Job Discussion Forums

[amandabarrick]

Just curious what all your contracts say about airfare reimbursement. My school will reimburse me 5000 RMB at the end of the contract... Which is about half the amount of my round-trip airfare. Is this normal? I have a 1 year contract at a public school. The salary is good and lots of other benefits. I tried to push for them to reimburse me the full amount of my round-trip tickets, show them reciepts, etc... But they said the max they could do was 5000 RMB. What does your school do? How much do they reimburse?

AB

[Chris_Crossley]

[voodikon]

i'm at a company, and the agreement was that they'd reimburse one-way after six months of working and return after 12 months. after working here six months, i presented my printed receipt for the e-ticket i'd bought for USD 370, but since it didn't have the "red stamp," the finance head was balking. finally we came up with the solution that they'd deposit equivalent money to my account over two months as a salary bonus since i didn't have a "real" ticket they could keep for their records. had i chosen to go home at the end of 12 months, i'm sure they would have just purchased my ticket for me, but since i'm going directly to my next job here, i said i'd just take RMB 4000, since RMB 8000 seems a fairly standard round-trip reimbursement amount. they've agreed, though i haven't picked up my money yet.

the contract at my next place of employment says they'll reimburse up to RMB 8000 at the end of 12 months.

[tofuman]

One of the job postings I noticed on Angelina's esl job website was an ad that advertised round trip airfare. It had a clarifying note indicating that they would not pay more than 1000 RMb for international air reimbursement.

Perhaps a typo and they meant 10,000, which would be in the ballpark. Perhaps just another way of not really telling the truth.

Anyone know of a Western country to which a round trip ticket, or even one way, is 1000 Rmb?

[go_ABs]

Chris, sounds like you've got a good contract at your school.

Mine says: round-trip airfare up to US$1,500 which ALMOST covered my costs. (Flying to China from NZ is expensive, I don't know why it should be, plus a 20kg baggage limit - sheesh!)

In my first year it was a US$1,000 limit, which was just over half of my costs, but I made sure it was increased for my second year.

My boss didn't ask to see the tickets.

Interesting thread!

[Mideatoo]

8K flat fee

[Zero Hero]

[Chris_Crossley]

[Roger]

Maybe Angela's typo was not in the figure but in the currency's name - she could have meant U.S. dollars - in which case 1000 would be quite fair and cover the actual expenses of flying for most.

The GUIDE TO EMPLOYMENT OF FOREIGN EXPERTS clearly stipulates that those who work here

for ONE YEAR
are entitled to FULL compensation of their flight costs in and out of China; in principle the employer mnust pay for your dependants also (but here is the tripwire - he can refuse to grant them a dependant's visa). "Dependeants" seems to mean a spouse and one child of under 12 years of age.

If you stay for ONE SEMESTER, or half a year,
you stand to be reimbursed a one-way ticket.

In the past, the practice was to hand the FT a flat amount, usually RMB 5000. In more recent years, some employers have resorted to demanding actual PROOF of your expenditures, which can be tricky since such evidence must be readable and understandable to the accountant, hence the need to get a red chop, which in turn is excessively difficult to obtain on a plane ticket issued abroad...

Here is a special hint:
Get your refund IN CASH since bank remittances are subject to tax! THis is from my FAO.

[kev7161]

With a receipt, my last school reimbursed my airfare up to 8000rmb. Mine was 7670 last summer, so I was completely refunded.

My new school actually offered a round trip reimbursement with a 1-year contract in their advertisement, then changed tunes when contract signing came around. We hemmed and hawed about it and I finally got them to agree to a one-way ticket plus a year-end "bonus". Also, if I sign on for a second year, I still get the bonus, plus they'll buy me a RT ticket so I can return before the term begins.

[nolefan]

my school pays face value of the ticket. no questions asked.

As long as they can put the expense in their book, it's not a problem.

[amandabarrick]

nolefan,

Will the school pay you the face value of the ticket regardless of the amount? Why don't you fly first class next time? hehe...

AB

[nolefan]