Location: Bronx, NY
I work for a charter school in NYC and they are having a rally next week and making it mandatory to attend. We would be expected to come in 2 hours early, help families on to buses, “teach” on the bus, and join in the rally. The rally is supposed to be to advocate for childhood education. They said that it is not against or for any political parties but it is because people are not in favor of charter schools. Is it legal for them to make this a mandatory event? Would it be legal if I was reprimanded or fired for not attending? I would not attend because I feel like it is against specific political candidates but they are not outwardly saying that.
Comments
This isn’t really a legal issue, but an administrative one. Sometimes people claim events are ‘mandatory’ when they simply are not. I am in grad school & constantly get emails about ‘mandatory meetings’, only to figure out that they arent truly ‘mandatory’ to maintain accidemic or professional standing, but rather designed to make someone (or multiple people) feel far more important than they are. I would ask someone at your school if this is actually required, and if so, what happens if you are not able to make it due to other commitments ( other work, religious stuff, etc); if the answer is nothing, then its not truly mandatory.
Also, the paramount concern here is, would you be paid for attending/’working’ this event?