Newly hired teachers? How long till you get paid?

[Chomskyite]

I was hired as an assistant prof at my college in early June. I moved my household about 400 miles in late July. I began the orientation meetings at my college on Aug 16. I will not be paid until Sept 29. There is no moving allowance. But Human Resources did tell all us new hires of local banks that will give "small loans" with "low interest rates" if we show the loan officers our contracts.

How long will it be at your college/school until you are paid?

[LA lady]

1. I had the same deal

I was working at a University and my first paycheck did not arrive until about 6 weeks after I began.

[drthais]

2. this is typical, sorry to say

I also teach at a University
and we probably won't be paid until late September
but maybe earlier
but maybe not
I think they like to keep it a mystery
but what is NOT a mystery
is that, every semester,
you wait much longer than you should have to
to be paid for the first time
look for it in the Spring as well
it's part of the job

I do know that much of it depends on which dept you work for
and whether the Dept head forwards the payroll info on time or not

[Chomskyite]

5. How does this make any sense from THEIR point of view?

Why is it that a teacher distracted and angry by going overdrawn at the bank, by begging money from family, by landlord and creditor harassment is a GOOD thing for a school?

Do college presidents and superintendents of school districts really believe people hired for teaching jobs are going to blow out of town the minute they get a half-month check?

Why is it that holding onto money that is already paid to the school (since legislatures pass their budgets in late July at the latest) makes any sort of difference for the school? Is the interest collected for one and a half months really THAT decisive for the school?

Why hasn't, in all the years of this policy being in place, an organized protest been lodged? Why hasn't a state legislator been contacted?

Why is this still going on in 2006?

[Greybnk48]

3. My first paycheck will be Oct. 1st

the last one was June 1st (I did not teach summer classes this year). This is the state-wide schedule for our University system. I don't know what I would do if there was not a second income in my household.

[Chomskyite]

4. The mere principal in itself makes me angry

Never mind the grinding poverty it will force me to scrabble in during half the semester.

Do you think I should send the college president an anonymous typed letter asking that he change this situation?

[Greybnk48]

12. I'm not sure what good it will do

unless and until there's a shortage of people like us. It really is a "dirty little secret" how non-tenured academic staff are treated. If it makes you feel better, write the letter.

Another factoid that I try not to think about for mental health's sake...my sister-in-law teaches Jr. High math in our local school district and earns $10,000 more a year than I do, plus bennies that I do not have. I guess that's why it is often said that teaching at a University is a life of "genteel poverty."

[misternormal]

19. If a Junior High teacher...

... makes $10,000 more a year than a college professor, and the tuition to attend college increases every year, where in the hell does all the money go?

I don't know what I'd do if I got paid that way... It just isn't right.

[Chomskyite]

20. Sad thing is I'm tenure-track

. . . which, judging by this adventure, MOST ASSUREDLY means "non-tenured." Ten years of grad school and a Ph.D. only to end up being treated like I just walked in off the street.

[Godhumor]

6. My new school is decent

I officially start September first and get paid September 15th, which is very nice. My school before that was pretty bad--I didn't get paid until the end of September (Other new teachers hired a day later than me had to wait until the last Friday in October.).

The reasoning for it, as far as the district is concerned, is pretty simple; they get to hold onto all our money interest-free. Most districts have people who decide that the "temporary" problems of new teacher are more than offset by the banking advantages.

[LWolf]

7. It depends on the term of the contract.

I transferred to a district on a different pay schedule last year.

My previous district divided the salary into 12 monthly payments; July, August, and September were "advances." If you signed the "yes, I'll be here next year" form in the spring, and took a new job during the summer, you had to pay back the advances, plus what they paid out for benefits and social security.

I didn't want to resign until a new contract was signed, and had to resign before I knew for sure that I had the new contract to avoid the overpayment. It was a tense summer.

My new contract pays at the end of each month worked; the first paycheck of this school year will come Sept. 29. In June, I'll get 3 final checks in one envelope for July, august, and september, to see me through the summer and into the next school year. I like this better, although the transfer period was rough, to say the least.

[Chomskyite]

10. Should I make a stink about this?

I'm thinking about it. But at this early stage I wouldn't do so using my own name.

[LWolf]

15. Not if it's in the contract.

Terms of payment are part of your contract, so read it! I don't know about University contracts, but elementary and secondary contracts tend to be a whole book, with many details to look up.

There's really nothing you can do about getting paid before Sept. 29 this time around. You can, if enough of your fellow educators agree, make it an issue when it comes time to renegotiate the contract.

[Chomskyite]

18. My contract does say "starting in September"

. . . but does not say "starting THE LAST BUSINESS DAY" in September. Hence, the misunderstanding. Another person above me had said we would get paid after two weeks on the job.

