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new unpleasant surprise mli vacation policy april 20
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mliteacher2003



Joined: 20 Apr 2004
Posts: 1
Location: abu dhabi, uae

PostPosted: Wed Apr 21, 2004 1:14 pm    Post subject: new unpleasant surprise mli vacation policy april 20 Reply with quote

I am going to lose 15 days of vacation because of some arbitrary decision made by MLI Military Administration and made without regards to teachers. Do any current teachers think that this administration is trying to drive us away and make our stay less pleasant? I was told this place would be full of surprises!

Any old mli teachers care to comment?

Why do they do this? Isn't this like stealing our time and efforts?

Any comments?

___
mliteacher
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Bindair Dundat



Joined: 04 Feb 2003
Posts: 1123

PostPosted: Wed Apr 21, 2004 3:01 pm    Post subject: Re: new unpleasant surprise mli vacation policy april 20 Reply with quote

mliteacher2003 wrote:
I am going to lose 15 days of vacation because of some arbitrary decision made by MLI Military Administration and made without regards to teachers.


What was the decision? I mean, if you can say it in a general sort of way. Not the result, but the decision. Thanks.
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mli_vet



Joined: 11 Jun 2003
Posts: 99

PostPosted: Wed Apr 21, 2004 3:32 pm    Post subject: Yeah, thanks. Reply with quote

Yeah, thanks. Generally clarify this please. Potential hires need to know this kind of stuff.

Are these admin guys really just sitting around in their offices sipping qahwa, picking their toes, reading their newspapers while they plot new ideas for making their ESL teachers' lives as miserable and unbearable as possible? Where do they come up with such malevolent and torturous ideas to torment would-be educators? (Dr. J, now he's gotta be the ultimate brain behind this sort of thinking).

MLI Vet
Over and Out
[email protected]
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Bindair Dundat



Joined: 04 Feb 2003
Posts: 1123

PostPosted: Wed Apr 21, 2004 7:18 pm    Post subject: Re: Yeah, thanks. Reply with quote

mli_vet wrote:
Yeah, thanks. Generally clarify this please. Potential hires need to know this kind of stuff.


Aha! I had a feeling I'd be seeing you in this thread, Mr. Vet. "When trouble arrives, Mr. Vet will not be far behind." That's what they say, anyway. Very Happy

You didn't send me that virus I received today, did you? Naturally, you were the first person who came to mind when I spotted it. Very Happy

Yours,

BD
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nowasta



Joined: 16 Mar 2003
Posts: 74
Location: uranus

PostPosted: Thu Apr 22, 2004 5:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The vacation issue is the latest in what is becoming a continuous saga around the MLI. Staff were always provided with 45 days a year and accrued them at 3.75 holiday days a month. People could roll them over from year to year if they didn't use all of them and had relative freedom as to when they took vacations as long as they had accrued enough days. Well, now we cannot roll vacation days over from one year to the next like the rest of the military staff and they expire after one calendar year (based on your contract date). We cannot borrow any days in advance in order to use up our 45 days for the year and we cannot use the days we accrue while on holiday. In effect, this means that we now can only accrue holiday days for 11 months of the year as it is impossible to go on leave for the last 3.75 days that you accrue in your last month. You have to go away and come back in order to use them up. You also have to take those last four days on the exact one year anniversary date of your contract signing or you lose them. Of course everyone could take 45 days on their contract renewal date but this creates a staffing nightmare. Imagine eveyone leaving around the same time in late August or Sept/Oct for close to 2 months...impossible! The fun never stops.
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Bindair Dundat



Joined: 04 Feb 2003
Posts: 1123

PostPosted: Thu Apr 22, 2004 9:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

nowasta wrote:
Well, now we cannot roll vacation days over from one year to the next like the rest of the military staff and they expire after one calendar year (based on your contract date). We cannot borrow any days in advance in order to use up our 45 days for the year and we cannot use the days we accrue while on holiday.


Thanks for the clarification, Mr. Wasta. Mucho appreciado.

BD
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Bindair Dundat



Joined: 04 Feb 2003
Posts: 1123

PostPosted: Wed May 12, 2004 5:16 am    Post subject: vacation Reply with quote

I spoke to a rep at the MLI this morning about the vacation issue.

nowasta wrote:
Well, now we cannot roll vacation days over from one year to the next like the rest of the military staff and they expire after one calendar year (based on your contract date).


The rep said that this is not so, Mr. Wasta. I was told that vacation days can, in fact, be carried over from one contract period to the next, and even beyond.

nowasta wrote:
... we cannot use the days we accrue while on holiday.


I was also told that the days you accrue while on holiday can be used while you are on that same holiday, if you so desire.

nowasta wrote:

In effect, this means that we now can only accrue holiday days for 11 months of the year as it is impossible to go on leave for the last 3.75 days that you accrue in your last month.


