Basic Contract in Thailand
A typical contract furnished by the schools to the native-speaking teachers should contain:
- Date of employment
- Date of termination of employment
- Place of employment
- Teacher’s designation
- Duties defined
- Rates of remuneration, emoluments and accommodation
- Normal hours of work and other terms and conditions relating to work
- Service and holiday entitlement
- Terms and conditions relating to incapacity of work due to sickness or injury
- Sickness benefits
- Employee’s probation period and process of confirmation
However, the contracts are not legally binding for ESL teachers in Thailand and very often these contracts are broken either by the school or the teachers. The main causes are policy changes and unrealistic expectations. The teacher should always translate a Thai contract into English before putting a signature on it.
Before you sign a formal contract, you should ascertain about the terms and conditions and negotiate for a fair deal before finalizing on anything. You can also ask other teachers of the Thai community about the features of the teaching agreement. The following questions can act as your guidelines:
- How many hours of teaching will you be guaranteed each week?
- What will be the rate of pay?
- Will the school provide assistance with visa and work permit?
- Is a flight stipend provided, either for air fare home when your commitment has ended or for you to renew or obtain your visa?
- Does the school provide a housing allowance or a house on campus?
- How many hours will you be expected to teach each day?
- Will you have to work on Saturdays?
- Which classes will you be teaching, and will teaching materials be provided?
- Will you be allowed to take on private students in the hours that you are not working at the school?
- Will you be allowed vacation time?
