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gossamerwillow
Joined: 12 Oct 2013
Posts: 46
Location: Shanghai
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 Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2015 11:31 am Post subject: Some Advice Please |
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I've only been here about 2 months and I'm having some difficulties (this will probably be long). I was supposed to get my bankcard the day I arrived here in China and someone from the company was supposed to go with me to set it up, however apparently the bankcard was not ready. I just received it today and missed my last paycheck by nearly a month. In the contract, it says the company is supposed to pay me a breach of contract fee of $1500USD if they don't pay me. The company also told me and my two colleagues that we would be getting a 1 month paid winter holiday, we just had to ask the school when it was. After trying to find out from someone at the school for weeks, I finally was able to determine that the winter holiday is not 1 month, but 1 week. However, depending on how many kids come to school we may not get any holiday. I contacted the company about this and told them they need to sort it out. They said that the 1 month is not in the contract because every school is different, however it is spelled out in an attached document. I asked repeatedly for the company to contact the school and they put it off for two weeks. Today, someone called and he told us that we may get one week and we may not. Well, yeah... I don't know if this is the norm or not, but I'm getting quite frustrated at this point. They have lied to me on many other accounts, but I will just leave it here to keep it short.
I am also annoyed with the school. They have not been what I would consider accommodating. Someone was supposed to go with me to setup my phone, but apparently they were too busy so I was sent to do it by myself. Also, my colleagues had to go out of town for their residence permit for a couple of days under the pretense it might be longer and they had other teachers come in and stay in the same apartment. These teachers were from a local university and of course used all of their things while they were away, went through all their stuff, made a mess, etc. Is this normal here? Also, I have been required to work longer hours by the school than what is specified in the contract. I am not getting paid for them. Is that normal?
There is also a complete lack of communication between the school and the recruiting company. I'm wondering if this is the norm as well... If I want to break my contract, would it be simple or should I just stick it out? Thank you for any advice! |
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rogerwilco
Joined: 10 Jun 2010
Posts: 1549
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| Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2015 11:49 am Post subject: |
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None of that is "normal".
The bit about the apartment sounds terrible.
Are you working at a training center ? |
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gossamerwillow
Joined: 12 Oct 2013
Posts: 46
Location: Shanghai
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| Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2015 12:01 pm Post subject: |
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| rogerwilco wrote: |
None of that is "normal".
The bit about the apartment sounds terrible.
Are you working at a training center ? |
No, this is supposed to be a "school," but I stress school because it's more like a daycare...though they call it a kindergarten. |
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CNexpatesl
Joined: 27 May 2015
Posts: 194
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| Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2015 1:21 pm Post subject: |
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Wait, so they let Chinese teachers stay in the rooms of your foreign teacher colleagues and use/go through their stuff? 
I'd be looking for a new job. |
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OhBudPowellWhereArtThou
Joined: 02 Jun 2015
Posts: 1168
Location: Since 2003
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| Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2015 3:55 pm Post subject: |
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| Send a copy of your contract to the recruiter and a letter explaining the breaches of contract and other examples of poor conduct. If the recruiter is worth her salt, she'll straighten the owner out or find you a new job as well as advise you regarding canceling the contract. |
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rogerwilco
Joined: 10 Jun 2010
Posts: 1549
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| Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2015 6:59 pm Post subject: |
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| gossamerwillow wrote: |
No, this is supposed to be a "school," but I stress school because it's more like a daycare...though they call it a kindergarten. |
Kindergartens are supposed to pay the most because of the difficulty of managing such young students. I hope they are paying you a high salary.
You probably do not want to do anything now, but you might want to return to this forum later to "name and shame".
It does help to let others know about schools that put you in ridiculous or abusive situations. |
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gossamerwillow
Joined: 12 Oct 2013
Posts: 46
Location: Shanghai
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| Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2015 10:46 pm Post subject: |
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| rogerwilco wrote: |
| gossamerwillow wrote: |
No, this is supposed to be a "school," but I stress school because it's more like a daycare...though they call it a kindergarten. |
Kindergartens are supposed to pay the most because of the difficulty of managing such young students. I hope they are paying you a high salary.
You probably do not want to do anything now, but you might want to return to this forum later to "name and shame".
It does help to let others know about schools that put you in ridiculous or abusive situations. |
I would not say they are paying me a high salary....only 6000 rmb per month pre-tax. Though, the apartment and utilities are included. I definitely would like to "name and shame" because they have been absolutely awful! |
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3701 W.119th
Joined: 26 Feb 2014
Posts: 386
Location: Central China
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| Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2015 11:36 pm Post subject: |
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| Everything about this stinks. |
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gossamerwillow
Joined: 12 Oct 2013
Posts: 46
Location: Shanghai
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| Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2015 11:38 pm Post subject: |
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| 3701 W.119th wrote: |
| Everything about this stinks. |
You couldn't be more right about that. It's not been a good time or adventure. I would like to find a different place to work, but I don't really know if I can do that. I do know I can't take much more of it! |
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rogerwilco
Joined: 10 Jun 2010
Posts: 1549
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| Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2015 7:14 am Post subject: |
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| gossamerwillow wrote: |
I would not say they are paying me a high salary....only 6000 rmb per month pre-tax. Though, the apartment and utilities are included. I definitely would like to "name and shame" because they have been absolutely awful! |
Pre-tax ?  How much are they taking out for tax ?
