To work without pay or not to work without pay…that is the question

Long ass day at work.  Got in at 8am and left about 630pm.  Last batch of students were done at 5:30 but I had to stay after to finish photocopying one kid’s homework (he’s got a rather strict dad who wants him to do three hours of homework a night, and only comes once a week.  Makes for headaches, rest assured) and do the cleaning up, straightening up, filling out the binders and little mini grades, etc.

The SAT is next Saturday, t minus seven days.  I’ve got four kids taking it, and part of me wants to go in on Friday if some of the kids want to come in so we can go over last minute questions, prep stuff, etc.  I know that if I was full time I’d be doing it, but since I’m not full time for another couple of weeks…I’d be working without pay.

Which happens more than it should at my company.  Part time teachers, after their first month, for some inexplicable reason don’t get paid for the planning time.  And it can take an hour or two.  It takes time to plan the lesson, make a bajillion photocopies, etc.  Right now I’m getting an hour planning a day in part because I complained so much, and threatened to start looking for another part time job since I wasn’t full time yet.  Well, I’m one of the best teachers they’ve got, and the kids love coming to work with me, so playing hardball worked there.  I got an extra hour a day (ends up being about 75 a week) till the full time checks start in a few weeks.

My fellow part time teacher at the center just found out, and was really pissed off (like I was when I first found out.)  We are expected t come in a half hour early and plan, but not getting paid for it.  That just *screams* illegal.  I did it anyway, since I knew I was on the full time track.  She’s not, and doesn’t want to be, and is actively looking for another job (she was checking her email @ work, and I went in to talk to her about a student and saw her sending her resume to another job.)  So she’s going to be leaving soon, and prolly because of the whole not getting paid for planning bit.  It’s an extra five dollars a day, and my company could certainly afford it.  Yet they chose not to.  Cheap bastards.

Its like the perennial debacle with photocopying machines.  We have to make a lot of photocopies (these kids pay 40 bucks an hour, they deserve their own copies) and toner cartridges cost about 100 bucks a pop.  They only send one when the other is dead.  Well, what are we supposed to do while waiting?  One of the heads of the company told us teachers to ask them to send two.  He was stunned to find out we DO ask for more than one at a time (we aren’t morons ya know) and the main office refuses to send them.  Talk about wires crossed.  The photocopier is dying again, but we might be working out a toner refill scenario on Monday.  If not, all photocopies on the fax machine, which is highly unfeasible.

I’m freaking starving too.  I didn’t have a chance to eat all my lunch today because I get a half hour lunch break, well, one kid stayed after 10 minutes to ask questions of what activates he should do as president of the physics club and then another kid came half an hour early, so I had no real lunch break.  Had to make copies during that time and *ugh.*  I could pig out right now.  But that’s not quite on Weight Watchers…although starting next week on Saturdays I’m bringing a bag of carrots to work for the kids to eat.