I was in [a promoted post] full time when I fell pregnant. After mat leave I requested to return to work 0.6 as a class teacher and without any other information wlb was granted. No one told me this would [be] permanent.
After 1 year I spoke to my HT and said financially and for my own wellbeing I would like to revert back to full time. I was told this wasn’t possible and all changes were permanent. Since then I know of several colleagues who it has been temporary for 2 years and then they have reverted back to full time. How is this policy not consistent? It seems it depends your luck of who you speak to in HR depends your fate.
This year I have accepted a fixed term contract to make up my hours but have no certainty over the future. I cannot get married, move house or have my second child because I do not know my finances after this year. There should be a consistent policy and formal procedures to inform staff returning from mat leave what their work life balance request means.
This is answer 259 of the 269 written answers that teachers let us quote anonymously in the Scottish Teacher Employment Survey 2026. It answers the survey’s last question: what do the people who make decisions about teacher employment need to know?
We have corrected spelling, added paragraph breaks and removed details that could identify anyone. Words in square brackets are ours.