Job Discussion Forums

[basiltherat]

there have been several threads on those who have been cheated out of flight reimbursement and/or have failed to be paid salaries or suffered various other decptions by schools and institutes leaving teachers seething and leaving in disgust.
i was wondering, though, whether anyone has walked away from a school having been paid too much or having got one over on the employer.
i remember an instance, for example, wen there was a mix up in a school in jakarta. 2 teachers (husband/wife) had just completed their contracts after having spent 2 years being exploited and treated very unjustly by the managerial staff (thats another story). during the last week of their contract, just before they were due to leave,there was some negotiation between the accounting dept of the school, the director and the 2 teachers as to whether they wanted cash in lieu of their flights or the actual tickets for their return to the uk.
the office, clearly inadvertently, gave them both tickets and the cash in lieu (a real mix-up). they left grinning from cheek to cheek, saying nothing about the mix up. wen they arrived back in the uk,they sent an email to the director telling him/them wat had happened. i dont know the repercussions but, clearly, the guys in the accounting office,had some explaining to do.
regards
basil

[shmooj]

Quite how they can feel justified with this is beyond me. SUrely, if they were upset at being treated this way, they forfeited whatever moral high ground they possessed by behaving in the same way as those they railed against.

Mercy and honesty shine the brightest in the presence of injustice and lies.

[basiltherat]

""Mercy and honesty shine the brightest in the presence of injustice and lies""

unfortunately, it doesnt necessarily and always put bread and butter on the table. in fact, very often, the opposite is true in this day and age. many a businessman, politician and , dare i say it, english language school owner, has thrived on cheating, lies and injustice as im sure you read about very often.(sigh). if only everybody could always behave responsibly. it just aint gonna happen. i agree, though, it still doesnt justify wat this couple did.
rgrds
basil

[Laura C]

Fair play to them, I say.

I'm sure they wouldn't have done this if they had been treated properly by their employer.

I still don't think I would have done it myself, but I think only the couple themselves can judge whether they deemed it justified, as they were the ones putting up with all the cr*p.

L

[Roger]

I am afraid I have slipped off the moral high ground too.

That school who teated me as a vegetable, keeping me incommunicado except when they had "urgent" instructions paid me 50% more than they actually owed me.
But let's put things into proper perspective: the promise was for RMB 8000 a month. The reality?
FIrst month: 7700, second month: 3000.
And this from a state-owned college that was supposed to hire me on regular contract terms (meaning a monthly salary that shouldn't fluctuate and should be paid even during holidays).
They were so hopelessly disorganised that the left hand never knew what the right one was doing.
Thus, when they paid me RMB 4600 (instead of the 3000 due as per number of lessons done!) I said not a word, signed and left.
After all, it was still a shortfall of yuan 3400!

[dmb]

I can't wait until Biff replies

[foster]

I cant say that i totally agree with the couple who made off with the flight money, but i do agree that sometimes, we need to do SOMETHING to get back for all the S$$$ with which we endure.

My problem is leave. We have casual leave of 2 days per year. When I asked for it, I was told it was for emergancies or in the higly unllikely case, my own wedding. CASUAL = EMERGENCY?? How the H*** does that work?

So, despite the pain of losing a Xmas vacation to a broken wrist, I now have the perfect excuse for missing that ever important Monday of work when I will actually be on holiday. I will pay for a Doc's note and get it all covered. I will be getting the cast removed, just not in THIS country. I mean, I am a foreigner and sometimes, we need an extra holiday day to see the family and whatnot, which I THINK is perfectly legit reasons.

So, yeah, I will get one up on my principal. I will be getting a cast cut off and enjoying Australia at the same time and (hopefully) getting paid for it.

[biffinbridge]

Biff will soon be making a comment but as his lawyer I must stress that Biff is innocent and will soon be fighting these libellous allegations in order to clear his tarnished reputation.Moreover,my client will be seeking enormous amounts of compensation.He is currently residing somewhere in the moral lowground and was last rumoured to be living in a hole in the ground and growing a beard.He will be making a recorded statement in the near future through 'Al Jazeera' .

[johnslat]

Dear biffinbridge,
Residing in the "moral lowground, you say? Hmm, I hadn't realized you'd moved into the neighborhood. Rather a high population density hereabouts, isn't there?
Regards,
John

[biffinbridge]

Yep.

[shmooj]

regarding moral high and low ground. The issue is not that some of us are saints and some are sinners. That is a fallacy. We're all one and the same. However, if we moan about injustices done to us (as this couple surely did and probably still do to bored people at parties), we deserve what we get if at the slightest opportunity we turn round and do the same (as they did). This couple probably whinged to everyone within earshot about how nasty the old boss was and how much they hate us and how much we are being taken for a ride. All they did next was simply play the Chinese fire drill with the boss - he sat in the back and they took him for the ride. But that shows that they are just like him. So how can they complain about how they were treated?

Sure, we will get trodden on in this world by someone. The issue is one of integrity. If we don't like being screwed, we shouldn't screw and vice versa If however, we don't mind being run into the ground now and then, then what the heck, take all you can get and stuff everyone else. But when you are being done out of something, just shut up and take it because you can be sure that whatever goes around comes around.

We'll all be dead in fifty or so years anyway...

[johnslat]

Dear biffinbridge,
Expect the local Welcome Wagon to be by your hole in the ground soon. We don't give anything away, but we do sell integrity very cheaply.
Regards,
John

[Gordon]

Well said Shmooj.

We can always find excuses about cheating or lying to others by saying that it happens to us. That doesn't make it right.

[Wolf]

I have to agree. Turnabout isn't fair play. I don't beleive that "he started it" is a significant excuse to begin the cheating.

I was once paid a full month's wages when I only worked part of the month. When I realized the mistake, I was willing to repay the unearned amount, but my FAO let me keep what I was paid.

I felt a need to "avenge" myself on my old company, but I did so by finding a better job. I took my vacation days at my old job while working at my new job - effectively earning 20 days' pay in 10. This was all above board - vacation request and notice of quitting were all as per company standards. For what it's worth, I have nothing good to say about them.

If I get treated badly, I won't work at a place any longer than I need to. If I'm in a country where I have some chance of legally standing up for myself, I will. If I steal from an employer, they're not suddenly going to see the error of their ways. It isn't justice. Very often justice won't be done for wronged EFL teachers. Like the chicken said, I knew the job was dangerous when I took it.

[Stephen Jones]

I believe in keeping to the moral highground.

It means you can piss on the buggers below.