Talk to me about term time only hours

[whichwitchisthis]

I currently do 10 hours a week cleaning in a school, I have to work in the holidays but as the school is shut they prefer us to do our hours in the morning instead of 3.30 which is obv impossible for me as I have no childcare as the kids are off school

Anyway I've been there 4 years now and have managed the hols but my MIL who normally looks after the kids for me has become too unwell to manage anymore and so can't cover the hols for me

I have had some trouble in the past with the headteacher who does not like me and basically had a right old go at me over me taking time off after an op even though I had a sicknote and tried to make out that my sickness due to spd during pregnancy and maternity leave equalled a year on the sick and he basically said that I was playing the system

anyway I have put in a request to go termtime only as this would be easier for me, my immediate supervisor has agreed and would be happier with this, but she has no idea how it works, she has informed the office of this but they are a bit rubbish sometimes and I do not feel confident that this will be sorted out correctly

We have a personnel dept in the council, which obv the school belongs to and they deal with wages etc etc, so would it be ok if I either called or wrote to them telling them of my request for term time only work and asking them what happens next?

Also would I get holiday pay? I believe it is prorata'd? So I would get something like 10 days hols added onto my yearly wage (39 weeks worked) and then this amount would be divided by 12?
My immediate supervisor believes that I would just have to take the hols unpaid?

Does anyone know if I am right how to work out what my wage would actually be?

Thanks in advance and sorry it;s a bit long winded

sorry meant to say that I want to go about this the right way and not annoy anyone by going direct to personnel myself, the main lady that was in the office is on mat leave and there really is no one else to ask about this, just maternity cover

Assuming you currently work 52 weeks a year, to work out your salary roughly, divide your annual salary by 52 and multiply by 39.

In terms of holidays, yes you do get pro rata holidays, again divide by 52 and multiply by 39 to get the rough number of days. You'd either take this off during your normal 39 weeks working, or alternatively your employer could pay you for, say, 41 weeks of the year and say that the two weeks (or whatever is is) of that time that you don't work are your holiday. How holiday is calculated for term-time workers varies at different employers so you need to know how they do it where you work.

You could certainly call or write to your personnel department, and I'm sure you wouldn't be annoying anyone by doing so, but I would say your supervisor ought to be doing that. If she doesn't know how it will work she really ought to be contacting them, letting them know what's been agreed and asking how it will be organised.

You will need written confirmation of your new hours and pay, and that should include details of your new holiday entitlement and how that will work.

brilliant thanks!

I think that the holiday would be worked out the same way as they do it for the dinner ladies there which is fine, either way I'll be happy

She's not really a paperworky sort of supervisor she doesn't deal with any of that so it's a bit difficult, she says to me that she has sorted it but I'm almost positive it won't have been done properly

I suppose I won't be treading on anyone's toes if I just give personnel a ring to have a chat about it, and if I ask my supervisor for the phone number that is forewarning her that I am infact doing so

ooh thanks again off to get the calculator out now

right could I pick your brains again please?

I rang personnel and they just referred me back to the school saying that they had more idea of what I would get paid etc, the schoolhave no idea

I was told that I would either get paid for 38 weeks of the year if I was term time only, or I would get 38 weeks plus 5 days for training days if I worked those and these would both be pro rata'd over the year

no mention was made of any holiday at all, I actually asked if it would be a problem that I already had two weeks holiday booked in June and was yet again referred back to the school told that if it was booked prior to my application to work termtime only this shouldn't pose a problem

They said I would have to take the holiday unpaid (which of course is fine), but I mentioned my booked holiday to my immediate supervisor and she said that we would keep it a secret from the head and she would pretend I had told her (which I have!) and she forgot (we would do this right before I went!!)

I do not want to look like I am being at all underhand with this, but there is nooone else to speak to about this, and as the head has an issue with me already I do not want to look like I am being sneaky about this

So really I suppose my question is, should I be entitled to holidays then during termtime anyway if they are not paying these holidays on top of my pro rata'd wage?

I am going to fill in a special leave of absence form so as to be upfront about this holiday (I can prove that it was booked in June last year before I even thought I would need to be term time only), and I will also have to apply to have the kids take leave during term time

Should I maybe put this in writing to personnel too?

Sorry this is another long post

Don't let personnel fob you off like that. You need to put it in writing now.

I'd suggest you write to personnel along the lines of the following:

Further to our conversation on X date and recent discussions with my line manager, X, I can confirm that I will be working term time only with effect from x date.

Please write at your earliest convenience confirming this variation to my contract including details of salary and holiday entitlement for my new hours.

Kind regards

whichwitch

thanks I will do that tomorrow

when I phoned them the other day though they said that they had heard nothing regarding this from the school, so do you think I should contact the head about this via email first or just go straight to HR

I have asked my supervisor to confirm my wage and holiday etc several times over the last couple of weeks and she just hasn't got back to me

Is that right with regards to the holiday calculations for everyone?

right so seeing as how personnel have not yet been contacted about this is this still ok to do? write directly to them? Should I copy the head in on the letter or just let them do that?

So If I write

Further to our conversation on X date and recent discussions with my line manager, X,who has confirmed this with "head" I can confirm that I will be working term time only with effect from x date.

Please write at your earliest convenience confirming this variation to my contract including details of salary and holiday entitlement for my new hours. Please can I also inform you that I have a holiday booked last June before my request to change my hours, I have informed "my supervisor" of this and have agreed to take this unpaid, any future holidays will be booked out of term time.

Kind regards

whichwitch

Is that ok whilst I do want a copy of my new contract and info regarding holidays and wages, I also want to let them know in writing about the holiday so this can't become a prob later

thanks again

I would copy the head in as well, yes, and also say in the letter that should they require any further details, to please contact either the head or your line manager.

I wouldn't mention your holiday tbh, how and when you take your holiday is between you and your supervisor. I'd suggest you look at the amended contract or letter when you get it, see what it says about holiday, and then decide together with your manager what you want to do about your time off in June.

if you will take all or some of it unpaid, your manager will need to let payroll or whoever know at the time.

thanks again I will do that