Originally posted on the BKC Moscow Teacher's Forum
Are there any examples of this in BKC?
Stockholm syndrome is a psychological response sometimes seen in abducted hostages, in which the hostage shows signs of loyalty to the hostage-taker, regardless of the danger or risk in which they have been placed. The syndrome is named after the Norrmalmstorg robbery of Kreditbanken at Norrmalmstorg in Stockholm, in which the bank robbers held bank employees hostage from August 23 to August 28 in 1973. In this case, the victims became emotionally attached to their victimizers, and even defended their captors after they were freed from their six-day ordeal. The term "Stockholm Syndrome" was coined by the criminologist and psychiatrist Nils Bejerot, who assisted the police during the robbery, and referred to the syndrome in a news broadcast.
In 2007, a group of scholars studied twelve highly-publicized cases of Stockholm syndrome, publishing their results in Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavia. They argued that, as the media accounts lacked "access to primary sources" or an "identification of a pattern of features exhibited in Stockholm syndrome," the characterization of any of these events as Stockholm syndrome could have been due to reporting bias.
Psychoanalytic explanations:
According to the psychoanalytic view of the syndrome, the tendency might well be the result of employing the strategy evolved by newborn babies to form an emotional attachment to the nearest powerful adult in order to maximize the probability that this adult will enable — at the very least — the survival of the child, if not also prove to be a good parental figure. This syndrome is considered a prime example for the defense mechanism of identification.
Reply From Another BKC Moscow Teacher
Stockholm syndrome at BKC? Of course not! How silly.
I love it when they peg my wage lower than the official exchange rate...when they deduct chunks out of my bonus because they did not see my name on a saturday seminar sheet...when they waste hours of my life on stand-by...when they ignore my pleas about the slowly deteriorating state of my flat...when i prepare meticulously for classes and then discover i was given entirely wrong information...I LOVE IT. IT GETS ME HIGH. YES YES YES! Give me a new contract! I want to sign it NOW....Oh i'm so horny right now!!!! YES YES YES!
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Can Hourly Paid, Off-Contract BKC Teachers Get Some Fucking Flats?
Originally posted on the BKC Teacher's Forum
Free flats?
May 15, 2009
Dear person in charge of accommodation
I read on the Internet that all licensed educational establishments in Russia are required by law to provide free accommodation to foreign English teachers. Is this true? Doesn't this mean that you have to provide for off-contract teachers too? Or at least give them an allowance for their apartments?
I look forward to your considered answer.
May 31, 2009
It is so easy to know when a nerve has been struck in BKC. Deafening silence...
Free flats?
May 15, 2009
Dear person in charge of accommodation
I read on the Internet that all licensed educational establishments in Russia are required by law to provide free accommodation to foreign English teachers. Is this true? Doesn't this mean that you have to provide for off-contract teachers too? Or at least give them an allowance for their apartments?
I look forward to your considered answer.
May 31, 2009
It is so easy to know when a nerve has been struck in BKC. Deafening silence...
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Foul-Mouthed Complaint About BKC Moscow
Originally posted on the BKC Moscow Teacher's Forum
Foul-mouthed complaint about BKC
Excuse me while I call foul: "Foul! You big fat ugly LIARS!'
Why you might ask, am I so incensed? Well, it might be because BKC and its key players in administration don't feel the need to be even the slightest bit interested in consistency. New rules are dreamt up: contract changes. New season appraoches: tax regulations mysteriously change too. To make my point more clear, let's look at two different utterances from the horse's mouth. I quote from the Head of Recruitment, as posted on this very forum:
1. Originally (and it IS the case in any other language school in Moscow) only the full time contract teachers are provided with visas, because it costs something to the company and also implies some responsibilities for both parties. As a favour we offered visa support to those willing to work for us and those who were prepared to spent most of their time teaching BKC groups. As inviting organization we hold certain responsibilities in front of authorities for those who have BKC visas and have to pay those authorities officially fixed tariffs, taxes etc.
In case an hourly paid teacher works 24 hours with us we earn enough from classes he/she teaches to pay all those tariffs. In case an hourly paid teacher can't, doesn't want or is not able to work 24 hours why would the company bear all the expenses?
Now, what do we learn at the last meeting? Behold:
The minimum number of teaching hours for those who has BKC visa and works on an hourly basis is 18.
