AIBU? Working during annual holiday

[Oaktree1952]

Im a teacher and I’ve been contacted by three parents by email and “caught just to say” in town. I get teachers get really long holidays. I get the expectation that we plan and prepare the classroom during holidays. But should I be replying to parents or not. Do other £40k jobs respond to clients or other members of staff during their annual leave?

I’ve been on holiday this week and have kept an eye on email. If anything super simple for me to reply to but work for someone else came in I would have sent the answer to my back up and if anything major had gone wrong I would rather know it’s coming on Monday than be blindsided. Should I do it though & should anyone expect a reply? No because I’m on holiday. For what it’s worth as with a previous poster if I emailed in a school holiday with a question I wouldn’t expect a reply until the new term started. I was concerned enough by my youngest’s teacher replying to me at 11pm once when I emailed that I have subsequently set any mails to school to go during the school day.

Unless a safeguarding issue, it can wait until September.

I am honestly not fussed about this in the slightest. There’s no expectation to reply in the holidays so if you don’t want to reply then don’t.

If you teach part time then you do get used to quickly checking emails on days off so you don’t come back to hundreds of ‘could the person who called the parent of Oliver Jones in Y9 please call them back!’ type emails!

Our parents managed not to bother the teachers all the time we were at school. Why should it be necessary to contact them over holiday time now? If it's something like a new medical condition/allergy school does need to know about, if they contact the office at the beginning of the term, they can take the necessary action.
I wouldn't run up to my doctor in town and ask about my medication, and I wouldn't expect my child's teacher to communicate with me outside school hours.

If you are on the standard STPCD then you cannot be expected to work during the holidays - that's all the holidays, not just the time when you are sitting on a beach. (Yes, in practice most people do quite a lot of preparation in the holidays, because it makes the work-life balance a little less crazy than in termtime, but that's by choice; you should not be required to do anything.)
It doesn't matter what other jobs expect - it's what your contract says that matters.)

Put a bounce message on your email.

Actually plenty of people earning a lot less than £40k a year do this.

If they are emailing your work email, don’t check the emails.

I think your issue is that your school haven’t communicated to you or the parents about what’s expected over the summer in terms of communication.

We got an email from our DCs school to say teachers won’t be checking emails over the holidays and just gave a single safeguarding contact email for emergencies.

You were away from home and took another phone with you. Simples.

It’s really on you to set the boundaries. You can not check emails, and you can say “we’ll pick it up in september” when people ask you in person. You can’t control what others do, but you can control your own reactions.

Yanbu but genuinely curious as to
what issues parents deem necessary to email about now rather than waiting until term starts?

I’d get another phone

work one - switched off with voicemail
personal one - friends and family only

Teachers usually aren’t pro rata’d

Lots do, lots don't. Why are you checking your work emails? Have you been told you have to?

I once emailed my child's teacher at around 11pm (not because it was super urgent, just because that was the first chance I'd had to sit down and compose an email). She only bloody replied immediately! I almost told her off but it was early in the school year and I thought it would be a bit over familiar!

How do you know you have e-mails? If you're logging on, you're the problem not the parents.

I am very boundaried about my work and I don't check emails or respond to anything on annual leave but my colleagues and manager do, so yes it does happen in other £40k professions.

Put an out of office on, don't check the emails during annual leave, if someone stops you in town to ask a question then find a polite but firm way to move along.

I have never answered work emails whilst on annual leave (in 30 years) and I’ve worked in international corporations, education settings and now a very busy family business. I’ve always made sure I’ve done everything I can do before I leave, then put my out-of-office on, and only then open my emails once back at work.

It’s a full time job so no need to pro rata... £40k pa.
As per all full time employment, some pay is retained on a daily basis to “earn” holiday pay. So if you left your employment midterm you would only be entitled to accrued holiday pay on leaving.

To op - when on holiday, don’t read work emails. If a parent stops you in the street to request some kind of action say you’ll deal with it when back to school.

I'm a secondary school teacher and I do regularly check my emails during the holidays as I often get emails from students needing help if they're working on coursework over the breaks, as well as students needing support after exam results with advice on remarks, etc. I will always help my students if they email outside of regular school hours. Parents don't tend to email over the break, but if they do, I will happily send a quick reply.

However, there is no expectation from my Head that we respond to any emails over the break. It's up to us as individuals whether we choose to respond. There would certainly not be any comeback from my Head if a parent were left waiting until September for a response to an email they'd sent after we broke up for the summer.

Just because a parent emails, it doesn't mean you need to respond. If you want to completely switch off, then take your emails off your phone if they're on there and don't check your work account until the week before you go back to school. You are perfectly within your rights to do this. Putting an out of office on will make it abundantly clear to parents that you do not check emails during the holidays and will not be responding.

As for parents stopping you in the street - that's a tricky one. I think just saying 'sorry, I'd really rather not discuss work while I'm on holiday - thanks for understanding - see you in September and I'll be happy to chat then' is the best way to deal with it before making a quick exit.

All.our emails go through the office so it would never happen that I would get one during holidays.

As regards meeting parents I live locally to my school (my children attend it) and I will chat away at the supermarket about the weather holidays etc but if anyone mentions school I just shut it down immediately.

Set up out of office and ignore parents. Why would they be emailing you now?! Also why does your school allow parents to have your direct email?

There Is nothing wrong with them emailing you during your holidays. Email is an asynchronous method of communication - you send when it suits you and the recipient replies when it suits them. It’s on you if you check your email when you’re on holiday.

The “just to say” when they bump in to you - depends. If it’s just mentioning they need to talk to you about something when you’re back at work, I wouldn’t get too excited. If they expect an actual discussion, then yeah, unreasonable and you need to shut them down.

As I understand it, teachers aren't actually paid over the summer - their 11 or 10 month contract is just annualised across 12 months. So no, you do not have to respond during booked & approved annual leave.

This 100%

This. It's not that difficult is it?

What do they even want you're not even their kids teacher anymore. I do however send emails to companies, nhs etc at allsorts of times but I would never expect an answer at 2am on a sunday morning just because thats when i sent the email I just assume they will read it when they are next in work and available.