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Nimah
Joined: 14 May 2007
Posts: 36
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 Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 11:08 pm Post subject: 2 Year Contract Mandatory for China??? |
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Hey guys,
I've just been told by the school recruiting me (International primary school - see other posts) that you can only get 2 year contracts in China now. I've seen some jobs posted online though that seem to dispute this....
Also does anyone know if it's possible to supplement your own insurance for the schools? I'd rather not go through the schools insurance in the event that I have to break contract (a last resort). Any input on this?
Thanks! |
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kungfucowboy83
Joined: 25 Jan 2006
Posts: 479
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| Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 12:09 am Post subject: |
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| not a chinese policy. but many international schools have a standard 2 year contract, if you don't like it you can always find a more flexible school. |
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The_Hanged_Man
Joined: 10 Oct 2004
Posts: 224
Location: Tbilisi, Georgia
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| Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 2:28 am Post subject: |
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I was recently hired on a one-year contract at an International School in China, although most international schools do require a two-year do require two years. I would suggest you pass on this school. Any school that is dishonest in the recruiting phase is one to avoid.
You can always pay for your own private international health insurance policy, though I doubt that once you see the cost of any reputable company you will want to do this. Honestly, if you are thinking about breaking contract before you even get there why are even considering this place? |
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Anda
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Posts: 2199
Location: Jiangsu Province
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| Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 2:45 am Post subject: Um |
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| Most contracts give both give parties a way out with so much notice if they wish to break the contract. |
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7969
Joined: 26 Mar 2003
Posts: 5782
Location: Coastal Guangdong
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| Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 2:47 am Post subject: |
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| The_Hanged_Man wrote: |
| You can always pay for your own private international health insurance policy, though I doubt that once you see the cost of any reputable company you will want to do this. |
health insurance while abroad is not that expensive, however it depends on the company you go with. i used to buy it with travelcuts in canada, but unless you're in canada, you cant buy it. and if you do buy from them, once abroad, you cant renew after it expires, unless you go home and buy it all over again. travelcuts has good rates though (paid $350CAD for one year of coverage with them in 2003).
now i go with worldnomads, who can sell you insurance no matter where you are and no matter how long you've been out of your home country. |
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englishgibson
Joined: 09 Mar 2005
Posts: 4345
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| Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 3:34 am Post subject: |
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good point with that 30 day notice
| Quote: |
| I was recently hired on a one-year contract at an International School in China, although most international schools do require a two-year do require two years. I would suggest you pass on this school. Any school that is dishonest in the recruiting phase is one to avoid. |
in this lovely country, the dishonesty comes in many ways ... one might be the way they advertise themselves as an "international school" 
there's one middle school in a suburban area of nanning guanxi and they also advertise themselves in such a way...you should see the chenglish signs inside of the campus and then you should try to work there as a laowai laoshi... their chenglish academic management is clueless and their connections they have with western countries or culture are called "INTERNET"
cheers and beers to the chinese education that wishes so much to be connected to the western world |
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The_Hanged_Man
Joined: 10 Oct 2004
Posts: 224
Location: Tbilisi, Georgia
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| Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 3:36 am Post subject: |
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| 7969 wrote: |
| The_Hanged_Man wrote: |
| You can always pay for your own private international health insurance policy, though I doubt that once you see the cost of any reputable company you will want to do this. |
health insurance while abroad is not that expensive, however it depends on the company you go with. i used to buy it with travelcuts in canada, but unless you're in canada, you cant buy it. and if you do buy from them, once abroad, you cant renew after it expires, unless you go home and buy it all over again. travelcuts has good rates though (paid $350CAD for one year of coverage with them in 2003).
now i go with worldnomads, who can sell you insurance no matter where you are and no matter how long you've been out of your home country. |
Well, it really depends on what level of coverage you are looking for. World Nomads is a travel insurance that is primarily intended to cover medical emergencies and evacuations. I suspect it is not very useful with any kind of pre-existing or long-term condition. You certainly would not want to find out you had cancer on that type of insurance.
This actually happened to one of teachers at my school this year who was diagnosed with breast cancer while in Kuwait. Fortunately between our school's health insurance and Kuwait's rather generous health care system she is ok financially at least (although pretty much trapped here as she has no coverage at all back home in Canada since she has been traveling for years).
