Finishing work on time

[Suanana]

Hi,
I work for an agency as a supply teacher.
I was down to work until 12, I was covering various classes throughout the morning so there was not one set morming in 1 class.

At about quarter to 12, They asked what time I was finishing, to which I replied "lunchtime' thinking lunch was usually at 12,
A TA said "our lunch isnt until quarter 1" but the class teacher will be back before then

At about 20 past 12, there was no sign of class teacher so I asked the TA if she knew what time I was here until as I am down unril 12"

The TA then start saying how ome of the other RAs will go find the class teacher as i shouldnt be doing 45 mins unpaid work but I said it was fine, I was just wondering;
She insisted and the class teacher came 5 minutes later saying he thought i was in until quarter to and made a joke about me being desperate for the pennys,

I feel awful after he made that comment. It was a severly autustic school so the day wasnt as structured. Usually I am mainstream and i dont mind staying half an hour extra to get marking done,

I'm worried i'll get a bad name with agency now whereas usually i get good reviews

Sorry for the mistakes aswell, typed on phone

It's not fair to make anyone paid by the hour work overtime. It starts to be taken for granted. His comment was unnecessary, especially in these times with more people struggling financially. I hope it doesn't negatively impact you, although I can't see why it should.

No-one should be expected to work for free, regardless of the role or the profession. This is one of the situations where you will kick yourself down the line for not responding to his smarmy comment the way it deserved.

I would have said "I have no problem working until 8pm if it helps you out, as long as I get paid for it. I don't work for free."

Don't be worried about standing up for yourself. No-one will do it for you. It shows a great deal more life skills, in my opinion, to know your worth and vocalise it articulately, rather than to stand there and be walked all over.

Please don’t devalue yourself like this!

If I was one of the TAs, my comment that I would find someone to take over would mean just that. No snippy reason behind it, just that I would recognise you are contracted for certain hours so let’s make sure we aren’t going over that. The teacher shouldn’t have made that comment but it sounds like a slightly ill-timed joke tbh.

You wouldn’t be worried about just leaving if you had another school to go to, this will have no impact for you. If you’re regularly expected to work over your contracted hours you need to have a conversation with your agency as that’s not on.

Thanks for the comments; like I said usually I an happy to stay 20 minutes-half an hour longer but I thought 45 minutes unpaid was a bit much.
Clearly there was not good communication with agency and school

He was rude. You shouldn't be expected to work more than they're paying you for. I also think he was rude to not come back to class when he got in. Where was he while he was waiting till quarter to? He's paid for that time, so why wasn't he working it.

YANBU

You didn’t walk out, you stayed. But you shouldn’t be expected to work for free.

I suppose in a salaried profession like teaching where most permanent staff work a lot at home, they might think everyone should do the same. But as a supply teacher you’re paid hourly so the expectation is (or should be!) different.

Maybe have a stock reply in future along the lines of 'I'm always happy to work the hours needed, unfortunately the school only booked me until 12.' That way it's clear that any PPA time or whatever he missed is down to the school being careless or stingy, not you.

I would have shot back “If I am needed until 1245 don’t book me until 12!”

I think waiting 5 mins for a handover is okay as people get held up but there should at least be a plan in place.

He was very rude indeed to say that!

Also - did he bollocks think that. He thought he could get away with it, hence the class teacher being so definite about going to get him.

Thanks everybody, you've made me feel much better! My natural personality is quite anxious, I need to learn to be more headstrong.