A friend decided to leave the education sector. He got a job offer but had to start at the new place when the school holiday starts. He asked the school if he could start in the new place while continue holding on to the job to finish serving his notice period (which was 2 months, now one of which is during the school holidays).
The school said no. The school said they are not allowed to hold another full time job during school holidays. And teachers, unlike other employees do not have annual leaves. As school holidays are not annual leaves and teachers are supposed to be ready to be called back for contingencies, the period during the school holidays cannot be used to offset the notice period.
One could say that every teacher entered into the contract knowing those policies and terms. Except this friend probably did not. The principal said it’s the policy and common practice. The HR said nothing but deferred to the leadership and school policy. No one wanted to set a precedent. Using school holidays to offset the notice period is abusing the system? Maybe they were worried about finding a replacement in time for the teacher during school holidays?
I’m not sure if a school isn’t taking good care of their teachers, parents can really trust them to take good care of their kids. I think the expectations that the system took on is way too much; and they are just loading it on to the teachers, without giving them more resources to cope with their own mental and financial well-being.
Honestly, it doesn’t help that Human Resources with school are just administrative people who are not doing their part to defend their people and upkeep morale. HR needs to get better.