to be upset I am being paid 0.5 when I will be at work three full days a week?

[basilbrush]

I am a teacher in a private school which are notoriously unhelpful in these areas but wanted to rant anyway...

My maternity leave ends in a month and once again, I am going back to teach half a timetable. So I am being paid 0.5 even though the lessons are spread out over 3 full days so I have to be on campus from 8.30 - 5.30 on those days.Apparently it is beyond the realms of possibility to rearrange the timetable and give me a half day off.

This was bad enough when I just had DS but now I will also be putting DD in nursery. Basically, three full days childcare fees times two kids equals my 0.5 salary. So I will earn diddly squat for two years until DS starts school.

I have asked school to give me more lessons on those days and please put me up to 0.6, that way I would make £200 a month after childcare. But instead they have given more hours to my colleague who is full time. This is a cunning move to save cash as "full time" can be anything from 30 to 35 lessons a week so basically he has to do the extra work for no extra money whereas if they put me up to 0.6, they'd have to pay me for the lessons.

AIBU to be annoyed? Is there any other job where this would happen? I know times are hard for private schools but there also hard for the staff who work there!

YANBU. I'd look for a new job if I were you.

I'm so surprised they can get away with this! for you.

Surely your hours of work/pay should be pro-rata?

Shocking! Teachers are in big demand aren't they? Ditch them and go somewhere your skills will be appreciated.

I'm not surprised they are doing this as it is the most cost efficient at the moment.

It won't be when they have to recruit someone else when you walk

That's shit

They can only get away with it because it is an independent school.

Don't work in the independent sector if you want good terms and conditions. You got the perks of the job when you worked full time - nice classroom, good facilities, pleasant children etc. This is the flip side, they can treat you however they like and you have no comeback.

Sorry, just realised how harsh that post sounded. I'm not having the best of days myself. Am for you.

Do you belong to a union? If so, now is the time to contact them. If not, can you join one, if there is one for this?

That is rubbish.
Could you find a job at another school?
Seems very unfair.
YANBU

If your contract of employment states that your working day is 8.30 - 5.30 three days a week then they should be paying you accordingly.

Do people in the school get paid per lesson they take or an annual salary? I expect it is an annual salary and such your treatment could lead to sex discrimination. (Please don't focus on your employer giving you more lessons if you are not paid per lesson). If you're contracted to be in from 8.30 - 5.30 three days a week then they should be paying you the pro rata salary equivalent.

Your employer can not unilaterally reduce your pay. They need to follow a procedure.

It would appear that your employer is going against the "Part-Time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulation 2000". You are being treated less favourable than a full-time employee. This goes against the regulation.

If you go back to work it could be perceived that you are accepting the conditions (hours of work and pay). Before going back to work you need to write to you employer and inform them of these issues.

Have you posted this in Employment Issues? I think as Journey says, that you are being treated less favourably than a full-time employee, and you may get some good advice over there. There's a few HR bods who really know their stuff and are amazingly helpful.

I think Journey is right. Are the school actually telling you that you have to be in school from 8.30 to 5.30 for the full three days, even though you're only paid 0.5? If so, that seems very dodgy on the face of it.

If, on the other hand, you are simply not happy that your 0.5 teaching allocation has been spread over 3 days, then I think that's just tough and you either accept it or look for another job. Teaching is one of those jobs where it's not actually that easy to give part timers full or even half days without splitting classes between teachers, which can be detrimental for pupils and other colleagues, and is therefore a justifiable reason to refuse someone part time hours. I did a teaching job part time for a while where my classes were dotted all over the place - I was in on a Monday morning, then back on Tues afternoon etc - and of course, nurseries quite reasonably expect parents to pay for a block of time, either full days or possibly half days. I didn't earn anything much after costs - but it was a good job for a while, and when it pissed me off enough, I found a new job.

I think private schools tend to be notoriously bad for part time employers - all the part timers I know never know from one minute to the next what they're going to be paid or how many hours they have.

Thanks for all your advice, violethill I'm a bit confused though!

I have to be there till 5.30 because I have classes till that time. So yes, I'm not happy my teaching allocation has been spread over 3 days and yes, the school is telling me I have to be there by giving me last lesson each day which is 4.45-5.30. Please don't think I'm rude and I appreciate your imput, it's just I don't see the difference in the two situations

And in my defense, I have to admit I have shared some classes since I went part time three years ago and I don't think it has to be detrimental at all if you are professional and liase with the other colleague i.e. organise thoroughly who's doing which topic. In fact, I think it's quite good for the pupils to experience different teaching styles within the same subject

Yes, you are right, they are notoriously bad! But I have a permenant contract, surely that gives me some rights? As for finding another job, not really an option as my subject areas are relatively obscure and not many schools offer them.

