I know you guys are pretty smart, so I hope you can help me out. I'm looking for responses from lawyers, HR people, or teachers, but if anyone knows about this, it would help immensely.
My wife is a 7th teacher at a public charter school in California. She's in her first year and is finishing up her credential, with just time in the classroom left to complete it (she's under an internship credential right now). In addition to the typical first year stuff (crabby students/parents, spending immense amounts of time writing lesson plans, etc.), the parents have complained that she is not accessable enough, despite being at the school until 6pm or later almost every night (where they can call her on her classroom line), having a voicemail which she checks each weekday and returns calls that evening, having a homework hotline for parents to call and check on homework and project information, and a dedicated personal email address for school related questions which she checks at night. The parents have resorted to calling us at home (my number's been listed since before we got married), and she sent a memo home to all the parents talking about the proper lines of communication and how calling us at home is inappropriate. Well, the parents are still complaining that they should be able to call us at home, and the charter school board and principal agreed, and are now mandating her to give out our personal phone number and set aside one hour each week for parents to call us at home on our own private line. We're objecting, but the board and principal aren't listening to us. She is the only employee that is required to do this.
Are there any laws in California regulating an employer demanding an employee to use their home phone for official work? Are there any agreements made between the public schools and the teachers' union prohibiting this?
I feel that this is inappropriate and that it should not need to be tolerated in the least bit. Regardless, if the school is requiring her to use her personal phone line, I feel the minimum is that they are required to pay for the line (so we can get a separate unlisted line for ourselves). I live in a small community, so if we can get the school board to change their attitude before it takes effect, then I probably won't have to go through the hassle of changing my number. But, if this goes through, I'm getting an unlisted number and demanding that they do not give it out to anyone.
Any suggestions or legal codes to help?
Thanks!
My wife is a 7th teacher at a public charter school in California. She's in her first year and is finishing up her credential, with just time in the classroom left to complete it (she's under an internship credential right now). In addition to the typical first year stuff (crabby students/parents, spending immense amounts of time writing lesson plans, etc.), the parents have complained that she is not accessable enough, despite being at the school until 6pm or later almost every night (where they can call her on her classroom line), having a voicemail which she checks each weekday and returns calls that evening, having a homework hotline for parents to call and check on homework and project information, and a dedicated personal email address for school related questions which she checks at night. The parents have resorted to calling us at home (my number's been listed since before we got married), and she sent a memo home to all the parents talking about the proper lines of communication and how calling us at home is inappropriate. Well, the parents are still complaining that they should be able to call us at home, and the charter school board and principal agreed, and are now mandating her to give out our personal phone number and set aside one hour each week for parents to call us at home on our own private line. We're objecting, but the board and principal aren't listening to us. She is the only employee that is required to do this.
Are there any laws in California regulating an employer demanding an employee to use their home phone for official work? Are there any agreements made between the public schools and the teachers' union prohibiting this?
I feel that this is inappropriate and that it should not need to be tolerated in the least bit. Regardless, if the school is requiring her to use her personal phone line, I feel the minimum is that they are required to pay for the line (so we can get a separate unlisted line for ourselves). I live in a small community, so if we can get the school board to change their attitude before it takes effect, then I probably won't have to go through the hassle of changing my number. But, if this goes through, I'm getting an unlisted number and demanding that they do not give it out to anyone.
Any suggestions or legal codes to help?
Thanks!
. Just deal with it and after a couple of years find a different district. When you hit a brick wall there are several choices, try and bust through it, go over it, go around it or go in a different direction. Trying to bust through it is normally the hardest way to go and the noise and dust will just piss off every one in the area.
