Why do they keep doing it ??

[thequietman]

Rant ...... I took a position in a university here and explained at the interview that I do private classes at the weekends and in the evenings. If they need me to attend a seminar or a meeting, give me about 30 days notice and I can attend, no problem. That's fine they said ....... sign here.

 

Almost immediately, they announce that there is a graduation ceremony in the evening time and I must attend. I refer them to the interview and they have no recollection. I can't attend, they are pissed at me .... strike 1.

 

recently announced that there is a teaching seminar on a weekend 11 days from now. Again I have lessons that were booked at the start of this month. Again, anger on their part that I can't attend. I try to refer them to what was said before and I get a blank look and the 'you need to attend.' ...... strike 2.

 

The fact that I work hard, never ring in sick and never take holidays doesn't seem to register. If I don't do the evening and w/end stuff at short notice, then I am a bad teacher.

 

They have called a meeting about all this on Monday and I really don't know what to tell them when they ask why I can't attend. I have explained it over and over and now need to do it again. Why won''t they listen to me? I am at my wits end about this and am close to quitting. It was the same in my other schools. Absolutely no consideration that you have a life outside office hours.

 

What would you say on Monday? Colleagues are telling me just to smile and nod and not go to the seminar.

 

Rant over ..... that feels a little better. ????

[madmen]

So you signed on with your 30 days confirmed by just a nod of the head and now your confused?

What did you expect? welcome to the real world !

[stubuzz]

What hours did you agree to work in the contract?

[thequietman]

7 minutes ago, stubuzz said:

What hours did you agree to work in the contract?

No hours stated on the contract but generally accepted that I do the standard 40 hour week. The contract is nonsense anyway as it contravenes labour law. An example would be only allowing x amount of sick days when it should sate Y.

 

For sure, the weekends do not belong to them as they expect me to be there Mon thru Fri from 8:30 to 17:30.

 

The weekends have to be my own surely and anyway I just want some notice so I can change my schedule and not take private lessons.

 

Otherwise, what they are asking me to do is ..... do not do an private work in the evenings or the weekends, do not go anywhere and do not make any plans in your life, in case we decide to call a meeting or set up a seminar.

 

The guy doing the seminar is coming from another country, so this seminar date was known for months, but they only tell me 11 days beforehand. That's simply not fair and unprofessional. ????

 

[thequietman]

19 minutes ago, madmen said:

So you signed on with your 30 days confirmed by just a nod of the head and now your confused?

What did you expect? welcome to the real world !

I know, it was naive of me, but why won't they accept what I am telling them? Its like a roundabout, they ask me to come in on days off, evenings and weekends, I explain I have private lessons, they get angry, rinse then repeat. There doesn't seem to be any learning curve!

 

And then when I quit, they will seem confused and ask me why! 

 

 

Arrrrggggg !

[stubuzz]

5 minutes ago, thequietman said:

That's simply not fair and unprofessional.

That sums up Thai schools. Ask for overtime pay for weekend stuff, or don't do it.

[samsensam]

 

if you had done some research and/or when you've been here longer you will understand how things work here. for any issues with/changes to your contract you could easily have obtained confirmation in writing.

 

if you're not happy quit and find another job.

[thequietman]

1 minute ago, stubuzz said:

That sums up Thai schools. Ask for overtime pay for weekend stuff, or don't do it.

I don't mind coming in for free as it doesn't happen a lot, but I have lessons already booked and paid for by private students. Some notice and I could have turned off my schedule and all this could be avoided.

 

They gave me 11 days notice and it seems they don't give a damn what I have planned that weekend.

[stubuzz]

Just say will go and don't turn up. Give a BS excuse; Thai style. Did you work for free in your home country?

 

[thequietman]

2 minutes ago, samsensam said:

 

if you had done some research and/or when you've been here longer you will understand how things work here. for any issues with/changes to your contract you could easily have obtained confirmation in writing.

 

if you're not happy quit and find another job.

Apart from this nonsense, I like the gig, but it looks like I might have to. It's a shame.

 

They will lose a teacher because they can't or won't listen. It's not like there are any other NES queuing up to work in this town, but still they persist. ????

