How important is the contracted date of resignation?

nathan61 · Post by **nathan61** » Tue Nov 19, 2013 12:59 am

Our director wants to change our date of resignation from December 10th to December 1st.

How big a deal is this?

Maybe I am overly sensitive, but I think it is a significant advantage for those of us who teach very specialized subjects to have a later resignation date. I teach band, and sometimes there are not a lot of openings that fit both my wife and I. With a later resignation date we can look for jobs, and if there is very little available we can opt to stay at our current post.

Any thoughts?

IAMBOG · Post by **IAMBOG** » Tue Nov 19, 2013 1:05 am

What does your contract say?

nathan61 · Post by **nathan61** » Tue Nov 19, 2013 1:15 am

The contract is for December 10th, but for our new contract the director is changing it to December 1st.

Nobody is complaining, but if it is an important matter then we can at least make that clear.

inman · Post by **inman** » Tue Nov 19, 2013 4:49 am

For those 2 dates I don't think it would make much difference to decision making for teachers as there's only the Johannesburg fair between those dates. For admin those 10 more days are much more useful for trying to get new staff before the holidays and before fairs begin. For teachers though, I think you really need to know what you're going to do and start updating your references by the end of November. If you're still unsure by the start of December then it's already getting a bit late for getting your references together and also late for getting a fair invitation. If your school were changing from 10th of January to an earlier date then I'd get upset, but not for the dates you mentioned in December.

To me, it's the hardest part of being an international teacher. You have to be quitting your job before you have a new one (usually). Quitting blindly and so early goes completely against instinct but you still have to do it. Good luck.

shadowjack · Post by **shadowjack** » Tue Nov 19, 2013 5:34 pm

December 10th is relatively late and generous for giving notice. If you are not registered with a fair before November, you are out of luck. Bangkok and Boston filled up super quick this year - and I think London is not full.

So if you are waiting to pull it all together in December AND get a fair invite, you might find yourself going to HK round 2, or Bangkok round 2 when all the jobs you want are gone.

So, December 1 is not out of line.