Re: Mazoon College ( Oman) Contract Revealed

I was only sent a copy of the Letter of Offer, not the contract. Maybe the people who'd recruited me simply confused those. Contracts do not leave the building there. And yes, I had to sign it after I arrived in Oman- I had already bought the one way ticket and would not have been reimbursed for it and would have had to buy another one back- how much would that be out of my pocket- USD 2500-3000?

And yes, I also grudgingly agreed to the passport policy; however, at that time I did not realize that the college was not good at paying. My medical expense was not paid, my overtime was not paid as per terms of the contract- which is monthly - please check the contract. And any official can go and audit their records and see if they had paid me or not.

But one thing I did not realize when I agreed to the passport withholding policy was: how can you contest anything legally as in when they do not pay you, for one, while they are holding your passport? I was also told that a simple form had to be filled out to get the passport back. But I was not told that the form had to be signed by two officials- check it if you go there and get interviewed. I was lucky when I got the passport back since only one official signed it and it was enough. Sometimes, oversights work in their favor. My first runner ever was not pleasant. To be driven to do that takes some serious circumstances/events.

Whining? Well, that is what people normally do when they are not treated properly and not paid. Do you yourself smile and laugh when you are not paid? When you are lied to and get kicked out?

I had had my passport held before- in Saudi, but those guys always paid properly and on time and in full. They also did not kick me out onto the street. So, I was willing to put up with the inconvenience.

Whether the contract is terrible or not is a judgment call. The important point here is whether it is fair or legal or transparent, or revealed at all. If it is routinely sent to applicants, then the recruitment committee should not worry about this post at all.

However, look at some glaring points in it- look at how many months' salary you have to pay them back if you quit early. Look at how many months' notice you have to give. While they choose to give you only one month. Look at the overtime pay- it is left blank. The Omani labor law allowing you to quit within 90 days is also left out and instead, you have to give them a 3 months notice at any time before the contract ends- that is not what the law says.

I am sure the recruiter is a good person and I have always respected him; however, the people he is working with are either grossly inefficient or simply dishonest, not to mention that they practice draconian employment techniques and that they are pretty bad at paying. Check other posts about Mazoon College- especially a post titled : Serious Warning About Mazoon College at Dave's ESL Cafe- you can google it.

Calling indignation at being mistreated and deceived as whining is a laughable technique to discredit legitimate concerns.

Nothing personal against those who had recruited me. I just hope that, in the future, they will protect people whom they recruit and make sure they are not mistreated, that they are paid and/or not made work for free.

Or kicked out onto the street of a strange city they know nothing about.

After all, the recruiting committee have some kind of responsibility for the well being of the people they hire- they did convince them to come and work for the college. However, instead of helping the person or standing up for him and working with the inefficient and/or dishonest people in the management to make sure s/he is treated properly and is paid as per contract , they report the person to the management as a nuisance, and now participate in banning that person and are angry at him/her; not at those who had mistreated him/her. The recruitment people are now seemingly protecting those above them who benefited from the free labor by the exploited person who as it turns out now worked for no pay. Where is your conscience?

I suggest you as the college issue a public apology, rewrite your contract so that it agrees with the Omani labor law, send it along with a ticket to people you recruit, make sure people are paid on time and in full and according to the contract and are not tricked in any way. Make certain that your promises are kept when you recruit people and that all the information is transparent and is revealed properly so that they can make an informed decision. Because the way it stands now, I can see more disgruntled people becoming "whining" victims.

Who needs all this? Runners, anger, wasted time, bans, inconveniences, etc?

Mazoon College ( Oman) Contract Revealed

If you are Oman-bound and are offered a job at Mazoon College, please be warned- the college breached their contract with me, did not pay me my overtime as per contract terms- close to USD 1800 - they still owe me this money-and behaved in an unprofessional and dishonest way towards me. The college apparatus, to my utter dismay, did not keep its word to me, in more ways than one. I was given a letter asking me to get out of the dorm where I was staying( even though they said I could live there before I went to work for them) within two days without helping me find a place to move into.

All this could have been prevented had I not boarded that plane bound for Muscat. And I would not have done that had I seen the contract which they gave me only after I had entered the country. Shame on them and shame on me for believing them!

Thus. from my experiences and what I have heard ( albeit too late)about Mazoon college from some other teachers, the administration there seems to prefer that you see the contract only after you arrive in the Sultanate. Probably, because you have got to be either very hungry or very naive to sign something as draconian as this.

When the teachers are hired, they are sent a Letter of Offer and they sign it. Some instructors have said that if they had known what the contract actually says, they would never have come to work at Mazoon.

I am; therefore, putting the apparently oft-undisclosed contract online so that you can download it and make an informed decision whether you want to go and work at Mazoon College. Based on some posts at various ESL Fora, there are many illegal clauses in the contract. Also, kindly pay attention to the fact that the amount of money paid for overtime- which I was not paid for two months and then- never-although the contract apparently says I should have- is left blank. In addition, please examine the passport policy and the policy for those who want to go on vacation in the summer. Look at the salary/benefit/allowance breakdown, as well. Carefully pay attention to how much money you have to pay them back if you decide to quit and how long a notice you have to give.

I join other teachers who say that had they known what was in store for them, they would have never accepted the job.

Please note:
1)I have erased the name of the teacher.
2)I have also erased the name of the nearest airport the teacher had arrived from.
3) I have cleaned up some smudges and also, removed the Arabic version of the contract.
4) Please use the blue button on the site- below the text, to download it and examine the conditions of the contract. It is not clear enough if you just look at it online.

Here are the URLs

http://www.4shared.com/file/221046504/cf0c7bb1/Mazoon_College_Contract_Page_1.html

http://www.4shared.com/file/221047250/8e53a0d/Mazoon_College_Contract_Page_2.html

http://www.4shared.com/file/221047653/96e5c36b/Mazoon_College_Contract_Page_3.html

http://www.4shared.com/file/221047945/6dc11022/Mazoon_College_Contract_Page_4.html