I can see why you are annoyed, and am sympathetic to your considerations, but timetabling is a very difficult issue and I don't think your school are being that unreasonable, managing to squeeze all your lessons into three days! I would say that this is an area where everyone needs to compromise a bit.

I had a shite time-table when I was teaching part-time. I was on 0.6 timetable but only had one day off a week and quite a few 'blanks' in the middle of the day where I wasn't paid but couldn't do anything else really either. It meant I was paying for full days at the childminder but not earing enough to make it really worth it. It was one of the reasons i didn't go back to work after having dd2 as they then told me I could only have one day off every 2 weeks! and we worked out that after childcare i'd be working nearly full-time for about £150 a month.

have I read that right? you're going back to work and your salary at present will just cover childcare. If so why bother going back after mat leave obligation fulfilled? dont think you'll lose anything by looking for a new job. Yanbu

basilbrush - it's definitely annoying for sure but you are I presume only 'working' for 0.5 of the time. Can you not use the time between lessons effectively to make the days that you are off easier. Shopping? Paying bills? Lesson planning? Marking? Take advantage of the childcare and go out for a nice long lunch with a friend or something. Part time work that isn't menial is a rare thing AFAIK - at least you are keeping your career buoyant and hopefully your job will be there for a bit longer with this as the solution.

YANBU to be annoyed but if you go around school sulking and holding a grudge and holding back on your commitment then YABU.

State schools do try this too and some get away with it, especially in secondary and sixth form teaching. Sixth form teaching can be the worst hit for it.

Do you have a union? Get them involved. It isn't right or fair and you should fight it.

If they are messing about over it insist on being given classes in those sessions and get paid for 0.6

I do think you need to get the union on your side.

i get paid 0.47 or something and am in school over 4 days - admittedly i have periods 1 and 7 off as it suits me for school pick ups.

thedolly - why on earth should the OP put up with this though?

stillnachte - that is dfferent though by the sounds of it. Looks like you have just managed to arrange late start and early finish, making your life easier. If your allocated non working time was 10-11 and 2-3 it would not be the same at all IMO - and the school know it!

yes my periods one and 7 are unpaid

I don't really understand she is being paid 0.5 for 3 whole days 8.30-5.30?

If thats the case that is disgusting. A friend of mine is HoD but part time in an indie school and works over four days and comes out with just shy of 700 quid a month. She is responsible for many many extracurricular things which mean she sometimes has to be in school at weekends too (for no extra pay). She has just resigned. I think from her experience it seems much worse in the indie sector- althou i have no idea what my timetable will look like next year yet??!!

I am a part time teacher and I am sure I have read somewhere that in the state sector the school has to pay you in full for any session you are working. ie they can not dot your lessons all over the place, if you work one lesson in a session you have to be paid for the whole session. I would contact your union if I were you. I had dealings with my union before I want back after my second maternity leave but the problem never arrose and I have 2 full days timetabled and paid 0.4. I was quite prepared to fight for it if I needed to and the union were quite helpful but as I asid the school gave me what I wanted with no question.
I hope this helps.

Hulababy, what's to put up with (apart from the inconvenience)? I think the OP is working only half of the hours that a full time teacher works i.e. teaching half the number of lessons. It's just that these lessons cannot realistically be squashed into all day Monday, all day Tuesday and Wednesday morning (just an example). So, works 0.5 = gets paid 0.5 = fair enough. Not ideal, but not a crime either.

As has already been alluded to by BonsoirAnna, timetabling can be a nightmare and as the OP has 'relatively obscure' teaching areas this could possibly exacerbate the problem.

basilbrush - Under the circumstances why not be a SAHM for the next couple of years and do some exam marking/attend some workshops or conferences to keep up with your skills? Just an idea .

The inconvience here is a problem though as the OP is stuck at work during the full 3 day's worth of hours. If they can't manage to timetable her for 2.5 days (0.5) and can only manage over 3 days then they should look at filling her days to make it a 06 contract instead.

It is because people don't pull schools and work places up over stuff like this that the schools get away with doing it.

I was a teacher. I know what timetabling can be like. However it IS possible to fit timetabling of part time staff in more sensibly than this. Many schools manage it perfectly well. It just takes a bit more effort on the part of the school.