Job Discussion Forums

[johntpartee]

This whole mess can be summed up in two sentences:

Foreigners don't have any rights in China.

Schools don't want teachers with cojones.

[Voldermort]

[johntpartee]

I wrote a letter to the president of this college detailing what happened at the last school, I provided him with the names of the FAO, the FAO's immediate supervisor and the other foreign teacher who was present at the meeting where we were told that the school would no longer honor the contract. I did an online search to find my colleague at the school. I found his e-mail address and gave it to the president of this college and I sent him a message. He replied and told me that he was still at the same school. I told him what I needed, i.e., to back me up on what transpired at the meeting. He hasn't replied; probably because he's still there and doesn't want to jeopardize his position. I also sent letters to the Chinese Embassy in Beijing. Before I returned I sent letters to the Chinese Embassies in Mexico City, Washington, D.C. and Houston trying to find out what my status was as far as being employable in China. I didn't receive a reply from any of them. When I went to the embassy in Mexico City I told them about leaving the school, they told me they didn't see any problems; since I got the Z visa from them, apparently there weren't any problems. The president told me he is translating my letter to give to the Entry/Exit Bureau and that he will also recommend that I be granted the permit. But, no, I haven't called on them in person.

[choudoufu]

ok, john......here's your problem!

jan 27

[johntpartee]

No, the Z visa I got for the first school was voided; the school that sponsored that one had a problem with their authorization to hire foreigners. I actually got TWO Z visas, I just didn't report that on here. The second visa was for this school.

[Mr. English]

Too late for this situation, but as a reference: In the process of getting my one and only Z visa in China, in 2007, when it came time to review and then sign the contract, I crossed out all the paragraphs that dealt with paying penalties for contract violations. I did this in both the English and Chinese versions. I do not read Chinese, but the paragraphs are easy enough to figure as they have numbers in them and are in the same order in both versions. I did this in a secretary's office. She then took the papers up to the headmaster's office (I never met the guy), who signed away no problem. Assuming you are in China with an informal email agreement already in place, I believe that the Chinese are at that point reluctant to lose you, and most likely such a maneuver will work. Can't make any guarantees of course, but most likely. I never had any trouble at the school, so I didn't need to rely on the contract for anything, but understand that there is nothing unenforceable about handwritten changes to typed contracts.

[johntpartee]

[Miles Smiles]