Unknowingly work days outside contract

FranDan

Hi I wonder if anyone can help...
I have worked within a school for several years, over the past year changing my job within the same school. My new contract started in May. I was told by my supervisor that I had to work 5 'Inset Days' per year. I couldn't find any reference to inset days in my contract and after challenging her I worked said days. On several more occasions the subject came up to whether we needed to work these days but supervisor insisted.
A colleague under the same contract as myself has recently phoned HR and they've told her we are not contracted to work these inset days at all and suggested she spoke to the school. After raising this with office staff at school, a meeting was called with the headteacher. We have basically been told it is our own fault, regardless that we repeatedly questioned our supervisor (incidentally our line manager backed the supervisor's opinion that these days must be worked). They told us our contract is our own responsibility and we should have been aware. They said there is no case for historical payments (some colleagues worked there 8 years or more, which equates to at least 40 days unpaid!) and they may consider a goodwill gesture of paying 1 years inset days to each member of staff affected. A pitiful 5 days pay.
Can anyone advise whether its worth fighting this fight or to roll over and give in? Can they really absolve themselves of responsibility? I am not with a union but a colleague is, however she seems reluctant to get them involved.
Many thanks in advance.

sangie595

Theoretically you could claim the money as a debt and go back six years. However, no matter what you were all told, nobody bothered to really check this out for eight years or so, and as a result (a) your claim might be weak, and (b) you might be argued to have accepted these days as working days having done so for so long.

I would also question whether you are positive that HR gave you the correct advice - if the contract is silent on this matter, that does not mean that you don't have to work them. It means it doesn't say whether you should work them or not. Most schools are now independent of local authority control, so there is no guarantee that the advice given was accurate for your school. What their policies and terms say are up to them.

But as to what you can do. You can take the offer. The person in a union can involve the union - which may or may not get a different result, but not necessarily for everyone, since the union doesn't represent non-members. Or you can take your employer to court if they won't budge, taking your chances that you will win - but possibly ensuring that anyone who even threatens to do this, never mind does it, can expect a shorter career. There has to be a reason why the union member doesn't want to involve a union that she is a member of - so I must assume that she knows the lay of the land and doesn't think this is worth risking her employment over.

FranDan

After checking wage slips and working out hours paid it confirmed suspicion to raise with HR. Our school is still under local authority. It arose at the meeting that those who work inset days have wording on the contract to that affect. However, nothing is stated if you are not required to work; we were unaware of this.
It seems in this instance it would be better to bow our heads and learn from this than to fight. To be fair I am far angrier at the attitude and coldness with how we've been handled than the money lost.

surreysaver

Are INSET days not normal working days for staff in schools (that's what parents always being told!!!)? In which case, why would they need to be mentioned in contracts?

sweetilemon

It's happened go me, I just ended up letting it go but really do have to keep on top of my contract as there are quite often days in the calendar that don't add up!

sweetilemon

surreysaver wrote: »

Are INSET days not normal working days for staff in schools (that's what parents always being told!!!)? In which case, why would they need to be mentioned in contracts?

It depends if they are a salaried teacher or another staff member paid per hour.

FranDan

Within the school I currently work Teachers are required on Inset days, along with office staff. Support staff, which includes TA's are not required unless training is being given.

KayJay

I'm a Union Branch Secretary, one of the many things I say regularly is GET IT IN WRITING. Just take that tip for the future. If you can produce paperwork then your Union can get it sorted. When it's all verbal, everyone denies, lies and exaggerates.

Takeaway_Addict

sweetilemon wrote: »

It depends if they are a salaried teacher or another staff member paid per hour.

I would suspect this is important, if it is a salary then I would expect the employer could argue that these days come under the salary payment (providing it doesn't come under NMW)

Auntie-Dolly

How many weeks are you contracted for and how many days a week do you work?