time table

[lada]

Hi all, I need some help with a time table for lab assistant

[RosalieM]

What sort of timetable, Lada? Do you mean what we do each day?

[lada]

Sorry all,
I have been asked to supply a time table for my duties and prep time for every period of every day for every week for rest of the term.
I spent hours on it, but the top brass is still not happy. My CEO wants to cut my hrs to 24hrs, I am full time at the moment.
We have classes from yr 5-12, with 4 classes per year.My HOD is fighting hard to keep me full time, teachers are so used to having someone here all the time, and I am very busy.
My request to you is, if anyone had to do it, what format you used. Send me a copy, please, so I can see what else me can do.
Thank you
Lada

[RosalieM]

Oh Lada that's awful!! There is no way they could teach science successfully with only 24hours of assistance each week!! Not with that many classes! Do they not want these kids to learn??? Refer the CEO to the survey released last year with the recommendations for the number of hours of lab assistants to number of classes etc. I'll try to find the discussion here and paste the link. Ask them to have a read of it before they make any decisions. Get your HOD to read it too so he/she can use it as ammunition.

[RosalieM]

http://chemtalk.com.au/viewtopic.php?f= ... vey#p17164 This is a link to the discussion from last year. Within the discussion is a link to the full paper you can print out to pass on to the relevant people.

I hope it helps you, Lada. I don't think we should have to defend our jobs and prove that we are needed!

[RosalieM]

Sorry for the multiple replies... I just clicked on the link to the report and it doesn't work anymore... Does anyone out there have a copy saved to their computer that they could post here or e-mail directly to Lada?

[Jen1]

goodness me!! How on earth are you supposed to know exactly what you are doing for every lesson until the end of the term???? I'm lucky if I know what I am doing next week! This is a ludicrous task that you have been asked to do. My teachers wouldnt be able to tell me what they are doing for a whole term.
Do you work in a det school? If so, then your hours are determined by number of students.
I wonder if they plan using your extra hours in the office???????

[fibreweb]

I don't knowif these links will work but here is the report

http://www.deewr.gov.au/Schooling/Progr ... atics.aspx

Then halfway down the page is "reports and publications" and the first one on the list is the Laboratory Technicions Report

Clicking on the PFD button will bring up the whole 78 page report. I printed it out in it's entirity and have kept it in case they try and cut my time even further. As it is I have a service factor of about 0.1 which is way below where we should be.

There is no way you can write what you do each day. Thats why I like the job, every day is different and ( I don't like this bit that much) it doesnt always go to plan. One peice of equiptment that doesn't work and the day can be thrown into chaos.

Wendy

[macca]

That's just silly, I bet any of your teachers couldn't do that. I'm in the Catholic system and ours is by school numbers also, if on permanent part-time they can't cut your hours, they can give you extra duties. I would be speaking with the union and finding out exactly what they want you to do. We had a drop in numbers about ten years ago, and they tried to have us wash windows until they were told by the union that cleaners at the time were actually paid more, so they would have to adjust our pays. They had me going in with the bottom classes for awhile, 12 month down the track number improved, have never had any trouble since.

[CC]

Just out of curiosity do you have someone in home ec? when our hours were cut thats where they cut from, makes sense really anybody can help out in home/ec but not to many people can do what we do, try that avenue

[lada]

Thank you ,Wendy.
I have printed the document and will have a good look over the weekend, because if they cut my hrs any futher, I will not be able to do my job safely, and will make mistakes.
I have said the same thing what you just did, every day is different, and we may plan to do our nails or hair, but all could be blown by teachers wanting to do PRACTICALS??? I do like my job and I know I do a good job, but this having to account for every minute of the day is just silly.
Lada

[RosalieM]

Perhaps you could tell them (if they insist you tell them what you do) that they can have it at the end of the term and just keep a diary of what you have done. Include any last minute requests as well so they know you are valuable and required at a moment's notice... And if you're brave enough, ask the CEO to reciprocate and tell you everything THEY are doing for the rest of term and then ask which one of you provides the most benefit directly to the students' education!!!

[ellice]

Hi Lada,
That is so unfair. I was asked to justify my position many years ago, and went to see the head with a list of my duties. Would that help? I could fax them through if you like.
Ellice.