[thequietman]

2 minutes ago, stubuzz said:

Just say will go and don't turn up. Give a BS excuse; Thai style. Did you work for free in your home country?

 

Yep, colleagues are telling me to do this. I do have an hour or two free on Saturday and they suggested that I come in then. Let them see that I have tried and then leave again.

 

Is that an acceptable plan?

[marcusarelus]

How much do you make at the Uni vs the part time job?  

[stubuzz]

2 minutes ago, thequietman said:

 

Is that an acceptable plan?

Yes. But i wouldn't put yourself out.

 

4 minutes ago, thequietman said:

They will lose a teacher because they can't or won't listen. It's not like there are any other NES queuing up to work in this town, but still they persist.

I have been recruiting for a while and there are very few NES applying for the job. Other countries are offering much better deals with less BS.

[thequietman]

1 minute ago, stubuzz said:

Yes. But i wouldn't put yourself out.

 

I have been recruiting for a while and there are very few NES applying for the job. Other countries are offering much better deals with less BS.

Been looking at China and UAE but stacks of paperwork with notaries and degrees and criminal checks having to be sent back home etc etc. It's a lot of hassle but it is better money.

 

if you are still recruiting, please PM me. Maybe you can find me a better gig. ????

[thequietman]

Just now, DaRoadrunner said:

The OP is a Farang, he searches for diamond in bucket of Asian sh1t and wonders why he is not finding???

I know, you are right. I keep thinking the next school will be different.

 

I thought to myself, it's a Uni, surely they will be better, but they are all the same. From primary, to secondary, to universities. Same nonsense, different day, different location but same same!

[Chazar]

1 hour ago, thequietman said:

Colleagues are telling me just to smile and nod and not go to the seminar.

Yep I'd  just ignore it and play their stupid "smile  games"

[DaRoadrunner]

I hate to remind you of your own profile words..... " You can't change it........ so why bother. "

 

So quit beating yourself up over it, life's too short. Go out, have a beer and fun with the girls. Ooops, it says you are in Dubai?

[thequietman]

52 minutes ago, Chazar said:

goats?

Naaaaaaaaa! In the LOS.

[thequietman]

1 hour ago, DaRoadrunner said:

I hate to remind you of your own profile words..... " You can't change it........ so why bother. "

 

So quit beating yourself up over it, life's too short. Go out, have a beer and fun with the girls. Ooops, it says you are in Dubai?

You know something ............ you are right. Smile and wave boys, smile and wave. ????

[Golden Triangle]

I can't say I know how you feel because I don't but maybe I can make you feel slightly better.

 

My Mrs brother & his wife are both teachers at the same school, and have been for many years, whenever we go to visit her ma & pa we always invite close family to join us for an evening meal in a respectable local restaurant, many many times her brother and his wife have been unable to attend due to additional tasks & duties that they have to do, there is no but but the brother in law invite us to dinner, they just cannot go.

 

When the schools are on holidays I have never known 2 people work so hard, never a free moment, I don't know how much they earn, maybe 70 or 80 k THB a month between them, I don't know what a school teacher earns, but they rarely have free time even in the holidays.

 

And they don't have the luxury of telling the school to piss of for taking the piss.

[Scott]

It's not all that uncommon for schools to decide that you will have extra duties, some are understandable, but most are not and could easily be explained when a person starts.   I know a school that decided all the Thai admin staff had to work during Songkran -- they had to plant trees.  

 

Foreign teachers fare a little better, but they still have no problem with deciding they need them to work on a Saturday or a public holiday.   I've seen it happen for things like scrubbing the classrooms because of a foot and mouth outbreak.  

 

I was once informed on a Friday evening that the following morning, I was to be at a meeting at a distant location for the selection of books for the upcoming academic year.   That was a fairly good reason, except we went through hundreds of books, deciding on texts that fit the curriculum and grade level for both a bilingual and an international program.   We spent from 8:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m.   The owner, however, decided to ignore all the selections and made his own decision.  

 

 

[daveAustin]

Op, whatever was 'agreed' and as much as I love them, you are often dealing with a very tenuous, almost child-like mentality even at uni level. Suck it up or act in-kind... i.e. agree to attend and then pull out at last minute.

