According to yesterday's Herald, an Auckland primary school is concerned that one of their teachers is moonlighting as a prostitute. They shouldn't be. Or rather, if it doesn't affect her work output or pose a conflict of interest (and there's no suggestion of either), then it is simply none of their damn business. Quite apart from the fact that prostitution is not a crime anymore, what goes on in the privacy of people's bedrooms between consenting adults is their own concern, and absolutely no business of their employer. Like to be tied up and whipped? None of your boss's business. Swing? None of your boss's business. Smear yourself in vegemite and roll around in flour? None of your boss's business. It might be amusing, it might be titillating, it might even be depraved, but it is simply not part of the employment relationship. Our employers may get to dictate how we spend our time at work, but they do not get to dictate our sex lives - and any employer who tries to deserves to be told that in no uncertain terms.
The fact that the employee in question is a schoolteacher does not change this in the slightest; schoolteachers deserve to have the privacy of their sex lives respected just like anyone else. And if prissy parents are concerned about "role modelling", maybe they should be providing their desired moral lessons themselves.
