Work in a school - hours cut for Sept

slowlygoingmad_2

I've just had my new hours for when the September term starts and my hours have been reduced quite a lot.

at the moment i work 8:30am to 1pm 5 days a week then 2 of those days i do extra SEN hours of 1pm-3.30.

my new hours in sept are -

8.30am -1pm 3 days a week then 2 days a week 11.30-1!

i knew my hour where going to be cut back down and i would lose the SEN hours but i didn't realised my 'set' hours so to speak would go down to just 3 days a week and that they would expect my for 2 of those days to only come in for a 1.5 hrs in the middle of the day!!

I and most of the other TA's are so angry and confused as most of us have had ours hours drastically cut!

for me it'll mean a cut in my pay of about £250-300 which is a lot seeing as i only make about £600 as it is!!

I am just in a state of shock and annoyance as recently we have all been busting our !!!!!! covering several people's long term sick abscences and doing extra hours at short notice to help the school out and it just feels like a major kick in the teeth for all of us when none of us were even warned it would be happening!!

I know i should be grateful i've got a job in the current economic cliamte etc but i'm actually really angry about it all and not sure what to do about it, if i can do anything?

stephyt23

What kind of contract were you on? Fixed term or permanent?

whitewing

Speak to ACAS.

pleasedelete

What are your contracted hours?

slowlygoingmad_2

That's the thing our contracts run from sept-sept so my contracted hours this year are set but next year they want these to be the set ones, if that makes sense

stephyt23

slowlygoingmad wrote: »

That's the thing our contracts run from sept-sept so my contracted hours this year are set but next year they want these to be the set ones, if that makes sense

So it's a 1 year fixed term contract? If it is then I'm afraid them changing is allowed and legal, that's why they are only fixed for a year.

slowlygoingmad_2

I'll double check this years contract but i do think it's sept-sept, but basically if i dont take the hours set i'm !!!!!!ed financially and if i turn them down i have no job! hmmm stuck betweem a rock and a hard place

stephyt23

slowlygoingmad wrote: »

I'll double check this years contract but i do think it's sept-sept, but basically if i dont take the hours set i'm !!!!!!ed financially and if i turn them down i have no job! hmmm stuck betweem a rock and a hard place

Double check, like I say if it's fixed term they will change nearly every year as it depends on the needs of the school and what children or teachers need support.

If however your on a permanent contract then DO NOT sign anything as they can't change hours without your say so. If you do find it to be a permanent contract get your union involved, or join one if you're not already with one.

callow

A lot of TA funding comes from statemented children. If the school loses a child with a full statement as they are moving schools they will not have the funds to pay for a TA the following year.

Things change and as the year progress you might find you have more hours given to you if the school get more funding from the LEA for newly statemented children.

GavB79

It's not good practice to have recurring fixed term contracts to avoid granting rights of a permanent position. Is your school part of the local authority? If so there will be a whole book on terms and conditions and they may well be in breach. Speak to your union as well; you work in a school, therefore you have of course signed up to a union?!
If you were all permanent staff they could still implement these changes but would have to go through a lengthy consultation process first.

stephyt23

GavB79 wrote: »

It's not good practice to have recurring fixed term contracts to avoid granting rights of a permanent position. Is your school part of the local authority? If so there will be a whole book on terms and conditions and they may well be in breach. Speak to your union as well; you work in a school, therefore you have of course signed up to a union?!
If you were all permanent staff they could still implement these changes but would have to go through a lengthy consultation process first.

Actually fixed term contracts are extremely common in schools and has nothing to do with them not wanting to give staff permanent contracts, it's all to do with funding and depends on the children in the school. Unless you work in school environments it's not something people understand.