When I went looking for a job and knocked on many doors I came upon a school which I decided would be the one I'd like to work at. The interview went well and I was about to be hired on the spot. But - I was told that the school has a contract with an agency and I can't make a contract with the school. The school is paying the agency.
I then called the agency after starting work on the 16th but have not met with anybody or even seen a contract yet. Today is payday, my schedule will change because of one teacher leaving, and not a word from the agency.
On my last call on Monday I was told that the owner of the agency, a foreigner, was busy teaching and that I shouldn't worry. Even if we made a contract in June it would be okay.
This agency did not refer me, in fact they did nothing so far. But they are getting a nice cut from the school.
Other establisghed teachers at this school have contracts with the school because they started before the school hired the agency. They are getting better salaries, 12 months a year. Okay, I am new, but I have the feeling the agency is limiting my chances of a raise or other incentives.
Do you have similar experiences with agencies?
Also, does anybody know how much they are getting from the school? One teacher thought it was 20,000 THB per referred teacher but that's a bit of a high estimate in my opinion.
If you are doing a good job ask the school for a contract as you feel very uncomfortable about the agency and try to explain that they are most likely dodgy as many are. If you were referred to the school by the agency it would be a different matter but you were not. Try n do everything possible to cut the parasite out.
Daniel Bedingfield claimed that his new album is what it would sound like if Sting, Stevie Wonder and Micheal Jackson were in a basement together - I haven't got the album so I'll have to imagine the sound of a blind bloke and a Geordie kicking the shit out of a pedophile.
your best option IMO.Originally Posted by Cream
maybe suck it up with the agency for a month or so as you build a good relationship with the school then make the request.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
That's a sticky situation. You may find that the school do not care so much about their teachers. They prefer the convenience of an agency because over the years they find it suits him better.
---
I am here: http://tapatalk.com/map.php?bktnfh
~The beginning is the word and the end is silence.
And in between are all the stories. This is one of mine~
Well, many of these schools get busy and end up relying on the agencies and want to maintain good relations with them. A situation like yours could strain relations between the agency and school, something the school may want to avoid. I would definitely talk to somebody at the school about it, tell them exactly how you found the school. Just make that entire case. If all that isn't meant to be you may just wanna bite the bullet and work for the agency.
Looks like the school has a contract with the agency and can not hire me directly, no matter how good I perform. If I don't sign the contract, I'm out of a job!
The school told me that "if you don't work out, the agency sends me another teacher". Meaning if there are problems, firing me won't be a problem for them.
Can't - the school won't risk offending the agency. I have no illusions there; the school wants to work with the agency, not with the teacher. Teachers come and go but the agency will be their partner for years...
As soon as that contract is signed, that's it, the school won't cancel it and sign a new one a month later.
There's no way around it, at least I don't see one. I wonder what kind of small print is in the contract... then again, what does it matter? They got me by the balls - if I don't sign I have no job.
That's why I dislike the agency, I didn't hire it, they didn't do anything for me, but they got got the upper hand. Sucks!
agencies are snakes. fuckem and get a job with a different school that is hiring teachers directly.
there's the benefit for the school: if they hire you directly, and you stay a long time, they have to compensate you if they fire you. generally with a pretty good chunk of change. i don't know for a fact that this is true, but the fact that the guy i heard it from hasn't been fired yet suggests it's pretty likely.
Imodium can't stop me.
Not all agencies are crap. There's a NES who was at our school before the agency came. After 2 years he's finally stopped working for the school directly and now works for the agency. An instant 13,000 baht raise, benefits including work permit, visa, and health insurance.
OP, the school may in fact have a crappy agent. You said you haven't signed a contract yet. What about your work permit and visa? How do you know what your salary is? Why are you working without a contract? That's a sure way to get yourself screwed hard.
If you ask me, a crap agency is a reflection of the school and maybe you want to continue searching.
"While Jim is milking the Russian Boar, I'm in the shade of a Baobab tree being served a cool drink by a beautiful young indigenous girl. "
Marlin Perkins
Aloha - Aloha HARD
There will be hundreds if not thousands of schools and teachers in similar situations of discord right now for the same amount of varied reasons...1 month in is the sillier season...get you first pay and find another school...
And for the bleeding hearts out there about to cry NOT FAIR...just reread this...
"You really want to save the planet?...the next time you see a hybrid car with a childseat... smash the window, remove the childseat and replace it with a box of condoms..." Doug Stanhope
---------------------------------------------------------
It's not a good time to look for a different school now - the good positions are taken, the teachers are happy. The ones available now are the leftovers or where teachers left after two weeks of teaching - not a good sign!
I rather stay and work things out instead of starting all over. Of course I keep my ears open...
Just wanted to know if you had similar experiences.
---Update---
Never heard that before! Fellow teachers were fired on the spot in the middle of a term and had to haggle with admin to get paid at all.
There aren't only good teachers working in bad schools...there are also some good schools who got stuck with bad teachers...
...and a lot of no-shows who sign contracts or promise to...and then never show up...
you quit before you tried
in that situation, i'd take my tear-stained letter to the MoE. as i said i don't know for sure it's true, it may be just that the owners where i work shit their pantaloons when they hear the word "lawyer" (and Poms and Yanks luuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurf that word).
You've got this wrong. When you work for the agency, you don't work for the school. The agency will do the firing as well as hire your replacement. Agencies suck and have a stranglehold on too many schools in Thailand now. It's nearly impossible to be entrepreneurial and just walk in the front door of many schools - they'll tell you straight out, 'Go speak to our agency.' Just take some vaseline with you, because the agency will be doing you faster than the guy who's dropped the bar of soap his first time in a men's prison shower.
Posting Permissions
LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
Bookmarks