Excuse me? Like what the fuck is going on with all those 'tariffs' we had to pay prior to summer? Why were some of us FINED 6 fucking thousand fucking rubles when our one-to-one students cancelled their lessons, and we were just short of 24 hours? To cover visa costs? And now 18 hours is mysteriously enough to cover the same visa and the same visa costs? I cry FOUL! What a fucking scam!
There never were any taxes needing paying to the authorities which merited 24 hours. You were just milking the crisis for all you could. But now that summer is approaching and legions of teachers are fleeing, and most of the EMT too, now you realise that you'll be fucked again in August/September. So maybe that's the reason for suddenly realising that 18 hours is enough to cover these mythical 'taxes' on the visa - a vain attempt to hold on to staff?
Am I right, or am I fucking right?
What a foul fucking company!
Reply From Another BKC Teacher
Too true,
The decision to lower the "hour ceiling", if you let me use the Boro's BKC dollar inspired phrase, shows that the whole thing was a scam in the first place. Unless BKC is now willing to pay the charge incured by teachers who end up working 18 hours only in the summer period.
Anyhow, the first expanation sounds much more likely, given that we are talking about BKC-IH Moscow.
Reply From Another BKC Teacher
One more thing - it would be extremely helpful to know how the charge is decided on.
What I mean is whether is it enough to work 96 hours per week (with the weekly minimum of 24 hours) not to be charged, or does a teacher have to work every single week at least 24 hours.
You see there are weeks when I clock as many as 35-40 hours, so if the charge was imposed only in the first case ( not less than 96 per month), it would mean that I and any other teacher could make up for hours lost due to some laid-back one-2-one students not showing up at the end of a week, if I make myself clear.
Whatever the case, as always our having knowledge would help.
Another Reply
I'm curious. If having a BKC visa implies responsibility on both parties' sides, does that mean the freelancers are going to get all their health benefits, tax details and holiday pay? It is the case that it is BKC's responsibility to provide such for all their employees. If in doubt, consult the law.
Anybody in Boro wish to comment? Or shall you ignore such niceties also?
Reply From an Actual BKC Administrator (aka Boro Lady)
Yes, a teacher should work 24 hours every single week.
Hours were decreased for Summer because the company just cannot garantee 24 hours for every teacher and in this case it would be definetely not a teacher's fault.
Such benefits as holiday pay are already included in your hourly rate. For confirmation of taxes please call us to know how to receive a document you need.
Another Reply
Dear Boro Lady,
Actually, I have been informed recently by one of the staff on the 3rd floor boro that an off-contract teacher has to work the minimum of 48 hours (2x24) every pay period.
Could you either confirm or contradict this info?
Reply From Boro Lady
Such benefits as holiday pay are already included in your hourly rate. For confirmation of taxes please call us to know how to receive a document you need.
Reply From Teacher
Dear Boro Lady,
As I asked before, where is this stated in our contracts? Sounds like a convenient invention to me. And what about health insurance? Pension payments?
Any concrete answers from BKC likely?
Another Reply from Another BKC Teacher
I am very curious about How you are going to explain this issue. Namely, another curious teacher pointed out to me the fact that whether an "off-contract" teacher brings BKC money or not doesn't relly depend on how many hours he'she works, but, as far as classes are considered, on how many students there are in his class.
Point taken, if a teacher has 5 people in their class, the company doesn't earn the same money out of their service as out of the one teaching, say, 11.
Which only comes to prove that the whole tax tariff is at least as clear as we we are (unsuccessfully) being made to believe.
The Post That BKC Never Replied To
Dear Boro Lady,
Did you know that it is illegal to include all benefits like holiday-pay into an employee's salary? Is anybody in BKC aware of a the thing called the law?
Don't you understand that BKC is still liable for holiday payments for ALL of its teachers, regardless of their status as freelancers?
I'd start answering the questions here if I were you, thank you very much.
A Few Days Later
So? Are you going to respect Russian law or not? Do you want a court case?
In the end, there was only deafening silence from BKC.
Foul-mouthed complaint about BKC
Excuse me while I call foul: "Foul! You big fat ugly LIARS!'
