I was very surprised and sorry to hear that you preferred to disregard the contract, but I accept your decision that there is presently no legal relationship between us.

Fay, I really, really wouldn't say this. You don't know where this situation is going to go. This sentence here could plausibly negate any rights you do have to what you were promised.

If this is the case, we need to resolve our present situation as soon as possible. I regret that I am unable to sign any new ‘standard’ contract with The Evil School, since you tell me that this would prevent me from working elsewhere in Cairo. I would be more than happy, however, to honour the contract that I signed with you last year if you would care to sign your copy. This would mean that I would be legally obliged to continue teaching, write reports, attend parents’ meetings and fulfil all the other reasonable teaching duties expected of staff. It would also give me the security of knowing that I would receive my salary in full at the end of my contract.

This is an excellent addition, however.

Fay, I really, really wouldn't say this. You don't know where this situation is going to go. This sentence here could plausibly negate any rights you do have to what you were promised.

Yeah, Fay, as glorious as your sharply worded ire is, from a legal standpoint, the less you commit to paper the better. This might be the letter you write and don't send.

There's a shorter and simpler letter to send if you don't get paid.

I would definitely relay your situation to the parent who has removed her children from the school. From a strategic POV you want to marshall your support before things explode.

Fay, if you'll indulge me for a moment, might I suggest the following? Roughly:

Dear Mr Evil Boss,

Thank you for your memo of 16th May.

I understand that you have decided against ratifying the contract that I signed last year, and that thus you presently consider there to be no contract of employment between The Evil School of Evil Town and myself. I was very surprised and sorry to hear that you preferred to disregard the contract.

Having neglected to sign the contract, it appears that you no longer consider that you have any legal obligation to continue paying my salary, the money for the initial two months of my work for The Evil School, which was held back on the understanding that it would be paid at the end of the contract, or to provide the return ticket as outlined in the contract. Since I and Evil School have both acted in good faith in fulfilling the terms of the contract up until this point, I do not belive this to be this to be the case. Howver, if indeed there were no legal relationship between Evil School and myself, I would then have no legal obligation to continue to teach the Year 3 class I have been working with for the past year, and no obligation to carry out assessments of their ability, level their work, prepare lessons, write reports or attend parents’ meetings.

Obviously, this situation is not satisfacory to anyone, and it was my full intention to do all of the above. Clearly we need to resolve our present situation as soon as possible.

I do thank you for your offer of a new ‘standard’ contract to cover the remainder of this year, and the offer of a renewal of said contract to cover next year, and I appreciate this vote of confidence in my teaching.

As I indicated to you prior to the memo, I have accepted an offer from another employer. Following your memo I visited the British Embassy, consulted a lawyer and signed a legally binding contract with the new Hopefully Better School. Since you tell me that this would prevent me from working elsewhere in Cairo, I am unable to sign any new ‘standard’ contract with The Evil School.

I would be more than happy, however, to honour the contract that I signed with you last year if you would care to sign your copy. This would mean that I would be legally obliged to continue teaching, write reports, attend parents’ meetings and fulfil all the other reasonable teaching duties expected of staff. It would also give me the security of knowing that I would receive my salary in full at the end of my contract.

Alternatively I would be open to the idea of signing a short term contract specifically drawn up to cover the period between now and the end of term, provided that this contract included or was equivalent to the salary for August and September of 2003 as well as June and July 2005.

I have financial commitments to meet, and following your memo I have no confidence that I shall be able to meet them. I love my class and I hate the idea of placing them or any of my colleagues in a difficult position. I should be very sorry to have to leave precipitously, but I cannot afford to work for free. Nor do I wish to work illegally.

I very much hope that we can come to a mutually beneficial agreement that will enable me to teach my class until the end of June, and I wish you good luck with recruiting staff for next year.

Yours sincerely,

FayJay MA (Hons), AIEC

Fay, chiming in with Brenda, Hec, and Betsy.

In fact, I think I'd want all that reworded in the "You refuse to honor your obligation to..." and put the whole thing in a framework of: "Despite the fact that you failed to uphold your obligation to sign the contract with which you presented me, and which I signed in a timely manner and have been upholding for X months"

In other words, I would frame the whole discussion as "We had a deal. I've been abiding that deal. Now that we've come to then end of the deal by which we've been abiding for X months, you are renegging."

Cool.

Cheers, Brenda!

eta

Whoops! And Cindy. And Hec, and everyone else. Very much appreciated.

Will try hard to remain rational.

Will try hard to remain rational.

Failing that, feel free to stab him in the head with a letter opener. But only when nobody's looking and he's standing in front of a cement mixer about to pour the foundation for a new soccer stadium.

Fay, everyone has been giving good advice, but I would find out what law actually applies in this situation. If it's British, then you head down one path, and if it's Egyptian, you head down a very different path.

You may not even need to write a letter at all.

That being said....

I would be more than happy, however, to honour the contract that I signed with you last year if you would care to sign your copy.

Don't say this, because it implies that you haven't honored the contract. It may create more problems for you in the long run, In the U.S., contract law is based on 3 precepts: promise, consideration and performance. This doesn't fall under any exceptions to the "must have a signed contract at all costs" rules. He has been providing you with consideration (your paycheck) given your performance of the terms of the contract based on the initial promise. He's implied his acceptance of the contract. In theory (because I have no idea of what law applies, nor the factual entirety of the situation), he's well and truly screwed.

FWIW, Fay, I think he's going to pay you because he's more ineptly passive-aggressive than machiavellian aggressive-aggressive. He's a bully and an ass, and making baseless threats is pretty much his game.

Egyptian law, afaiu, only applies to contracts that are written in Arabic. And there are a whole array of Egyptian employment laws that he's cheerfully disregarding already, so I'm guessing that it'd be British contract law/employment law that would be relevant. Maybe.

I would be more than happy, however, to continue to honour the contract that I signed with you last year if you would care to sign your copy.

Better?

Golden Grahams:

Congratulations, Betsy! I hope the new position is all that you deserve (which is, to say, fabulous).