To refuse to stay at work late?

[Onlyyours]

I’m a teacher. Due to strikes a parents evening has been rearranged, but I had plans for that evening.

Am I within my rights to refuse to do it, given the circumstances?

A number of posters on school strike threads have asked about 'working to rule' instead of outright closures for strike action.
If the profession did work to rule (which is never very effective anyway), parent consultations wouldn't happen at all.

what year do you teach?

Changing the evening for me only is a big ask for parents, though. I’m asking them to come in twice that week, once to talk just to me and once to talk to everybody else. I can’t see that going down well.

How much notice do you get given for when your parents evening as a teacher is? Surely quite a bit? I consider this quite unprofessional to not attend. Can your plans be re-arranged?

all depends what year you teach?

That's fine. If I earned as much as a solicitor I'd be happy to do that occasionally, too.

Maybe so but that doesn't constitute the definition of reasonable notice. 4 weeks is, and would be seen by an ET for example, entirely reasonable notice. Don't confuse what is reasonable with what is custom and practice.

You shouldn't have to cancel and I wouldn't. You don't even have to offer to do another time but I probably would to show willing.

As I am sure most people have. However, I wouldn’t be doing so if I had brought expensive concern tickets. Only on Mumsnet do people put their jobs before every other part of their life and never make plans on the off chance they might have to work late.

This was in response to the comments about work late.

No way would I miss a gig to talk to this kind of entitled nasty parent about their probably nasty entitled kid.

No fucking way!

Before the end of the previous academic year

You're not asking them anything. You need to speak to your head and ask them for suggestions - but don't offer to give up your plans.

About 10 years ago I'd booked Disney on Ice tickets long before parents evening dates were announced. I spoke to my Head, & was allowed to do that parents evening over the following 2 days. It had to be 2 days because school couldn't stay open late just for me.
Worth a chat with your Head & offer an alternative.

Check with your union. Where I am part of the action short of strike also directs that parents meetings can only happen during normal pupil contact time so it may not even be able to go ahead.
Other than that though I still don't think you can be forced to do it as you already have prebooked plans outside of normal contract hours and directed time budget and key dates are always given at the beginning of the academic year.

Love all the people saying you should be dropping everything without question because it's part of the job.. I would bet they are the same people who think teachers only work 9-3

Does this also apply if medical staff strike so your operation is cancelled? So if you needed major surgery but it was cancelled due to a strike, you'd have no entitlement to have your surgery rearranged on the NHS? Even if it was life-saving? Because there was a strike so the work didn't get done.

The only people who can answer your questions is teachers as in most other jobs 4 weeks is more then reasonable. In my job we only need to be given 4 weeks notice to change our whole shift pattern and job role and location permanently. So a change of shift can definitely be done significantly sooner.

Just speak to the head and offer to do phone calls instead. I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect you to cancel your concert when you already have tickets.

It's an entirely different scenario because talking about a child's attention in class is a whole different ball game to medical operations. But, if it's major surgery, I presume it would be re-scheduled according to the severity of the issue.
A routine op would probably mean slotting into a cancellation or joining the queue again?
Maybe a medic could tell us?

But presumably you can book days when you're not available? It can't be the case that you can never book tickets 4 weeks in advance?

For all the todo here,I suspect in the real world it just needs a sensible conversation with the head and all will be fine. I know every head I've ever worked for would accept these things happen.

Entirely reasonable to email your head, explain that you can't make the rearranged evening due to a prior engagement that can't be moved and suggest parents who really want an appointment are contacted by you at a different date.

Teachers miss parents evenings all the time for a variety of reasons.

Those saying "four weeks is enough notice" - notice for what? The OP has booked tickets to a gig. What is she supposed to do with the four weeks notice? Ask the artist to reschedule?

I can't book days off that aren't my contracted days

@Targetted i don’t want to sound overly irritable here, but even if you’ve been teaching around forty years and have worked in several different schools with head changes in that time, there’s no way you can know what every head will say. That’s why I need to know the legal position.

Not sure why it makes a difference what year group it is either.

That’s why I need to know the legal position.

Directed time is agreed at the beginning of the year.

I'd certainly get the union involved if the head said I had to cancel expensive concert tickets for a changed parents evening.