Job Discussion Forums

[Tamil_Tiger]

I was on a 12 month contract that had a clause I had insisted upon saying that if the boss terminated the contract without the due process of disciplinary action, that he'd have to pay my entire year's salary. Now, in order to get around it and hire a different teacher, he's lied and said that he cannot renew my working visa due to problems in the application process and the school's inability to bring foreigners here and sorry, but I can't work for him anymore. He also asked me to reconsider about the clause since it was out of his control , and I felt it was okay since he'd been a good boss (or so I thought) and he agreed to pay a full year's bonus. I then had a sneaking suspicion that he was hiring the other foreign teacher in this town in my place. Someone at the school I work at caught wind of this and confirmed my suspicion. His visa and my visa are essentially the same, so I don't believe this nonsense about not being able to renew it. I think they want to avoid paying me for breach of contract. What do I do now. I can't let this one go. It eats at me. These people acted so nice and kind, and they tricked me like this. What legal recourse do I have? I know one person who is a lawyer here and that I have a little guangxi with. Is it possible to file legal action against them? Is it financially worth it?

I want to work in China another semester too. I worry if I take action they'll try to withhold my salary, try to make my life difficult in some way, or try to blackball me from employment in China.

The thing that eats at me most is the person who lied straight-faced was someone I considered a friend. The woman who recruited me here I always liked and respected and when she was in a bind and needed someone to cover a spot as judge of an english competition, guess who volunteered to do it. I'd not have done it if it wasn't she that had asked, now look how bitterly I've been repaid. Sorry to rant about this, but I can't help feeling upset.

Finding a job isn't terribly hard in China, but even still, I feel like I've become used to life here and rather enjoy this little town. Now I'm being forced out and I feel unfairly. What would you do in my situation. I'd at least like a little extra cash for resettlement somewhere else. It takes a while to get all those essential items and stock them in your place. Also the expense and hassle of moving is something unforseen. What do you think? Is it worth fighting this? Should I try publicizing this here a bit to try to build some support (I have good relations with some of the students' parents, maybe I can call on them to intervene on my behalf)?

[ShapeSphere]

I'm sorry to hear of your story, but unfortunately this comes as no surprise. My own gut feeling is just to move on, learn from experience and then forget about it. Here's an equation for you:

Chinese boss = > f*ckwit

I can't imagine you would get any support from the parents. We are after all just a 'foreign face' - and we look very similar to each other in their eyes.

Why would they help you? Unless they gain something, they will not care.

Others with more experience of China - in comparison to my 15 months - will have differing views, probably more florid & torturous in language, but within their excessive use of words, there might be some value.

[lagerlout2006]

Good luck, How much of the year did you do?

I'm too soft negotiatring so I would likely take a "settlement" of some of that money. It's easier than fighting it (which might get expensive) and he saves face and so forth. But initially you should point at the contract and tell him to do the honorable thing and stick to it. Funny how people can lie to you and then take the moral high ground about everything, I try to be around these people as little as possible. The only good thing to be said about them is they drive me to drink.

a unique situ

[Roger]

You know it is a bit cheeky to enter a clause that requires your boss of all people to pay you the salary for work not performed simply because they need to, or want to get rid of you. I mean consider it from their point of view: here is a laowai that gets a far better deal than the Chinese employer himself can negotiate for himself... A Chinese boss never pays his staff any compensation for losing their job... It always is the other way around, my friend.
Also, I am a little puzzleed about the role of that woman recruiter mentioned in your post: an agent? Well, she is powerless.
Don't forget that any contract must be approved by the PSB. I simply don't believe the PSB approved of the deal you mentioned (privileging you in case you have to be terminated...).
I do wish you good luck, but next time don't insist on unfair advantages.

[Tamil_Tiger]

oops. edit

[Tamil_Tiger]

I don't see it as cheeky really. I mean we come from a long way away. I worry that some of these jobs can be fly by night, so I wanted to make sure that I wouldn't get laid off within a month of working here.

By the way, I completed 6 of the 12 months.

To clarify about the clause. Basically it states that if I do a lousy job then I just get fired. I insisted in the beginning that I didn't want to sign on to a job where there was a chance of being laid off. They were like, "you needn't ever worry about that. We'll guarantee that the job will be there and as long as your teaching is good, that you'll remain with us." The way I feel, it's stressful to have to find a new job, and I figured if I put in a clause, I'd at least have some negotiating room to work out a severance package.

So how does one know if the PSB approved the contract? Is there any way to tell.

[tofuman]

TT,

Your mistake is obvious: "He also asked me to reconsider about the clause since it was out of his control , and I felt it was okay since he'd been a good boss (or so I thought) and he agreed to pay a full year's bonus."

You felt it was ok since he had been a good boss? The guy is having his way with you, Dude! People only pretend to be nice as a means of manipulating and swindling FTs

On the other hand, it sounds as if you are getting a year's salary bonus but not getting the broken contract penalty. That sounds like a good deal. A year's salary is a lot more than the penalty in my contract.

