Job Discussion Forums

[Justin Trullinger]

Trying to deepen my knowledge of the Latin American market for teachers, I just wondered how all you guys get paid.

By the hour? Or a fixed monthly rate? how is the monthly rate worked out? If it's hourly, is it contact hours only, or some allowance for planning? Travel included in any of this? If you travel?

And after that, fantasy time: How would you prefer to be paid? In your ideal school, how would these arrangements be different from your reality?

Thanks,
Justin

PS I guess since I asked, I should answer. I'm the DOS of the English department of a mid-sized NGO. I get a monthly salary for admin, but am paid hourly for the teaching I do. Other teachers are paid by the contact hour as well, and given a travel allowance for classes outside of our center.
Honestly, I would prefer to be on a straight salary. (with fixed teaching hours.) But I've been in schools where I know that the director would have taken advantage of a salary to work people to death for no additional money. Here, I know the director (me) wouldn't do that...

[moonraven]

I have never been paid by the hour. My salary has always been just that.

In Mexico many immigration offices will not give work papers to folks who are paid by the hour because the prospective employer is expected to declare the prospective teacher's wages and show that they are enough to live on.

[thelmadatter]

I am salaried (or what they call "planta"). If by "hourly," you mean "by the class hour," I know any number of foreigners at my own school who are "hourly" (or "catedra"). They all have FM3's. They get recontracted every semester (iffy in the summer) to teach however many classes they want or can get.

Im happy with my current situation. The best and most important thing for me is that I am respected and appreciated. The good salary is a plus.

[moonraven]

They are suckers. The TEC pays well enough by the hour that they can put in their offer letter (which is just a letter to the immigration office) an amount that will pass muster to get the FM-3. The problem is when the FM-3 holder isn't making enough because of reduced hours. No recourse for them, and one of the reasons why the TEC is a politically incorrect employer.

Not to mention that they receive no benefits.

[Flo]

If you are working full time you will most likely get a salary. You will be contracted to work, more or less, 40 hours a week. However, as a native English speaker you will be expected to write most of the exams, proofread and edit documents in English, do some translations, give oral exams, etc. in addition to teaching your own classes. If there �sn�t enough time in your normal work day, you have to do it on your own time.

In the end, however, the salary is better since it is guaranteed and your hours on an hourly wage might not be.

As for Tec (in Mexico), I have heard they pay very well, but a friend of mine was offered a planta postion there. The pay came out to less than $8 an hour. This wage is OK in Mexico, but nothing to write home about.

[ls650]

I'm paid a flat salary on the 15th and the 30th. My salary is very good for Mexico but I have to be present on the campus for 8 hours per day, and it's a split-shift: 8 AM-1 PM, then 4 PM-7 PM. It makes for a lo-o-ng day.

[Justin Trullinger]

In Ecuador, the majority of TEFL positions are paid by the hour. I'm looking at ways that this could be changed...

The places that salary teachers here seem to do it with an eye to getting WAY more hours out of them than otherwise...

But I just wondered what you guys would prefer.

Thanks,
Justin

[thelmadatter]

Tec salaries can vary. My first contact with them was for a planta position in Atlacomulco which offered about $8. I get significantly more than that. Well, if I always stayed within the 40-hour week, it would be significantly more. During the semesters, I work more than 40 hours, not because anyone makes me per se, but rather to design and teach the classes as I wish. I make most of my own materials because I haven't found texts I liked nor suited my students' needs.

It can vary, too, by department. One teacher who just left was making $30,000 a month AND had a housing allowance However, given that admin is really whining about money, I dont foresee that in anyone's future!

I would still prefer salaried, even if it was "only" ~85 pesos an hour ... too many variables and too much insecurity for me otherwise, at least for a long-term gig. For short-term employment, I would be more flexible.

I agree that most places would try to exploit salaried people as much as possible "to get their money's worth." That's the risk, but then many good people would not put up with that for very long.

[naturegirl321]

[Ben Round de Bloc]