Not being paid for interview?

[Rainbowsandunicorns85]

Umm - anyone any idea if this is legal or not? Permanent contract and FT.

Your post was unclear and didn't mention teaching. I don't 'check' boards, I look at active threads. I never find it necessary to check because, usually, it's clear from the post or thread title.

Your post was a little brief but I understood it immediately.

Unless you are having many such interviews your school is being completely unreasonable. It is part of the ‘gentleman’s agreement’ between schools: teachers are released to do interviews and transition days, because the school will also expect that of incoming teachers.

I would politely enquire of your SLT what out-of-hours arrangements they are making for any teachers that they are recruiting this year, so that candidates need to take no time off their current teaching posts?

But as pps have explained, if this pops up on active threads, it doesn'tsay which board tge staffroom is on. So I don't think it is entirely unreasonable that some pps didn't realise this was to do with teaching. FWIW, I work in a school, though not a teacher, and also know quite a lot about our budget situation. I can see schools choosing not to pay teachers when they have time out for interviews more and more. Finances are incredibly tight and paying a teacher who is attending an interview as well as a supply teacher to cover the class, may be just unaffordable.
And, in answer to a pp yes, if a school wants our member of staff to spend a day with them as a form of induction, we do request that they cover the cost of a supply teacher for the day.

Guys, there is no attitude here but when I post on the correct board I shouldn’t have to justify myself 20 times over, I am a busy person as I am sure we all are and it is frustrating to get lots of posts pulling faces and demanding more info when as explained it makes total sense to teachers, who were after all my target audience here!

Maybe check where the poster has put her thread in future before having a go? And that’s NOT an attitude, it’s a suggestion.

My old school refuses to release me for the transition day. I felt like a right twat asking if I could do an after school instead. SLT were fuckwits, should have left sooner!

Its staffroom not staff room. I think you confused us.

Please pay more attention to detail OP or do 100 lines.

As others have said though, when a thread is in active threads, you haven't gone and sought out 'adoption' or your other examples.

Equally, I am a teacher, and I had no idea what you were talking about at first. So even if I had spotted this was in 'the staffroom', it still wasn't clear what you were asking.

Now you've explained - it isn't something I've ever come across, and it sounds wrong to me, but this is the point of the politicians bringing in academies and SMTs moving away from the Burgundy Book. My advice would be to talk to your union.

@Rainbowsandunicorns85
I am a teacher, and your first post was not clear. It could have been referring to you sitting on an interview panel, attending an interview in your current school or attending at a different school. It could also be asking about your current school paying you whilst you go for an interview elsewhere, or the school where the interview is being held paying you. There is no need for your rudeness to other PPs.
Clarity is everything!
Schools are not obliged to pay staff to attend an interview at another school. Especially if they have to pay supply to cover the teachers class. In my experience, teachers usually do get paid. However, I've known teachers who have applied for many jobs and expect to get paid for many days attending interviews. If a teacher has 5 days off in total for interviews and have to get supply to cover, that's going to cost the school up to £1000.

Think my school pays for a couple of interviews then it’s unpaid.

They do pay for transition day as well.

Have you checked that it wasn't just done in error? Wrong absence code entered or something?

In a MAT here. Paid for the first couple then unpaid. Transition are potentially unpaid if it is happening at the expense of year 11/13 teaching time or if it's a hectic cover time as we have only one cover teacher and never bring in people.

You could put this in AIBU

@Rainbowsandunicorns85 I suggest ( former teacher and HOD here) that you speak to your line manager and ask if the policy has changed about paid time off for interviews. Just ask and perhaps say you were surprised to be told you wouldn't get paid when you understood it was custom and practice for teachers. It may depend on what type of school you are working in : Steiner, academy, LEA, international or private.

Don't go in all guns blazing but simply ask if they can refer you to the part of the school policies so you can familiarise yourself with it for future reference. It does sound unfair but if it's not policy maybe you can attempt to get them to change it?

It’s normal practice in many schools to pay teachers for the day when they are attending an interview at another educational establishment... I don’t believe it is required but it certainly normal (unlike most jobs, teachers can’t just request a day of annual leave ...)
It depends on your schools leave policy OP - what does that say?

I'm a secondary school SBM and plan the calendar and organise cover. From my point of view it would be short sighted not to pay you. If you are a poor teacher and we wanted to see you leave, it would be in our best interests.
If you were an outstanding teacher and we didn't pay you, you would be pissed off at us and we would lose any goodwill we had with you.

Either way I'd pay you as it's a win win situation.

Rainbows, I'm a teacher and thought that your first post, though brief, was perfectly understandable.

Sooverthemill has the correct approach. I'm a union rep and had to challenge the head on custom and practice' grounds over a change she wanted to impose last year. (She didn't listen to me, so I eventually got the regional rep in, too.) This is the kind of thing she would try, if it occurred to her

I think people on here are being a little harsh. The initial part was a little vague but didn't take a lot to figure out with subsequent posts.
In the schools I've worked in, we've always been paid for interviews however this is made very clear to us that it's a favour or professional Courtesy and that they don't have to.
Most SLTs understand as they also work in schools but some are very bitter and dicky and won't pay. I'd suggest getting advice from your union rep. A lot of heads don't want the hassle and will immediately give in when a union gets involved. Good luck.

You're a teacher? 😂. You're about the rudest person I've seen on here. I hope you're more tactile in real life. Also, plenty of places of employment have staff rooms

Teachers aren't generally encouraged to be tactile
It doesn't take a full day for a teaching interview everywhere, so I didn't understand the OP at first either. I've only ever needed a morning or afternoon off. I would say though if you aren't being paid you shouldn't leave work.

Does your school have a leave of absence policy?
Our school’s policy states that we get paid time off for interviews but only up to a certain number of days- 3 I think from memory.
You should be able to request a copy of the leave of absence policy and if it doesn’t cover interviews it’s definitely something you should raise with your union- preferably school rep, but regional if you don’t have one.

That’s shocking.
I’ve never heard of having pay docked for either interviews or new staff inductions.
It just gets more and more grim.

Are you in a union? I think that’s a really important question. Speak to your rep ASAP.

I am a teacher. I knew you were posting in staff room and likewise wouldn’t dream of posting elsewhere in a snotty manner if I had no expertise!

It is extremely unusual and in fact bonkers not to pay a teacher when they are an interview.

Out of interest, if you're not paid for a day can you be expected to leave planning? Surely you couldn't, and yet I can't imagine it wouldn't be expected...

Well, as a non teacher I would suspect that if people are moving away from the gentleman's agreement the medium term impact will be slt having to deal with the issue of unplanned leave. The rest of us cannot book short notice leave without giving the game away so it's sick leave or some other acceptable emergency.

If they dock your pay make sure you don't prepare any cover work at all. They're not paying you... you're not setting it. They can't have it both ways.