Job Discussion Forums

[Jetgirly]

I am working with a big chain school. I have only been teaching English for three months. My contract is for 22.5 hours per week, but for the last two months my school has been piling more and more hours on me. It went from 25 to 27 to 30 to 33 to 35.5! That is 35.5 contact hours in a week, plus 12 hours spent on the bus getting to and from in-company classes, plus time spent preparing lessons (so in the end we are talking about approximately fifty-five hours per week). I have REPEATEDLY asked the secretaries to give me fewer hours and they keep promising they will, but every week I show up and see that my schedule is even more jam-packed. I would really like to stay with the school until the end of my contract because I have some great students and like most of my classes, but I just want to have a reasonable number of hours (ie the number stipulated in my contract)... can anyone offer a suggestion about how to accomplish this?

[Glenski]

As much as you may have to travel to get to a job, I don't think you can put those 12 hours per week into your total number of hours WORKED. Not really fair. Here in Japan, traveling 40-60 minutes one way to work is considered normal. You are paid for the number of hours you are in the office, pretty much anywhere you work in the world in any job.

If you are concerned about the number of contact hours you have, look again at your contract. Does it state a certain minimum, and after that you get overtime pay? Sounds like a time to go over the heads of the secretaries to your manager, or higher.

[ls650]

[eslHQ]

My fiancee was in a similar situation. they promised her no weekend work, no overtime. one month later they were asking her for both.

so, she quit. then they came back to her with a different offer that proved to be super sweeeeet. gave her a part-time contract with a full-time visa and still paid her quite a bit.

the reason your employer is taking advantage of you (if they really are, you should re-read your contract) is because they have taken advantage of every other teacher at the school. and what does the teacher do? nothing. and what does the school learn? we can take advantage of our foreign work staff.

this is your chance to put a stop to it (IF THEY REALLY ARE TAKING ADVANTAGE OF YOU). make life better for all teachers that will come to that school and country and stand up for yourself. give them a choice and be prepared to walk

ps. this advice is only offered if they really are working you otuside of your contractual duties. if this is within your contract, hang in there.

[PAULH]

[daily chai]

[Gregor]

As the Director of Studies for one of those chain schools, I am amazed at how many teachers sign a contract and fail to get a copy of it.
Yes, PLEASE make sure you know for a fact what you are contracted to do.
I disagree with what daily chai said about breaking your contract even if they are honoring their end. That would just be dishonorable on your part.
That said, I sincerely doubt that one of the bigger chain schools had a contract that required you to do 35 contact hours a week. You should be able to refuse more than what your contract stipulates.
In my school, teachers must be willing to work a certain number of hours. They are paid overtime if they go over that, BUT they are not required to go overtime if they don't want to. It is my job to see to it that the teachers honor their contracts AND that the employer honors it as well.
Perhaps you don't have a DoS, or you don't have a very effective one. If either of those are the case, you have to stand up for yourself, and PLEASE do so, for the sake of teachers who come after you.
But I want to echo what eslHQ said - be SURE that you know what the contract says. And please (again, for the sake of teachers coming after you), honor it.

[Zero Hero]