Job Discussion Forums

[Exp_China]

I'm nearing the end of my contract in China, however after asking for reimbursement of my flight ticket. The head of the school is not willing to pay it and not willing to discuss.

As far as I know I've done my job properly and there has been no problems. I will be seeing my contract to the end and then go.

This was written in the contract appendix:

III. Other Terms

1. If Party A cancels the contract under the conditions stated in the Contract, Party A will not pay the round-way plane ticket reimbursement and traveling allowance for Party B.

There are no problems with my conditions. As everything is good.

Asked a Lawyer for advice, and they said the school should pay, but they advised me not to ask Lawyers because it means I would pay them more than what the flight ticket would cost. However they were willing to write the school a letter. The foreign office cannot do much either apart from speak to the person in charge of the school.

What should I do next? Anyone have any advice?

Thanks.

[7969]

Do you have a residence permit in your passport? Are you working legally? Do you have any receipts for your air ticket? Are they willing to pay anything or nothing at all?

This happened to me some years ago. Classes ended in mid June but the contract expired in mid July, and the school didn't want to pay the final month of salary or the air ticket.

There are two approaches to this problem.

1. You calmly and politely meet with the FAO and explain what the contract means to you and what you expect. You've fulfilled your duties and held up your end and you expect this school to do the same. Emphasize how you enjoyed your time there but that you must move on and to do so you really need the money you have earned. If this doesn't work, speak to someone else. Enlist the help of a Chinese teacher if you know any and if they're willing they can maybe discuss or help you out in some way. Be persistent. Phone the FAO, arrange a meeting with them. If they're "not available" find out when they are available and meet them whenever. Meet several times if necessary, don't take excuses and give up too soon. This is the approach I used and in the end it worked - I got the salary and the money for the plane ticket. The asst FAO did tell me that if I wanted the salary for the month I wasn't working I'd have to hold some kind of class for the Chinese English teachers through July. I agreed, knowing that he was probably bluffing. The bluff was confirmed when I asked for the timetable and any material I would need and none of it ever materialized and within two weeks of being told I wouldn't be paid, I got the money and left the school.

2. The second approach is the one my colleague took. He did what he did all year long when faced with a problem - he flew off the handle, threatened right away to go to the office in the city that dealt with foreign expert problems, and he got right in the face of the FAO about all of it. He also got most of the money he was due but he waited nearly a month for it and they stuck him with a massive utility bill that he had to pay before he was finally paid. In my final conversation with that FAO she referred to this colleague as "a savage." Apparently at his school welcoming dinner he ate all the meat on the table.

In the end, if it looks hopeless then you can tell the school about websites like this one. A place where you'll be sure to post your experiences including the name of the school and the FAO and that you'll do your best to ensure they never get another foreign teacher again. This is a last resort but it might get them to pay you.

[dean_a_jones]

I would avoid handing back any results/exams/papers and submitting final marks until the situation is resovled. Not that you shouldn't do the work, but I would not submit it until you have sorted this out. Once you let go of that, you have no leverage.

I would go with the calm but firm approach. Make meetings and if they won't be pencilled in, just show up. Explain the problem clearly, and have a copy of you contract with you. Point out what they owe, and then what they will owe if they breach the contract. Demand that they meet their contractual obligations. Explain to them that you have done a professional job and worked hard for them all year and you expect them to uphold their side of the deal.

This assumes you are above board, rather than working on the wrong visa. Either way you can argue with the school over the issue, but if on the wrong visa threats from lawyers or threatening to escalate or accuse them of a contract breach becomes a bit of a moot point.

Are you staying in China next year? Do you need a release letter from this school?

[The Great Wall of Whiner]

I had this happen to me once, and this is what I said:

"Hello. If you do not honour the contract and pay for the flight, I will contact the foreigner affairs office in Beijing and inform them that a company has stranded a foreigner in China because they have refused to pay for their flight home. Then I will contact my home embassy and report this as a warning to future teachers coming to this school. Then I will post on job websites that your school should not be trusted because of this dishonouring of the contract."

I got the money promised not long after that.

