To say no! Twilight sessions (unpaid)

[LorlieS]

Can't sleep I'm so stressed!!
I'm working as a HLTA - paid hours 8.30 until 3.30.
Just picked up an email sent today telling me I need to attend two twilight sessions from after school until 6pm. Needless to say these will not be paid for and the first one is this week!
AIBU to say no?
Oh, and I also have a 3 yo and her childcare only runs until 4.30.

Read your contract of employment and let us know what it says about these days then we can advise better.

we can’t comment on if it’s unlawful etc without that. I’d it’s in your contract then your lack of childcare is not your employer’s issue. You would be expected to attend.

how long have you been in this job? If a long time and never expected to do it before you could argue customs and practice so say it’s too short notice so you won’t attend. But if they give you longer notice your husband will have to cover.

Is there no flexibility in your husband's work e.g. Flexi time or TOIL?

Is there another colleague who could help, do you live near the school? No nursery attached to the school. Any students in placement who could help for just that short time?

As pp have said, check your contract as this may well be in there.

It's a bit rough giving such short notice though.

However I would take this as a push for action - time to try and make some mum friends / work out a babysitting plan. You never know when you might need it.

Do you have any neighbours with teens or who could help out for these two sessions?

If your DH is employed by the NHS this is where the NHS can be a lifesaver in terms of flexibility and emergency leave.

Tell them you can’t do it as you have no childcare. Tell them you will work the days instead (the INSET days the twilights are replacing).

As has been said check your contract as it is possible that you are not required to do twilight.
I have worked in several schools and associate staff are not required to work on inset days so the school may be giving you the wrong information.

I'm a teacher. I am unhappy with my conditions but know it is worse for TA. It no surprise we cannot retain good support staff. If u have been told this week then I would simply say you cannot attend as it is too short notice for childcare. I don't know what to suggest if there is plenty of notice for the nxt one. When we have had twighlight sessions in the past it is to make up tome to break up a day early. Could you ask if u could do the missed time at tge end of term? Good luck OP

Can your husband request carers leave?

So with notice your OH can take holiday, so you do have an option

It will be in your contract that you need to do this, it's part of your job. Please also remember that your childcare issues are not your employers problem.

Share the problem with your dh. Ask him to help sort child care, it’s not just your responsibility.

What does your contract say?

Why is this just your problem?

Your DH works full time too so the fact that you only earn minimum wage shouldn't really come into it. Childcare is a shared expense and problem - get him to sort it out this time.

It is really hard to earn so little that any childcare at all feels completely out of reach. It's a real problem today and frankly is why the birthrate is going down.

However from your responses it feels like a mixture of money and a sort of feeling that "people like me don't hire childcare". With a 3 year old, I can't see how you will manage as 2 working parents the next few years without a patchwork of local babysitters, childminders, hiring nannies off and on, and so forth. Yes it eats a lot of income, but you're working for the future of your career as well as the present rewards and you have to budget a little bit in and build that network of employees as well as helpful friends.

Jobs which are pure school hours, termtime, with no after hours work ever, and no need ever to flex...well they are ok, but they pay bobbins. Better to give yourself more time and earning potential.

At our school staff would simply say that they can't attend due to short notice and no childcare and the Head would deliver the training at another time. You probably won't be the only one who can't attend - part time staff who don't work that day may not be able to work that day.

If it has been on the calendar for some time and you should have known about it, say that your childcare has just fallen through.

They cannot insist that you work outside your contracted hours.

If they give you a new date that is several weeks away then I feel that that is reasonable and you will need to liaise with your husband and mum as they are your only childcare options.

I am certain that you will get the time back. Twilights are always done to accumulate time to claim back on an inset day. No one would attend otherwise.

If you want to look very dedicated, you could offer to attend and bring your child. I have known people do this in an emergency. But obviously depends if appropriate to content of the training.

At my old school TAs could claim for Twilights and they basically ran a mini crèche so one staff member would take all children down to EYFS to play and then either catch up with training later or would be a member of SLT that had already done it. It worked well as all children were nursery age of older so were fine.

Twilight sessions are usually to make up hours for inset days so they are paid. They're paid because a day's pay isn't deducted for the inset day that nobody goes in for.

With short notice you could put apologies for the first one, but the second you have notice for and your partner will need to put some leave in.

I think women shoot themselves in the foot when they don't insist their partner has a bit of inconvenience to look after their children.

I would tell them that it's too short notice for child care. If you aren't contracted to do them and you aren't being paid then insist that any relevant training occurs during your contracted hours. Do you have a union?

I'm a teacher and I hate twilight's, they always run past the time when I have to get to after school club. I'm always knackered after a full day teaching and it leaves me no time to prep for the next day. Not to mention schools always putting another meeting in the same week. I would rather work the inset day.

Thanks all. How do I bring my little girl with me when work is a 40 min drive away?

I would put a post in fb to ask if anyone knows any local babysitters. Someone you know may respond. They wont cost much for a couple of hours.

All of the posters who are blaming the TA for the school managers lack of planning! No, you absolutely should not have had less than a week's notice about a change to your working hours. School calendars should be published at the start of the school year to give everyone time to plan. It's not just childcare that people have to plan for - people have lives, families and other commitments. School is not your life - it is what you do to earn money to live your life. No one is at the beck and call of their employer 24/7.

Whilst school staff are expected to put up and shut up and accept changes to their working hours at the drop of a hat this will only continue to happen.

Inset days replaced with twilight sessions are an utter pain in the behind. It is not so bad if you have plenty of notice, but even then who has the energy to do 3 hours on top of a full teaching day - and then have another late meeting in the same week?