Job Discussion Forums

Suleyman · Joined: 15 Dec 2004 Posts: 1 Location: America

I have a quick question about signing a contract: Is it easy to quit if something better comes along or am I regaled into the contract for the long-term? This scenario probably isn't likely, but it's always good to keep my options open. Let me know about the ease/difficulty of quitting at the big English schools, such as Interlang, Bilkent, or English Time.

31 · Joined: 21 Jan 2005 Posts: 1797

molly farquharson · Joined: 16 Jun 2004 Posts: 839 Location: istanbul

31 is wrong about ET, as usual. If you break a contract with us, you forfeit your bonus (a minimum of $750) and travel (the same if you are from N America or Australia/NZ) and you won't be rehired. The word also goes out to our other schools-- World of English, Gok-Dil, and Interlang. However, there is also a 3 month probation period at the beginning, where we can ask a teacher to leave if s/he is not a good teacher. A contract consists of one's word, and I think ET is pretty good about keeping its side of it, so we expect it of a teacher. We don't have all that many teachers who bail, but we do have some. Most of our teachers finish their contracts and then sign up for another one.

calsimsek · Joined: 15 Jul 2004 Posts: 775 Location: Ist Turkey

I can't be doing this, but Molly you know that 31 is right. Very few schools will put down all the cash thats need for a full legal contract. Even if they did. The only action against you a school can take is to start a legal action against you and try to get some money for costs through the courts.
This in Turkey could take years. They can also withdraw work permits and make it hard to get a new one. Always ask a friend to read the contract before you sign. Don't under any condition trust the contract they give you. In Turkey only a Turkish contract is legal. Get it READ FIRST.

Most schools will not bother to go after you. They'll just keep what ever you may be owed. So keep your trap shut do the job get your pay and what ever else you can and get out if you need to.

molly farquharson · Joined: 16 Jun 2004 Posts: 839 Location: istanbul

I have always heard that only contracts in Turkish are legal, but I don't think that's true. At Koc Univ we signed contracts in English only and we do so at ET. At any rate, as I said, the most important is the idea of the word, which I have found to be pretty strong here, not only in work but in daily life.

The only school I have heard of that tried to take legal action was Berlitz, who went after a teacher who took their "training" and then left, because she had a bad feeling about the place.

I have been in the court system for almost 3 years about a house, and I don't recommend it to anyone. It's been good for my law Turkish, but it has been a colossal waste of time (though I won, we are now going to the appeals court).

The idea that a teacher would go into a job with the idea of bailing disturbs me, as it is a very unprofessional attitude. I think bottom line for teachers is to do their research on the school(s) they are interested in and communicate with teachers there. of course this forum is helpful, but people have to read it with a grain of salt, since it goes from one extreme (me) to the other (31).

Ebenezer · Joined: 02 Sep 2004 Posts: 99

I don't mean to be rude, but come on, who doesn't know that contracts are totally worthless unless the school has fulfilled all the Turkish legal bureaucracy?? And who doesn't know that ET and most of the language schools don't bother to go through this long, nerve-racking and expensive process???

justme · Joined: 18 May 2004 Posts: 1944 Location: Istanbul

I thought that, for language schools anyway, there's an English contract, which is worthless, and they keep a Turkish contract as well in case anyone looks. For the teachers with papers, that is. And I don't know if it's true, but I heard the Turkish contract shows you as getting paid less, maybe for taxes or whatever. Yabancı urban legend?

My Fatih contract was in English, but somewhere in all the paper-signing, I had to sign a Turkish contract as well. It was the same, except the Turkish contract had been revised more recently, so the rent allowance was 100million TL more! Bonus!

whynotme · Joined: 07 Nov 2004 Posts: 728 Location: istanbul

i think most of you are right about the contract thing in a way but on the other side most of you are wrong...lets talk about the language school contracts....
according to Turkish laws whatever contract you sign does not mean anything because all lang. schools are run with the rules of ministery of education and with the cotract of ministery of education( and it is in Turkish).so if u sign another contract this means it is illegal...i think most of you are working with tourist visas which means you are totally illegal and you can not make a contract with a person who works illegally

you know why many language school owners do not treat foreigners well...it is because of people like Suleyman( sorry to say but...)...why are you intending to break your contract ...if u promise to work with them, do work with them and at the end of your promise or contract or whatever start another job and please do not take it personal

31 · Joined: 21 Jan 2005 Posts: 1797

31 · Joined: 21 Jan 2005 Posts: 1797

[quote="molly farquharson"]I have always heard that only contracts in Turkish are legal, but I don't think that's true.

