Job Discussion Forums

indirect.object · Joined: 26 May 2008 Posts: 64

Greetings,

It seems at least one regular contributor to this bulletin board has experience working on the English faculty of the Higher Colleges of Technology.

They recently expressed interest in interviewing me and I've been trying to get some of my questions answered so as to better appreciate this opportunity.

One question I haven't been able to get answered as of yet:

Is it acceptable for a member of the English faculty who has a standard three year contract to resign after one or two years to begin a doctorate, or for some similar pursuit, and can this be done without any financial penalty?

Thanks very much for your attention to this query.

IO

helenl · Joined: 04 Jan 2006 Posts: 1202

You will have to pay back a pro rated amount of your initial allowances - i.e. they pay you AED30,000 for furniture allowance, you leave after 1 year you pay back at least 20,000 (usually a bit more because it's less than one calendar year). You will also have to pay back a similar amount of your moving allowance, you will not get any gratuity owing etc. etc.

indirect.object · Joined: 26 May 2008 Posts: 64

Your quick and informative reply is greatly appreciated. Thank you!

NadiaK · Joined: 27 Jul 2006 Posts: 206

You should get your gratuity owed, as long as you have given the required notice period.

indirect.object · Joined: 26 May 2008 Posts: 64

Thank you.

Never Ceased To Be Amazed · Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2009 1:14 pm Post subject:

I believe that the standard contract stipulates that no gratuity will be paid after only one year of service, but as NadiaK says, if given proper notice during year two, one should receive both years of gratuity.

At least, that's what people who work at the HCT tell me... Confused

NCTBA

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

The contract has a section detailing this, and it is not unusual... although most people complete the first contract. I left within the time frame of my second contract. You do have to pay back a pro-rata portion of certain expenses as Helen1 said, but that is fair enough.

For instance, I left one semester early and had to pay back about 12% of the 30,000... while I had sold all the furniture that I purchased with it for significantly more than that. I received all the gratuity earned and was beyond the time period for repaying the moving allowance.

It is not a problem, but one warning is that "breaking a contract" even following procedure may be an issue for your next employer. Naturally they will wonder if you plan to do the same with them. Completing a contract looks much better on the CV. Cool

VS

indirect.object · Joined: 26 May 2008 Posts: 64

Thanks very much for the helpful responses everybody. Smile

Another contributor advised me that information about contracts can be found on the HCT Web site, which as it turns out describes the policies and procedures of various departments including human resources in detail.

tiberio · Joined: 18 May 2006 Posts: 56

the fact that you can read these rules on the website doesnt necessarily mean that they will be followed. I resigned after one year and while I knew and was ok with paying back the pro-rated furniture allowance, they did not pay me the gratutity even though I resigned on time. HCT is not governed by labor law or civil service law as far as they are concerned but by contractual bylaws and self-authored procedures. they dont mean shit.

my advice, if you intend to resign, resign on time, very friendly and work hard even though you know you ll be leaving. then, if you are lucky, they will be nice and pay the gratuity. no guarantees though.

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

tiberio · Joined: 18 May 2006 Posts: 56

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

Exactly...

I know of two groups of teachers that won their cases against their employers... one of the employers was UoS and the other was the military - the contract prior to MLI. The key is that they were able to stay in country to fight it either because they were in alternate employment or their spouse was. The time was about 3 years in both.

VS

Never Ceased To Be Amazed · Posted: Sun Jul 12, 2009 3:15 pm Post subject:

tiberio: We don't know the year you joined...to resign a year later, but did you read your contract closely enuf? It's been standard from at least 2005 that if you resign after one year of service that the gratuity will not be paid.

The contract uses the word "continuous service" so I take that to mean that if you give your resignation one year and a day after signing the intitial contract, you would be eligible.

We all know that wordings change so I'm interested to know if this has changed since you signed your contract.

NCTBA

tiberio · Joined: 18 May 2006 Posts: 56

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA