Happy New Year to you All and as ever coming to the site for advise and points of view.
Those who dont know me I work full time as a teacher , Im too young at 53 to request early retirement on anything other than health grounds and I am able to do some form of work, so Im looking to request a move down to 4 days a week as a reasonalble adjustment. Is there any out there who have done this in teaching if so what happened , what if any were the pitfalls and have you any advise.
Similar experiences from other jobs would be greatly appreciated to ensure Im fully informed before I make the request.
The school know of my condition and have been supportive up to a point but its bit of a ducking and diving relationship . I have had to be up on my rights to get what Im entitled to from the school management though my immediate work colleagues HOD etc have been extremely supportive.
Yes reducing hours because of health is regarded as a ‘reasonable adjustment.’ I am not a Teacher but it must be realised reducing your hours will reduce your pension entitlement.
Bit of a no brainer really; your health must come first. Have a look around http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/ that has a lot of info. Also ring The Pension Advice Service (TPAS) http://www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk/contact-us who will not only advise you about your occupational pension but give you a quote on you state pension when you retire.
Hi Have you spoken to access to work. They can look to help you and your employer work with your disability to assist all parties. They can be contacted thru your local jobcentre. I work 34 hours over 4 days in the public sector but not in teaching. All the best Neil
I’m not a teacher, but I asked to reduce my hours at work back last year. I went in and spoke to my maanger and then put my request formally in writing giving then about 5 weeks notice. I would have liked the reduced hours to start straight away, but knew that would be difficult so asked if it could start from the beginning of the following month. I don’t have a pension with my employer, so that wasn’t a problem. It’s worked quite well - I’ve been doing 4 mornings a week from June 2013 - but sometimes I have too much to do and can’t get everything done in the reduced working hours. My manager has been quite good about that, but she’s now resigned so I’m feeling a bit apprehensive about working with a new manager who doesn’t know me!
I was a teacher and then adviser - I took ill health retirement. In my case there ended up being no alternative. If you can still manage to work a reasonable adjustment wouldn’t mean just going part time at your own cost but cutting your hours with no financial hit. As you know how the school does do it will be a time tabling issue and may well mean still 5 days but reduced hours. If you want one day of total rest you’ll have to be able to argue for that strongly. I do think continuing to work is really important psychologically so it’s a better option than early retirement if work is still possible. Good luck! Susi
Hi Im a teacher and requested four days a week and it worked out ok. Sadly my condition has meant i need further adjustments and the headteacher is not prepared to put them in place. I will pm you. Penny
At the school where I work (in admin) they prefer part time teachers to work 4 full days pw rather than split hours over several days so they don’t have to split a class between teachers.
I am a teacher going through really hideous time trying to get the school to implement AtW recommendations that have been fully funded by them but the school has still taken over 6 months to get things sorted…still waiting and suffering!!. Union involved now. In the not too distant future I am hoping to go part time as a reasonable adjustment, so will be really interested to know how things go with you. Goo luck, hope all works out
Hi, I am a teacher (29) and have had ms for 10 years. This year I asked for 4 days, as a reasonable adjustment but have said I aim to return to full time next year. My school has accommodated this and also a couple of other workplace adjustments without any problem. As a very private person I have found (after the initial difficult conversation) that work have been happy to provide me with what I need. I think unless you have ‘visible symptoms’ people often aren’t even aware that you might need help. I spent the first 8years or so with no adjustments on the grounds that despite knowing I had ms - without saying anything my employer didn’t know I needed any! Looking back, I think I should probably have been more open from the onset instead of worrying about ‘making a fuss’. I don’t think, at 20, I really knew you could ask for special considerations! Wish I had, it could have made the last decade so much easier!