International School Community Blog

Oh, the bountiful benefits that foreign-hired teachers get!  You are treated like royalty in comparison to teachers that get hired locally. But these “royal” benefits often don’t last forever.  International schools across the globe have policies in place that say once you past a certain number of years working there (e.g. let’s say five years is the average), your foreign-hired benefits are over.

Now there is no need to worry if you leave before this change happens. But if you like the school and the city/country you are living in, you might find yourself getting nervous about this transition into locally hired status.

Eight Reasons International Hires Get Nervous When Turning Into a Local Hire

1. Good-bye to your annual or biennial flight benefit
The best part of going back home for a visit is not paying for that flight! Some schools just give you a set amount, others will buy your flight for you (in economy class, of course). Either way, you are not paying what could be upwards of EUR 1500 just to get back to your homeland every year. But the longer you stay in your host country, the more likely the school you are working at might think that your current country is your new home. If that is the belief, then that might be the reason international schools eventually take away this benefit.

2. No more extra payment each month that foreign-hires get
Some international schools give an extra payment to all foreign-hired staff each month. It is meant to be a marketing tool that schools use to attract quality foreign-hired teachers. You can get very used to receiving this extra payment in your salary each month. This extra money can be used as your rent money or your travel money. If you are clever, you will use this extra payment and put it into some type of investment (see Top 10 Tips to Build a Solid Retirement). After some time though, say goodbye to seeing this extra payment in your monthly pay-slip.

3. Now you need to move out of school housing and start paying your own rent
It is not always ideal to be living in school housing, but it is definitely ideal when your school is paying for your rent and part or all of your utilities. But as you gain more seniority at your school, the more and more new teachers arrive. Some schools will limit the number of years you can receive their housing allowance benefits (e.g. the new teachers require your school housing unit). As you near to the end of this wonderful benefit, it’s best to make a plan to if you are to continue renting somewhere else or maybe even buy some local property.

4. Leaving benefits go away or are diminished
It is nice to know that when you ultimately leave a school that they will help you with moving some of your things and buy your flight back to your home country. Locally hired staff often don’t get this benefit when they finally decide to move on, maybe to another international school for example. At some international schools, if you give enough notice before you decide to leave, they will let you continue to receive the leaving benefits. But at others, you will be on your own when you finally decide to leave after you become a local hire.

5. You slowly turn into the locally hired teachers that you maybe scoffed at when you first arrived
You probably said to yourself, I’ll never be like them. Foreign-hired teachers often get too comfortable in their status as foreign-hired and think they’re on the top of the world.  They look at locally hired teachers and think “why would anyone ever want to be locally hired!?” Meaning that if you are locally hired, you don’t get all those extra benefits. But after some time, foreign-hired teachers slowly are turning into one of them. It is not all that bad being on a local contract, and many, if not all, teachers will survive that transition.

6. You start to take part in some low staff morale thoughts
When you are losing some benefits, even though you have put in years and years of effort to do the best at your job, it doesn’t feel good inside. It is confusing to be losing money as you gain seniority at your school, a bit disheartening. Your professionalism will be tested during this transition, but typically it won’t be that damaging. Nice though to talk with other teachers at your school that have recently gone through that same transition into locally hired status to get their advice.  The loss in benefits might not be as dramatic as you are obsessing about.

7. Am I going to stay here forever (like 30+ years)!?
You never know when you will move on to another international school. Many SISTs (see Top 10 Character Traits of a Seasoned International School Teachers) will changes schools every 2-5 years. Once you get to six years of working at a school, you are definitely turning into more of a local hire. Other teachers with locally hired status at your school have been there maybe 10, 20, or even 30+ years!  It can be a bit nerve-wracking to think that you will never work at another international school in the world. There are so many countries to live in and schools to work at!

8. Will I have to pay full tuition to have my children attend my school?
One of the best benefits for teachers with children is that you typically don’t have to pay for tuition (if your want your children to attend the international school you are currently working at). Often this benefit is that the school will pay for 90-100% of your children’s tuition. At some international schools, tuition costs parents and companies 10s of 1000s of EUR a year. Locally hired teachers don’t regularly receive this same benefit for their children. They might receive a reduced rate of 50% if they are lucky, but many do not receive any financial support for their children’s tuition.

Of course, many say that international schools should just give equal benefits and equal pay for all teachers at their school, regardless of whether they were foreign hired or not. It doesn’t create the best school climate anyway. But this concern of wanting to save money wherever possible, the “tradition” of having this disparity will continue in many international schools all over the world.

This Journey to School article was submitted to us by guest author and International School Community member. If you would like to submit an article as a guest author, email us here. All guest authors receive six months of premium membership to our website!