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On 7/05/13, lca wrote:

> 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.

Here in NY if teacher has a license in the subject covering they
can file it. If they are teaching 3 or more classes per week and
licensed in that subject you can bet they will file a salary
grievance with the UFT. It has happened at my school before.

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