School breaking contract terms

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marina
Posts: 33
Joined: Sun Jul 26, 2015 2:31 pm

School breaking contract terms

Post by marina »

I have seen a lot of questions on this forum about teachers breaking their contracts, and the consequences for them and their schools moving forward. My question is what happens when a school so obviously is breaking its end of the deal - and from the start? What are the options that the teacher has to address misrepresentation and outright unfulfilled promises? If these issues are not fixed, what would your advice be to the teacher?
Monkey
Posts: 74
Joined: Sun Feb 24, 2013 2:59 am

Re: School breaking contract terms

Post by Monkey »

Been there, done that. There's honestly not a ton of hope. Sad, but it's true.

There are a few resources. If you went through a big agency like Search or ISS, you can try getting their help. In my case, it worked and they were able to exert some behind-the-scenes pressure to get the problem resolved. Out of 5 people I know who went this route, I was the only one this worked for. Some people never even heard back from their contact person.

You can also try and get your own lawyer and/or go to the country's Ministry of Labor/Dept of Immigration. Sometimes these avenues work, but it can be costly in both money and time. And if you just need to leave the country (or have been forced out), it's pretty difficult to fight through the courts while overseas. This tends to work better in countries with strong workers' rights, like W. Europe. Much harder in places like the ME.

And lastly, you can blast the school across the Internet. Some people have even gone so far as to create their own blogs/websites about their situation. It's tempting, but no matter how righteous, the creators of these sites rarely come out looking good. And that can be important if you need another job.
PsyGuy
Posts: 10789
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Northern Europe

Response

Post by PsyGuy »

Almost none. Agencies wont do much if anything. The ISs pay about $1500 for a placement fee for an IT, so kicking them out is just throwing money away. In We you will have more options with the availability of a union and labor board, but most ITs have to leave the country/region quickly, and do not have the resources for a prolonged legal battle.
sid
Posts: 1392
Joined: Sat Dec 02, 2006 11:44 am

Re: School breaking contract terms

Post by sid »

Can you be more specific about what exactly the school did that violates the contract? Misrepresentation and promises is a bit vague, and it's not exActly clear whether that reaches the standard of contract violation. Contract stuff means not paying you what's in the contract, not giving you the promised housing, specifically what's mentioned in the contract. If you have evidence of that, try a lawyer for advice, but don't get too hopeful until you get their advice. For other stuff, like being given a math class in addition to your science classes, or the housing not being as flash as you'd hoped, chances are truly dismal, as usually it comes down to he said she said, and there's little to no evidence to support whether a promise was broken or even made.
If you truly feel hard done by, usually the only real recourse is to leave. If you just got there, try to give it a bit more time and reach out to the leadership to see if you can work out some improvement. Good luck.
marina
Posts: 33
Joined: Sun Jul 26, 2015 2:31 pm

Re: School breaking contract terms

Post by marina »

At this point I am just trying to figure if I can make it through the first year of my new two year contract. The housing is not acceptable in any way and what has been offered is not what is stated would be in the letter of the contract, so I don't need to get into more details than that.

I have a nearly eight year career in international teaching and I want to remain in international teaching, but I just don't see how I can fulfill this contract. If I can only last a year, will another school hire me or am I done/blacklisted? I would be willing to leave the continent I am on to simply continue my international teaching career as long as I can somehow not be haunted by this extremely corrupt hr operation at my new school. Wisdom from all of you is greatly appreciated.
TeachingAbroad
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu May 28, 2015 7:25 pm

Re: School breaking contract terms

Post by TeachingAbroad »

Very sorry to hear about this Marina. I hope you have made some friends there to have a support system and also have friends and family as support through internet contact.
There have been some good suggestions made. But don't forget to post for your school and admin in the review part of ISR. I would also post all bad things I see about the school even if it did not affect me so that school admin does not think it is you. Sometimes, maybe, a little heat can get things changed. But unfortunately that's not often at all. Good luck. :)
wrldtrvlr123
Posts: 1173
Joined: Sat Feb 06, 2010 10:59 am
Location: Japan

Re: School breaking contract terms

Post by wrldtrvlr123 »

Sorry to hear about your problems. If HR has caused the problem then make sure that admin is aware of the situation and has had the opportunity to try and rectify things (and realizes how much this is negatively impacting your life and your ability to perform your job).

If housing is the only thing that is causing the problem, can you do anything to improve the situation? Could you top up and pay a little more to get something decent? That would hurt a bit but at least it might let you continue in your position and possibly finish out the contract.

If they are providing housing, you must have some other choices. Nag, stay on them and try and get some support from admin until they give you some other options. Good luck.
sand_fan
Posts: 15
Joined: Sat Feb 14, 2015 7:17 am

Re: School breaking contract terms

Post by sand_fan »

I had a similar experience where housing was the issue. The school offered an amount that was probably $600 under the market. They wouldn't budge, so I left at the end of the year. I had another job before I left and I explained to the new employer what I was doing and it didn't seem to matter. My thought is do what you have to do because none of these jobs pay all that much and someone will hire you with 8 years of experience.
marina
Posts: 33
Joined: Sun Jul 26, 2015 2:31 pm

Re: School breaking contract terms

Post by marina »

Have others had sand_fan's experience of new schools being sympathetic or at least not dismissive of candidates who are in a position where they feel like they need to leave a contract early because of a current school who has not upheld its end of the contract? I simply wonder how much information is too much information for a potential new employer? And the more I have to say the more likely it will look bad for me despite doing nothing wrong.
ffmary
Posts: 22
Joined: Mon Feb 02, 2015 11:19 am

Re: School breaking contract terms

Post by ffmary »

Marina,

I want to send along to you my sincere sympathies for what you are going through. This happened to me in my first job. Back then the market was not what it is today and I was able to turn lemons into lemonade the next year by jumping ship to a much better school for me and a much better city. Today, though, these schools and admins are pretty petty and I don't know if I would be so lucky today. A good admin would hear your concerns - if they still exist in November - and say, by all means, look around and we will post your job. A bad admin would either fire you on the spot or remind you that you are under contract for a year and half more and you will never work again in this field if you dare think of leaving. I pray you have a good admin. Especially if you are willing to take the hit to leave and probably miss out on end of contract perks as a result, by all means I really hope they let you go early if you want to go. In Europe and East Asia today I believe that they would let you break the contract. In ME and SA I am not so sure.
PsyGuy
Posts: 10789
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Northern Europe

Reply

Post by PsyGuy »

The sooner you leave the better. You will very likely have to ghost the experience, the sooner you can replace the experience and move on to something else the better. Staying a year means ghosting a whole year, when its possible you could still find something sooner.

Many ISs and admins know the local housing market, and they dont budge on line items like housing, since doing something for you means doing the same for everyone. That could incur a big expense for the IS.

I would advise that you inform your HOS and give them an opportunity to remedy or at least explore any possible options.
coin_operated
Posts: 28
Joined: Sat Jun 13, 2015 12:23 pm

Re: School breaking contract terms

Post by coin_operated »

I worked at a school that tried to sack a teacher because she had to take a lot of time off to deal with a serious illness. She complained to her embassy. The next day the management told her it was all a "misunderstanding".

Not sure if this will work for all cases, but it's worth a shot, especially if you're teaching at a school connected to your nationality/national curriculum.
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