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[anubistaima]

For those who are looking to work in Novosibirsk, Russia, I wanted to post a warning. You may remember that a couple of months ago, I mentioned I was having trouble with one school. I didn't mention names back then, but since my visa is over next week and they refuse to pay me the last USD250 they owe me, I am ready to talk about them. The school's name is Unicity. They are located in Novosibirsk, Russia. The name of the director is Svetlana Solodova. Not only is she absolutely bipolar (with sincere apologies to anybody out there who is actually diagnosed with it) but she has taken every single opportunity she's had over the past two years to screw me over. They would say one thing, put another in writing (and made me sign it) and then ignore both and come up with something completely new. So, of course, whatever I did, I was always in fault.

Case in point: when I first started working for Unicity, I was guaranteed a minimum and it was their job to make sure I had enough hours to earn that minimum. Then, after some time, they switched me to a hour-by-hour salary with no minimum guaranteed, but promised to get me enough hours to earn the minimum or more. Then, a week before summer started, they decided (even though we never changed the contract) that they couldn't afford to find me enough work for the summer and they left me hanging.

So we changed the contract again and they put in writing that I was allowed to work in other schools at the same time if I wanted, so I could make more money. Then, one day, they found out I was actually working for somebody else (I didn't exactly hide it, because they said it wasn't an issue), and came up with the reasoning that what they meant to say was that I was allowed to work for public schools, but not private ones, so I was in violation of the contract (there was no specific wording in the contract and they clearly told me I could work �at any other school�). At that point, Svetlana (who, I swear, has mental problems) started screaming at me and calling me a �f*cking liar� for not telling her about the other job and decided she was going to cancel my registration. That was the time I posted here. Note that there were no questions, reasoning or words accepted from me. She just went off and made the decision.

After 30 minutes of trying to calm her down, I left. She then had the manager called me the next day (because Svetlana's English is deplorable) to tell me she had changed her mind and that everything would be fine if I agreed to a new contract that said I couldn't work anywhere else. At that point I knew I had only two months to go before the end of my visa, so I just said fine, signed and stayed out of their way.

Now it's the last week before I leave Unicity and Russia. I'm supposed to get my salary on the 1st. They keep stalling until yesterday. I knew something was coming. Yesterday they tell me on the phone that they owe me less than I worked because �there was a mistake on accounting back in December and we overpaid you, so we have to discount it from your January classes.� I know it's total bull, but I tell them �you know what, just tell me how much you think you owe me and I'll stop by the office to pick it up tomorrow.� I'm running all over the city, I'm stressed, I'm packing... I don't have time to deal with these people. They say fine and tell me about $150 (they really owe me 250). Today I go pick up the money. Svetlana starts asking me to give her my registration slip right now if I want to take my money. I tell her that's impossible because I need it to pick up my vet's certificate on Saturday (which is true; I'm flying out of Russia with pets and they won't give me the certificate before Saturday and without the slip). She already knows this because I told her two weeks ago that this was the case and that I would meet somebody to give the paper on Sunday, but now she says she won't pay me anything at all if I don't give it to her RIGHT NOW (I don't even have it with me at that point). I try to reason with her for 10 minutes and eventually I tell her to keep her damn money and that she won't get anything from me and I stomp out of the office.

Ok, this is really, really long, but I wanted to make a point. These people are NUTS. Svetlana Solodova in particular, but also all the others who work for her and who have no guts to say anything over all the sh*t this woman does. Over that time that I was allowed to work for other schools, not a single one treated me this way. There's a lot more to the story than I'm putting up here, so if you're considering working in Novosibirsk, I'll be happy to point you in the direction of the normal schools and tell you even more about why you should NOT work for Unicity. Believe me, these people need to be committed.

[Bradley326]

Thanks for the post. Could you elaborate on the good schools you encountered? I'm interested in Novosibirsk so it's good to know what to avoid and what to look into.

[anubistaima]

PM and I'll give you a list

[gibronii]

thanks for the post anubistaima. v useful.

i have sent you a PM asking for your advise

[Rumblefish]

I hope that the story had a happy ending, though I suspect it didn't....
I'm very interested in Novisibirsk and would love to hear any information you'd like to share about good schools. Unfortunately, I can't pm yet.......

[macedonianmike]

I'm working in Novosibirsk now. There are normal schools here. Also watch out for EF (they're *beep* here like everywhere else)

[anubistaima]

Yes, there are decent schools in Novosibirsk. Unicity is not one of them but that doesn't mean that all the others are at the same (low) level. You just need to do your research and know what you're getting into in advance.