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?

Is that not technically the same? In Scotland, teachers use their 40 days of annual leave during specific school holiday periods as recommended by the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT). This leave is automatically assigned during school closures rather than taken at random times during the term. 15 days in the summer, 10 at Christmas, 10 at Easter and 5 in September/October. Whilst teachers in England are only getting 28 days, I suspect that they also get public holidays on top of that which would bring them closer to the arrangement in Scotland in terms of time off?

What is the expectation within your school? If there is an expectation that you should be available to reply to emails during school holidays then I guess you need to do it. Whether it's reasonable or not is something you need to raise with your line manager.
If there is no expectation but you're taking it upon yourself to reply and then feeling miffed about it, then it's on you.
If parents don't receive a reply yet think they should then they can raise that with the school.
Surely your school has a policy they make parents aware of?

As a parent I would expect someone in management to be contactable over the school holidays, but only to deal with issues that cannot wait until term time (safeguarding, major change in family circumstances), not just "can you tell me which edition of the set English book to get?").

I take my laptop and phone on AL with me because there are things i need to do for work that my colleagues can't do.
My caveat is that i'll get to them same day but it might be in the evening when im back at hotel etc.
I also cover them if i'm sick.

Its a bit of a pain as i never really get to relax fully, but i accept its part of a job that runs 24/7 due to international clients, and my boss is really flexible with me because im flexible for the business.

What happens if you are off sick?
Have you ever had mat leave ie. someone else needed to do you work?

I have 3 kids with Sen and often emailed teachers late at night as it was simply when I had time to compose the email. I was mortified when I got a response. I started making it clear at the beginning of the email that I didn’t expect a response out of working time.

you wouldn’t (be reasonable for) accost your gp in town so why is a teacher acceptable?

I’m on 25k and expected to be responsive lol, you get 13 weeks off a year!!!

No, it’s really cheeky. Put on an ooo that says you’re on leave and will be back on x date. Respond then.

You are not a qualified teacher and your position is not relevant. Although I do sympathise! Who is expecting you to respond, normally you should be able to put on an ooo stating when you’ll be back and answer then.

You can't do anything much if you bump into parents in town, other than "must dash, but remind me when the new term starts"

As far as emails go, is this your work email address or private? Surely if it's via a school email then you are under no obligation to respond, so put the OOO on and ignore till end of August.

If I emailed a teacher during the holiday (which I’ve never actually done) it would be because that was when I remembered whatever it was, so I sent the email before I forgot. I wouldn’t expect a response until term time. I don’t think anyone is unreasonable for emailing at a time that is convenient for them, that’s a benefit of email, the unreasonable part would be if they expect a response, but tbh I’d just ignore that expectation if it were me (I think the same when I’ve seen teachers complaining about evening emails - that might be the time when a parent isn’t working or looking after their children, don’t check your emails in the evening, and just reply the next day!)

Her response is relevant because OP specifically asked about people in other jobs.

Absolutely yes lots of jobs come with this expectation. It shouldn’t happen but it absolutely does yes.

It's not 'annual leave' though, it's school holiday time, so the title is misleading! If you are properly away on holiday, then no you should be responding but it's a little different to just be in school holidays.
Check the school policy about contact from parents during school holidays and go from there.
Most teachers do some school work during holidays. Those with more responsibility/leadership roles also have to work during 'school holidays '! It's just part of the job!

I am teaching in a private school currently and yes we do. We are allowed to put an out of office on for 2 weeks of our choosing in the summer (but not results days or the last week of August, we are all expected in school those days).
Outside those 2 weeks we have to respond to any email from a parent within 24 hours, the same as in term time.
We can also put on the out of office for a week at Easter, half of any half term and 2 weeks at Christmas/New Year. So that is our 'annual leave' time.
Our salaries are below state sector before anyone says 'that's why you get paid more'.

I think it's a bit pointless trying to make comparisons between totally different types of work - "would you do this in a 9-5 job?" is irrelevant really.

But to the extent it's comparable, I think there's a distinction between "non-working hours" and "annual leave". In my own experience of various office roles it would be relatively uncommon (unless a person was very senior) for a person to answer emails when they were actually on holiday (booked annual leave to go away) but pretty common for people to answer emails outside of working hours, including on weekends or an a day they're not contracted to work if part-time.

I think the fairer comparison for a teacher on school holidays is whether a person would respond to emails on an evening or on the weekend, not whether they'd be logging on to email while they're sat by the pool.

Not when you're on annual leave.,

I bet people do accost the GP around town - not that it's reasonable to do so but I would absolutely bet it happens! I think if you're doing a community-facing role in the community you live in, you have to expect it comes with the territory and have a polite way to say "this isn't the time or place for this conversation".

If i'm off sick i still do what needs to be done as i WFH anyway most of the time so it doesnt kill me to fire up laptop and do the necessary but i don't stay logged on all day.

No, never had maternity leave and never will.

Nope . No way. End of. I have a senior role that has high expectations and pay to compensate. circa £80k. I am paid that amount to work effectively in my contracted hours. I don’t care if you are a colleague a client or a customer. I don’t work when I’m not paid for it. Used to when I was young and stupid and the piss was taken.
Now I am old and much smarter. No one ever lay on their deathbed lamenting the fact they didn’t spend longer at work.

My teacher son works in the holidays, probably four weeks out of the summer, not on parents emails though. I think it's common for teachers to use holidays for planning and marking.

I can't believe some people still, with all of the information out there, still don't realise teachers use their long holidays to prepare for term time, write reports etc. Do people think teaching time is literally the only part of the job?! It's probably about 50% at most.

And that’s probably why the parents email - they are aware of that

Iv sent teachers emails but don't expect as response until sept.

Dont reply to emails. Set holiday reply with date your back and it may take a week to reply even then etc

If you get stopped politely ask them to make an appointment with reception in September so you can give it your full attention.

The school holidays aren’t all “annual leave” though are they? I thought you had 6 weeks annual leave and the rest was just “non-directed time” as a teacher?

Why have parents got your email address?