Why you might ask, am I so incensed? Well, it might be because BKC and its key players in administration don't feel the need to be even the slightest bit interested in consistency. New rules are dreamt up: contract changes. New season appraoches: tax regulations mysteriously change too. To make my point more clear, let's look at two different utterances from the horse's mouth. I quote from the Head of Recruitment, as posted on this very forum:
1. Originally (and it IS the case in any other language school in Moscow) only the full time contract teachers are provided with visas, because it costs something to the company and also implies some responsibilities for both parties. As a favour we offered visa support to those willing to work for us and those who were prepared to spent most of their time teaching BKC groups. As inviting organization we hold certain responsibilities in front of authorities for those who have BKC visas and have to pay those authorities officially fixed tariffs, taxes etc.
In case an hourly paid teacher works 24 hours with us we earn enough from classes he/she teaches to pay all those tariffs. In case an hourly paid teacher can't, doesn't want or is not able to work 24 hours why would the company bear all the expenses?
Now, what do we learn at the last meeting? Behold:
The minimum number of teaching hours for those who has BKC visa and works on an hourly basis is 18.
Excuse me? Like what the fuck is going on with all those 'tariffs' we had to pay prior to summer? Why were some of us FINED 6 fucking thousand fucking rubles when our one-to-one students cancelled their lessons, and we were just short of 24 hours? To cover visa costs? And now 18 hours is mysteriously enough to cover the same visa and the same visa costs? I cry FOUL! What a fucking scam!
There never were any taxes needing paying to the authorities which merited 24 hours. You were just milking the crisis for all you could. But now that summer is approaching and legions of teachers are fleeing, and most of the EMT too, now you realise that you'll be fucked again in August/September. So maybe that's the reason for suddenly realising that 18 hours is enough to cover these mythical 'taxes' on the visa - a vain attempt to hold on to staff?
Am I right, or am I fucking right?
What a foul fucking company!
Reply From Another BKC Teacher
Too true,
The decision to lower the "hour ceiling", if you let me use the Boro's BKC dollar inspired phrase, shows that the whole thing was a scam in the first place. Unless BKC is now willing to pay the charge incured by teachers who end up working 18 hours only in the summer period.
Anyhow, the first expanation sounds much more likely, given that we are talking about BKC-IH Moscow.
Reply From Another BKC Teacher
One more thing - it would be extremely helpful to know how the charge is decided on.
What I mean is whether is it enough to work 96 hours per week (with the weekly minimum of 24 hours) not to be charged, or does a teacher have to work every single week at least 24 hours.
You see there are weeks when I clock as many as 35-40 hours, so if the charge was imposed only in the first case ( not less than 96 per month), it would mean that I and any other teacher could make up for hours lost due to some laid-back one-2-one students not showing up at the end of a week, if I make myself clear.
Whatever the case, as always our having knowledge would help.
Another Reply
I'm curious. If having a BKC visa implies responsibility on both parties' sides, does that mean the freelancers are going to get all their health benefits, tax details and holiday pay? It is the case that it is BKC's responsibility to provide such for all their employees. If in doubt, consult the law.
Anybody in Boro wish to comment? Or shall you ignore such niceties also?
Reply From an Actual BKC Administrator (aka Boro Lady)
Yes, a teacher should work 24 hours every single week.
Hours were decreased for Summer because the company just cannot garantee 24 hours for every teacher and in this case it would be definetely not a teacher's fault.
Such benefits as holiday pay are already included in your hourly rate. For confirmation of taxes please call us to know how to receive a document you need.
Another Reply
Dear Boro Lady,
Actually, I have been informed recently by one of the staff on the 3rd floor boro that an off-contract teacher has to work the minimum of 48 hours (2x24) every pay period.
Could you either confirm or contradict this info?
Reply From Boro Lady
Such benefits as holiday pay are already included in your hourly rate. For confirmation of taxes please call us to know how to receive a document you need.
Reply From Teacher
Dear Boro Lady,
As I asked before, where is this stated in our contracts? Sounds like a convenient invention to me. And what about health insurance? Pension payments?
Any concrete answers from BKC likely?
Another Reply from Another BKC Teacher
I am very curious about How you are going to explain this issue. Namely, another curious teacher pointed out to me the fact that whether an "off-contract" teacher brings BKC money or not doesn't relly depend on how many hours he'she works, but, as far as classes are considered, on how many students there are in his class.
Point taken, if a teacher has 5 people in their class, the company doesn't earn the same money out of their service as out of the one teaching, say, 11.
Which only comes to prove that the whole tax tariff is at least as clear as we we are (unsuccessfully) being made to believe.
The Post That BKC Never Replied To
Dear Boro Lady,
Did you know that it is illegal to include all benefits like holiday-pay into an employee's salary? Is anybody in BKC aware of a the thing called the law?
