I think if OP really wants her job, she shouldn't risk it, eventhough honestly - to push employees like this is not cool. If she is after principle and does not mind the idea of changing her job, may have another job in mind, I would try the system and not get the damn laptop. (but I have one tiny one and I love it, love bringing it to work to crack up my colleagues with funny vids and love planning my lessons using inet tools).
Ideally, it is this way. But in reality, private schools that have so many people fighting for teaching positions for posts that are not even really really well paid, that boss unfortunately knows what she is doing. I would buy the laptop (you might actually enjoy having one), otherwise this can really turn into a nightmare. Even if OP gets sacked, I doubt the real reason will be stated and words travel fast in this area, not so many international schools around. Plus one can only use RAV support after some time of working, we don't even know how supportive RAV would be in her area and case.
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Hold on a minute !!
Are you saying that Switzerland does not come under the European Human Rights act/Employment rights??
Every bone in my body says that Switzerland does abide by Employment regulations of the EU..
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Please correct me if I am wrong..
Thanks
Why are you still working for such a a*sehole of a school and head?
Oh and don't buy a mac to use with the smartboard. The software sucks. It is much better on the PC.
You're wrong. Switzerland isn't in the EU, and with the exception of discrimination based on gender which there are some regulations about, the basis of employment is a private contract between the employer and employee which can be fairly cancelled subject to the contract at any time. In Switzerland rules additional to the contract are relatively sparse. Also you're getting mixed up between human rights and civil rights. It's not a human rights violation to be forced to purchase a laptop for work use.
Anyway, don't chefs have to purchase knives, artists brushes and athletes trainers. Do any of these professions really turn up to work expecting for everything to be provided? A laptop really isn't specialist kit anymore - I'd expect employees to have a laptop, a suit and tie, a pen.... right?
Exactly. Some employers view the ability to be PC literate and use your own laptop as some kind of proof you are educating yourself on the job/technicalities/getting trained/making sacrifices...If OP masters the technology (which I know - it is not really about having your own laptop and boast about it around, most pc maniacs actually have a desk pcs, anyways, and don't need to boast with it), it will be much better for her career in the long span. Just learning another skill, etc. Some people hire only those having their own cars, the bosses do pay petrol but school provides inet hookups, too. I think these days, having your own laptop is a symbol of how advanced the employees are, rather than trucking and tracking around a few company laptops that get bugged all the time, the maintenance is not so easy either, since those thingies travel around, you need staff time, people steal them, etc.
I don't think it is quite as straightforward as some people are making this out to be.
A laptop - or any PC for that matter - used in a school environment comes under the attention of the IT department within that school. In order for the laptop to work within the school network usually a new account has to be set up along with the schools anti-virus of choice. This means altering the set-up of the laptop - something that the owner of the laptop may not be willing to do.
Then there are other issues. What happens if the laptop is damaged during school time? Who is liable for any damages? A school environment is very different from a business environment. What if specialist software is required? Who will pay for it?
Likening this to having a suit or a tie is being disingenuous. The laptop is required specifically for the purposes of one being able to do ones job. There is no alternative. For a school to demand that a teacher buys equipment to be used within the school environment is outrageous.
Sorry, still don't see it as different from having to buy a suit for work or for pupils to have to purchase school uniforms. And why does there have to be a bloody "IT department" every time anything more advanced than a pocket calculator enters the scene? Can't you just buy a laptop, installed Norton antivirus or something, and plug it in? It's a school not the Pentagon, I'm sure we don't need to employ a cadre of IT bods to do busy work so that a laptop can work with a smart board. Tools of the trade and all that.
I agree completely with you on this one. However teaching in 7 different schools without a single one not being in thrall to the IT department when it came to anything more complex than the aforementioned pocket calculator leads me to expect otherwise.
Also quite a lot of staff tend to not know their a*se from their elbow when it comes to IT.
Don'f forget you don't save the cost of the laptop - you only save the tax on the cost of a laptop.
We can be fired here, reason given as changing economic cicumstances, expected to work through our 2 months notice, given a mediocre reference and have no claim to compensation. We have few rights here, and the unions are very weak. In very sensitive cases you will not be expected to work your 2 months notice.
First of all, did you talk about it with the other teachers? What are they thinking? If you are the only one who is going against the majority, forget it, it will just be stress and pain for you.
But if you are a bunch of teachers thinking the same and going side by side, you may have something to fight for.
Please enlight me on their opinions!
so you take your laptop into school and infect all the schools computer with a virus you picked up while downloading the latest episode of "big bang theory" - whose to blame?
Work give me a laptop, its totally locked down, has the latest antivirus and internet protection software installed etc etc, and as a result runs like a dog.
My own laptop doesn't have any of this cr@p installed and runs like a dream, but there is no way I could ever attach it to anything at work.
A laptop isn't a tool of the trade, especially not for a teacher! even at college my lectures' didn't have laptops (and that was for an IT course).
It all boils down to how much you want to keep the job, fork out and keep your job, or don't and go on the rav.
Have they given you a spec for the laptop that you are excepted to buy?
If not, see if you can get a free one from somewhere circa. early 1990s and load it up with Windows 3.1.
We don't have an IT department.
If there's a problem with the computers, we're buggered.
We're teachers, not IT heads.
Furthermore, to get back on topic, teachers are employees, not freelancers: is a surgeon expected to bring his own scalpel to work? Is a factory worker expected to bring his own machinery? Teachers are right at the bottom of the food chain in schools and already cough up enough of their own cash for things like dice and science materials and so on. A computer is in a whole different league of spending.
To expect a teacher to provide her own laptop is ridiculous - but if the OP wishes to keep her job, she probably needs to buy one anyway.
I'm just glad I don't work for such a bunch of cowboys.
There's a whole myriad of things you can do to block it, screw them about, bug their systems, etc etc. At the end of the day you're either going to have to comply or accept that due to economic circumstances or due to restructuring your post have become redundant.
Economic upturn can quickly happen as can a re-restructure
It would be if they were to make you use Vista.
OK fine but can't the teacher "write it off their tax bill" or something....? Charlie R Soles?
Probably not, unless she was self employed
your assuming a teacher earns enough to have to file a tax return
I doubt many foreign teachers working in Switzerland ever get the pleasure of a tax bill: the nature of the job means that most are likely to be taxed at source for the duration of their stay.
We're like fruit pickers in smart sweaters.