Wednesday 30 March 2016

HCT show contempt for their own contracts!

The text below was sent to me just after Christmas, so forgive me the delay in publishing it.  What is patently clear though is that an HCT contract is quite worthless, as they have no intention of honoring their (written) word.

*******

I was recently granted a contract from HCT Ras al Khaimah. It had taken four months to finally receive an offer and a signed contract. So I quit my teaching job in the US, sold my belongings and made my final preparations.

However, just five days before I was scheduled to travel, I got a phone call from HR informing me that my contract had been canceled without any reason. I wrote to the chair of the business school in RAK for an explanation, but she simply ignored my request for information.

In fact, when HR called me, it was a bizarre conversation. I asked them: 

Is there something wrong with the background check?  No
Is there something wrong with my credentials?  No
Did I say something wrong?   No

So, there was no explanation given, and no reason offered; in short, they showed no respect for the concept of a signed contract or agreement.  

I would strongly recommend that everyone avoid HCT like the plague, no matter how much money they offer you. Based on my experience, they can revoke your contract at any time, for any reason or for no reason.

Anyone with a PhD from a decent university beware.  If you trust HCT or their signed contracts, you may find yourself without a job or immediate employment prospects.  The HCT administration has no honor, no decency and no concept of the meaning of an employment contract.

*******

A terrible experience, I am sure you will agree, and a stern warning to all those who might be considering making the desperate step towards working for HCT.

In fact, what I have been informed by a mole in HR at HCT is that they are so desperate for bodies that they are actively over-recruiting, as they know that there will be many no-shows.

Well guys, there will probably be a few more non-arrivals now that this information is in the public domain!


24 comments:

Suede Oasis said...

PS: another source has informed me that as HR is now run (and ever so poorly) by Emiratis, it is characterized by sloth and incompetence.

Now just WHO would have EVER thought that?!

Anonymous said...

Melanie Swan at the National newspaper is looking for teachers affected by the current cull to contact her on an anonymous basis with a view to creating an article

Anonymous said...

Melanie Swan
The National

www.thenational.ae

Mob: 050 132 4740

Anonymous said...

Hmm mm. .. good luck getting people to speak out... contracts specifically forbid speaking to the press.

Poodle Pelham said...

Well, as Hct do not respect their own contracts, what is there to stop the troops from doing the same? It looks like another clear case of Hct hypocrisy to me!

So yeah, get in touch with Melanie Swan. I did so when I was there, so I know that she can be trusted to keep her word - unlike Hct!

Anonymous said...

Happy to say that I left HCT some 5 or 6 years back. It was clear back then how things were going to end up, so I don't know why anybody serious about their job and career remained. Those that did are Clowns and Lackeys, and deserve all that the kicks they get from their new Masters!

Anonymous said...

if you are American, have American passport. You should travel there go to the American embassy and talk to the ambassador and ask him to schedule a meeting with the chancellor to explain to him what happened. If you dont want to travel there, you can just contact the UAE embassy or try to connect with the American embassy in UAE.

i know some one who passed through this experience and he resolved it this way. It worked out for him.

Anonymous said...

I find that hard to believe. Are you saying that someone who got the 2 paragraph non renewal asked the US ambassador to intervene on his behalf? ��

Anonymous said...

Yeah, it's true. If you take your HCT breached contract to the UN, they will sort it all out for you!

I.M.M said...

Greetings, Mr Oasis,
I hope that you are doing well.

First of all, I would like to inform you that I have the exact same opinion as you do regarding the hypocrisy and nonprofessional assertiveness of the administration.

I'm speaking of my experience as one of the direct entry students in a Women Higher Colleges of Technology student, and I'm not ashamed to say that the Higher Colleges of Technology is nothing but a sugar-coated pile of absolute garbage.

We all need to stand up to these pathetic and wretched individuals, which the warped HCT management system produces with such apparent regularity. If these bullies are allowed to continue their campaigns of vendetta and intimidation, they ultimately wreck people's minds and make their lives utterly miserable.

I was forced by my parents to admit in this college, although I had very high grades in High School and was qualified for full paid scholarships in better colleges than this hell hole asylum. Little they did know how the HCT was a place full of corruption and malevolence.

This vile sad excuse for a college has no respect for hard work, education or work. If you say one thing, you are out. None of the students or facility have rights. This place is toxic, and if it was not for respecting my parents desires, I would have never set foot upon this horrible, horrible place. In addition to that, guess what happened to me when I decided to fight for the rights I deserve? I got dispelled.

So I'm not ashamed to raise my middle finger out loud and say FUCK HCT, they shouldn't even be called "Higher" Colleges of Technology, more like Lower Colleges of Hypocrisy.

I rest my case.
Again, Fuck HCT.

