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Robert0007
Joined: 22 Jul 2006
Posts: 16
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 Posted: Tue Aug 08, 2006 3:27 pm Post subject: The trap of full time teaching contracts and a solution |
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I see this problem over and over again. Every foreign teacher that i talk to have some major disatisfication with their contracts here in China. Good schools are like a needle in the hay stack.
The average unfair chinese contract:
1. 4,000 to 5,000 RMB is too low of a monthly salary. China is becoming richer every day. Most countries are going under but China can only get better.
1. Solution: The least should be 6,000 RMB a month.
2. A major problem by most schools: 6,000RMB pays only just 3/4 for an airfare ticket. Very few schools pay 8 to 10,000RMB for a return ticket. In reality a return ticket costs about 9,000RMB. Solution: If your contract says 5 or 6,000RMB for the ticket negociate for more.
3. Paid vacation days trap: Most schools only give you about 9 to 14 days paid vacation. Yes the New year holiday you should get a week to 2 weeks off. But they may only give you 3 of those days paid. Public schools offer more perks than most private schools. Solution: Ask for 3 weeks paid vacation for a 1 year contract. Unite with all your teachers and make this request.
4. Working hours: The biggest problem i see is: OFFICE HOURS. The average contract makes you teach about 20 or just a bit more contact hours right? The biggest trap is sitting in your office for the remaining 4 or 5 hours. If there is one thing you can do, Request no office hours. If enough teachers request this, the contracts will change. Yes i agree come in early before your class and plan the lesson. I just cannot stand seeing teachers clocking in at 2:00 or 3:00 pm when their first class starts at 6:00pm.
Final word: Does any body know of a foreign teachers union here in China? The best solution: Yes get a full time contract with some of the solutions i have metioned. Then work some part time jobs off the side and make way more an hour. We can teach part time for atleast 100RMB an hour or more up to 150 to 200RMB if you are more qualified.
The full time contracts work out to an average of 65RMB an hour or probably less. This has got to stop. I say the schools are ripping us off. Fight for your rights until there is enough of us that want to see justice. The private schools make a gigantic amount of money off us. We should get more of the piece of the pie instead of bending over backwards. |
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no_exit
Joined: 12 Oct 2004
Posts: 565
Location: Kunming
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| Posted: Tue Aug 08, 2006 4:33 pm Post subject: Re: The trap of full time teaching contracts and a solution |
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I'm going to respond with some constructive criticism to your points. Don't take it the wrong way, it isn't that I disagree with you completely, but I don't think some of your problems solutions have been completely thought through.
| Robert0007 wrote: |
I see this problem over and over again. Every foreign teacher that i talk to have some major disatisfication with their contracts here in China. Good schools are like a needle in the hay stack.
The average unfair chinese contract:
1. 4,000 to 5,000 RMB is too low of a monthly salary. China is becoming richer every day. Most countries are going under but China can only get better.
1. Solution: The least should be 6,000 RMB a month.
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This isn't a solution. How do you get the schools to pay you at least 6000 a month? How do you convince them that you (the figurative you, not YOU in particular), as a newbie teacher, deserve 6000RMB a month simply for being foreign? In some cities (like my own), 6000RMB would be just about the very top of the salary scale for a FT. How can everyone expect to make the top salary, or how can you convince the schools that the lower end of the scale should be adjusted upwards to 6000? A solution would tell us how to make these things happen.
| Quote: |
2. A major problem by most schools: 6,000RMB pays only just 3/4 for an airfare ticket. Very few schools pay 8 to 10,000RMB for a return ticket. In reality a return ticket costs about 9,000RMB. Solution: If your contract says 5 or 6,000RMB for the ticket negociate for more.
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If you are going to use this as an argument, then you need to realize that many, many teachers don't actually use this money to buy a ticket back home. The schools do realize this, thus their reluctance to give you even more money on the argument that a plane ticket costs more. Instead, try to negotiate for an end of contract bonus on top of the ticket money. Many schools will offer this, as it is usually performance based and ensures that the teacher will think about his bonus when considering whether to call in sick after a bender.
| Quote: |
3. Paid vacation days trap: Most schools only give you about 9 to 14 days paid vacation. Yes the New year holiday you should get a week to 2 weeks off. But they may only give you 3 of those days paid. Public schools offer more perks than most private schools. Solution: Ask for 3 weeks paid vacation for a 1 year contract. Unite with all your teachers and make this request. |
Again, even if all the teachers unite and make a request (which some won't do because they don't feel there is anything wrong with the setup), what's convincing the school to say yes? Are all the teachers going to walk out if they don't get 3 weeks of paid vacation? Schools don't generally respond well to threats. Sitting down with them one on one and working out the details in your contract will usually work better. If you've been there a year already and are well liked you've got even more leverage to ask for some small things. If you're working in a university (for lower pay), it is not uncommon to get an entire month or more of paid vacation. If you're working for a training center then part of the tradeoff for that higher salary is generally more work. This isn't necessarily a scam. Keep in mind most people back home get a week of paid vacation a year tops.
| Quote: |
4. Working hours: The biggest problem i see is: OFFICE HOURS. The average contract makes you teach about 20 or just a bit more contact hours right? The biggest trap is sitting in your office for the remaining 4 or 5 hours. If there is one thing you can do, Request no office hours. If enough teachers request this, the contracts will change. Yes i agree come in early before your class and plan the lesson. I just cannot stand seeing teachers clocking in at 2:00 or 3:00 pm when their first class starts at 6:00pm. |
If schools didn't require office hours they would have tons of teachers never in the office, never planning lessons, and being generally unprofessional. I run my own school now, and I require office hours. I've hired a kid fresh out of college, and I want to see him spending some time in the office, getting to know the staff, using our resources, asking questions, etc. I don't require him to come in an ungodly amount, but office hours are in his contract, and he doesn't seem to mind coming in at all. Now if you're a teacher with a load of experience you can probably make the argument for no office hours, but again, these aren't universal rights for all teachers, nor are office hours contract scams.
| Quote: |
Final word: Does any body know of a foreign teachers union here in China? The best solution: Yes get a full time contract with some of the solutions i have metioned. Then work some part time jobs off the side and make way more an hour. We can teach part time for atleast 100RMB an hour or more up to 150 to 200RMB if you are more qualified.
