Part time Teachers / Support staff

[Whizzz]

how do you go on if training that you want to do is held outside of your normal hours - do you / would you get paid for attending or would you be expected to attend in your own time?

I tend to agree with Squeaky on this one.

Thing is, some one may work part time, but training needs are across the board aren't they? A training day is relevant to your professional skills whether you work four days or five. The same goes for parents evenings. So while in theory, you can say that someone should do 80% of training etc, in reality it doesnt work like that.

I think this is where part timers can present really difficulties for an employer, and it's a bit simplistic to say that it's just a case of Head teachers being old fashioned and out of touch. It's not easy to balance being family friendly with the actual needs of an employer/company.

I have a couple of part timers working for me and tbh it can be a nightmare with training. I recently organised some training that took place over three separate days, and the part timers only turned up for 'their' days so they got incomplete training. Not good for them or me.

But why should they turn up for days that aren't "theirs"?

No one works for the love of it....

And if the students and the school need teachers who have accessed the appropriate training needs, then why should they be disadvantaged by part timers who can't or won't attend if it's not 'their' day?

My job is education related, and I know that schools think long and hard about INSET; they compile their list of training needs for the year, which is likely to be linked to new initiatives that are coming on board... and then find that all the part timers on the staff won't get the training!!

I'm not suggesting there is a simple answer, but faced with the choice between someone who will do the whole job, including accessing training, attending parents' evenings etc, and someone who will only be able to do part of it, I can completely see why the first option is better for the school and pupils.

Whizz - quick question for you in arts and crafts.

I don't get paid for going to INSET days. My head said he wouldn't even pay for my childcare costs if I wanted to attend a course on a day that I don't work. I wasn't asking for pay just the £4 per hour it was going to cost me to send ds to the cm for the day. So I didn't go!

findtheriver - but the thing is I want to be able to do the training that my full time colleagues can access BUT I think I shouldn't have to do them in my own time for free.
Sqeaky - I'm not sure how expecting to be paid just like FT workers are to attend training is making me any less a professional?

Then perhaps the schools should make sure that part timers DO get the training they need.

Who would pay my childcare if I wasn't paid on the training days I don't work?

It may be inconvenient but it is about putting the needs of your family above that of the school, and I believe people can't be discriminated against by choosing to work part time.....

Message withdrawn

Our head always pays part time staff to come in on training days if not a usual working day.

We also get sick leave (I know some part timers who are expected to swap days when they are ill)

The issue is more complicated than that though fizzbuzz, because often I find that part timers don't have childcare organised for days they don't work, so even where the employer agrees to pay, the empoyee is not available.

For example, with the training that I organised recently which was spread over three days, what should I have done with part timers who told me they couldnt work those days because they had no childcare set up? I was restricted in the times and dates that I could organise the training, because the external speakers I had organised obviously had other commitments too.

The only 'solution' I could find was to try to ensure that information was passed on to those who missed certain sessions of the training - but that's a patch up job, it's not really a solution.

And ultimately, as this was a school I'm talking about, the pupils are disadvantaged by being taught by people who haven't accessed the relevant training.

What would you suggest as a solution?

I go to training and meeting pro rata but parents evenings for all the classes I teach.

I think the NUT usggestion is that part-timers are paid extra to come in for all training but if they cannot this is organised with their head. I think this seems a sensible solution.

But my point is, that it isn't really a solution. It may be a patch up, but it isn't a solution! The training I organised was high quality and necessary for the people in my Dept to carry out their jobs. Yes, I could do my best to ensure that information was passed on, but this is NOT the same as experiencing the training first hand.

It's difficult and I wish I could see a solution!

Message withdrawn

After school stuff I wasn't paid for , INSET days only if they were my working days.
I had a run in with Head over that as they wanted me to do this course but wouldn't pay me , so I refused

Where I work, the part timers would be paid for non-working training times, but the problem is, the part timers are not available. Which leaves me with a problem, because the employer is therefore disadvantaged by having part timers.

Yes, YG, I thought that was the case, that part timers are entitled to same training as everyone else.

So, if you aren't being paid to attend on your day off, you are being discriminated against?

Yes, it sounds as though that's the case fizzbuzz. Problem is, if the employer is willing to pay and the part timer still cannot attend, then in effect the school and pupils are losing out, through having staff who cannot access necessary training.

That's my dilemna.