Re: thinking of hiring a music teacher under an "open vacan
    Posted by: lca on 7/05/13
    () Comments

    On 7/04/13, Jasmin wrote:

    > Hello, just curious, I have an "open vacancy" for a music

    > teacher position. We were going to hire someone to teach

    > only 3 classes per week. The applicant I want to hire is of

    > course a licensed music teacher and has a lot of

    > experience. Should I be concerned that after 30 days of

    > teaching she might file a salary grievance against me? If

    > it is only 3 classes per week should I be concerned?

    I agree with the previous poster... it should not be a problem
    if the specifics of this position (number of classes, salary,
    working conditions, etc) are spelled out in the contract,
    which they should be.

    You should be very upfront about this. In other words it is
    not just in the fine print, it's right out there in bold, and
    discussed.... when we have an opening like this, the position
    is clearly advertised as such, so that applicants are aware of
    the situation even before the interview.

    Where I am, if this had been unclear in the job posting (i.e.
    it looked like a full-time position and was not), we would
    probably have to re-post the position with clearer details and
    then re-interview. There are several issues involved. The
    obvious one is the one you seem to be alluding to, that a
    person who is not aware of the specifics upon hire is likely
    to be dissatisfied (rightly) with it later and (rightfully)
    file a grievance. It's also possible there are applicants who
    would be interested in three classes per week, who would NOT
    have applied for a full-time position, too. So you need to
    make this very clear from the beginning so that you attract
    the relevant candidates, hire the best candidate who accepts
    the conditions spelled out, and go from there.

    One further comment... if your local union contract
    specifically states that you can't have a position like you've
    described (that her salary or teaching load can't be that low,
    or whatever), that's another issue. Even if your candidate is
    happy with the situation, you still can't violate the
    contract. There are also issues such as benefits, etc, which
    may apply to such a position differently from a full-time one.

    If you are an administrator in a district that has a central
    office with an HR person, I would definitely recommend that
    you also discuss this situation with the HR person. You don't
    want any of this to be a surprise later, either to the
    candidate herself, to you, or to your central office.


    Posts on this thread, including this one

  • thinking of hiring a music teacher under an "open vacancy", 7/04/13, by Jasmin.
  • Re: thinking of hiring a music teacher under an "open vacan, 7/05/13, by not sure I understand.
  • Re: thinking of hiring a music teacher under an "open vacan, 7/05/13, by lca.
  • Re: thinking of hiring a music teacher under an "open vacan, 7/06/13, by NYC AP.