[Puchaiyank]

They are the employer...you employee...they will not take the time to alert you 30 days in advance of when there is night or weekend work which they consider a normal part of the job.

 

Stress can cause mental and physical health issues...either resolve to be available when they require your participation or just quit your uni job and do freelance work which seems more to your liking...

[Fex Bluse]

OP - sounds like you are just running up against the work culture that is common here. 

 

Once you work for a Thai boss, he essentially owns you. It's very common for a boss to call after hours and make questionable demands on your time outside of work hours. It's an expected part of work culture. Some bosses will be worse than others. 

 

Also, it has been my experience that Thais just generally can't seem to plan ahead. They work in a constant state of mild-severe chaos and disorder. 

 

In your case, a simple shared calendar might help but getting them to consult the calendar would be asking them to do something they likely belive they should not have to do - as they own you. 

 

Good luck. Working in a Thai-dominant work culture without any oversight from outside of Thailand is an absolute nightmare. 

[Fex Bluse]

5 hours ago, Golden Triangle said:

I have never known 2 people work so hard, never a free moment

Just because they spend alot of time at work does not mean they work hard. 

 

If you were familiar with how Thai offices work and how maximum inefficiency is built into everything, you would understand. 

 

Thai work culture is about the most inefficient I've ever seen anywhere across dozens of countries I've worked in. 

 

It's no surprise the country does so poorly in so many areas of economic output. 

[marcusarelus]

My wife works for Samsung Engineering it is her job to plan ahead so large multi million $ dollar projects can be built on schedule.  I believe you folks are talking about little/not professional companies as Thailand is the 10th largest producer of vehicles in the world there is a large volume of planning and shipping and production that goes into the hundreds of thousands of cars and trucks produced and shipped from here.  

 

The Thai education system is applied evenly and equally between Thais and Farang and everyone who works in it is aware of this.  It would be a different matter is the OP was being discriminated against but he is probably getting a higher wage and better working conditions than his Thai co/workers.  One would think by the time a teacher reached university level he would know this.  

[marcusarelus]

1 hour ago, Fex Bluse said:

Just because they spend alot of time at work does not mean they work hard. 

 

If you were familiar with how Thai offices work and how maximum inefficiency is built into everything, you would understand. 

 

Thai work culture is about the most inefficient I've ever seen anywhere across dozens of countries I've worked in. 

 

It's no surprise the country does so poorly in so many areas of economic output. 

Did you know that Thailand makes more vehicles than Canada?

https://ceoworld.biz/2018/11/20/worlds-top-20-largest-passenger-car-producing-countries-in-2017-million-units/

[Fex Bluse]

1 hour ago, marcusarelus said:

Did you know that Thailand makes more vehicles than Canada?

https://ceoworld.biz/2018/11/20/worlds-top-20-largest-passenger-car-producing-countries-in-2017-million-units/

They also grow more rice... 

Did you know that Thailand's economic efficiency is among the lowest of countries measured?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(PPP)_per_hour_worked

[thequietman]

2 hours ago, marcusarelus said:

My wife works for Samsung Engineering it is her job to plan ahead so large multi million $ dollar projects can be built on schedule.  I believe you folks are talking about little/not professional companies as Thailand is the 10th largest producer of vehicles in the world there is a large volume of planning and shipping and production that goes into the hundreds of thousands of cars and trucks produced and shipped from here.  

 

The Thai education system is applied evenly and equally between Thais and Farang and everyone who works in it is aware of this.  It would be a different matter is the OP was being discriminated against but he is probably getting a higher wage and better working conditions than his Thai co/workers.  One would think by the time a teacher reached university level he would know this.  

I take your point but we are cerainly not equal. The thai teachers have job security, I don't. They get a pension, I don't. They get yearly salary increases, I don't. We are certainly not the same. Apply the same working conditions to me and maybe I will take this nonsense.

[marcusarelus]

1 hour ago, Fex Bluse said:

They also grow more rice... 

Did you know that Thailand's economic efficiency is among the lowest of countries measured?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(PPP)_per_hour_worked

 

https://tradingeconomics.com/thailand/productivity