Employment Details:

Company History:

ITS Tutorial School was founded by Danny Harrington and Gary Hadler in 2005. Between us we have over thirty years of extensive experience in education and private tuition services in Hong Kong and elsewhere.  By mid-2008 ITS was employing 6 full time tutors and 25 part time ones.  ITS is following a growth model and intends on opening up a range of centres in Hong Kong and elsewhere. The second is due to open for September 2008.

Following is a broad outline of the work and the conditions of employment and should be sufficient to give you an idea of whether or not you wish to apply. We recommend that you also do some pre-application research on Hong Kong and what it is like to live here. Some of our own opinions can be found here: http://www.tuition.com.hk/hong_kong.htm

Teaching:

Our students are mainly secondary school age and in full-time education either in Hong Kong or overseas (UK, US, Australia, Canada, New Zealand etc).  The majority of these students are seeking either an improvement in their exam grades, help with their school work or both. We do however also teach primary level and tertiary level students if their requirements can be met by our tutors.

ITS also teaches small groups of up to 4 students, usually for revision type classes.

We prepare students for a variety of examinations including IGCSE, GCSE, AS/A Levels, IB, HKCEE and a variety of other exams.  We also prepare students to sit entrance exams for independent schools in the UK and other countries.

ITS also provides tuition and support in other exam preparation such as Young Learners, IELTS, SATs etc.

ITS has recently branched out to teach adults in a variety of lifelong learning contexts.  In small groups, adults participate in language improvement classes and also prepare for exams such as TOEFL, IELTS and BULATS.  Individual tuition may also be arranged for adults when requested. ITS Corporate Training delivers a variety of communications and language courses for business needs.

Hours:

Teaching takes place at the school premises in Central, Hong Kong (and Kowloon from 2008).  Tutors are not required to travel to students’ homes.  The teaching day varies both between tutors and different times of the year.

Full Time: For the majority of the year lessons begin around 3.00 pm and go through to 8.00 pm.  On Saturday tutors work from 9.00 am to 6.00 pm.  During school holidays we are very busy as many students from overseas return to Hong Kong and enrol in extra holiday tuition.  Tutors can work a nine contact-hour day during school holiday periods, with an hour for lunch break.  Year round the average working week is 22 to 25 hours.

Even though lessons during the school term rarely begin before 3.00 pm, tutors are expected to be available for lessons if and when they do arise.

Part Time: Hours for part time tutors are completely negotiable between ITS and the individual tutor.

Salary Package:

The base pay is calculated on an average workload of 22 hours per week.  Attractive bonuses are paid for extra income generated beyond the average. This is calculated over a six month period and then paid six months in arrears i.e. at the end of the first year and every six months thereafter.

Part-timers are paid an hourly pro rata amount commensurate with the market.

Holidays:

Paid holidays accrue at one day per month worked.  Hong Kong also has 17 public holidays per year.  On these days tutors are not required to work but may choose to work on these days if there is a demand from students.  This is most likely during a school holiday period such as Easter, when there are a lot of overseas students who have returned to Hong Kong for term break and are taking extra lessons.

Holidays cannot be taken during ITS busy periods (school holidays).  

Length of contract:

Contracts are for at least one year.

Notice: ITS requires, at minimum, two months’ advance notice of resignation.  Tutors who break their contracts will not receive any outstanding bonus payments.

Contracts for tutors recruited internationally:

Terms and conditions of employment are broadly similar for tutors recruited locally and internationally. Internationally recruited tutors have the following additional conditions:

·          The bonus is paid in full at year’s end so please note that failure to complete the full year’s contract means no bonus at all.

·          An additional 5% of salary will be paid as a gratuity at the end of contract. This is useful for covering your miniscule tax bill on leaving the territory and having some spare cash at the end of your contract. However, failure to complete the contract will mean forfeiting this money.

Arriving and living in Hong Kong (For tutors recruited internationally):

ITS pays the return airfare on a one year contract. 

Accommodation is not provided by the company.  The company will help tutors find somewhere to live (if help is desired).  ITS will pay the first week for a tutor to reside at a guest house or provide some other suitable very short term accommodation while tutors find a place to rent. If accommodation is not found in this time then the company will continue to pay for the guesthouse while a flat is found but this additional payments will then be deducted from the first month’s salary.

Accommodation is very easy to find in Hong Kong.  New tutors should be aware that flats in Hong Kong are quite small.  It is standard when renting a flat in Hong Kong for tenants to pay two months' rent as a security bond and one month's rent in advance.  ITS will help new tutors with these up front charges if necessary.  It is usual for this assistance to take the form of a salary advance which will then be deducted directly from the tutor’s wages over the first six months.  A longer repayment period may be negotiated upon request.

A standard flat used by many tutors in Hong Kong would be approximately HK$4 – 6K per month without utilities.  Shared accommodation can be cheaper.

MPF:

Hong Kong has a Mandatory Provident Fund (retirement fund) scheme. Expatriate staff members are exempt for the first 13 months working but must join thereafter meaning a 5% deduction up to a maximum of $1000 per month. This is matched by an additional 5%/$1000 from the employer. Tutors are eligible to receive the money contributed to this scheme when they leave Hong Kong permanently and surrender their Hong Kong I.D. card. Obviously, tutors who only complete the initial one year contract are not concerned with this.

Contact us:

Any further questions please email us at: info@tuition.com.hk

Further information   About ITS

ITS Tutorial School
3rd Floor, Sun House, 181 Des Voeux Road Central
Hong Kong.  (Entrance on Wing Wo Street)
Tel: (852) 2116-3916 
Fax: (852) 2116-1675 or (852) 3186- 2425

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