Redundancies

For those of you who have been trying to keep up with my blog, I apologize. I must admit, I have not been writing as much as I should. The latest news is redundant, if you will excuse the pun. The economic crisis is global. Sure, no news there, but as we were finishing our TEFL program (and celebrating the job guarantee) the declining economy hit the Czech Republic. So, on the day we were supposed to be getting our fist assignments someone from upper management came in and informed us that there were precious few classes to fill our schedules and requested that some of us volunteer to take a couple of weeks off. The good news was that they would pay our rent as well as give us $300 spending money to do so. Eager to start my new job, I decided not to volunteer, and I never regretted it. Things began to look up soon, and those who agreed to start later now have full schedules. 

Recently however, we got more bad news. Two weeks ago, most teachers at the Caledonian received this e-mail:

Dear Teachers
 
As announced in last month's newsletter, we are facing challenging times based on the global economic crisis. The school administration has been restructured and tasks have been redistributed. One of the most difficult tasks, however, is still ahead of us. The number of lessons has decreased and we are currently overstaffed. We cannot expect this situation to improve based on current trends and market figures.
 
In order to be able to fulfil all our contractual obligations to clients and employees, we are in the unpleasant position of having to make a number of teachers redundant before Christmas. The exact number will be determined as soon as possible and decisions will be based on one or a combination of the following criteria: length of service, performance and/or disciplinary record. Teachers who are being considered for redundancy will be contacted in the next weeks.
 
We regret not being able to announce better news before Christmas but in the light of current events we are left without choice.
 
If you have any questions or concerns regarding these steps, please do not hesitate to contact me, Micha Kirchem or the Personnel Office.
 

Caledonian School
Vltavská 24, 150 00 Praha 5
Tel. +420 257 313 650
Mobil +420 603 842 142
Fax +420 251 512 528  

Needless to say, it was scary. And for those of you who don’t know, being redundant is the politically correct way to become laid off. We have, however, since then received an e-mail announcing that all is well and the redundancy scare is over. Fortunately, I have over 26 teaching hours now (which is considered a full load, 20 being the minimum for full time) and I am no longer contractually obligated to accept classes. Yeah!