Job Discussion Forums

[stoth1972]

One of my previous employers did something similar...if you weren't returning for a 2nd year (new contract) you didn't get the paid time off. You also didn't the gratuity. Unlike the international schools that paid you for twelve months and a gratuity for 10 months of work, this stunt sucked. A cute little trick from a businessman trying to save lots of money...

[UnbelievablyAngryExpat]

There are loads of things that people could say to try to support the IAT, but there are millions more that others could say to sink it quite easily. What people need to know is that there hasn't been an ounce of accountability since the school was taken over by the military.

When the first batch of teachers were hired in the spring of 2005, we were hired by the HCT under the premsie that we would be working as an umbrella organization of the HCT in a highly ambitious project. When we went on holiday, we were essentially HCT employees and the prospect of working for a new technology institute was something that we all looked forward to. When we walked into our first day of orientation in mid-August 2005, we were surprised to be told "The military has now taken over the IAT. Here's the contract. Sign it now, or we'll take you back to the airport." To say it went downhill from there is an understatement. The list of problems and lies, if I wrote it now, would turn into a book. If anyone cares to know more, please ask and I'll tell. I have loads of colleagues, Western, Indian, and Arabic who left, or were fired because they were essentially smarter or better liked than the Emirati administration.

Spooky eh?

[Zoot]

And the story gets no better! The latest is that none of their employees have been paid for July!! That pay was supposed to have been the cumulation of a promised pay rise. This organization stinks and only those unable to get jobs anywhere else in the UAE should be found working for it.

[UnbelievablyAngryExpat]

It's too bad really. The students, apart from wanting to either be in the police, army, or be managers (without needing an education), can be really, really nice. Some of them can be monsters too. I know that the admin. can be far worse. And - I know I'm stereotyping here - the best people to work with were the Brits, the Canadians, and the Indian expats. The absolute worst by far, were the Emiratis who started to take over, fire people, break the rules to suit their needs, and make new rules almost daily.

What should have been, and could have been a great chance for these kids, and a great job for the western staff, turned into an utter joke. And it's only going to get worse with the "Every student must get at least 60% or you're fired" policy. What good is a "school" like this if a lazy, rude student barely shows up, or fails everything that he attempts to write, and then the teacher is told that if the student fails, it's obviously not the poor kid's fault and the teacher should be deported.

Welcome to the jungle . . .

[janejohn]

While I'm in trash IAT mode, I might as well add that they treat their
cleaners and security guards appallingly. The cleaners are paid 500 Dh
a month for 12 hour days, 6 days a week, and the security guards get
600-700 Dh for 12 hour days, 7 days a week. This is in contravention of
Emirati labour laws, which state that all workers who earn less than
1,000 Dh a month must be paid overtime if they work more than 40 hours
a week.
Some of them complained to western and Indian staff about very
overcrowded and unhygenic conditions in their labour camps in the desert,
which they never get out of, except to come to work. At least one security guard was an illegal because someone had run off with the money he had provided to get a visa. IAT refused to assist him in any way, and he was eventually deported. At one stage the cleaners weren't paid for over two months until the principal stepped in their behalf.

Are the Emiratis who run IAT corrupt or what?

[Shakhbut]

The culture in the UAE (at least in the big cities) strikes me as being the most selfish and inhuman of any I've worked in.
I've come to the conclusion that you must take more than give here, to be sure of not feeling screwed on some level.
In other words, get with the game and, if put in some position requiring a choice, shit on your neighbor. No room for altruism in this place.
No doubting that you do lose yourself if you live here long enough.

[temujinsky]

I had a contract from February and they made me wait until August after having contracted to start me in March. Thank goodness! After having read these forums and having the forensic sense that plenty was not right with IAT, I decided at the last moment to forego my IAT experience. They kept me waiting and then at the last moment sent me an e-ticket and an impersonal list of instructions ... and I was wary of being in debt to IAT before even starting one lesson. Oh no! Not for this bird of freedom. Thanks to you fellers I am still free.
Oh, and as for Griffith University as a recruiter ...hahaha ...what a joke! The lady who does most of the mail is sweet but sweetness gets you nowhere when you are dealing with Mafia types.

[janejohn]

I only got through the year with the support of the most excellent group of colleagues I have ever worked with, all of whom left last June. The
principal and my immediate supervisor were also very supportive.

Apart from being in debt because of the establishment allowance,
having to pay six months rent in advance is a very dodgy proposition
with the mafia-like IAT, where three of my ex-colleagues were sacked
during the year. One of them got himself into quite a bit of debt, and
wasn't given any warning at all.

[Longton]

I turned down a post with IAT earlier this year. I have just received an email from IAT informing me that their HR department is reviewing its pay scales and would I be interested in a post if they improved their offer. It would have to be a significant increase to attract me!