Job Discussion Forums

[izzyismydog]

comments regarding our situation please.

My September contract started on Sept. 26th, which was a Monday. My monthly salary for working 27 hours a week, Mon-Fri is 1700YTL.

I will be paid 283.33 YTL for that month, one work week, 5 of 22 potential working days in that month. BUT THE SCHOOL IS DOING THE MATH BASED ON ALL 30 DAYS OF SEPTEMBER BECAUSE SEPT HAS 30 DAYS

BUT one work week of work, 5 of 22 working days is 77.27 per day, which multiplied by the five days is 386. 36. So as far as I can tell I was shorted 106. 03!

I DON'T work weekends, is it fair of them to divvy the pay up that way? They did the same thing to my boyfriend, so between the two of us we were shorted 200YTL or so. (they also shorted us each another 33.33 on top of that but will correct that as it was due to an accounting error, supposedly)

We chose this school to work for because they seemed to have a reasonable reputation, depsite having this year cut back on salaries and not given raises to repeat employees this year. I will not name names yet, but we've been fighting this for almost a month before they finally said all we will get is the 33.33 that they shorted us based on a 30 day working month!

[TeachEnglish]

Your situation does not sound good.. but if your contract or working agreement is for week days and not weekends.. then you were screwed.. but if your contract does not state only week days working..then they are right.. Most places consider Saturday and Sunday regular working days too.. because that is when they have most lessons.. Speak to them.. give them the opportunity to correct the situation, especially if your contract/agreement is for week days only.. and if they do not correct this.. quit.. but find a better job first.. Yes I know it does not sound nice... but they do not sound too nice either..

[tekirdag]

Sounds like they did very simple math, doesn't it? 1 week of four. They obviously aren't thinking "days".

It is very hard to make any money in Turkey, for us and for Turks.

I still haven't been paid for August and I know Turks who are also having trouble getting their pay on time. Even my private lessons pay when they feel like it and ALWAYS come late. It is the way things are here and, unfortunately, those who push hard and complain probably won't get what they want or will be in a bad light in the admin office even if they do.

Workers are (mostly) expected to take what they get and be quiet about it.

Unfortunately, problems like yours often happen in Turkey. If you don't get a satisfactory solution to your problem, find a new job or leave Turkey. You aren't likely to get anyone to see your side of the problem. If it helps at all, I don't think they are plotting to rip you off. I think they are simply viewing pay in a whole different light from a westerner. They probably think they are being fair.

My father in law's secretary doesn't even have a salary. They expect her to ask for money when she needs it!!

Sadly, Turkey is a place to enjoy kabap and the beaches, not to make money.

I wonder how many posters on this boards actually HAVE NEVER lost pay at some point in Turkey, or had to change schools because of problems etc....I'd bet good money(if I had any) on the answer being not many.

[dmb]

[Mark Loyd]

The not been ripped off club is not counting social security payments that have not been paid.

[Baba Alex]

[justme]

*grumble*

Not getting into it.

[izzyismydog]

The contract ıs for a monthly salary.

We are contracted OUT to a unı and we work ONLY Mon to Frı.

The employees who work at regular branches of my school work all days- so maybe thıs ıs why they thınk they can get away wıth ıt? A salary for a regular teacher ıs over 7 days a week but not for us!

Somebody poınted out that sınce our contract ıs based on hours that we are then being stolen from at that angle too, ıf you dıvvy up our 27 hours over 5 days they would be rıght to keep back that money but we are paıd over 5 days so they have kept about 7 or 8 hours of pay.

Any way I fold ıt they are rat b*stards. I have never been ın any country anywhere where we have to fıght for everythıng and face being rıpped off by everyone from the taxi driver to our employers.

ıt SUX!

and we are definitely considering a move...

[saloma]

[izzyismydog]

dıff country! can't make enough cash here for the dreaded student loan payments, especıally consıderıng how often we are rıpped off!

[mongrelcat]

haven't been ripped off per se.....but been jerked on a very short chain

my primary school at first said "OK you start on Sept 1 and we pay you from then until end of Sept. You get paid on 1st of every month."

Then i find out "No we don't pay you from 1st sept. because none of the Turkish teachers are paid from then. You get paid from the 15th Sept like everyone else."

Then the end of the month rolls around and they say " oh we're going to pay you on the 15th of October." so the 15th rolls around and they say " well let's make it the 1st of November because that's when everyone else gets paid." At which I put my foot down and said No You Will Pay Me Now. So they did. In cash.

Then they said "OK from now on you!ll get paid the 1st of every month. So on November 1st you'll get a half month's pay since we paid you on Oct. 15th." OK I said.

Well, of course when I went to the VP's office to collect my cash, they said "Oh we decided to pay you on the 15th of the month." I had to hold my tongue to not say "well then I guess I'll leave now and not come back to school on the 15th, when I get paid."

to top it all off, we are working like dogs....9 til about 6 or 7 every night, Saturdays at the school and the rest of the weekend at home. they are preparing for some special accreditation. My contract says 24 teaching hours a week.

Other than that, it actually is a great school, compared to some of the other private primary schools.

[molly farquharson]

I think it's important to read the contract and understand what it means. I also know that often the letter of the contract is sometimes not followed. There is no excuse for not paying on time, though there does seem to be some creative math going on here. Perhaps Izzy if you talk calmly with the right person, whoever that might be?

One thing about paying teachers hourly is that it means that is how they count their work. The thing about being a teacher, though, is that it is not actually an hourly job. Or perhaps the way to think of it is that the hourly pay for being in the classroom assumes a certain amount of work not in the class, prepping and grading homework, among other things. Meetings, working on some projects.

I personally have not been ripped off in 8 years, at least not by my work place. I have been ripped off a couple of times by taxi drivers and big time by a landlady (still in court on that one). It hasn't made me hate Turkey. My house was robbed in Oregon and my car was broken into in Canada. Yani. Sorry you have hit some bumps in the road izzy.

[izzyismydog]

the school for which I am working ıs so ... somethıng... that we DO work by the hour, we generally haven't known what we are teaching until it's time for class!

Disorganization and Incompetence Unıversıty should be the name of the place we are at... but we were expecting a lot of the trouble when we signed on, only were hoping for the financial compensation to lubrıcate the ol' bend over.

When they rip us off AND expect us to put up with the serious ıncompetency is where I draw the lıne! one of two I can put up wıth- I mean come on I'm ın TEFL!

We would love to give our notıce now only we are scared that they'll find a way to take more money from us so are serıously considering a runner... should I be saying this on a public forum?

all the big cheeses know of the problem, myself and my head teacher have been trying the whole 'reasoning' bıt, after nearly a month of tryıng to reason wıth them I fınally blew my lıd and I thınk they are probably expectıng a runner to tell you the truth!


I'd like to add that generally, we love Turkey, but I thınk I would prefer to be somewhere comfortable and easy, where the taxis use meters, the shops post prıces, and the employers pay the employees for theır tıme!

[tekirdag]

Go to Asia. I had a good time in korea-Seoul and Suwon-and the money is much better. No problem to make a student loan payment- and do a bit of travel. I have a student loan, too, and it's very difficult to make payments from Turkey and have ANY kind of a life afterward.

If you aren't happy, go. Don't feel guilty or bad. Look after yourselves.

[Mark Loyd]

If ''it is not actually an hourly job'' then why do you pay then like that?