Manipulative Contract

[Nigel]

Here is the story. I am a teacher and recently got a job at a charter school. I had previously worked at charter school, and was not bound by a contract at that school.

I was offered a job and given initial new hire paper work to fill out prior to starting (no contract was included). I started the job on Wednesday, the school goes year round. On Friday afternoon, the principal came into my room to bring me a contract to sign. Now this surprised me as there had never been any prior talk of a contract.

I read the contract, I am in a tough spot. First, I should mention that this is a charter school meaning that there is no teachers union (this is relevant). In Ohio, if a teacher breaks a contract by leaving before the end of the school year, their teaching license can be suspended for one year. The threat of suspension for leaving during the school year is reiterated in the contract. The contract also states that employees may be terminated "at any tome for any reason or no reason." Now this bothers me because of the intent of law regarding breaking contracts assumes that a union would protect an employee against wrongful termination. Thus, the charter school is exploiting a law by using it an unintended manner, giving full protection to the school and putting the employee in a compromising position. There is no equal obligation between the employer and employee in this case, as there would be under the conditions that the law was intended.

Now this becomes more problematic in that the pay is not great and the benefits are terrible. I took the job under the assumption that I would immediately seize a better opportunity given the chance. Its not that I don't care for the job, I really like the job; its working with high school dropouts, so its an interesting and unique opportunity. But the terrible benefits and the desire to receive better pay pay and benefits at a public school is enticing. Moreover, I would get greater freedom and autonomy in my classroom at a public school, allowing me to modify my teaching and make the greatest use of my abilities. This last part, the freedom to teach as I believe teaching should been done, is extremely valuable to me.

In short, I find the contract manipulative in that I would sign an obligation with no obligation in return (except for compensation). In my opinion, leaving my desire to teach aside, the low wages received by teachers are reasonably mitigated by 1. great retirement benefits, 2. job security, 3. good benefits. In this case, I get the retirement package, but the benefits are terrible and the there is a significant lack of job security. The lack of job security stems not only from the contract, but also from litigation in which the school is involved. Therefore, it is hard for me to see this as very good situation.

On the flip side, finding another job offer will be difficult. I have not seen many jobs posted lately, although I am still waiting to hear back from an interview I had last week. I have been looking everywhere in Ohio (I am kind of stuck in Ohio right now due to my license). If I fail to find a job, I would end up filing for unemployment from my previous employer. Finally, the interview last week, that I am waiting to hear from, is my absolute dream job. Signing this contract could prevent me from getting that job.

So my options are, as I see it: 1. suck it up and deal with the job for a year and hope for the best, 2. explain to the principal on qualms on Monday (and then hear him tell me that he must call some H.R. person in the corporate office) and run the risk of losing the job. I am a little stuck on this decision. I see merit in both options and I am not sure if it was just the manner in which the contract was presented that rubbed me the wrong way.

Edited July 30, 2011 by Nigel

[AlexCBecker]

If you think that the hiring representatives at your dream job are open to communication and negotiation you could explain your situation to them and request their expedited hiring decision in order to resolve your dilemma. If they can't give you an answer at the time then you should ask for the time frame that they would be able to give you an answer because your are in a time sensitive dilemma. I'm not certain whether this would hinder or help your chances at getting the dream job however. On one hand it let's them know that you are valuable enough to land this job at the charter school and that they must compete to get what you can offer them. On the other hand some hiring representatives don't like being pestered. I think that this would be more important than some person constantly calling back over and over because this decision has large consequences for what you do for the next year of your life.

I say you get in contact with your dream job hiring representatives and explain the situation and refuse to sign the current charter school contract until you can get the answer from your dream job. You always have unemployment from your previous employer to fall back on. Which raises a question to the greater forum; Is it immoral to collect unemployment benefits from a previous employer if they were forced to offer it from the government? Are there any companies that would willingly offer unemployment benefits?

Alex

[Zip]

Seems to me that your current employer is not only offering you a manipulative contract but was also being deceitful in not being upfront about the existence of the contract in the first place. ***Whatever you do, watch your back with this organization!***

Now since the job you currently hold has bad pay and crappy benefits how likely is it that they will be able to easily replace you? Why not negotiate with them? Tell them that since they demand to be able to fire you at any time for no reason that you will not accept that they can punish you for either being fired or quitting on your own. If the principal is going to have to ask some sort of head office if this is possible (and if he says it's not, right off the top of his head, ask him to ask the head office anyway) this will buy you some time to find out if your dream job is going to come through.