Job Discussion Forums

[Samantha]

Mikeysaid said:

[cangringo]

Ok so on a part time contract...if you get fired with no notice - what are they supposed to provide. I don't have a copy in front of me and if I most likely wouldn't understand it anyway. I guess what am I'm getting at is...is there a general set of rules or whatever they say in the contract??

[TheLongWayHome]

[dixie]

[sambeckett]

Listen one and all. I am on my third year of teaching in Mexico. I do not even pretend to know everything about immigration law and other legal issues regarding foreign workers but I do know the following:

1) All papers that you submit, fm3`s and passport, belong to you and not the school
2) Whether or not you have a full or legal contract or not, the school you work for will face fines if they do not follow through on the proper regulations when hiring you.
3) If you are fired for any reason besides moral or criminal, the school has to pay you a percentage of everything you would have earned through the end of the year. I do not care what you have heard. Of this I am certain.
4) If you are not properly placed into the system, you have a possible legal action to use against your employer.
5) Go to a competent lawyer before you take any action.
6) Get their advice before taking any action.
7) Bring what ever proof you have that you are an employee, copies of your checks, even the class rolls of your students.


Hope this has been of help.


Saludos cordiales,

[TheLongWayHome]

Remember:

Dodgy Mexican employers rely on your ignorance to screw you over.

Dodgy Mexican employers do not discriminate - they will quite happily screw over a fellow Mexican, if not moreso.

Dodgy Mexican employers will avoid getting you an FM3.

Dodgy Mexican employers will retain your passport.

Dodgy Mexican employers won't give you an aguinaldo (xmas bonus) which you are entitled to if you are full or part time.

Dodgy Mexican employers will not register you with the IMSS (Mexican health service). They must do this if you have been there longer than 3 months.

Merely mentioning that you know your rights will make most dodgy Mexican employers quake in their (cowboy) boots.

Dodgy Mexican employers will do anything to avoid legal action/tribunals/courts because the money they'll throw at you will only be a tiny fraction of any fine they might be liable for.

Most dodgy Mexican employers are all mouth and no trousers, don't be intimidated!

[shaner]

I know a few people who work at Vancouver Language Centre and they don't give any vaction pay or bonus for the Christmas vacation. I used to work there years ago for about 2 years and even though I had an FM3, the school didn't give any extra money at Christmas.

Is VLC required to pay for vacations and bonus? All teachers who work thee are required to have a FM3 and most work about 37.5 hours a week. How can a teacher find out about this????

[naturegirl321]

Did you finally quit?

[J Sevigny]

First, don't take legal advice from anyone on this page who isn't a lawyer. I've been here for five years, worked with an FM3, without one, been enrolled at the IMSS, not been enrolled, and still don't understand all the complexities of the system.

Second, if you are not enrolled in IMMS and the Hacienda, your rights to three months pay may or may not be honored. Even Mexicans often spend months fighting for this money.

Third, it's possible that your employer has connections with immigration that you are not aware of and could screw you.

None of which addresses your original question.

I say your first order of business is to GET YOUR PASSPORT BACK. Make up a lie. Say you need it for something in the States. "Steal" it back. Whatever you have to do. You should never be apart from your passport when you're overseas.

Your second order of business, in my opinion, is to look for a better job. Torreon is not a huge city but it's a large enough city that you don't have to continue working where you do. There's also a large industrial sector there which generally means a strong demand for English teachers. You do have a contract. Whatever. Nobody can force you to stay at a job you don't like.

These are just my opinions. I don't think you are going to get fired. It sounds more likely that you're going to quit. Just use common sense. Try to have something else lined up before you shut the door on your current job.

Good luck.

[MikeySaid]

So I've been working my hind end off...but nevertheless today I got taken aside and I was given four days notice(bossman says he made the decision months ago). Those four days also mean that on Friday I no longer have a place to live.

Just thought I'd update you all and let you know... our "aguinaldo" was two weeks pay... if that's what it was. But it wasn't presented that way. Just when someone asked "don't you get a Christmas bonus in Mexico?" they were told "you got one".

Now I just have to see if I'm going to get paid out or if they're going to try to screw us.

[dixie]

I am sure someone else can refresh my memory, but there is an agency that you can go to for free, where they will assess your contract, and let you know what (if any) recourse you can take, or what is entitled to you. Do it now. I am sure your fiance will have an idea of what I�m talking about, it is a gov�t run agency that helps out workers.

As far as I know, you should be entitled to at least three months salary.

[MikeySaid]

[mapache]

I can't imagine someone letting a school keep his or her passport. It reminds me of Japan where they import Filipino girls, keep their passports, and hold them as indentured servants in prostitution. Where is this school? Others should be warned.

[dixie]