Breaking contract for an offer you really want - issues?

[Pluke]

Was offered a contract with a school that was in a region not on my radar. At the same time I was already a top candidate for a position in Europe that was really terrific but it looked like a long shot.

The contract I signed states that if I break it I will lose a few thousand dollars of the signing bonus. I negotiated this position and contract and found it outwith my recruiting service. This major recruiting service (think ISS or Search, etc) did not help me find the position I signed the contract for at all. The European position that I really wanted MIGHT now have a spot for me after all.

Was wondering what the possible ramifications might be if I took the European position after already signing a contract for another school for next year? From what I read of the contract and had a lawyer friend read I would just forfeit the bonus.

I realize people do this all the time. I do not like to go back on contracts or my word in general but life is short so what would be the best move?

[wrldtrvlr123]

Tough call. Best case, nothing happens. You take the better job, break the bad news to the runner up and live happily ever after. Worst case, jilted school raises a fuss, it gets back to your preferred school, they withdraw their offer and you are left with nothing. Or possibly something in between where there is some rancor but you still end up with the better job/school.

Factors that could sway the outcome. Are both school members of the same recruiting service? If so and the jilted school takes grave offense and reports you to the recruiting service, then the better school could get wind of it and be more likely to have second thoughts.

What would you plan on telling the jilted school? While I am generally a fan honesty, this might be a time where a lie would serve better. Something like family obligations/emergency prohibit you from taking the position and moving abroad at this time might mollify the jilted school or at least save face. Then again a lie that is later discovered could end up being more harmful than a painful truth now. Without knowing the details there are just too many variable to make accurate predictions.

I'm sure others will have further opinions/advice.

[PsyGuy]

Well your going to lose everything if you break contract. If they advanced you a bonus at hire, they will want that back, though they would have a hard time enforcing it. They would have to serve you, get a judgement, then domesticate the judgement, then enforce their judgement. It would probably cost them more than the advance.

Are you repped by a premium agency and is the original IS repped by the agency? If the answer is no, there isnt anything to worry about. If the answer is yes, then is your new IS repped by the agency. If no then there is nothing to worry about. If yes, then the agency and your new IS could find out you broke contract. They may not care, they may care a lot. If they care they could rescind your contract. The original IS could rescind your contract as well. The more connections in that web the more likely you are to have a problem. The fewer connections, the less you have to worry.

If the agency finds out you will likely be dropped, and they wont consider you as a candidate for a couple years. In addition you will still be responsible for the placement fee. Why you or anyone would pay it if they are going to drop you is inconceivable. They could however go after you for it, but again it will cost them more to do so then they would recover.
It doesnt matter to SA/ISS how you found the position or how you got it whether inside or outside the agency. They repp you, and if a repped IS contracts with you they expect their fee and your compliance with your agreement.

I would wait until the EU IS actually has an appointment or offer for you. Then you have to look at the connections between you, the agency and the ISs and then determine your level of risk. If there are a lot of connections and you have a low tolerance for going bust, then you might have to sigh, and wait until next time. If they were impressed with you once your likely marketable again.
If there are few or no connections or your a maximizer then you go for it, and hope you have enough karma in the cosmic bank of luck.

If you go for it, how you spin the story is going to matter. Contact the original IS and tell them that you have a family or medical crises with you or a member of your family. Your kids dont want to go, the spouse/boyfriend/girlfriend threatened to divorce/leave you, the gold fish died, you have cancer, custody issues, an ailing parent, death in the family and your the executor, you were diagnosed with HIV. Tell them youd really like to maintain your work agreement with them, but you wont be able to arrive as originally scheduled and dont know when that will be and you would understand if they wanted to look for someone else. Then wait for them to withdraw the contract, ensure them you will reciprocate the advance. Now your free to recruit again (the IS rescinded the contract not you). Accept the new offer, and if anything happens, explain that your prognosis improved, the gold fish was just sleeping, the diagnosis was in error, the spouse/significant other didnt have issues with Europe, people die you have to move on and you need a job despite having to work through all the grief, etc. If pushed further, claim accurately that you had wanted to stay with the original IS and wanted to work with them but they rescinded the offer not you, and had they continued to work with you there wouldnt be an issue.
You just have to spin it right. There are other approaches like the Prima Donna, the long silence. the paperwork, etc.

