Legal Advice: Transferred after relationship with colleague
A secondary school teacher develops a relationship with a colleague. The relationship breaks down and his employer relinquishes him. Is that possible just like that?
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Nowadays he travels an hour there and an hour back to and from work. Five hours and XNUMX kilometers more every week than to his previous school. The extra travel time is the result of an unwanted transfer after a broken relationship with a colleague. “A relationship in the workplace is not convenient, but just stop love”, the teacher in secondary education looks back.
At first he does not know his new female colleague at school very well. Until they go to camp with students. “We are increasingly talking and discussing our personal problems. Something blossoms that we don't give a name to at first, but it's more than friendship. It leads to a short-lived, intense relationship. ”
Friendship
After a few months, the lady indicates that she is not ready for a relationship. “We try to turn our relationship into a friendship. The fact that we work in the same team makes it difficult. ” The summer holidays seem like a welcome break to calm things down. “During a team day after the holidays, we appear again on speaking terms to be. But a few days later she calls me to say she can't work with me anymore. ”
At school she indicates that she can no longer be in one room with him. “Her blame is that colleagues knew about our relationship, she didn't feel good about that. But the colleagues whom I confided in, in consultation with my employer, are friends. Moreover, people know about it anyway. ”
My colleague has been classified as a victim and taken under protection, while we are two adults who have consciously entered into a relationship
The board decides to transfer him to another location and she continues to work at school. "My colleague has been identified as a victim and protected, while we are two adult people who have consciously entered into a relationship." The teacher does not feel he has heard properly by his employer. “In my view, the adversarial process has not been properly applied. I have an employment contract with the board, so they can in principle place me anywhere. But the way it went makes me feel unsatisfied. By transferring me, the board has chosen the easiest way. ”
Not very promising
AOblawyer Frans Lathouwers advised this teacher and confirms that objecting is not very promising. “The education collective labor agreements provide for voluntary and forced transfer by the employer, for example in the event of redundancies and conflicts. As a result, the chances of success are limited when objections and appeals are lodged. In the voluntary phase, an employer is often willing to accommodate you. That is why I recommend that you make proper agreements about working hours, travel time and travel allowance. A transfer has no consequences for the salary and the size and nature (permanent or temporary) of the employment. ”
This article appeared in the Education Magazine of January 2018. The Education Magazine publishes practical experiences every month AOblawyers.
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