If you can actually collect that money, I would take it and be glad! Try to get a reference from him as well

[Tamil_Tiger]

I've cooled down a bit now. I was pissed about this for quite a while, but perhaps its for the best. I guess that depends on if I can find a decent position for the enxt semester. I just wish they had told me why. I still don't know. Maybe they want a white teacher. Maybe it was guangxi, maybe it was one of my 2 enemies on the staff, maybe they just thought my lessons weren't good, or maybe they got ruffled about my minute past the bell start times in the 1st morning classes (Unfortunately I did this a few too many times. I'd say about 8 or 9, but I guess Chinese teachers are almost never late, so this could have factored in), maybe they noticed that I wore the same shirt 2 days consecutively and were disgusted by it, who the hell knows. I guess not knowing and being dealt with like this is unnerving. I'd just like to know why and come to terms with it.

[Sinobear]

Ask for 6 months salary, and then be prepared to bargain down to 3.
And Roger, Chinese employers must pay out the value of a year's contract to Chinese employees should they wish to terminate them for reasons other than public endangerment. We had two people we desperately needed to get rid of...and, in both cases, paying off their contracts was the only way.
Tamil, it's indeed a sorry situation - my school did the exact same thing to a Filipina teacher here because they wanted to replace her with a "more foreign face." They treated her like a queen before she left all while saying how sorry they were that they could not "fix her visa".

Good luck to you!

P.S - the other posters are right - your employers will always be generous and caring as long as they need something from you. Always be suspicious.

[Roger]

I am surprised, sinobear, that you know of a legal provision requiring a Chinese employer to pay his |Chinese employees for months when they aren't serving him any more. If that provision exists it doesn't have a significant bearing because most Chinese I know are afraid of telling their bosses they are about to quit in favour of a better job. Bosses routinely dock Chinese employees' last pay, in some cases they deduct some amount from every monthly salary towards a security deposit! Penalties? You know that most of us never get any penalties paid out. If you quit early you are lucky indeed to get a PRORATE|D part of your airfare! That's why I have always suggested here that people negotiate for a prorated share to be added to their monthly pay so that they are not going to lose out when they do leave for one reason or another.
With the employers' morale being what it is, I wouldn't suggest we make such provisions mandatory in our contracts. The more advantages we have over local teachers the more vulnerable we become.

[7969]

[tofuman]

TT,

It is indeed upsetting to be criticized and terminated for unknown reasons.

My teaching was criticized recently in the midst of a heated discussion during which I had suggested that an administrator in my school was swindling me. My teaching competency was not relevant to the discussion, but it made me think.

Of course, I am not a professional teacher by education. I worked in a prison. (Handy background for dealing with administrators.) I suspect that my disciplinary methods are or were heavy-handed at times. I suppose that my teaching method is not the best either. I mean, I had a one month course to prepare for this position. Most of our Chinese colleagues teaching English spent years in college to prepare for their positions. In the States, at least some of them, prospective teachers are screened by M.A. prepared professional educators, with years of experience, prior to teacher certification.

These people are not our friends. In most of the "helping" professions, that is the case. While you may want to be friendly, remember, "they" are not your friends. When in trouble, few, if any locals will stand by you. Two enemies that you knew of? You almost certainly have or had others much more dangerous than those two.

"Little" things, such as being late, being untidy, unshaven, etc. can cause problems in any work environment, perhaps moreso here.

Anyway, there are lots of jobs posted on chinatefl. Good luck!

[docgary]

Try dept of Labor
I did this and it worked.
A contract is a contract.
My experience has been is that they pay attn. to a contract when it
is to their advantage, otherwise not.

Go to labor dept with your argument and someone who speaks the
language if u don't and tell them.

I did this and they 'strong armed' the boss and threatened him-
that if he didn't pay-property seizure and closing of the establishment
was in order.
They paid and I walked.
gp

[T.C.53]

T.T.

My Contracts have always run through to there end. Then Action was taken to renigotiate or terminate.

If indeed things are as you discribe them then you should not pay. They should pay you the amout stipulated by the clause. You obviosly wrote the clause because of the fear of getting shafted. All parties agreed at that time. So be it, do not back down. What's the worst that can happen? No visa? Do a Midnight run. In any event the end result will be the same, you will find a new postion. If you back down all FT's loose face. Even who they are replacing you with will have a harder time negotiating with them, not that you have any feelings for him or her but the individual is a foreigner. We all should stick together. One straw as apposed to a bundle. Those foriegners who have adopted the Chinese position on matters such as these, leave 'em behind. After many years of living in this country and wrestleing with different views on life and culture I have reverted to myself. Truth is Truth, Right is Right, and be it known that many Chinese laws are now, very similar to western ones. However tactics are not a pretty picture.

Don't be afraid to fight the good fight.

Keep us all posted, to look for a new job with a little jingle in your pocket can be a good thing.

Best Regards
Top Cat 53.

[Kurochan]