1 - and what is your contractual hourly pay?

Or are you on an annual salary?