Apparently, from what I was told, this is not a valid conclusion, Mr. Wasta.

BD

P.S. to Mr. MLIVet: Now before you reply, Mr. Vet, remember that you don't work at the MLI! Smile Smile
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nrandserial



Joined: 20 Nov 2003
Posts: 11

PostPosted: Wed May 12, 2004 1:16 pm    Post subject: It's only a backflip, not a wrong conclusion. Reply with quote

Ah, Bindair, how right Nowasta was - and now how right you are now.

We got a memo this week saying that normal service will resume re taking holidays i.e. you may roll days over from one contract period to another. The teachers have been saying all along that the previous policy would bring chaos as so many teachers signed their new contracts in August that they would have no one left to teach classes then if they continued to adhere to it. When the fact is now staring them in the face, with a huge number of requests for holidays in August, they have changed tack.

I suspect the next pillar to fall will be the insistence that the married couples have to find new accommodation and move out of Corniche Towers in August - for much the same reason as impossibility in achieving such a goal. But don't bet on it.
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sandcity_uae



Joined: 09 May 2004
Posts: 5

PostPosted: Wed May 12, 2004 1:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Guess the last three posts on this subject demonstrate one of the quirks of MLI - at a given time your info could be right or wrong or a shade of both.

So Mr BD, what was the nationality of the person at MLI you spoke to: Emirati or other? My money's on the latter. If I'm correct, the advice you were given is only as good as the day it was given (ie today), to the best of anyone's intentions.

MLI ultimate truths: (1) be prepared to roll with the punches and (2) you have to to be here to believe it. It's just as well that so many teachers here are resilient... Shocked
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nowasta



Joined: 16 Mar 2003
Posts: 74
Location: uranus

PostPosted: Wed May 12, 2004 3:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes the leave thing has, in fact, returned to normal. However, one must read between the lines a little bit here (and that means you Bindair Dundat...if you really are looking for work). Why are there so many negative posts about the MLI on this discussion board? Why is Admin constantly making policy change after poilicy change and then changing the policy once more just for good measure? Why do people feel so beleaguered and harassed these days? Ask people working at the MLI how they REALLY FEEL about the place now. Ask them how the new Emirati military brass are treating them. Ask them about their working conditions. Don't ask some admin lackey. You would be well advised to steer clear. Things will get worse before they get better.
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Bindair Dundat



Joined: 04 Feb 2003
Posts: 1123

PostPosted: Wed May 12, 2004 3:59 pm    Post subject: aha.... Reply with quote

Okay, folks, thanks for your replies. I think I now have a *very* accurate picture of what's going on. I have been trying to get a clear and definitive answer to this vacation question for almost three weeks; I now see why none was forthcoming earlier.

My apologies for ever questioning your veracity, Mr. Wasta.

And yes, Mr. City_uae, your money's in the right place.

To take this onto another tack, I'd think that this turn of events is hopeful, is it not? It seems that the administration may be vulnerable to popular pressure.

BD
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mli_vet



Joined: 11 Jun 2003
Posts: 99

PostPosted: Thu May 13, 2004 1:21 pm    Post subject: Don't bother me please, I'm on vacation. Reply with quote

Bindair, don't bother me now, please. I'm on vacation. More specifics later. Hope your questions have been answered to your satisfaction. Good luck w/ that continually ongoing job search . . .

MLI Vet
Over and Out
[email protected]
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Bindair Dundat



Joined: 04 Feb 2003
Posts: 1123

PostPosted: Thu May 13, 2004 7:20 pm    Post subject: Re: Don't bother me please, I'm on vacation. Reply with quote

mli_vet wrote:
Bindair, don't bother me now, please.


A thousand pardons, Mr. Vet.


mli_vet wrote:
I'm on vacation. More specifics later.


Not at all necessary, Mr. Vet. Not at all. Smile

BD
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mli_vet



Joined: 11 Jun 2003
Posts: 99

PostPosted: Mon May 24, 2004 3:27 pm    Post subject: The Latest--MLI Brands ESL Teachers w/ MLI Logo Reply with quote

The Latest--MLI Brands ESL Teachers w/ MLI Logo.

Teachers departing on vacation are being branded with the MLI Logo by a specially made brand w/ the MLI Logo/Emblem. This will be next to the tatoo of the military ID number.

Seems to be an assertion of ownership just in case these guys get an idea to jump ship or get an application in w/ another outfit or something.

Best we can do would seem to grin and bare/bear it. Shocked

This is for real--no lie. Pictures coming soon of MLI brandees if we can rustle up any volunteers for a tell-all photo op.

MLI Vet
Over and Out
[email protected]
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scot47



Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343

PostPosted: Mon May 24, 2004 5:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Does MLI attract crazies or do people go crazy after arriving there ?
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