The school honors my contract when it is in their interest to do so, but not when it will cost money or inconvenience to them to do so.
Contracts need to be agreed upon in good faith. That does not seem to be the case in some of the international schools I’ve worked at. I have been in situations where in mid-contract the school administration has decided to rewrite the contract, usually to their benefit. Also, too many schools are trying to function on the cheap. Schools are, in a sense, a business and need to be run that way, but if you want an excellent school you need excellent staff and faculty. In the end you will get what you pay for.
Since the contract benefits primarily the owner, the contract is scrupulously honored.
CONTRACT IGNORED WHEN IT COSTS ANYTHING.
They expect you to honor your contract but feel they don’t have to. They have let people go on a whim.
They have been pretty good about honoring it.
My school is good, but international teachers are not protected and there is no point pretending we are. International teachers do not stay in a country long enough, and do not have the know how, language or support to pursue a court case. I have only ever heard of one embassy who helped teachers and that was in Kuwait during the 2nd invasion.
They honor the contract, but there is a lot more we agree to when we sign that contract than is written on the two pieces of paper. *Look at the faculty handbook before signing your contract! (Sub pay, maternity leave, PD etc.).
Contract is honored when it’s in the school’s best interest to honor it.
The school I’m at now honors it to the letter. It is fair. At my last school they played with the wording and claimed the translation was official. Also, they changed the handbook over the summer and claimed it was the official word on everything. Since the old handbook was collected in June, teachers had little recourse the next year.
It is honored – mostly.
Yes, very much so.
They honor it but add amendments that I have to follow–these amendments were not in my original contract.
The school violates contracts whenever it is convenient. Staff have been denied benefits that were guaranteed in their contracts.
Definitely, it is not honored. Some staff have been dismissed on trumped up charges. Some of these have been serious, like hitting a child, but the teacher was just too dark-skinned for the manager’s taste. We sign the contracts but the manager does not give anyone a copy back. You have to make a fuss to get it and then you are very unpopular. The contract states that you get holiday pay, but they are quibbling about it now.
Our school honors the contract to the letter and is consistent with every employee.
Does my school honor the contract? Mostly, when it suits them.
Yes, although the salary problem remains.
Yes, they do honor it and have a good history of supporting contracts.
Honored!
Yes the school honors the contract because the contract doesn’t offer anything.
No, and there are different penalties for breaking contract depending on when you tell the school you are leaving. This is not published anywhere. In the past, people with the same “contract” have negotiated additional shipping and better housing.
Yes, the school honors everything. I have never experienced a school which didn’t (maybe I’m lucky).
Sometimes my school is more policy-driven than personal, but that’s much the same anywhere.
If our contracts are not honored, then there is no one to turn to. The recruiting agencies will NEVER assist us! In fact they blackball us if WE don’t honor our contracts.
Contract is only adhered to when it is to the benefit of the employers. Otherwise, Ministry laws apply and we never know what those laws are.
Not sure, because it was vague.
Yes they honor it.
The school honors the contract but the contract may not reflect national law.
I feel my school honored the contract. It is not until you realize that the bus drivers are paid more than a teacher that you begin to wonder!!!!
Not worth even the paper it was written on.
Honors it.
No. The school will do as they please and threaten you with being black balled if you complain.
They honor it to the letter.
Honors the contract for some and not for others.
Somewhat. They were not honest at recruitment and presented a very different picture. The recruitment picture made the contract seem satisfactory. The reality makes it poor. I consider this dishonest. Their actions have confirmed this.
Usually the school follows the contract very well. However, the contract is very sketchy and for good reason. Most all verbal commitments were not fulfilled.
I’ve never heard of anyone being unhappy at our school because a contract was not honored. In fact, contract terms for the number of days a teacher must stay after the last day of school are waived to help keep teachers happy. Teachers are routinely permitted to leave the day after the end of school instead of forced to stay the 3 days the contract requires. Compassionate leave is given generously (10 weeks for a recent stillbirth, for example). This has little to do with the contract, and everything to do with the integrity of the principal.
It is definitely honored.
Absolutely not. They do what they want, forcing leaving staff to exit the country rather than transferring the visa. This causes the teacher a lot of work and expense. Also, I usually have to read out the parts of the contract that are clear to get a benefit that is simply not given–often they use a stupid excuse when you confront them with this.
