Job Discussion Forums

[Trebek]

I saw an advert for this school seeking certified school teachers and I'm thinking of applying. Is anyone out there familiar with this school? It looks like a great place.

[wannaBguru]

it is a terrible place. a couple of years ago, they somehow got a copy of my cv and contacted me. they were very rude and aggressive thoughout the recruitment process. while i was still trying to figure out who they were and how they got my email address, they demanded that i turn up the next day for an interview and be prepared to start work the following monday. u will be required to teach in the regular school during the day and at their conversation school in the afternoon. of course they charge their students extra for these after school courses. here is a copy of the contract. read the fine print. u can get fired for any reason, including if someone thinks u are insulting....... ie you dont say good morning. THIS IS IMMEDIATE. and no sex, even at your own home with a consenting adult because this is immoral. also, u are forced to contribute to your own end of contract bonus. of course u lose this is u are terminated. the salary is 8-10 million plus 1 million for housing. u can get a small house in the area for 10-20 million per year, but u have to pay everything up front. here is a copy of the contract:

EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT
Reference No. .... /OSD-HRD/KK/VI/2004

Agreement of employment between:

Yayasan Tunas Muda/Yayasan OSSC Laurensia (Yayasan) and ............................(Employee)

1. APPOINTMENT

Yayasan OSSC Laurensia (Yayasan) offers .................... (Employee) an appointment as a member of the teaching staff on the terms and conditions set out below. The duration of this agreement will be from 1st July 2004 until 30th June 2005. Based on a performance review, this agreement may be terminated by either of the parties in accordance with paragraph 13 and 14 below or renewed for a further period as the case may be.

2. COMPLIANCE WITH LAWS

The employee should as all times in posession of, an avoid all acts which would violate, an Employee�s valid work permit and should at all times comply with the provisions of the Education Act as it applies to Employee with all the requirements of the Government of Indonesia.

3. COST OF WORK PERMITS

The costs of the visas and work permits of the Employee are covered by Yayasan. Once papers are obtained, Yayasan will provide one (1) single re-entry visa per school year for Employee wishing to leave the country during a school holiday. There will be no monetary in lieu and all fiscal payments are the responsibility of Employee.

4. RESOURCES

All curricular documents and resources available to Employee are the solely property of Yayasan. The Employee may only use such material to plan lessons in school, and resources are not to be taken from the premises, nor photocopied for individual use.

5. RANGE OF CLASSES

The Employee�s teaching load will be with pre-schoolers to adult. The Employee�s preference of age-range will be met as far as possible.

6. WORKING HOURS, CONTACT TIME & PLACES OF EMPLOYMENT

The Employee�s working hours are from 7:00 a.m. to 3.30 p.m. or 08.00 a.m to 4.30 p.m. Monday to Friday depending on time table determined by the Yayasan. This set working hours could be reviewed from time to time according to business needs. As a teacher, your contact time in the classroom is approximately 20 hours per week, depending on the schedule.

The Employee will be assigned at Laurensia Centre or other centre set by Yayasan as the case may be. The Employee may also be required to cover absenteeism at another centre if necessary.

7. ADDITIONAL EMPLOYMENT

The Employee�s employment as a teacher with Yayasan is considered to be full time employment. The Employee is not permitted to work in any capacity for any other employer during this period, nor is Employee permitted to privately tutor or to engage in any form of self-employment.

8. MEDICAL LEAVE

The Employee will be entitled to paid sick leave after three (3) months continuous employment for a total period of up to twelve (12) days in one year. Prorated salary deduction will be applied for any sick leave exceeding the twelve (12) days entitlement. A doctor�s certificate must be produced for any sick leave of more than two (2) days. If an employee is unable to attend school, a phone call must be made to the Center Coordinator as soon as possible so that a replacement teacher can be organized.

9. ANNUAL LEAVE

The Employee will be entitled to leave during school holidays and annual public holidays. The school holidays will typically consist of one (1) week in Lebaran Time and three (3) weeks during Christmas/New Year.