[lada]

I have done it every way they wanted, but our CEO is non academic and really does not understand. He looked at the combined science t/table and guess what, we have period 3 free due to Chapel. Needless to say, that is my opportunity to rush into the chem. lab with fumecupbnoard and make up smelly solutions. Or go shopping for the pesky things like matches, fresh fruit and potatoes or just or blu tac etc.
I did try to explain, that prac for yr8 in P7 is already prepared before noon, but no good.
Now I will get a "shadow" following me. I am actually glad, because she is HOD of history, geography etc, and we have a few practical exams coming up, so times are very busy, and she will come to my messiest rooms -good.
You all have a great weekend, I will keep you posted.

[RosalieM]

Oh, so you have to justify your time while she has time to follow you around to make sure you have something to do???? How on earth does that work???? Where/what are all the things SHE is paid to do??

[Voice]

I must admit that this happened to me when once I got a new co ordinator (head of department). She wanted to know everying I did and what time it took. Oh, I forgot, so did my last Principal at my last school. I did not do it at any school..........well, I tried but quickly got bored with noterising every movement.....including those outside the lab.
Please remember amongst all of this, ask, ask and ask some more, what do "they" want you to cut out from your workload. Let them make that decision. And with your HOD on side with you, nothing will change! When you are a good Lab. Tech. they don't want to change anything about you, even your/my grumpiness at times! Why? We make their lives easier.

But.....Good luck.
Maree

[lada]

Just goes to show, Rosalie, that the most payed has the most time to waste. I would not have time to spend with someone. My HOD told me just to give her rubber gloves and point her to the sink.

[RosalieM]

Hang in there, Lada. I like the washing up gloves idea - make her work for you while she is there!

While I have not had this problem as a lab assistant, I did have it when I was in the Army Reserve. I was a medic, but doing the work of a clerk (not enough medical stuff to do - if there was any, i did it first...) so then a medic higher up than me said if i'm a medic, i should not be doing clerk work and tried to have me stopped. It didn't work because there just was not enough medical stuff to do so I stayed doing some medical, some clerk. It really didn't worry me because I enjoyed both sides of the work. But the people in the clerks office decided I must not want to do the clerk work so they figured I would slack off... So when the chief clerk went away for a few weeks another clerk and I were left with some filing and other stuff to do to fill our 3 hours/week. Because they were all convinced I did not want to work, I was asked at the start of my 3 hours what my plan was for the evening and what order I was going to get stuff done in (when you are filing this is hard to do - I like to mix it up a bit. When I get sick of the ones filed by number I will change to the pile needing to be filed by alphabet, and then move on to letters going into envelopes and back to filing etc....) so anyway, after about 10-15 min of explaining this, I would get 'visited' every 10-15 minutes to see how I was going, how much I had done, what I was going to do next etc, with each visit taking probably another 5 or so minutes... (while the other clerk kept filing) so then when the chief clerk came back and saw we had not finished all the filing (because I'd been to busy telling everyone what I needed to file) that he then also decided I did not want to work there and could not work unsupervised!!! In truth, my best friend was the other clerk in there with me (but she was a real clerk, not a medic) and so we were quite happy to work and talk and when we were left alone without the pestering we were actually quite a productive team!

[judygee]

Dear Lada - I feel for you, I had the same happen to me, when class numbers went down I was told I had 4 days work per week. This was an absolute nightmare as every one made sure they got their prac requests in for the week and especially the rostered day off. So I found myself trying to fit 5 days work into 4 - I nearly gave myself a nervous breakdown!! Also be aware if they cut your hours (they will have to give you notice) make sure you take any Long service leave that you may have accumulated immediately. Take the leave before you get the reduced workload, that way they will have to pay LSL at your full time wage and not your reduced wage. I am afraid I was'nt aware of this little technicallity and my LSL was paid at the lower rate. Grrrrrrrr. I don't know what it is but we labbies seem to be the target whenever it comes to cutting costs, maybe because nobody (except for Science teachers) seem to know exactly what we do - so - it can't be much - we'll cut some hours there!!! There never seems to be a redution in the number of persons working in the main office we have 7 working in the admin section and myself in Science with a student population of 650 Go figure! Hope it all works out for you Cheers Jude

[lada]

Thanks, Jude,
I did not think of the LSL, good point.
At this point they are just talking about using me somewhere else, like library (what, covering books??) anybody can do that and I will be stuck coming back to science and the MESS.
Hopefully they just put the idea in "too-hard -basket"