Bubba said...

I think I love you!

Anonymous said...

Christ, even the locals are hating the place now! Is there ANYBODY that actually regards HCT in a positive light?

Anonymous said...

Probably not, as HCT itself regards nobody in a "positive light". It now expresses contempt not only for its employees but for its students too. Shame it had to happen, but ... It had to happen.

Anonymous said...

none of this is public knowledge, nobody knows, everyone is turning a blind eye, it doesn't really matter since, as an exercize in downsizing a budget, the project is well on track, no its not about the reputation, or education of citizens, its about cutting costs of a bloated welfare state artifact left over from a pre-industrial age remnant of some fool's empire, so get over it folks, man up, this is not a democracy, theocracy or even an autocracy its alice in wonderland on steroids. It's the facade stupid!!

Anonymous said...

What a load of bollocks!! I care about my students and have done for 10+ years. I am not a party to the shameful way that the college is being run yet I mourn for the loss of innocence that my female students are experiencing as part of this new management. It's just too bad that in the space of less than a year some self-centred sociopath has completely destroyed any semblance of educational values that the previous administration had built up over at least a twenty year period. To have replaced fully functioning competent admin staff with dysfunctional national staff who seem at best lost in the real work of work and at worst could not give a toss about the impact of their own so called work upon others. When is it going to stop I ask? This is no place for a sane teacher let alone a western educated professional. I struggle with delusion and stress and am too old to fight this madness. April 30 was not for me, never was. I'm off home. Good riddance.

Anonymous said...

Executions have been put on hold for one year as the VC has belatedly realized that he has no teaching staff for next year should mass sackings be conducted now.....

..and he cannot recruit sufficient staff for next year as prospective employees are too well informed about the cesspit of HCT.

The outsourcing of recruitment at considerable cost is unlikely to garner an improved result (although the kick backs may yet prove profitable for certain senior managers in the HCT system).

And yet, they are so stupid as to turn away faculty. The level of idiocy is beyond belief

Anonymous said...

Still lookin ...

http://www.m2rglobal.com/job-search/United-Arab-Emirates/Higher-Education/null/1/

Anonymous said...

The UAE recruitment company scam: Manager A in company X contracts recruiters to employ individual(s) for their firm. Once recruited company X pays $$$ to recruitment firm for work well done. Manager A receives a kickback. Phase 1 of scam complete - pretty standard. In phase 2 due to arrangement between Manager A and the recruiters, a sub-standard employee has been employed. This employee is not fired until the 'warranty' period has run out, hence triggering another commission for the recruitment firm, and another kickback for Manager A.

In the case of an organization, such as HCT, phase 2 may not be necessary due to high turnover that keeps the gravy flowing for a certain highly placed individual and their cronies in the recruitment industry.

When over-recruitment occurs it is easy to work out who will be cut out totally. When someone is recruited via the website application process there is no financial payoff, hence they are totally disposable.

Moves to emiratize the HR function fits with current policy (ensuring pats on the back for a job well done), but also lead to a situation where outsourcing of such a role can be justified due to a lack of competence within the organization, thereby providing the opportunity to cash in. A win-win situation.

The previous management at HCT just wasn't smart enough to take advantage.

Anonymous said...

So.... I guess this manager A is the new top HR guy, the local who claims he has a master's when in reality he only has a post grad certificate...?

Anonymous said...

A double win-win if said recruitment company is owned by the HCT individual or like consortium. Reminds me of Tubby's 'driving school' where you signed up for at least 20 lessons before trying and failing your driving test four or five times. Everyone's got their hands in the cash register. Talk about a Chinese laundry.

Anonymous said...

I hear that HCT teachers working on the Cert program in AD have been informed that there will be no work for them next academic year and that they should start making other plans work wise. Another source tells me this is just a ruse to get rid of expensive current teachers and bring in cheaper bodies.

Does anybody else have any news to share on this?

Anonymous said...

You're right Anon above. No work for THEM so they have to leave. But there is PLENTY of work for new and cheaper teachers!

Anonymous said...

I feel great sympathy for the victim in the original posting. According to my lawyer in the UAE you have excellent grounds to sue HCT for restitution and you can do it all from the comforts of your own home.

Mohamed Ahmed Al Hadrami
97150 666666782
mohamedalhadrami@gmail.com

HCT makes up its own rules as it goes along. That contract you signed was actually an offer letter which they call a contract even though it is not. Most of it is invisible unless you have password access to the terms and conditions on the HCT website. But since they insist it is a contract you can use that claim against them in a court of law. My lawyer already knows about your case and says you have one. In theory they owe you the salary and benefits you would have recieved for the duration of your "contract".

Anonymous said...

That phone number is wrong. Subtract two of the 6s.