Don't you understand that BKC is still liable for holiday payments for ALL of its teachers, regardless of their status as freelancers?
I'd start answering the questions here if I were you, thank you very much.
A Few Days Later
So? Are you going to respect Russian law or not? Do you want a court case?
In the end, there was only deafening silence from BKC.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
BKC is Getting Boring
BKC is getting boring. though the faces change often we always have the same old breaches of contracts, same old lies, same old unskilled and apathetic staff. same mistakes year after year. even a remarkably dull lab rat would have learned some new reflexes by now.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Why BKC is Doomed and Who is to Blame
Originally posted on the BKC Teacher's Forum
Post:
Recruiting is a tricky business, we all know. But just for everyone's edification let's look at what has happened to Recruitment in the last couple of years. Certain individuals were running the whole shop to rack and ruin, then they leave, as staff are wont to do. They are replaced by far more competent people who LISTEN to others and have realistic ideas on how to treat colleagues. And so for all the year that they are at the helm BKC is a much happier place to work and people are more or less satisfied with their lot. Then, like the eternal bad penny certain of the bad crew wriggle back into positions of authority and the rot starts up once more. The cooler minds are sidelined, passions flare and now we have this daft 'crisis' action plan that is threatening to rip the heart out of our jolly little school.
Well done Recruitment, hats off to a job well done. Endless praise to the individual architect of this collective suicide.
Next Post
BKC is breaking the law. Even in Russia, that's not allowed, and there is no excuse for it. A contract is a contract. It doesn't matter if [some people] think some of the teachers or EMT 'deserve' this maltreatment, it is still maltreatment... I've been here for more than just a few years and I've seen some nasty shit go down, a lot worse than not getting a smile. If wanting to know why I am being subjected to illegal measures is ruffling feathers, then I'm going to do a lot more of it - plucking may be a better term. Am I so bad in wanting to know how much I'm working for? And why should I do my job better ( for less pay ) when certain admin people are woefully bad at theirs?! When in fact, they have a history of mismanagement and crap communication skills.
I think you [all] need to re-assess your postion and get wise to the reality. Or maybe you enjoy being walked all over?
Last Post
There is nothing that anybody could call management in BKC. And the poor unfortunate souls in Boro never deal with anything, certainly not face to face. Sneaky, underhand bully-boy tactics are much more favoured. And no I'm not happy - gee how did you tell? Guess what asshole - neither are most of your colleagues.
Post:
Recruiting is a tricky business, we all know. But just for everyone's edification let's look at what has happened to Recruitment in the last couple of years. Certain individuals were running the whole shop to rack and ruin, then they leave, as staff are wont to do. They are replaced by far more competent people who LISTEN to others and have realistic ideas on how to treat colleagues. And so for all the year that they are at the helm BKC is a much happier place to work and people are more or less satisfied with their lot. Then, like the eternal bad penny certain of the bad crew wriggle back into positions of authority and the rot starts up once more. The cooler minds are sidelined, passions flare and now we have this daft 'crisis' action plan that is threatening to rip the heart out of our jolly little school.
Well done Recruitment, hats off to a job well done. Endless praise to the individual architect of this collective suicide.
Next Post
BKC is breaking the law. Even in Russia, that's not allowed, and there is no excuse for it. A contract is a contract. It doesn't matter if [some people] think some of the teachers or EMT 'deserve' this maltreatment, it is still maltreatment... I've been here for more than just a few years and I've seen some nasty shit go down, a lot worse than not getting a smile. If wanting to know why I am being subjected to illegal measures is ruffling feathers, then I'm going to do a lot more of it - plucking may be a better term. Am I so bad in wanting to know how much I'm working for? And why should I do my job better ( for less pay ) when certain admin people are woefully bad at theirs?! When in fact, they have a history of mismanagement and crap communication skills.
I think you [all] need to re-assess your postion and get wise to the reality. Or maybe you enjoy being walked all over?
Last Post
There is nothing that anybody could call management in BKC. And the poor unfortunate souls in Boro never deal with anything, certainly not face to face. Sneaky, underhand bully-boy tactics are much more favoured. And no I'm not happy - gee how did you tell? Guess what asshole - neither are most of your colleagues.
