Part-time working and trips

[Gruntbuggly]

School is asking for volunteers for a school trip. There is no mention of being paid for those hours, and no pressure put on people to volunteer.

I'm a part-time TA, and I work on that day, so of course I have to go on the trip. But the trip is on one of my part-time days, and will return at least 1h after I would normally finish. I also have previously arranged plans for that afternoon.

What do I do?

You could a) just go b) ask for an hour in lieu another day c) let them know that you will be leaving at your normal time, and not to count you into rationdoe the whole trip.

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I think it is perfectly reasonable for you to either say that you will have to leave the venue when your shift finishes, in order to attend your pre arranged activity. If you do end up staying , then you absolutely should be paid for the extra hour worked.

There's no point in me leaving at my normal time because I'll be miles from home with no transportation. The coaches would probably get back before me!

If they are asking for volunteers then why do you have to go?

Just explain that on this occasion you have plans and can’t work the extra hour.

I don’t believe you can be forced on a school trip anyway. I’ve had to decline when been told I’m
going before when I had family issues which meant I couldn’t be 60 miles away from my family for the day.

If they are asking for volunteers then why do you have to go?

Because it's on a day when I'm working.

It's a whole school trip. But they need more adults for the ratios. They prefer to have as many staff volunteers as possible (we have some challenging children) and then open it up to parent volunteers.

But that’s not asking for volunteers then is it- that’s telling all working staff they have to go.

Just explain to your line manager that you are unable to go if you really can’t change your commitments. They can’t make you work the extra hour.

Staff volunteers would be part-timers coming in on their non-working day.

Which I've done in the past, quite happily.

Unless you know another ta within the school could swap shifts and assuming school trips are a rare one off arrangement, I think you should change your plans and take back the time owed. Most people who work very occasionally need to stay longer than normally required, to do so shows reliability and commitment.

I agree. And there's a lot of goodwill-give-and-take in the job, but I've already paid the deposit for the activity, and the cost depends on the number of people participating. So, if I drop out, not only do I lose more than the 1-1.5h pay, but my friends end up paying more, too.

I think I'll have to see if I can swap days with anyone.

I am not sure your friends would pay more, most deposits are non refundable. However without the goodwill of teaching staff (yourself included) the trip may be cancelled. How many hours would you normally work on this day?

So you say you need to leave in order to be back at school for your usual finishing time...