[clio]

"I do not like to go back on contracts or my word in general but life is short..." Gone seems to be the notion that one's word means much of anything with sentiments like that. Grab what you can now because you could be dead soon? And the advice proffered by fellow teachers is also ethically questionable. Lie because you don't have the guts to be honest?
Do you permit students the same sort of latitude?

[PsyGuy]

@clio

Are you expecting a visit from Diogenes? Are you looking for stones to throw? Checked for glass houses nearby?

Theres nothing ethically questionable about it, its deception, its pretty clear cut in regards to absolutism. I like to leave the absolutes to angels, demons, philosophers and the naive.

Do students need permission to be dishonest? My permission wouldnt make much difference, if they are going to lie it would defeat the purpose of having permission in the first place.

Teacher: Where is your homework?
Student: Do I have to tell the truth?
Teacher: No
Student: Okay my gold fish ate it.
Teacher: Okay you have to tell the truth.
Student: Okay my cat ate it.

[shadowjack]

You landed what seems like a decent job. And they paid you a bonus. Now you want to back out because you *MIGHT* be on someone's radar. Might. Worst case. You end up with neither job. And don't believe PG about they won't come after you for the money. You are liable to pay it back. It was paid with the intent that you come work at that school. Not paying it back and not coming to work at that school is called theft.

Best case scenario - you walk away with advance/bonus and the new job. But if I caught wind of it and I was looking to hire, you would go on my never hire list. If you'd do it to one school, you'd do it to another. Honestly, if you wanted the European job, you should have gone for it and turned down other offers. But you didn't.

Sorry, you don't have my sympathy. Everything is not relative, and you signed a contract in good faith.

[PsyGuy]

@SJ

Its not theft, no more then not paying a loan or credit card is.

The LW didnt have the option of the EU position, and its still tentative. There wasnt a choice to be made at the time they executed the contract.

Everything is perception.

[shadowjack]

PG - if you take a job, to me, you take a job. You have given your word, especially when a signing bonus has already been paid.

If you wanted a "better" school in Europe, you should have said no.

End of story.

And keeping the money IS stealing. You can try to use logic and rationalize all you want, but taking money to do something and then NOT doing it and not paying it back is theft, pure and simple.

[Pluke]

I wanted to be perfectly clear that I would never keep the bonus money. If I happen to get the other offer I will of course return the bonus money. There is no way I would do that to the school who has been nice enough to give me an offer with a bonus.

Clio: You are right. However I must think of my future and the other offer would work better. I genuinely feel awful about contemplating this but it is a once in a lifetime dream job that would change my life.

I appreciate all of the advice here so thank you Psyguy, Shadowjack and wrldtrvlr.

Just to clear things up I did not get my current job nor the new contract offer from the recruiter I am repped by. I did however get the lead for the new school (the one I really want) via my recruiter.

It is a longshot that I will even be offered the dream job at this point. I am content though in honoring the contract I signed and am grateful for the opportunity. The dream job would be life changing though and I applied to it before my contract was offered and also started the interview process before the contract was signed as well. I felt like I needed to take the contract on offer though as it was a great deal.

If offered a contract from the dream job do I tell them I already accepted a contract with the other school or just keep mum about that fact? Will my recruiting agency find out I had to bail on this other contract? If so how do they handle that? Again I am more than willing to forego the bonus and of course I would at least be honorable enough to give that back.

Any extra advice on what to do IF I do somehow end up getting the dream job offer would be great. I already have some idea from the above posts about how to handle the situation. Definitely not an ideal situation to be in so I am almost hoping the dream job does not come through.

