Job Discussion Forums

[Thandos]

So I was just sent a contract for a public school position in Phetchaburi, and figured that the best way to determine if there is anything in it that would send up red flags is to run it passed you guys. I'm not going to post the entire contract, though, just the important bits. Also, things not listed in the contract: 31,000 Baht per month; rent-free on campus shared housing (already got pictures); will be teaching middle and high school students with, by the sounds of things, a fair number of "fundamental English" classes.

Remuneration
Clause 2 : The employee shall receive monthly remuneration at the rate of ����� baht from the date of commencement of employment.
Clause 3 : The remuneration under clause 2 shall be paid monthly to the employee on the last working day of the month.

Leave
Clause 4 : The employee is entitled to ask for leave with full pay as deemed necessary during the period of each year of the term of employment according to the following basis :
Sick leave not more than fifteen days, in the case where a sick leave is more than three consecutive working days, it must be accompanied with a certificate of an officially accepted physician.
Clause 5 : The employee is not entitled to receive remuneration for the number of working days of leave over those allowed for. The deduction of remuneration shall be one-twenty-second of the monthly remuneration for one working day.

Termination of Agreement
Clause 6 : This agreement is terminated on :
(1) Completion of term of employment ;
(2) Death of employee;
(3) Rescission of agreement by the employer in case where an officially accepted Physician has examined the employee and concludes that the employee should not be employed further on recount of her health;
(4) Rescission of the agreement by the employer on account of employee�s serious misbehaviour of duty without justification.
(4.1) Use of illegal drugs, alcohol intoxication during work hours, criminal activity will result in immediate dismissal
(4.2) Employee�s serious misbehaviour is judged by the school administration, to affect the daily activities of teacher and students.
(5) When this agreement is terminated.

Settlement of Dispute
Clause 7 : In the case where there is a question arising from the performance under this agreement, the employee agrees to abide by the decision of Ministry of Finance.
Clause 8 : This agreement is subject to Thai laws and any dispute arising from this agreement shall be submitted for adjudication at the Civil Court, Bangkok Metropolis.

Additional Employment Agreements
1. All Thai national Holidays will be paid days off.
2. Three weeks in October may be taken as unpaid holiday.
3. The employee will inform the school by December 31, 2010 as to whether she/he wishes to negotiate a new contract for May 2011 or leave at the end of this contract.
4. If a new contract is negotiated and signed it will commence May 1, 2011 and include a paid 4-week holiday in March / April.
5. The employee will be available to work from 7:50 h � 4:00 h.( Monday - Friday )
6. The employee will teach 20 hours per week. This will consist of 20 hours of teaching the ��������� classes.
7. The employee will be available and will assist the employer, in their capacity as a teacher, on not more than two weekends per semester for Camp and Field Trip Activities.
8. The school will provide the employee with shared air-conditioned office space and access to computers and the internet at school.
9. The employee agrees to be well presented and attired whilst at work in accordance with Thai Culture norms.
10. The employer will provide the employee papers for work permit and visa for the term of employment.
11. A reasonable amount of salary per month will be held by the employer for the payment of taxes and social security at the end of the fiscal year.
12. After school private classes may be offered to the employee at a rate of pay of 400 baht/hour, to be accepted at the employee�s discretion.
13. The employee is expected to spend office hours for preparation, data research and grading for each lesson.
14. In case of leaving before the completion of this agreement, the employer will notify the Office of Basic Education Commission and other academic institutions and the incomplete months will not be paid.

Offhand, nothing jumps out at me as a problem other than asking them to define teaching hours in the contract. I know this is a big post and a huge favor I'm asking, but I really don't have enough experience with ESL contracts to know if this seems alright.

[Thandos]

I got the contact information for two teachers working at the school (recommended elsewhere on the site). What are some good questions to ask them? I remember reading a list of good questions to ask on one of the forums but for the life of me I can't seem to find it again (The search feature never seems to work for me. Always says it can't find any matches no matter what search terms I use.).

Things I'm already considering asking:
Does the school consistently pay on time?
Is the shared housing adequate and in good repair?
What things should I bring with me or do without, due to lack of availability in Phetchaburi and/or price?
Questions about students (still working on the wording).
Questions about management and paperwork/office duties (same).
Questions about mandatory work outside of normal work hours.

[tttompatz]

there are no red flags in the included contract portion that jump out at me.

Being a government school I wouldn't worry too much about pay issues.
Being a government school you can also expect LARGE classes (50+) and LOW levels.
You might be interested to discover whether or not there is A/C in YOUR classroom.

.

[Thandos]

Thanks tttompatz.

Yeah, they already warned me about the large classes, but low levels shouldn't be too much of a problem. I had a lot of low level classes back when I worked in Korea. I don't know about the classrooms, but they have told me that the office has A/C.

[feverpitch]

I would agree with tttompatz in regards no "red flags".

Many of the contracts written by schools in Thailand have been passed down from HR manager to HR manager with little or no updating.

My only additional advice would be to make sure that if, over the period of your contract, things change you make notes of when these things happened, as it becomes invaluable should you need to go to court. As an employee (even a foreign one), you have a decent chance of winning if you documented changes that were not agreed. This is the worst case scenario, but it's good to know.

Good luck!

[sigmoid]

[London Bridge]