So I work a zero hour contract which I finish my masters. I’ve worked supply for my workplace for 8 years and originally worked as an apprentice. I work in the UK so any specifics will be in relation to that.
Basically as zero hours I get no benefits HR avoid me like the plague and my contract literally says i have no employee rights.
One day I looked back over my contract and saw that I am rightly on a qualified contract, but as minimum wage has recently increased i was currently only on minimum wage in my age bracket (over 23s).
I spoke to my manager to have them speak to HR to see the difference in pay rate. Unqualified was something like 50p an hour lower – which would be below minimum wage. So other supply workers with no experience in the field who are employed by the university are paid the same as me. This is despite the fact I work as a one to one for a child with additional needs. Which is incredibly demanding physically and mentally.
So I directly contact HR and laid it all out as simply as I could that my pay was minimum wage and therefore I had no benefits over someone on a unqualified contract. HR never responded and emailed my manager a copy of my email and washed their hands of it. My manager backed me up and said “well he’s right”. It came up in a supervision where they said they would look into it at the end of the year when they do budgeting.
If I am ill I am basically given attitude despite the fact I have to forgo pay so I obviously only do this when I’m really ill. But I also feel guilty because the child then doesn’t get a proper one to one support.
Basically I feel like I have a really difficult role and HR can’t even give me the time of day to reply.