The "right to switch off" is

being sought by teachers in this state. What they are saying is they want to be able to ignore calls from parents and their workplace when they go home.  Other employees in other places are also saying the same thing.

I know one employer who has banned his small workforce from doing any work from home after the end of the day. If they absolutely feel they must they can stay and finish something but they cannot take work home.  He feels he can afford to do this and that he gets more from his staff this way.

I wonder whether it might be the same for teachers? I was always happy to talk to a parent before or after school but they never had my phone number in order to phone me at night. On very rare occasions I might tell a child I would call a parent in the evening. Of course I could phone them without the need to share my phone number. I never used it to make a complaint about a child. It would always be something positive. It would usually be about something like a book a child wanted to buy from the book club which provided cheap paperback copies of good books. A parent might want to know more about the book. I occasionally spoke to a parent to reassure them. 

I also gave the children very little "homework". When I did I tried to make it something they would enjoy and finish quickly. "Work hard in school and you won't need to do school work at home" I would tell them. Not everyone agreed with my stance but I believe it was the right one for young children. They would get more than enough homework in high school.

But teachers do take work home. It is at night teachers mark papers, prepare lessons, right reports, keep records and more. From a young age I watched my parents do all this. It often took several hours each evening. There were even times when my brother and I were expected to help by doing things like "printing" from the "jelly duplicator" or cutting card to size on the old guillotine. 

Now it seems parents expect to be able to contact a child's teachers by phone at any time. Some parents, such as a neighbour across the way, are conscious of this and don't do it. "I might if it was really urgent but, like me, they have had a heavy day. They don't need it." 

I wonder how many parents think like that. Despite attempts to tell them otherwise there are still many who believe teachers only "work" when they are actually facing children. They believe teaching is "easy" and "they get eleven weeks holiday a year". Perhaps it is like that for some but I know teachers who put in sixty hour weeks on a regular basis. They turn out for sports on Saturdays and Sundays too.

If we want the best of teachers then I think they should be able to "switch off" at the end of the school day. Unless they are paid more they should not be expected to turn out for sports at weekends. I am not suggesting their responsibilities start and end with the school day but they need "down time" as well.  They do have a right to "switch off". 

Granting that right is not going to cost millions extra in pay. It might actually save something.