question about contracts

hi, i am an immigrant nurse..

i have a question about my contract.. my agency is based in philly but i work in california. The agency petitioned for me here.. now before i signed with them, they agreed to a higher rate (i have the email from the contact person agreeing to this rate), but when i was about to start, they did not want to honor the agreed upon rate.. since i have no choice, i compromised, but then i was promised that after my orientation, my rate would be changed to the original one that was promised.. now when i email my contact person, he does not respond and i have been out of orientation for the last 3 months..

can anybody tell me my options? all i want is what was promised me.. i know contracts aren't valid in california, or so i have heard.. but what if my contract is in philadelphia? what are my options?

i like the place where i work.. but i absolutely hate my agency.. i have a two year contract with them, so far, 6 months has passed..

advise please??

thanks!!!

Contracts are valid, but you are working for an agency that is not based in CA. Your issue that you have to deal with, is that an e-mail from a recruiter is not a binding, and you should never have signed the original contract based on what they told you. They do not have permission to grant anything other than what was in the original contract that you signed. Same thing for Americans when they sign a contract. It must be in the document that you signed and was signed by the Administrators.

You have another 18 months to honor of your contract.

really? can't i sue them for breach.. i have a copy of the email confirming the increase in rate.. isn't that binding? darn... the agency is global nursing solutions..

for those who don't have contracts.. go to the hospital and apply directly.. i don't think there are any good agencies out there

Again, the e-mail means nothing, it was not in the priginal contract. An e-mail by a recruiter does not need to be honored by a company. I keep stating it over and over here. If it was not actually in the contract that you agreed to and signed, then there is no breach. You signed it.

ei whats that collective bargaining agreement? Can't she just buy herself out of her agency?

kimmykng, did you find your agency in your country or in the Internet?

She signed contract with an agency. Trying to buy yourself out of contracts, because you signed it in the first place is not a thing to get into the habit of doing. It has gotten completely out of hand, and there are many hospitals in the US, and particularly in the LA area, that will not even consider a petition, and especially one from someone from the Philippines because of this.

You need to honor your commitment, unless your assignment is dangerous, or your personal safety is involved, you need to honor it. That is also why many have raised their buy-out rates to over $36,000. Just because of this.

If you are not sure about a contract, have a lawyer look it over. You would not purchase a house without doing the same, why should you do it with your life?

an e-mail signed by a recruiter means absolutely nothing. it is not legally binding. anything must be in the contract that was signed. the recruiter does not have the authority to make decisions loke that on behalf of the company.

please remember that.