10. SALARY & ALLOWANCES

The monthly salary will be Rp. ............... (...................... Rupiah). The salary will be paid in arrears on the last day of the calendar month. An Employee�s salary is inclusive of such other duties as may be connected with the normal teaching load as well as time spent on programme coordination with the Indonesian teachers, lesson preparation, curriculum development, parent-teacher meetings, staff meetings, workshops, report writing, student counseling, school special events and promotions.

The Employee will also receive a housing allowance of Rp. ............ (........... Rupiah) per month. Transport allowance of Rp. 10,000 (Ten Thousand Rupiah) per working day, which will be paid together with the salary. Lunch will be provided on working days. Should the employee decide not to take the lunch, there is no monetary payment in lieu.

11. EMPLOYEE SAVINGS AND GRATUITY FUND

The Employee is entitled to a gratuity payment after completing the contract. The Employee will have a personal gratuity fund comprised of Employee contributions and Company contributions. The Employee will make a compulsory contribution of 500,000 Rupiah to their own gratuity fund every month during the period of the contract. Company will make an equal contribution to the gratuity fund of the Employee. The Employee will receive the total of their gratuity fund at the end of the working contract.

12. MEDICAL INSURANCE

The Employee is insured with PT Asuransi Jiwa Central Asia Raya for hospitalization and basic outpatient care i.e. the doctor�s fees and prescription items, excluding immunization, contraception, cosmetic, dental and optometrist. Refunds will only be made for items with original receipts submitted within 30 days of receipt date. Should the Employee decide not to take up this insurance coverage, there is no monetary payment in lieu.

13. RENEWAL AND TERMINATION OF CONTRACT

In the event that Yayasan or Employee wishes to renew or terminate the contract, at least two (2) months notice must be given prior the end of working contract.

14. TERMINATION OF CONTRACT BY COMPANY

A) With Immediate Cause for Dismissal

This agreement can be terminated by Yayasan, if the Employee:

i) has given false information to Yayasan when entering into this agreement

ii) is drunk on the job site or uses illegal drugs or narcotics on or off the jobsite including smoking within the school ground

iii) performs an immoral act on or off the jobsites

iv) steals from Company or commits any criminal act, on or off the jobsite

v) mistreats, is insulting to, or threatens any officers of Yayasan, any member of their family, fellow employees, or students of Yayasan.

vi) commits any other act under which the labour law of Indonesia allows for termination for cause

vii) is in breach of this agreement.

B. With Cause for Dismissal

If the Employee does not perform his/her duties satisfactorily according to Yayasan�s requirements, he/she will be given written warnings as required by Indonesian law and if such performance does not improve in the sole discretion of Yayasan after the second warning, the Employee�s contract will be terminated as allowed by Indonesian law.

In the event of termination by Yayasan with immediate cause or cause for dismissal, the Employee will be required to refund the cost of Employee�s work visa, to pay cancellation fee of the Employee�s visa and to refund the cost of insurance premiums. All outstanding loans must be settled in full with interest charged on the whole amount for the total period of the loan. All Employee�s savings and gratuity contributions will be forfeited. The Company will not release any references to the Employee. Company will also be required to report contract termination to the Immigration and Manpower Department, which may cause deportation.

C. Without Cause for Dismissal

If Yayasan proposes termination, two months notice will be given to Employee. The total of both Employee and Yayasan gratuity contributions made to date will be paid minus any outstanding Employee debts to the Yayasan. The Employee will not be required to refund the cost of the Employee�s work visa permit, or pay the cancellation fee of the Employee�s visa or the cost of insurance premiums. The Employee will no also be required to compensate the cost of recruiting a replacement teacher and school fees of any dependants attending Sekolah Tunas Muda. However, all outstanding loans must be settled without interest.

Until termination is effective, the Employee shall continue to perform all duties in accordance with this agreement.