The full time contracts work out to an average of 65RMB an hour or probably less. This has got to stop. I say the schools are ripping us off. Fight for your rights until there is enough of us that want to see justice. The private schools make a gigantic amount of money off us. We should get more of the piece of the pie instead of bending over backwards. |
Have you ever actually looked at the books for private schools? I am sure some schools are indeed making a killing, but not all schools are the same, and going in with this attitude that all FTs deserve this and that isn't going to convince them of anything. My school, for example, pays roughly 250RMB a day for our rent. Student tuition comes out to about 20RMB an hour. We have salaries for FTs as well as myself and our Chinese staff, bills, textbook costs (if we don't get students the books just sit there and we eat the costs, which are NOT negligible). As a school just starting up we have to work hard to make sure we don't lose money, much less make a killing. Sure, there is money to be made in the industry, but just like any business, how can you expect the bulk of the profits to go to the empoyees? You work for them, you're not an investor. These people aren't opening schools out of the goodness of their hearts, they're trying to earn some money. Running a school is not easy work. I honestly get sick of the argument that "they're making a killing so where's our cut?" This argument wouldn't fly in any sector, much less TEFL. The executives and investors are ALWAYS going to make much much more money than the employees, even if the business would completely fall apart without the people at the bottom. If that bothers you, then you can go it alone, or try to start your own school.
I'm not saying you don't have some reasonable ideas, but you have to look at contracts and teachers on a case by case basis. Chinese people don't respond well to tactics which make them lose face or force their hand. If you are an experienced and skilled teacher there is nothing in your outline that is unattainable anyways, but if you are a newbie you have very little leverage because there is always someone else willing to do the work if you aren't, and you'll be disappointed with your attempts at unionizing because lots, if not most, FTs would rather not screw up their relationship with a school over a few contract points, and if they're happy in a place you're not going to be able to convince them they're getting screwed no matter how hard you try. I've seen teachers happy to get 3500 RMB a month sticking with the same job for YEARS. Maybe you'd say they're getting ripped off, but they like their jobs.
Ultimately, your only leverage you have with your school is your own value to them as a teacher. If you keep the students happy and paying tuition, they'll be willing to grant you some things to keep you happy, but if you go in with the attitude that ALL FTs deserve these things as if there was some bill of inalienable FT rights, then they're just going to laugh at you. I don't know many experienced qualified teachers who are complaining about their jobs -- certainly most on this board seem to have pretty satisfactory positions. Your first job in China is not likely to be the ideal job, but live and learn. Once you get some experience under your belt, learn the market where you live, and most importantly, how to market yourself, you can get what you want out of a contract without demanding them. |
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WordUp
Joined: 05 Jan 2006
Posts: 131
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| Posted: Wed Aug 09, 2006 7:27 pm Post subject: |
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Over and over again? Thats interesting.. How long have you been teaching in China? It always amazes me when people try to put a blanket statement on salaries and say that every teachers should earn this or that without taking into serious consideration all the variables that go into earnings..
So by your standards, If I am new to China, and you have been working at Uni for three years earning 6,000 RMB I can go to YOUR school, earn 6,000 RMB on par with you.. and you and I can be buddies and you'll be excited that I am earning your wage?
Hahahaha.. I didnt think so.. |
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Songbird
Joined: 09 Jan 2005
Posts: 630
Location: State of Chaos, Panic & Disorder...
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| Posted: Wed Aug 09, 2006 11:53 pm Post subject: |
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Just curious, exactly how DOES the performance bonus work in China? Do your students have to meet certain grades? What if you have really crap student who are unmotivated (like mine usually are, and quite a few fails at the end of semester!).
Is it just a 'be on time, don't take sickies' etc etc sort of thing? |
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shuize
Joined: 04 Sep 2004
Posts: 1270
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| Posted: Thu Aug 10, 2006 1:52 am Post subject: |
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Problem: I'd like a blow job this very instant. For free.
Solution: Natalie Portman should hop on over and give me one.
By the way, when offering advice about "negociating" (sic) contracts for higher paying jobs teaching English, those in your intended audience will probably be more receptive when you spell the word correctly and avoid writing statements like this:
| Quote: |
| I see this problem over and over again. Every foreign teacher that i (sic) talk to have (sic) some major disatisfication (sic) with their contracts here in China. Good schools are like a needle in the hay stack. |
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no_exit
Joined: 12 Oct 2004
Posts: 565
Location: Kunming
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| Posted: Thu Aug 10, 2006 3:20 am Post subject: |
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| Songbird wrote: |
Just curious, exactly how DOES the performance bonus work in China? Do your students have to meet certain grades? What if you have really crap student who are unmotivated (like mine usually are, and quite a few fails at the end of semester!).
Is it just a 'be on time, don't take sickies' etc etc sort of thing? |
It seems like performance bonuses are more common in training centers. In the past, my performance bonus would be a combination of student/parent satisfaction (if there were no complaints then they're presumed to be satisfied), and things like sickies, showing up on time, preparing for class, etc. It wasn't hard to get a decent bonus unless you balled things up completely.  |
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