I am not sure of the rates for teaching at kindergartens now, but my guess it that you should be making at least double that. |
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gossamerwillow
Joined: 12 Oct 2013
Posts: 46
Location: Shanghai
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| Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2015 11:34 pm Post subject: |
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| rogerwilco wrote: |
| gossamerwillow wrote: |
I would not say they are paying me a high salary....only 6000 rmb per month pre-tax. Though, the apartment and utilities are included. I definitely would like to "name and shame" because they have been absolutely awful! |
Pre-tax ? How much are they taking out for tax ?
I am not sure of the rates for teaching at kindergartens now, but my guess it that you should be making at least double that. |
I am trying to figure out the tax rate. I asked when I first arrived, and the company said it wasn't much. However, after finally seeing my first check it seems it's around 31% when I calculate everything. That seems really high to me. I contacted the company about it, and they said that they didn't know and they would need to speak to the HR department and get back to me. They shouldn't be taking out anything extra as the company is supposed to cover utilities and health insurance. I feel like I should be making double with all the issues I've had lol |
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hdeth
Joined: 20 Jan 2015
Posts: 583
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| Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2015 12:39 am Post subject: |
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6k is extremely low for kindergarten. Those are some of the highest paying jobs because most people don't want to teach kindy. Pay should be double that or more with low hours.
Similarly, tax rate on 6k should be very low. Income tax in China is very progressive. I make 15k and pay about 10% in taxes. On 6k it should be extremely low, almost negligible.
Unless you are a non-native speaker with no degree you are getting utterly ripped off. |
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The bear
Joined: 16 Aug 2015
Posts: 483
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| Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2015 12:40 am Post subject: |
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| gossamerwillow wrote: |
| rogerwilco wrote: |
| gossamerwillow wrote: |
I would not say they are paying me a high salary....only 6000 rmb per month pre-tax. Though, the apartment and utilities are included. I definitely would like to "name and shame" because they have been absolutely awful! |
Pre-tax ? How much are they taking out for tax ?
I am not sure of the rates for teaching at kindergartens now, but my guess it that you should be making at least double that. |
I am trying to figure out the tax rate. I asked when I first arrived, and the company said it wasn't much. However, after finally seeing my first check it seems it's around 31% when I calculate everything. That seems really high to me. I contacted the company about it, and they said that they didn't know and they would need to speak to the HR department and get back to me. They shouldn't be taking out anything extra as the company is supposed to cover utilities and health insurance. I feel like I should be making double with all the issues I've had lol |
That definitely seems too high. 31% is a huge amount for a foreign teacher salary. A tax rate of 30% is applicable if you salary is 35,000-55,000 a month.
In certain cities/provinces there's a social tax, or something like that, that's meant to be refunded when you leave China. But I doubt it would push deductions up to 31%. |
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doogsville
Joined: 17 Nov 2011
Posts: 924
Location: China
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| Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2015 2:35 am Post subject: |
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| You're being massively abused and ripped off here. It's time to find another job. If I were you I would find where the local SAFEA office is http://en.safea.gov.cn/ At the very least, you should tell both the school and the recruiter that you are unhappy because the contract has clearly been breached and that you intend to contact the SAFEA office for your local area and lodge a formal complaint against the school unless they honour the contract. |
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7969
Joined: 26 Mar 2003
Posts: 5782
Location: Coastal Guangdong
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| Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2015 3:09 am Post subject: |
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| gossamerwillow wrote: |
| rogerwilco wrote: |
| gossamerwillow wrote: |
I would not say they are paying me a high salary....only 6000 rmb per month pre-tax. Though, the apartment and utilities are included. I definitely would like to "name and shame" because they have been absolutely awful! |
Pre-tax ? How much are they taking out for tax ?
I am not sure of the rates for teaching at kindergartens now, but my guess it that you should be making at least double that. |
I am trying to figure out the tax rate. I asked when I first arrived, and the company said it wasn't much. However, after finally seeing my first check it seems it's around 31% when I calculate everything. That seems really high to me. I contacted the company about it, and they said that they didn't know and they would need to speak to the HR department and get back to me. They shouldn't be taking out anything extra as the company is supposed to cover utilities and health insurance. I feel like I should be making double with all the issues I've had lol |
If you received 6,000元 for the past month then the first 4800元 is tax free, and you pay tax on the next 1200元, so your total tax payment should be ~ 36元/month (that's 0.6% of your stated salary). Even if you're paying into the foreign expert social insurance scheme your taxes should only amount to ~ 700元 on a salary of 6,000元 (11.6%). If either of these is the case then you have a problem. If during the pay period in question you didn't work a full month and were paid a prorated amount (paid for X number of days worked only) then it's too soon to know whether or not your deductions are accurate. Wait until you receive your first full month of salary and then start asking questions (if necessary). |
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