15. TERMINATION OF CONTRACT BY EMPLOYEE

The Employee can only terminate the contract under exceptional circumstances in consultation with and with the agreement of the Yayasan. At the sole discretion of Yayasan, details of conditions to be met before a termination request is accepted will be given to the Employee. These conditions may include:

adequate notice
refunding the cost of the Employee�s work visa
payment of cancellation fees of the Employee�s visa
payment of school fees of any dependants attending Sekolah Tunas Muda
refunding the cost of medical insurance premiums
settling outstanding loans in full with interest charged on the whole amount for the total period of the loan
compensating for the cost of recruiting a replacement teacher
In the event of termination by the Employee, Yayasan reserves the right to use the employee contributions to settle any penalty or financial condition to be met by the Employee before termination is effective. In this case, the Employee will be paid the balance of employee contributions and forfeit all Yayasan gratuity contributions. Yayasan reserves the right not to release any references to the Employee and to report to the Immigration and Manpower Department, which may cause a deportation.

Until termination is effective, the Employee shall continue to perform all duties in accordance with this agreement.

16. GOVERNING LAW AND JURISDICTION

This agreement shall be interpreted according to the national law of Indonesia. A competent court in Jakarta shall have jurisdiction in regard to any dispute of claim arising out of or in connection with this agreement. The English language text shall govern and prevail over any translation hereof.

Signed by (Employee) Yayasan OSSC Laurensia

[Trebek]

The school I was enquiring about is located in the Alam Sutera development outside Jakarta. The contract you showed me was very different than the one I've seen. I do appreciate your help, but I am sure we are dealing with different schools.

I've since heard from other sources that the school has a decent reputation, and I've already signed the contract. See you all in a couple months!

Trebek

[gugelhupf]

Well I work for SL and I'm afraid I don't recognise wanabee's description of it! The bit about housing certainly isn't true and I just don't recognise the other stuff. Some ascetic grapes from someone, perhaps?

[TEAM_PAPUA]

You may notice that the contract posted above is with Tunas Muda and not with SL. The Tunas Muda organisation has some kind of relationship with SL and, I believe, provides teachers for English courses.

[gugelhupf]

Yeah, you're right Papua - I didn't read that bit correctly.

OSSC St. Laurensia is a language school that operates within the campus of St. Laurensia school. Their terms and conditions are very different from those that apply to those of us working at SL as regular school teachers. There is a relationship between Tunas Muda and OSSC.

Wannabee is NOT talking about St. Laurensia itself, and I can't comment about Tunas Muda because I don't know anything about that school.

Problem solved.

[Trebek]

St. Laurensia, sounds like a fine place to work, I should be joining your ranks in July, if everything works out with the visas and all.
I noticed that we have some fellow motorcyclists over there. Please PM me and let me know what to bring in that regard. I understand that I can't import a V-strom 1000 into the country.

Cheers,

Trebek

[wannaBguru]

glad to see that TP and gugelhupf sorted that out. sorry about the confusion. they represented themselves as SL when they were recruiting me, but obviously a bit of deception. previously i had heard good things about them as well, but that encounter had put me off ever applying to them. i wouldnt have posted a reply at all if it hadnt been ossc laurensia at the top of the contract. good luck trebek, i sure everything will be great.

[Trebek]

Easy mistake to make.

Cheers,

Trebek

[blueboyguru]

one of the absolute worst places to work. Tunas Muda and OSSC and St. Laurensia are connected somehow, who knows exactly, probably money laundering. Feel free to jump at such a splendid opportunity......as you sit there and wait till the little alarm goes off at 3:30 and you can finally leave, after clocking in at 7:00 am....perhaps to teach one class.

The French Canadian...Gaylord Marsolisssss is a real strong leader and will never tell you two stories....or lie to you. His english is worse than my Thai 1st yr. students. Go for it........it will be an experience that you'll always, I mean never regret/forget.

Good luck, sucker !

[gugelhupf]

Greg, have another drink, mate, and move on.

[guru1]

So is it a good place or a bad place to work as an English teacher? Seems there is some conflict?