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contract/visa question

 
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jclarke



Joined: 17 Mar 2012
Posts: 1

PostPosted: Fri Oct 26, 2012 11:53 am    Post subject: contract/visa question Reply with quote

Greetings,

I am currently having some difficulties with my school and I was looking for some advice/direction with regards to following up with concerns I have.

1. I have had deductions from my most recent pay for all the additional charges related to obtaining my visa/work permit/residence card. Lots of processing charges titled: "degree", "police record", "affidavit", "authenticated", "landing visa". The contract is as ambiguous as the next- the school pays for the "visa/work permit/residence". I recently read a post about the legal obligations of employer and employee, and I was curious if anyone could speak from experience about challenging the employers interpretation that they pay for the visa, and the employee pays for all the processing charges.

2.. Is the work permit, by current law, the explicit property of the teacher? My school holds on to them and gives teachers a photocopy. My understanding from a recent post is that it is the sole property of the employee. I read somewhere that there was a 2011 update to the labour law and wanted a little more information before I bust in demanding they give me the original.

3. Could anyone recommend a lawyer, preferably a labour lawyer, that speaks English, and would be an effective advocate for a group of interested teachers.

Thank you.
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H5N1



Joined: 15 Feb 2005
Posts: 80

PostPosted: Fri Oct 26, 2012 12:05 pm    Post subject: Re: contract/visa question Reply with quote

jclarke wrote:
Greetings,

I am currently having some difficulties with my school and I was looking for some advice/direction with regards to following up with concerns I have.

1. I have had deductions from my most recent pay for all the additional charges related to obtaining my visa/work permit/residence card. Lots of processing charges titled: "degree", "police record", "affidavit", "authenticated", "landing visa".


1. By law, the employer/school is obligated to pay ALL costs of this.

I will google later and try to post the law.

2. I have NEVER heard of any school making the teacher pay for these costs. The schools does everything *except* for the home-country police clearance that is done back in the teacher's native country.


Quote:
The contract is as ambiguous


1. If a contract is ambiguous do not sign it.

2. Contracts in Vietnam are not worth the paper they are printed on.

Quote:
Is the work permit, by current law, the explicit property of the teacher? My school holds on to them and gives teachers a photocopy. My understanding from a recent post is that it is the sole property of the employee. I read somewhere that there was a 2011 update to the labour law and wanted a little more information before I bust in demanding they give me the original.


Your question is a fair one. It has been discussed for 6 years and still, no one knows the answer. Even local and foreign lawyers are not sure.

It's a scam. It's a charade.

Why even waste your time getting a work permit, when it is only valid at one school. And this is a school, that is often dysfunctional and incompetent.

You should name the city and school you work for.

They sound like not only a place to avoid, but they sound like criminals.
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TRH



Joined: 27 Oct 2011
Posts: 340
Location: Hawaii

PostPosted: Sat Oct 27, 2012 1:20 pm    Post subject: Link Reply with quote

I think that I got this link on this forum but I can no longer find the original post by search.

http://www.vietnamlaws.com/home.aspx

For a stunning $900 (AU?) per year you can subscribe to their online database but the newsletter seems to be free. One article, in August 2012, describes recent changes in the work permit law. One change is from maximum three years to two. Of course I did not pay the $900 to read the whole law but I have the impression from the newsletter article that the work permit implies certain contractual obligations by the school, such as early severance pay. Even though this would be practically unenforceable for a foreigner, it may be part of why a lot of schools do not want to have permits.

(I re-posted this here as I mistakenly first posted it as a new thread.) Embarassed
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Oh My God



Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 273

PostPosted: Sat Oct 27, 2012 9:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Can't sleep, so I thought maybe this might help you.http://www.pwc.com/vn/en/publications/news-brief.jhtml
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