Keep in mind that even if you do not have a legal Z-visa or are here illegally somehow, you can still contact the foreigner affairs office in Beijing and tell them you are stranded here because of your school. You will probably get in some sort of trouble, but the school will be told to pay for your deportation flight home at least, as long as you have proof you worked for them for a year and that they invited you and told you to work illegally.

[Miles Smiles]

Find out where the Bureau of Foreign Experts is located and walk in at about 9:00 with a copy of your contract, your FEC and your passport and tell them the problem. Don't call. Don't write a letter. Just go there and surprise them. Otherwise, they'll just put you off.

I experienced a major breech of my contract twice last year and that's what I did. Nobody likes that approach, but sometimes you have to put your face in theirs and stand up and bark.

[johntpartee]

[voltaire]

Break their windows.

[Exp_China]

Thanks for the info guys. Although I have missed a few things out from my first post.

The school is willing to pay me 1000 yuan travel money and thats it. I have already gone past the discussion stage with the headmaster and she just told me simply to just 'do one'. She said she dosen't care about the contract anymore and says that I'm the one causing her troubles for leaving after 1 year. (This is how she see's it).

Secondly, although i was born and brought up in the UK, I also have a form of Chinese ID which allows me to stay in China for as long as I want, therefore not needing a VISA (Not needing a VISA seems to have given me a disadvantage).

I don't need any references because this term will be my last in China, after teaching for 2 years in 2 different schools. It's time to go home.

From what I have read here, the general consensus is, i can't do anything about it. The Foreign Affairs Office contacted the school, and they can only say what I said and nothing else. My last option is to ask a lawyer to send a letter to the headmaster and hope for the best because I can't take this any further.

[Exp_China]

[therock]

Did you asked why they don't want to pay? There has to be a reason why they are refusing to pay.

Are you planning on staying in China and working at another school? If so, the best approach is just keep asking and being persistent. If you are leaving China, not much you can do, the school knows your residence permit or visa will expire soon after the contract, they can just buy their time.

[Exp_China]

[therock]

Sounds like you are been hired as a local teacher, especially if you have the ID card. Best bet is to find out if there is a labour disputes office that deals with problems like this.

[dean_a_jones]

It sounds like they know they have one over on you and don't mind acting like complete [insert choice term].

It might be worth just stopping going to class until they are willing to deal with the contract (especially if they pay at the end of the month are you just got your May salary). Tell them you don't see why you should continue to do any work if they are unwilling to respect the contract.

You said it is located inside another school (a university I assume?). If so, perhaps someone higher up at the larger institution can help.

I don't understand what your unusual situation means in regards to being legally employed but not on a foreign passport. Does this in effect make you a Chinese teacher rather than a 'foreign teacher/expert'? If so that might mean options suggested like the local bureau may not actually work. It sounds like it gives you more freedom to come and go as you please but it might also mean they think they can screw you over a little easier. As suggested perhaps there is a mechanism for locals and their disputes, though imagine this would not be a quick or easy process.

You might find in the end just ditching them is the best option. As I said earlier I certainly wouldn't be giving them all they want while still asking for them to be fair. If I knew for certain I was going to be screwed I certainly wouldn't be giving the school anything in return in terms of effort or work. Sucks for the students but in the end if you keep pleasing them nothing is likely to change.

[Exp_China]

Maybe, although I don't speak any Mandarin and my ID card I have is not the same as the locals. I cannot use my ID to go to internet cafe's or setup internet banking. However using a British passport can.

[Exp_China]

I don't want to stop teaching now simply because I don't have long left anyway. Mid June and thats it. The student's are great, and I don't want to let them down, because they've helped me with local things and great to teach (IG level)

The schools located inside the grounds of a high school. I'm supposedly hired as a foreign teacher a long with the other 3 that are here. The process has been the same and there I was thinking I was helping them save money by not getting a VISA.

1 has been living in China for 10 years, so dosen't need a reimbursement. The other 2 wanted and got there flight ticket posted to them, so they have no troubles either.

I must admit, everything else in the school, i've had no problems with.

Thanks for your advice.