Part time - can my days be changed without my agreement?

[FromPenToPaper]

I'm a secondary school teacher in a "converter" academy, and I currently work part time 3 days a week. My Subject Leader/Line Manager has been working on the timetable for next academic year, and today has told me that the days that I work need to change. He is not giving me any choice in the matter. It's because of my subject specialism and the way the blocks are for the next academic year. This is exacerbated by my subject being understaffed.

Can the school do this? Just change my days without my agreement?

It's pretty standard here, that teachers are contracted to hours not days. So days can change every year.

I wouldn't know what was on my contract as I haven't seen an official contract in years! When I returned from Mat Leave I had a meeting with the Head where my days were discussed (in terms of days, not hours) and agreed. I never saw anything on paper as a result, so I don't know what I am contracted for. Is that typical?

Happened to me as well. After maternity leave, I came back as 0.6 and have worked mon, tues, wed for the last 7 years.
From sept I'm mornings only all week, equates to 0.6. Really arsed off about it.

Wow, that sucks. I guess I should be grateful that it's not any worse. So this is something that employers can just do without any consultation.

Same sort of thing. Contracted hours not days. School does the best to try and timetable whole days off, but my days have changed for last four years.

I think that's pretty standard. I work 0.6 and have different days this year to last year. I think you're entitled to ask before the timetable is out to enable you to make changes to childcare, but otherwise you're fairly lucky if you get whole days as apposed to bits of days.

This happened to me last year. One of HT's favourites returned from her maternity leave and was given the job and hours I had been doing. My position changed completely.Within weeks she announced 2nd pregnancy and wanting to reduce her hours leaving him up the creek.,

"We're doing it for the benefit of the children, not to suit you" is what I was told ?? She's a lovely HT and person, NOT!!!!!!!

It's just a bit crap really. I feel like I'm letting my DS down somehow by these external forces changing our routine. I don't want to have to change his days at nursery because of work. It also means that he won't have 2 days in a row at nursery which is important I feel for him being settled.

Doesn't help that I am not overly keen on my school at the moment, and my line manager this year is really beginning to hack me off.

It's one of those things, you have contracted hours and not specific days in the majority of schools.

See, it cheeses me off that I had sod all in writing after I came back from Mat Leave. Just a verbal agreement about which days I was working. I was not really aware of the fact that it's just hours that I am apparently contracted for, not specific days.

It'll be a contract like '0.6 of a full timetable'.

I'm on 0.6 and the hours I work change from year to year depending on the timetable. Unfortunately as I'm a maths teacher and they don't split GCSE classes, I have to teach all 5 days a week and my hours are different each week on a fortnightly timetable.

So having had the same full days off so far, you've been pretty lucky IME.

I had a friend in similar circumstances and when she contacted the union she was told that the days had to be by mutual arrangement by the HT and herself.

That was in Scotland though where conditions tend to be better.

Part timers where I am have to accept what they are given although the school strives to keep time out in blocks of days and half days. I am 0.7 but luckier than most because I am the SENCO and only have a few fixed points on the timetable and choose my own time out. I feel for you, though, OP.

It's happened to me this year, although it was initially framed as an option. I have worked Thursdays and Fridays for 6 years. I did ask for a move to Mondays and Tuesdays after my job share announced she was leaving. The Head said their plans worked round me doing Tuesdays and Wednesdays and asked me if I would do that. It is workable so I agreed and was then told that my role had been changed and I'm now to work in Y6 (I asked for Y1!). I think if I hadn't agreed to the proposed change, I would have been told it wasn't optional as I'm sure they wouldn't have accommodated me in any other way.

Happened to a friend of mine. Two full days changed to three part days, plus a complete change of subject! Then each year they change the days she works. Seems wrong.

Sorry, but I suspect that even if you were lucky enough to have set days in your contract (which I've never heard of), this could be covered by the 'and any other duties which the HT requires' which seems to be standard in all contracts.
The only way of trying to avoid it is to talk to whoever does the timetable very early into see if they are willing to accommodate you, which isn't always possible.

I did speak to my line manager right at the beginning. In fact they asked me if I wanted to change my days and I said possibly if it fitted the timetabling, but if not, stick with my current days. What's been told to me is neither my suggested change of days nor my original days. I think that even if I hadn't suggested a change of days, my line manager would still have told me I needed to change my days to what they want.

I've only been part time for a year since returning from Mat Leave, so this is all new to me. As I said, I didn't get anything in writing (email or on paper) after agreeing with the Head to do 3 days a week. So I didn't really understand how it could work.

I'll have to focus on the fact that it could be worse, and try not let my personal resentment of the situation affect my attitude too much.

On my timetable for next year which I've just been given I've got to come in on one day for one lesson. With all the childcare arrangements and petrol costs that entails.

The head has made a point of saying that the timetable is written for the benefit of the pupils not the staff.

I know a part time teacher who was effectively forced out by a completely unreasonable timetable. Head wanted to reduce the number of PT staff.

She sent from 3 days working, 2 days off and all KS4 and KS5 lessons. She'd done that for eons. Suddenly changed to all split KS3 lessons and a 5 day week 'bitty' time table. She had one day where she had to work Lesson 1, then was off work for lessons 2 and 3 and back in again for Lesson 4.

Dreadful, and close to bullying. She left the following school year.

*went, not sent.

Oh I've had p1 and then not again till p4 on my timetable pretty much every year.

It is dreadful. But not bullying. I imagine that other colleagues were very pissed off at her cushy timetable of all ks4 and 5 lessons and if they complained it would be rightly so.

Not many part time teachers can keep the same days as the year before. Most people's change from year to year. But split days are the worst. Try not to accept these unless it would particularly suit you.

If I said I wouldn't accept my timetable I would be told that I know where the door is.

noblegiraffe why is an all KS4 & 5 timetable seen as cushy? That's taking on a lot of responsibility for results. Surely KS3 would be the more cushy option? A level coursework marking can be a huge amount of work.

The only "cushy" aspect of KS4 & 5 is that yr 11 and 13 go on study leave. But at my school any gained time like this is filled with planning & prep etc for next year.