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!

yes you are correct, there has to be some flexibilty, that why i work 4 working days for a .6 contract. but each day I have a block of time, for example one day i go in and teach 10-1. No problem, i quite enjoy a short stint. like I said the only issue I have is spilt lessons, expecting a teacher to come in for lesson 1 and not teach again till lesson 5. That is unreasonable and unfavourable working conditions. Thats why trapped time has come into place. Thats why it could be classed as discrimination. read the nut guidelines, its quite a boring read but it will expain it better than me. (can you tell i had to see my head over this issue!!!!)

Yes, I know the guidelines - in my job I have to!!

We have a number of part time staff where it all works well. In most cases they are long standing members of staff who give a huge amount over and above contractual hours anyway, and recognise that they are there to serve the needs of the school, not the other way around!

What we've noticed as a school (and this a fairly recent phenomenon) is lots of women who apply for a full time post, and then after a couple of years take maternity leave and want to come back part time, and want it all on their terms. Eg I've actually had women requesting a 4 day week 'with either Monday or Friday as my day off so I can tack it on and have a long weekend', or 'got to be Wednesday off because I don't want to work more than two days in a row', or 'I only want to work 3 days but still want to be Head of Dept', or (best one I've heard yet!) 'Can I have Mondays off because Monday staff meetings go on til 5.30 and my childminder wants to finish at 5!!'

Believe me, as a manager you hear it all! I am a mum of 3 myself, so I totally understand the juggling and childcare thing - we all have to do it. But at the end of the day, the employer has to consider the job, the clients, and the whole workforce, not just the wants of individuals.

Just a little bit more input on a slightly different angle - it may be worth hanging in there even if the conditions aren't great (or even pretty terrible) as it can be difficult getting back into the saddle after taking time out.

I'm talking from bitter experience. I teach lower primary and foundation stage and have had 5 years out of classroom teaching while I've brought up my 3 dc. I did go back to work after ds1 but it was not financially worthwhile after ds2. I have done tons of other stuff - tutoring, working in ds's nursery, volunteering in school etc. but am now finding it extremely hard to get a teaching post. I think I shall have to do a 6 week, full time return to teaching course which will be really inconvenient. I now wish I had stayed, even if I made no money at all because it is a enormous hassle getting a job, and we approaching our third set of school fees....

It is not ideal but wouldnt complain, I would use the time to do mark and prep so I did not have to work as much at home. When I was part time I was in school 5 days so I could keep on top of things. My teaching burden was only 0.2 or 0.3 so didn't mind. AS you say it is worth hanging on for school fees reduction.

yes your right, that is also completely unreasonable, I too have heard the same many reasons. Im really happy to be part time. I dont have any input on the actual days I work, I recieve my new time table in June, which gives me 3 months to work out the childcare. Do I mind no way, For 12 years I slogged full time, and while the kids are small i love the flexibilty and a better work life balance. how i see it im having a career break while they are small (by being a teacher without responsibilty) but still working.
what I would say to the OP get a good child minder, lots of childminders will only ask for hours used and they are usually much more flexible.

And I would echo mum23monkeys too .... things have really changed in teaching over recent years. It can be incredibly difficult to get a job these days, particularly in desirable areas. It is difficult to even get on a PGCE in many cases - I've just watched 3 really good candidates, young graduates I know, get turned down, as competition is so tight.

So, it may well be worth putting up with a less than ideal situation for long term gain, rather than ending up struggling to get back into work when you desperately want to.

It is hard to get a job in a good school if you are not a very very good student which is how it should be in my opinon.

We can't give our Science jobs away. Still, national challenge school and all that...

Yes I left a national challenge school and they could not replace me so split my timetable up. Those staff have now left and they can't replace them.

However to get the job currently have it was very competitve. I know lots of our students, even the good ones are not walking nto jobs.

Good morning - glad to see I have incited a healthy debate

To summarise some of the points raised

• I value my job too much in the short and long term to dump it so won't be going anywhere. I have already "put up" with this situation for the 18 months I was work after having DS before I left to have DD

-We are not allowed to leave campus in case we are required to do emergency cover for another teacher. There's no limit on how much cover we can be asked to do like in
the state sector but hey are classes are half the size so swings and roundabouts...

• I would be absolutely BOLLOCKED if I tried to leave the premises outwith lunch hour. Nobody does. No way I could negotiate that one

-Timetabling is indeed a nightmare but so is juggling a career and childcare and I just wanted a wee whinge about it! I suppose my major gripe is that it would be perfectly simple for them to give me an extra class and bump me up to 0.6, the hours are there on the right days. But the school is giving them to my full time colleague to do for "free" So he's annoyed with an extra class, I'm annoyed as I don't have the extra class but the Bursar is happy as the school saves £200 a month. C'est la vie.

This sounds illegal to me. Firstly, if you are required to be there, you are working. Even if you don't actually do anything, they should pay you.

I reckon you are looking at a case of indirect sexual discrimination. As you are being unfairly treated as a part-time worker, and part-time workers are far more likely to be women, you are being discriminated against on the grounds of your sex. Plenty of case law on this.

And of course your male colleague is being paid more than you for doing the same job.

I don't think they could object to you complaining on those grounds, that would get them into even bigger trouble, victimisation, etc.

I think they should pay you back pay as well. We got that for my wife when she left a job before for similar reasons, it's a bit difficult if you leave it though.