There are no children left in the school, but the teacher is forced to work contact hours.

How 15 minutes said Neringa Šermukšnienė, a geography professor at the Viešintai Center, who spoke about the upcoming layoffs in mid-August.

Then the teachers saw the new gym director Janina Palikevičienė for the first time.

Disagree on severance pay

During the meeting, the director spoke about the fact that the absence of fifth to eighth grade students in the Viešintai center will lead to the abolition of basic education, and educators who agree to leave the working groups will receive compensation for dismissal of two salaries.

The educators presented a proposal to the director that they would agree to terminate the employment relationship by agreement of the parties if they received compensation equivalent to four months’ salary.

According to N.Šermukšnienė, the principal responded positively to that response (she replied that teachers will be able to present this proposal to her in writing at the end of August) when she returns from vacation and receives official warnings about impending layoffs.

Educators felt pressured

For N.Šermukšnienė, who has worked at the school for more than 9 years and is raising two children under the age of 14, a severance pay agreement for an average salary of two months would not be profitable.

The Labor Code stipulates that the school must notify the termination of service at least three months in advance, in addition to compensation for unused leave, long-term employment benefit and the same severance pay of two average salaries.

A specialist from the State Labor Inspectorate (VDI) explained this in a comment sent to N.Šermukšnienė.

According to N.Šermukšnienė, the principal later began to urge the team to decide (to accept the two-month severance pay and to be fired by agreement of the parties, and otherwise) to travel back to school to get a period of notice.

“She put pressure not only on me, but also on my colleagues. He said that if you do not decide to leave by agreement of the parties before August 31, they will not forgive you, I will not forgive you, “said the teacher.

The conflict broke out when N.Šermukšnienė began to ask the director to put this proposal in writing; she did not receive it.

Contact hours without students

At the end of August, the teacher received a warning that the employment contract would not be terminated after three months, as provided in the Labor Code, but after one month.

At the same time, a work schedule was added: N.Šermukšnienė, who was not employed part-time, was instructed to be at the Viešintai Center for 2 contact hours a week and was allowed to work remotely for 45 minutes .

The teacher supported the proposal as a mockery: she did not want to take classes for empty classes and began to write letters to the principal asking for a job if she was already forced to come to school.

The principal changed the requirement to replace lessons with empty classes, and in September he directed the teacher to prepare descriptions of eight digitized geography lessons for grades 6-8.

“It just came to our notice then. My colleagues tell me that behind my back my behavior is constantly being discussed, the director is supported by the staff in front of me. I know that I may have difficulties finding a new job, the area is very small, I don’t know if I’ll be “eating”.

The director feels strong bullying. It is very disappointing that in such a situation the educator of a small school is left alone and forced to fight for himself.

There is no union in our school, so I had to fight for my own money, which belongs to me in this situation, ”said N.Šermukšnienė.

The teacher said that more than one person goes to an empty school; In addition to her, several other colleagues who received a warning were forced to do so, and some who left later felt cheated.

“How many teachers were tricked and left with nothing, including the disabled and children, but they were afraid that they would all have to travel if they did not agree to go with the two proposed outings.

The director gives as a gift what corresponds to the law in an exceptional case that must be earned: endure humiliation, cynical behavior, incur unnecessary travel expenses and consultations with lawyers, “said the educator.

I would like a dialogue

Commenting on the situation 15 minutes, J. Palikevičienė, director of the Kazys Inčiūra Gymnasium in the Anyškščiai Troškūnai district, called the warning a “mistake” a month ago and, after the conversation, sent N. Šermukšnienė a new order: that the warning deadline the teacher to double.

And after the weekend, the lead teachers sent another order, which ultimately tripled the firing period.

director 15 minutes He explained that the teachers coordinated the working hours with the management of another school, where N.Šermukšnienė still works, so that the teachers would not have any problem coming to the Public Center during the scheduled hours.

“There is no problem in changing that schedule if it doesn’t fit. There are no students yet. But she doesn’t ask for it, “said J. Palikevičienė.

He clarified that in the absence of the students, most of the teachers left their jobs by agreement of the parties, and 4 educators who did not agree to do so have now received warnings about the termination of employment and continue to travel to the workplace according to the established. Schedule.

When asked why teachers are asked to be physically present at the Viešintai Center, even when there are no more students, J. Palikevičienė explained that this is provided for in the Labor Code.

“There is a need to digitize the training content and they do it. They come to work because the computer equipment is at school. I cannot guarantee that they will work with their work tools at home. And here all the equipment is still at school, everything is fine at school and they can do it, ”said the principal.

According to J. Palikevičienė, the teachers did not contact her about the possibility of not going to school and doing assigned work at home remotely.

“Master N.Šermukšnienė also did not request,” added the director.

“She was able to go to school, why did she go to you? I was able to explain everything to him. She is quiet and weaving, vibrating such ugly games. We would find out about everything and everything would be fine. Everything can be changed and corrected, the severance pay has not been paid and the employment contract has not been terminated ”, the gym director spoke about the problems that arose during the dismissal of N.Šermukšnienė.

There was a lack of humanity

The head of the Agency of Experts in Education and Mediation, the education expert Romas Turonis, who delved into this situation, said that the Labor Code was treated in a peculiar way when firing employees, several mistakes were made and there was a lack of dialogue about the human side.

“There were basically two options: the principal could offer to leave by agreement of the parties and put in him all the compensation that corresponds to him. In this case, when the teacher has children under 14 years of age, it would be a notice period of 3 months and another compensation based on the length of service from one to three months. I think the municipality would support it. But the director was probably unaware of the requirements of the Labor Code and made such a strange decision.

Basically there could be two options: the director could offer to leave by agreement of the parties and put all the corresponding compensation in that agreement.

Another option, if without the agreement of the parties, the Labor Code provides for notification, in this case, three months in advance. If there is no work, you can simply agree that the person will not go to work during those three months, but will receive a salary.

Of course, it is possible to mock the teacher and demand that he go to work and sit there. But the unfair and unreasonable behavior is already starting here, “explained R. Turonis.

According to the expert, the principal’s requirement that teachers develop work plans is meaningless and meaningless, because these plans are developed by each teacher individually.

According to R. Turonis, dismissing the teachers by agreement of the parties would be the best solution.

“At the beginning of September, and the teacher is” hung “by an employment contract and cannot look for another job. This is very bad because now there is a great shortage of teachers and she could get a job in another school, work quietly for herself.

And now he has to go to school, sit in it according to the schedule and damage his nerves with the money that belongs to him ”, – R. Turonis evaluated the situation.

You don’t have to travel to work

15 minutes An explanation submitted by the Labor Inspectorate in 2006 states that the school administration’s requirement that teachers be on the job, even when there are no more students to teach, is redundant.

“We explained that generally an employee works during the notification period, but the employer is not required to require the employee to be at the workplace if there is no actual job.

In this case, according to article 64 (5) of the Labor Code, the employer has the right to terminate the employment contract at any time before the notice period, postponing employment until the last day of the notice period and not allowing the employee to work during the notice period. the salary owed ”, explains the inspection.

It also adds that, in the event of termination of the employment relationship by agreement between the parties, there is the possibility of negotiating specific compensation and termination of the employment contract.