being required to work without pay

[nyteacher]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

I teach in NY state. Our contract states we may have unpaid leave with prior administrative approval. A teacher in my school recieved a trip to Hawaii from her in-laws. Ther entire family was going, the dates were set , & the trip was paid for. She asked for leave from our principal who approved it. However, the Superintendent overrode the approval and denied the unpaid leave unless the teacher agreed to work the same amount of days (6) unpaid in the summer as well as take the 6 days off as unpaid leave. At first the union told her to either take the offer or cancel the trip because if she went without approval it would be insubbordination & she would be fired. After some pushing from a few of us other teachers, the union reps went back to the Superintendent & she reduced the amount of free summer work to 3 days. My friend felt she had no choice but to agree.

Was this legal?

 

[cyjeff]

The standard answer is that she cannot work without being paid to work.

However, I do wish to ask a couple of questions...

One, what reason did the union give for the deal? They are much closer to the ground and I would have to think they have a better handle on things.

Two, do teachers receive pay year round?

 

[nyteacher]

The standard answer is that she cannot work without being paid to work.

However, I do wish to ask a couple of questions...

One, what reason did the union give for the deal? They are much closer to the ground and I would have to think they have a better handle on things.

Two, do teachers receive pay year round?

Thank you for your response.

In response to your questions-
The union is very weak. The new President seems to roll over on a lot of things. Everyone is very afraid of repercussions by this superintendent.

The unions take was #1- take the deal because if the teacher didn't agree & went on the trip anyway she would be charged with insubordination & could be fired. #2- This is a contract year & if we push on this she'll make negotiations more difficult.

No, we are paid for the 10 months of the year we work. We are paid based on a yearly salary divided by the actual weeks in the school year. Summer work- teaching summer school, curriculum work, etc. is paid at a separate per hour rate.

Does any of this make a difference?

 

[xylene]

Take the vacation

Work the unpaid days.

THEN COMPLAIN.

 

[Perky]

I doubt that the requirement is legal unless allowed by your contract. However, the alternative is that the teacher is denied the unpaid leave. I don't think this is a case of the union being weak. Rather, I think your reps know that the teacher will probably be denied the leave if she doesn't agree because the superintendent is under no obligation to approve the leave.

Did she sign an agreement regarding the extra unpaid days? Are the days considered 'voluntary'?

Truthfully, agreeing to work for no pay sets a terrible precedent. On the other hand, approving unpaid leave for a vacation during the school year sets a terrible precedent. Many superintendents will not approve the leave for a vacation since teacher schedules allow plenty of time during the year to take vacations.

Just out of curiosity, what will she do on those summer work days?

 

[nyteacher]

Yes, I believe she signed an agreement but no, I don't know how those days could be considered voluntary.

Unfortunately, my friend did not set the dates for her trip. It was set up as a family Christmas present. The dates were chosen by other members of the family, paid for, & then announced.... People don't always understand that it's a big deal to take days off during the school year even if you asked for them to be unpaid leave.

The union rep & president did tell her if she took the trip they could grieve it but they never proceeded with the grievance. This happened about over a year ago. I believe my friend did curriculum work. She retired last year. I've just always be curious about the general legality of requiring an employee to work unpaid as a condition for another issue.

As far as our union- it is very weak. I've been a teacher at this school for 20+ years & have never seen it so unwilling to go to bat for the teachers. In response to a recent change in a long standing practice ( occuring the entire time I've worked here) that unfortunately was not ever written specifically into our contract, the question of "past practice" was brought up. The union president said "we can't use that... " She also stated- in relation to recent contract negotiations that she is " on "neutral" on all the issues.

Anyway- thanks for all the input.

 

[Perky]

I may be wrong, but I think it could be considered voluntary because she chose to 'volunteer' some time in return for approval of the leave. She's not entitled to the leave, so it was a negotiation, I guess. I've never heard of anything like that though. Your superintendent sounds like a piece of work, but then mine would have never approved the leave under any circumstances, and would have fired the teacher upon her return if she did take the days. I know that because it has already happened, and it was only 2 days.

I'm not arguing that your union isn't weak. Mine is weak as well. In fact, I sometimes think our union liaison works for our district instead of our teachers. I meant that the union didn't have much of a leg to stand on if the teacher really wanted the leave. They certainly couldn't push for approval since that's solely up to the administration's discretion.

If the union had filed a grievance, then the admin may have retaliated by denying leave for any reason that would have typically been approved before (weddings, graduations, etc.) Perhaps that was their reasoning in not pursuing the grievance.