Job Discussion Forums

[whatevs]

Apologies in advance if this has been covered a zillion times already. I admit that I don't have enough time or energy to pour through lots of old posts. But anyway I met a young woman recently who is really being screwed over by her job. She wants to change jobs and doesn't know how to go about it really, aside from the applying part. She's averse to these boards so I told her I'd reach out on her behalf. The questions seem to be,

1. How likely is it that she can change without going back to her home country?
2. If she were to just 'do a runner' would her visa be effectively cancelled? could she come back as a tourist no problem?
3. Some countries have hotlines or offices set up to answer questions about rules and rights for foreign workers, is there anything like that here?

I'm sure there are more questions and people more knowledgeable than me will know the issues at the core of something like this, so please post if you get the drift and have knowledge to share. Thanks!

[Miles Smiles]

First, she should check to see if the school's actions actually violate her contract.

Second, she may want to work something out with her employer and somehow establish a record that she has tried to settle the problem, should she take the problem much farther up the pipeline.

Now comes the scary part:

She will have to make a decision whether to contact the Bureau of Foreign Experts in her city to sort things out and either remedy the problem or get an early release from her contractual obligations. It's scary because the situation can backfire, depending upon the problem. The BFE may not be very receptive to her complaint and the boss/FAO may lie through his teeth. In my one similar case, the BFE was receptive and got the FAO to get back on track. (Sort of). By this time, the FAO realized that I was fed up with the situation of being lied to, its unwillingness to remedy the situation; it also realized that I lost all trust in the school and that i would probably ask for an early termination.

I didn't ask for an early termination. I decided to go job hunting in the city I was working in. I found a school that was very happy to hire me at a much better rate of pay. To make a long story short, word got back to my employer that I was looking for another job, and that I would jump ship ASAP. The FAO offered an early release, but it demanded my passport to get a one-month tourist visa put in my passport, which essentially killed my chances of getting a residence permit without a lot of headaches (if at all). Had I not accepted the terms of the early release, I think things would have become much worse for me.

This is probably what will happen if your friend tries to settle the problem the way that it did. Going through the proper channels doesn't always work.

Others are more informed regarding pulling a runner. I'm just not very experienced in this area.

[whatevs]

Thank you for your reply Miles Smiles.

So every city definitely has a Bureau of Foreign Experts?

I think she's planning just to run it looks like. Other teachers have been giving her the sense that the system is just not designed to have things work out for foreigners

And yes, what they did was definitely totally different from what was spelled out on the contract.

[Miles Smiles]

I don't know whether every city has a BFE, but every city that has foreign workers is in the jurisdiction of a BFE somewhere. Your friend's city should have one if the city engages in manufacturing under foreign management and/or has a university or collection of colleges. I suggested contacting the BFE because although, technically, it cannot cancel contracts, it can exert influence upon the school to release your friend from the contract. That's what I did.

[whatevs]

[Miles Smiles]

[5h09un]

[Miles Smiles]

5h09un

Was it SAFEA or the BFE where someone walked out? That situation sounds more like SAFEA.

Your advice is excellent. Very diplomatic.

[whatevs]