Friday, February 13, 2009
An Open Letter to BKC Recruitment
Originally Posted on BKC Teacher's Forum
An open letter to Recruitment
Dear ladies,
I think it is clear to all and sundry that the whole issue of salary rates and contracts has been mishandled. Handled with all the finesse of a sledgehammer, one might say. Why this was so, is open to debate. Some say it is a cultural difference, some say it is down to the nature of the personalities in charge, while others simply do not have a rational explanation for the sheer scale of the amateurism displayed. So, if I may, let me, in all humility, enlighten you as to how such a delicate matter should have been dealt with.
First of all, more open communication and transparency would have been a good thing. A very simple, yet effective approach would have involved setting up a meeting, a crisis meeting if you will, and then informing staff of measures that needed to be taken. Just by telling teachers that because of the economic situation, BKC is not in a position to pay full salaries as stipulated in the contract - this would have cleared the air and prevented a lot of anger. Admitting that this was an extraordinary situation requiring extraordinary responses would not be a surprise to anybody.
Then, you could have offered anyone who was not happy with this situation an early, amicable termination of their contract, with pro-rata benefits etc. This would have the double advantage of empowering staff to make their own informed decisions, and allowed BKC to reduce staff in an honest, transparent way.
Next, regarding terminations, this should have been done in a transparent way too, with the rationale clear to all involved, e.g. last in first out or whatever.
Most importantly of all, if there had been a uniform position taken by all members of recruitment, a single party line, then there may have been some trust fostered. But there wasn't.
Having failed to do anything seen as even remotely fair, you have incurred the wrath of usually easy-going staff. Nobody likes it when contracts are torn up without consultation, and without regard to the law. Nobody will stay in a company where there is a secret hit-list that unfairly victimizes some members. Nobody will work without knowing what their rate of pay is, and nobody trusts a company that issues mixed signals about basic information like said rates, e.g. Bonderov says 32, Tatyana says 30.
I think if you had done things the way described above, there would not be so much ill-will and seething resentment now in our school. But the damage has been done, and there is little chance of it being healed. As for me, I believe that this is of no interest to the personalities in charge, as they simply want to thin out the staff numbers at any cost. Fair enough, but it will cost you far more than you think. Already the bad press from a few years ago is repeating itself on external forums. Your reputation is taking a nosedive. Nobody trusts a word you say anymore.
An open letter to Recruitment
Dear ladies,
I think it is clear to all and sundry that the whole issue of salary rates and contracts has been mishandled. Handled with all the finesse of a sledgehammer, one might say. Why this was so, is open to debate. Some say it is a cultural difference, some say it is down to the nature of the personalities in charge, while others simply do not have a rational explanation for the sheer scale of the amateurism displayed. So, if I may, let me, in all humility, enlighten you as to how such a delicate matter should have been dealt with.
First of all, more open communication and transparency would have been a good thing. A very simple, yet effective approach would have involved setting up a meeting, a crisis meeting if you will, and then informing staff of measures that needed to be taken. Just by telling teachers that because of the economic situation, BKC is not in a position to pay full salaries as stipulated in the contract - this would have cleared the air and prevented a lot of anger. Admitting that this was an extraordinary situation requiring extraordinary responses would not be a surprise to anybody.
Then, you could have offered anyone who was not happy with this situation an early, amicable termination of their contract, with pro-rata benefits etc. This would have the double advantage of empowering staff to make their own informed decisions, and allowed BKC to reduce staff in an honest, transparent way.
Next, regarding terminations, this should have been done in a transparent way too, with the rationale clear to all involved, e.g. last in first out or whatever.
Most importantly of all, if there had been a uniform position taken by all members of recruitment, a single party line, then there may have been some trust fostered. But there wasn't.
Having failed to do anything seen as even remotely fair, you have incurred the wrath of usually easy-going staff. Nobody likes it when contracts are torn up without consultation, and without regard to the law. Nobody will stay in a company where there is a secret hit-list that unfairly victimizes some members. Nobody will work without knowing what their rate of pay is, and nobody trusts a company that issues mixed signals about basic information like said rates, e.g. Bonderov says 32, Tatyana says 30.
I think if you had done things the way described above, there would not be so much ill-will and seething resentment now in our school. But the damage has been done, and there is little chance of it being healed. As for me, I believe that this is of no interest to the personalities in charge, as they simply want to thin out the staff numbers at any cost. Fair enough, but it will cost you far more than you think. Already the bad press from a few years ago is repeating itself on external forums. Your reputation is taking a nosedive. Nobody trusts a word you say anymore.
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