Our contract is unfair from the get-go, so it isn’t worth a cent to teachers in the school. Even though enrollment is increasing and new teachers are being hired, some who are “not liked” by the administration have not been re-contracted, with utterly no justification.
My school honors both the spirit and letter of the contract. Teachers are valued and respected here.
To a point, my school “honors” the contract. However, previous employees were not paid their indemnities in full at the end of their contracts because they did not know the labor laws in Kuwait. I am expecting the school to cheat me in my indemnity calculation. I have a copy of the labor law (have lawyer friends) and know what I am supposed to receive. Let’s see if they “honor” it for me.
No. Later on in the year it was discovered that several aspects of the contract were 1/2 truths.
Unfortunately, to the letter despite interview promises.
While the school left my contract alone, they substantially changed the duties in my husband’s, twice. The second time lowering both the length of the contract and the salary. I signed a contract to be principal the next year, then found they were searching for someone else anyway.
I feel that they do honor the contract but they have neglected to tell us about things such as “severance” which is standard in this country…so they didn’t pay it. Also if they like you….great. If not….I would be afraid!
All schools have been wonderful, except for Abushakra American International and British Schools.
The school honors it.
It depends who is running the school. Some people feel they are above the law and although they may believe they are totally ethical, the leader is not always familiar with contract language or really does re-interpret ethical behavior.
The current contract isn’t worth much. We are not told all the “hidden” contract issues and they are not
outlined in the contract.
Yes, although some items were not clear at the job fair such as how much of the salary was paid in USD versus foreign currency.
Teaching hours and class sizes are ignored.
Definitely honored.
Yes…..completely.
I feel that if we didn’t insist on the letter of the contract, we would be cheated out of what we should be getting.
I was cheated out of a reasonable coordinator stipend because it was not included in my contract. I was told that because I signed my contract I had “agreed” to my current coordinator stipend which I found out was $150/month less than the other coordinators were paid.
They do honor what little is on it.
Our contract has been changed/re-interpreted without our input or knowledge…take it or leave it.
Yes…..so far. I have not heard or been privy to any inappropriate conduct over contracts from my current organization. I do feel that at any time my school can pull a contract regardless of ethics or rules. The same applies for us as teachers, & if you really don’t like something that much you can always walk away. It may be costly but no one owns you and your professionalism.
The schools can pretty much do as they like.
They pay what they say, but you can be asked to teach anything and do whatever extracurricular activities with little or no extra compensation.
Two have – one hasn’t.
It does honor what’s on paper for me personally, but I know of other teachers that have not had their contracts honored.
Technically the contract is honored, discrepancy comes in definition of “family housing”. I don’t consider an apartment on a busy street where you can’t ride your bikes, no play area inside, no playground in sight, to be “family housing”. This becomes more important to those who have young children who stay home in this environment all day.
This school seems to honor its contracts and spirit of the contract for the vast majority of the teachers.
Generally, it is sufficient to ensure I can’t be fired without due cause.
1. Shipping allowance was reduced once I was in-country. The school did not feel obliged to honor the shipping allocation in my contract. 2. Actual housing promised is inferior to housing promised at recruiting fair.
The contract is followed to the letter.
Yes, it does. It has even been generous with sickness, etc., although this is not happening as much now. Our salaries are always paid in full and on time. I am leaving this year and flights and shipment are all being paid by the school with no problems. The school has very occasionally (and in my opinion, rightly) used the contract to dismiss a teacher, but a teacher has never needed to break a contract because it is unreasonable or the school did not deliver what was promised.
The contract is basically good, but with room for interpretation.
My contract is honored to the letter because I told the school I wanted my job description spelled out in the contract before I signed it. Colleagues complain that our school has not honored their contract to the letter. Jobs were promised and once teachers arrived in-country there were changes and added responsibilities.
In Thailand, it is a given that in both theory and practice a contract is worth LESS than the paper it is written on. If you are unfairly dismissed you can try to sue, but the legal system is corrupt and you can expect the school to pay off any judges as needed. No foreign teacher has ever won in a trial. In fact, it only costs several hundred dollars to pay an off-duty cop to make an annoying former employee disappear, forever. Most schools in Thailand routinely break contracts because they know the foreigner is most likely to just leave or otherwise not fight it. The foreigner is an outsider and does not have much status in Thailand under the legal system, at least in practice if not theory.
In reality it isn’t worth the paper it is written on.
