Part timers- does anyone feel valued/ fulfilled at work now?

[mrsflux]

Just wondering if my experiences are normal or I have a right to feel fed up?

I've been back at work since September after my maternity leave finished. I do 2 days a week.
Before maternity leave I really enjoyed my job, felt valued and respected and knew where I was going career wise.
When I went back in sept there was a new head (she lasted 6 weeks but deputy has been doing job since and will be for another year or more). I've been shifted around school from pillar to post and don't enjoy anything about it anymore.
I'm looked down on in staff meetings, not told stuff that does directly affect me, left out of performance management or training things.
I feel like I'm an irritation because I'm part time.

Is this normal? Does anyone still enjoy their job once they go back after maternity leave?

I think you have to accept that things change when you are part-time but with a positive frame of mind from both sides they can work. If you work two days a week you would be very lucky if you never had to miss staff meetings or training, especially if other people also benefit from different flexible / part-time patterns from you.

However, when you mention that you are not told about things that directly affect you and you are left out of performance and training courses that is not good. Not sure what you mean by being 'looked down on' in staff meetings??

Think you need to arrange a meeting with your line manager / Deputy Head and discuss your concerns and how problems might be overcome. Might also be worth finding out how other part-time workers at your school feel.

The only other part timer is leaving. She hates it for many reasons.
Maybe looked down on is a bit too emotive a phrase. What I mean is daft stuff like not being given copies of stuff, being left out of head counts on things (even when sitting next to deputy), being told stuff doesn't affect you when I voice an opinion (because I don't have own class- I'm stuff covering non contact time- not my choice)
oh and I'm being ignored about doing my threshold application. Which is even harder to do since my performance management wasn't done properly.

I don't know if I can voice this to deputy as she's part of problem. Don't have another line manager.

Maybe I could say something at my next performance management meeting in sept.

Positive attitude is the way forward but sometimes it's hard!

I have had a very positive part-time experience, but I'm lucky in that the team I work in is spread around the city so most of our communication is by email which just goes to everyone no matter when they work, and policies are stored on a shared server - I've set up alerts so that I know if anything new has been added on my non-working days.

I also have a work laptop that lets me log into the network from home and I try to do that a couple of times on non-work days so I pick up anything time sensitive.

I do miss training if it happens at the end of the week, and I'm also lucky in that my dh works shifts so sometimes I swap a day, or go in for a couple of hours if there's a meeting I really want to attend or a training session I don't want to miss.

At the end of the day though, the thing that makes it work - and I suspect makes me want to be as flexible as possible with my employer - is that I feel completely valued by my service and supported by my boss.

I think you need to talk to your line manager, but maybe try to think of ways you could phrase things so that you look proactive about making it work better, coming up with solutions and possible new ways of communicating the things you're currently missing.

I think you need to separate the issues here. If procedures are not being properly followed regarding threshold etc, then you need to challenge this - it's unacceptable. And of course as a member of staff, you should be included in any emails or other communications which are relevant to you.

However if you work only two days per week, it's inevitable that you will miss out on some training/meetings etc. How can you not? If you are choosing to not work full time, then by definition, you are not going to be in work every day.

You mention not having a class, and covering non-contact time, but surely this is because the Head feels this is best for the school overall. Being in for two days a week means that you would be with a class for less than half the time they are in school. As a manager, it's necessary to look at the whole workforce and decide on what's best overall. The job is not there to just provide what each employee individually would prefer!

On a practical note, I think there's probably a big psychological difference between working two days and working for more than 50%. If you are in the workplace for less than half of the time, it's difficult to really feel part of the place in the same way.