Discrimination after leave?

sydneytev · January 2015

Has anyone else had some obvious or subtle workplace discrimination after returning from maternity leave? If so, how were you able to address it?

I am a HS teacher; I only took 6 weeks off (had my son only days before school started, so was out the first 6 weeks of the school year). I returned to find that I am classroom sharing, events were approved that use my room without asking or telling me, extra duties that were never mine before have now been put on my plate without any additional compensation, and other oversights in common workplace courtesy. I have been told "oh, we would have asked, but you were out."

What do I do (besides update my resume and start looking for a new job)?

GreenMonkey1 · January 2015

I am a former HS teacher and the big oversight you mentioned that trips my red flag is the assignment of extra duties without additional compensation. Are these responsibilities that have been paid in the past? Do they require significant additional time outside of the contracted work day?

Classroom sharing and use of my classroom for outside events were never presented to me as an option. I was notified and that was that. The room was not "mine" and the school had to do what was necessary to accommodate appropriate use of the facility for teaching. It would have been nice for them to ask you, but if you had said "no", what would have happened?

Adding responsibilities that expect me to give time without compensation would the sticking point for me. Generally normal in a non-contracted work situation, but out of the normal in many school teaching settings. Is your school unionized? Could you have an informal chat with your union rep?

Kewii · January 2015

It dos seem like you've been given the shitty stuff (sharing classroom, your room being used for extracurriculars) because you weren't there. It might be retaliation, but they might've also just figured you weren't there to argue so it was easiest.

But I would draw the line at doing extra duties. I would go to the union over that. If you don't have a union, I'd be looking for another position. Especially if you plan on having more kids. Do you want to comeback to this after every maternity leave?

minirella · January 2015

Does your job description contain a phrase "other duties as assigned?" I worked for a public entity a long time ago where someone tried to challenge a duty put upon them and the employer was sided with due to that phrase listed in the job description.

2chatter · January 2015

Another measure would be - do other teachers have their rooms used, have additional responsibilities, etc. or is it literally just you?

Our PTA Board works with our principal to allocate rooms for events. The impacted people are always asked, but unless there is a reason (like tutoring that wasn't on the calendar but is scheduled) they cannot really say "no". It's sort of a courtesy.

I would consider it discriminatory only if your room is the only one used at all. Does that make sense?

kmh2201 · January 2015

Are there any other teachers who were out on leave recently that had similar things happen to them?

Agree with some PP's. If you're in a union, read through your contract to determine if the additional duties should be compensated and if certain steps were not followed that should have been for the other items (classroom sharing). Also being singled out would be a concern. Document what happened and contact your union rep if you have a bona fide grievance.

I was discrimated against (as a note I'm not a teacher), but it was much more obvious - among other things, I was told while PG that I needed to decide what was more important - family or work. I updated my resume and found another job that is much better.

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