[global_nomad]

This is, indeed, a tough call. However, (and I know you probably don't want to hear this) I agree with Wrldtrvlr123, Clio, and Shad on this. Your word is important and that is why it is crucial to only accept a job if you are prepared 100% to commit to it. All of us take the chance on another "better" job popping up after committing to another. If you jilt the first school, and they decide to contact the school you end up going to (assuming they are able to discover where you went), the second school could pull their offer (not saying they will, but they could). If I were you, I'd honor the first job for the length of the initial contract, chalk it up to a learning experience, and go all in on a European job next time. There are certain career international educators who never rise above Tier 2 and 3 schools and while a lot of them brag that they are "fine" with it (or list a variety of excuses), it's stunts like this that can derail the move to consistent employment in Tier 1s.

Just saw your latest response- If you do eventually get the offer from the dream school, just a simple "I accepted an offer from another school. Thank you for your interest" would suffice. Personally, if I were you, and you decide that you will go the first school, I'd immediately contact the dream school to take yourself out of consideration. No use wasting their time and they'll respect you more (and perhaps consider you again in the future).

[shadowjack]

One other thing to consider is whether your rep finds out that you were playing him. Search is clear that once you have accepted a post you need to let your rep know and they suspend your access until the next recruiting cycle for you.

Good luck with whatever you choose - personally, I stand by my original statements. If you had wanted Europe, you should have gone all in on Europe.

Shad

[PsyGuy]

@Pluke

I already addressed your recent inquiries in my previous response. To summarize it depends on the connections, which it appears there are connections between you, the agency and both the current IS and the dream IS.

Worst case scenario: Both ISs and your associate/consultant/agent find out. The agency drops you as a client, and they demand you pay the recruiting fee (if you sign with both ISs, they could technically demand fees for both ISs). Both ISs rescind their contracts and offers, though in that case you likely can keep the advance, since the IS not you breached the employment contract, as the contract between you and the agency is a separate and independent agreement. Not the end of the world, but this is a dream opportunity, if you cant take a risk for your dream, maybe you should get a new dream.

Your case has a slight kink that makes it doable. If you sign with the EU IS its very likely based in either law or union regulation that the WE IS would not be able to rescind or withdraw the contract once its executed by both parties even if they do find out you were already under contract. Basically, there is no requirement/exception that you are a slave to your current contract. You can give notice and go work for someone else. The possible kink int hat scenario is the dream IS might have a clause or term that you are certifying you are not currently under contract (which if you resign before signing the dream IS contract you arent). Your agency, recruiter and probably some other ramifications may happen, but if its truly your "dream" appointment then much like DoDDS, who cares what everyone else thinks if it would be your last recruiting cycle in your career, and your plan would be to retire out, or at least wait a long time.

Despite @SJ and @global_nomad, integrity and an empty sack is worth an empty sack. Life is only suffering if you want it to be. Good or bad we all end up in heaven, some just take the more painful and depressing route of getting there.

[expatscot]

Sometimes a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

You have an offer from a school, confirmed and signed. On the other hand, you have the possibility that maybe the "dream school" could potentially have a position which you might be considered for.

Read that second sentence carefully.

Do nothing until any offer from the EU school is confirmed and in writing. Then consider the risks.

Personally, I'd be pissed off, but I'd stick with the original offer with a word to the EU school that because I have signed a contract elsewhere I'm unable to join as I have to honour the contract signed, however if the post comes up in a couple of years please let me know as I remain interested. That way, you come out with a job, your current school gets the teacher it recruited, the EU school has been let down gently.

[PsyGuy]

@expatscot

Some of us go to the market and by our bird butchered, de-feathered and pre-packaged.

@Pluke

I would concur though that you should wait until you have two ACTUAL competing offers and not just a potential offer vs. an actual offer.

[newcounsel]

I've been reading everyone comments and its making me second guess what I would do if I were in your position. What I would encourage you to do is follow your dream offer. The key word its your dream not any one else. You not want to wait another two years or more to possibly get the job. Inform the other school in a timely manner and everything will work out . Good luck