[Chomskyite]

8. I'm trying to figure out whether I should write to someone about this?

The provost, the president, whoever. This is ridiculous. I didn't stay in grad school nearly ten years to be treated like a convenience store worker.

[SmokingJacket]

9. That's nuts!

My husband is a new hire at a college this fall -- he started getting paid in July.

How does your school get away with that?

[SteveG]

13. Check the term of the contract

There are a lot of factors involved. One important one is the term of the Contract. In my state, public school teachers are paid for 185 days, beginning with the school term. Most districts have the option of spreading that out over 12 months, so you get a paycheck (or in our case 2) per month. You can opt for payment on the 9 month, but you don't get a paycheck during the summer.

At the University I work at, you are paid from your official start date. For faculty that is usually the beginning of September. Faculty are paid on a nine month contract (though they can spread it out over 12) and are paid on suplemental contracts when they volunteer to teach summer courses. They also get paid for teaching overloads. I don't know how private colleges or schools deal with this issue, you should read your contract.

[Greybnk48]

14. Yes, I'm paid from my start date (Aug 28) unit mid-May

but my first check is issued on Oct 1st. Also, our University system only offers a 12 month pay schedule to tenured faculty. We don't volunteer for summer classes, we fight for them!! The tenured faculty teach most of them since the fte's count toward their retirement elligibility. We do get paid extra for overloads, which helps.

To help your situation you can do what some of us do and become a "road's scholar." Pick up classes at other campuses nearby and stash the extra cash for summer.

[Chomskyite]

16. I broke down today and did it

I went to one of the banks listed on one of the powerpoint slides the Human Resources' people listed right after our paydate. I sat there, got peppered with questions about my work history, every credit card I've ever had, you name it, but I'll get $1500 repayable in 6 easy payments which include interest.

So now I'm even more pissed off than I was prior.

[1monster]

11. Even though I've been in the same job for the last six years, I still

only get paid once a month. I started work on August 2 this school year, and my first pay check will be issued on September 15. It sure makes the month of August and the early part of September tight...

[Chomskyite]

17. I've taken one out of Lakoff's playbook

For those I tell about this misery, I put it this way: we're teaching until nearly the mid-term without pay. And that's really how it is.

[EFerrari]

21. I'd really hold off on writing a letter unless it's one of those letters

that you write but don't send.

Have your peeps help you until you're in the "system" and on your feet. Maybe you will find an opportunity to work with other instructors to change this stoopid practice.

We worked to bring in a union at Berkeley. It's a long slog.

Best of luck to you.

[Chomskyite]

22. Union or die!

Your help put the fear of God into a lot of administrators even where there was never a union effort (LSU, for example). My hat is off to you.

[readmoreoften]

25. If I'm not mistaken, professors at private universities don't have...

the right to unionize. If you teach at a public U., you are covered under labor law for state workers, but if you teach at a private U., you come under the jurisdiction of the NLRB. The "Yeshiva Decision" of 1980 overturned the NLRB rights of professors, claiming that they are management, not workers. For some reason, adjunct professors are still workers.

I'm an adjunct and a teaching assistant. I belong to two different unions (one for adjuncts and one for TAs) even though I do the EXACT same job under both titles: primary instructor in a university class. As an adjunct, I'm a worker (albeit with little leverage) and as a teaching assistant (even though I'm ABD at another university, worked as a lecturer at another university, and am only an MFA candidate where I work) I'm considered either a student-trainee and, if I'm not a trainee, they say I'm MANAGEMENT.

Academic employment gives Kafka a run for his money. The whole thing is disgusting. Good luck getting your paycheck, I hope you landed at a good U. (and by good U. I mean good place to work)

[Chomskyite]

26. I believe you're right

. . . but there've been some pretty scrappy fights at Harvard and Yale over the status of adjuncts and teaching assistants. Cary Nelson edited a book called Will Teach For Food on the fights at these colleges among others in the mid-90s.

My workplace is state-run. I'm hoping to win a spot on the faculty senate in the next few years so as to work on issues like this one.

[readmoreoften]

28. State school? Golden.

As long as you're not in a right-to-work state, your sailing should be relatively smooth, I think. I hope you get your faculty senate seat.

[Jed Dilligan]

23. Academic appointments are always like that

They make you wait a month at least.

Apparently, they think that after struggling to get your degree and get the job, you will abscond with your first month's pay...

Congrats on getting hired, though!

[readmoreoften]

24. Some people weren't paid until Dec. in my department.

All adjuncts... but NYU is notorious for mailing the checks to the wrong department or sending them out months late.

[dsc]

27. My first year here

I started work on July 28 and didn't get paid until August 31. Now people start on August 16 and get paid August 31 but if we leave during the year we will have to pay back the over payment. In my state, and lots of southern states, teachers get paid monthly and most of the money comes from the state. Thus on August 31 I will get 21.5 days of pay while only working about 10. It is a crazy system.