Of course it is true. Aren`t your house court case documents in Turkish? Aren`t all contracts in Canada either in English or French?

At Koc Univ we signed contracts in English only and we do so at ET.

You know full well that the ''contracts'' at ET aren`t legal. Almost all of the teachers have no work permits as you have admitted yourself. You can`t work illegally and have a legal work permit!

The only school I have heard of that tried to take legal action was Berlitz, who went after a teacher who took their "training" and then left, because she had a bad feeling about the place.

So Berlitz employs their teachers legally.

I have been in the court system for almost 3 years about a house, and I don't recommend it to anyone. It's been good for my law Turkish, but it has been a colossal waste of time (though I won, we are now going to the appeals court).

Great. Good to see that you have the protection of the law. Wish that was extended to all employees at ET.

The idea that a teacher would go into a job with the idea of bailing disturbs me, as it is a very unprofessional attitude. I think bottom line for teachers is to do their research on the school(s) they are interested in and communicate with teachers there. of course this forum is helpful, but people have to read it with a grain of salt, since it goes from one extreme (me) to the other (31).

That is what we are here for.

molly farquharson · Joined: 16 Jun 2004 Posts: 839 Location: istanbul

I saw my lawyer today and specifically asked him about the contract issue. he said the contract can be written in any language and it is valid. If necessary it can be translated and taken to a notary. So, a contract does not have to be in Turkish. As far as ET contracts go, my feeling is that it is a contract between the teacher and the school, a mutual giving of the word. In fact, I have not had a contract in two years, mostly from not getting around to it, and still I get everything owed to me, no problem. I expect professionalism from the teachers, whether they are working on a tourist visa or not. They were informed of this before they signed on with us. We are trying to rectify the situation, as I have said before, but the govt doesn't know what it is doing and the whole thing is taking a very long time.

31 · Joined: 21 Jan 2005 Posts: 1797

bron · Joined: 26 May 2004 Posts: 88

I don't really like 31's general bashing attitude towards Molly and ET -- it gets a bit boring hearing the same arguments rehashed again and again (but I think both sides are a bit responsible for that, and neither seems to want to just *give it up*). But on this one I have to agree that if you're working on a tourist visa (as I am) then your contract is clearly not legal. It does count for something -- good faith -- but yes, the schools can and do bend the rules on keeping to the contract when it's convenient to them (holidays, accommodation and travel money are the main issues that I've seen come up), and no, the teachers have no recourse when this happens because we're working illegally. I'm perfectly willing to believe Molly that this is because the government makes it nearly impossible to get work visas, but nonetheless, that's the situation. Sure, I got my various bonuses paid promptly at the end of my first contract here (more than I expected, in fact) and my issues with the school bending the contract have been minor. So, yes, it represents something -- but not a legally binding document, if you're working illegally in the first place!

On the other hand, I am disgusted with the attitude of coming into a job saying, well, I can always leave if I don't like it. For one thing, if you leave, you're practically stabbing your fellow teachers in the back as well as the school. We've had one person do this since I arrived at my school, and then couple arrived and left without teaching a single class -- without even walking around the school -- soon afterwards and all of our hours jumped to almost 40 a week. No one was happy. It's a much better tactic to get yourself fully informed about the school before you start, and then once you arrive, stick with it. Whynotme's right. It's teachers like Suleyman, at least in part, who make schools undervalue us.

preston · Joined: 08 Dec 2004 Posts: 107

surely part of the problem is the way most teachers put up with such appalling conditions without a fight. Of course nobody with a tourist visa can sign an authentic contract. But how often does anyone complain about this?

preston · Joined: 08 Dec 2004 Posts: 107

[quote="molly farquharson"] The word also goes out to our other schools-- World of English
Methinks WOE is a great name for an English school