It all depends on how much risk you are willing to accept really. I had basically no health insurance at all through most of my 20s, but now that I am getting older I feel the need to be more cautious. |
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Lorean
Joined: 21 Dec 2006
Posts: 476
Location: Beijing
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| Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 4:45 am Post subject: |
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| askawino wrote: |
| The new labor law of China allows for 30 days notice to terminate your contract. |
Most contracts have a required notice period written into the contract. If the notice period is longer than 30 days, does this new law trump what's in the contract? |
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TreKidation
Joined: 02 Jul 2007
Posts: 108
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| Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 4:55 am Post subject: |
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| Of course not, you can give up any legally provided stipulation if you sign it away in a contract. |
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7969
Joined: 26 Mar 2003
Posts: 5782
Location: Coastal Guangdong
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| Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 5:04 am Post subject: |
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| The_Hanged_Man wrote: |
| 7969 wrote: |
| now i go with worldnomads, who can sell you insurance no matter where you are and no matter how long you've been out of your home country. |
Well, it really depends on what level of coverage you are looking for. World Nomads is a travel insurance that is primarily intended to cover medical emergencies and evacuations. I suspect it is not very useful with any kind of pre-existing or long-term condition. You certainly would not want to find out you had cancer on that type of insurance. |
a few points:
travel insurance or not, worldnomads is fairly comprehensive. i've used it for any illness or accident that happened to me while travelling (i spent most of 2001-2003 travelling, no work), and i've made good use of it while living in one place for an extended period.
regarding pre-existing conditions, i dont think many people coming to china to work as a FT fit that profile, and if they do, they may (and should have) a drug plan back home that covers their medication costs. however things can get complicated a bit due to the fact that the individual is living out of country.
as noted in his original post, nimah is only looking for some supplemental coverage. worldnomads is appropriate i think.
with respect to the medical insurance provided by schools in china, its like a lot of insurance policies. looks great on paper but in practice may not be as useful as you think. i had a filling repaired recently. the filling and the tooth broke a week later, i went to local emerg to get it fixed, and ended up needing a crown. the hospital where i live isnt very good so i went to shenzhen to get it done. cost: RMB800. total reimbursement from school medical plan: 0. after this, i re-read the booklet on the school insurance policy and in fact it doesnt cover very much, and almost nothing in the area of dental.
| The_Hanged_Man wrote: |
| This actually happened to one of teachers at my school this year who was diagnosed with breast cancer while in Kuwait. Fortunately between our school's health insurance and Kuwait's rather generous health care system she is ok financially at least (although pretty much trapped here as she has no coverage at all back home in Canada since she has been traveling for years). |
a lot of canadians dont know that their coverage lapses once they're out of the country for more than half of any given year. however, depending on their home province, they're covered fairly quickly once they return home. in my case, its three months. other provinces are different. doesnt really help someone in urgent need of medical care, but appeals can be made to the local health ministry to make a case if necessary. they're not all heartless bureaucrats.
i just noticed you're in kuwait, and not china. i suspect the health coverage gap between the two is pretty significant. your colleague may not have fared as well in china.
Last edited by 7969 on Sat Jan 19, 2008 5:34 am; edited 6 times in total |
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vikuk
Joined: 23 May 2007
Posts: 1842
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| Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 5:09 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| Of course not, you can give up any legally provided stipulation if you sign it away in a contract |
As this discussion gathers pace - remember we're talking about Chinese contracts and Chinese laws. Anybody who has China experience regarding local officialdom knows that enforcing, and indeed dodging, local rules seems to be very much a case by case/region by region phenomena. It's also something that often seems to depend on what kind of "pull" parties in a conflict may have with the authorities 
But at least now we know of this new 30 day rule - something to be taken into account when penciling up a new contract. |
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Nimah
Joined: 14 May 2007
Posts: 36
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| Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 5:47 am Post subject: |
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Hey thank you for all the info.
As it stands now if I breach contract I'll have to do the following:
- reimburse medical premium fees
- lose the end of contract gratuity
- pay for my own airfare
All of this considered, I am really just trying to get some teaching experience, and I don't really want to go to Korea to get it. Salary is a factor (good old student loans) but it doesn't override everything. Maybe I'm just being picky too, but I'd rather commit to a year over 2 years.
With this current deal I've been offered a 5 month supply teacher position, which would turn into an additional 2 year Yr. 3 teaching position in August. Anyway, like I said I need to build up experience so I can actually teach at the places I want to teach (i.e. legit international schools). So I could possibly do the 5 months and then break contract, but do you think it would be worth it in the long run?? |
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Lorean
Joined: 21 Dec 2006
Posts: 476
Location: Beijing
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| Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 6:27 am Post subject: |
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| TreKidation wrote: |
| Of course not, you can give up any legally provided stipulation if you sign it away in a contract. |
IANAL (I am not a lawyer), but I can think of good reasons to not allow this. Furthermore, I can think of at least certain contract stipulations which would never stand up in court, e.g not suing the school, electrocuting students in class, etc... |
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drakis
Joined: 15 May 2004
Posts: 19
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| Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 6:27 am Post subject: |
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| If you cancel the contract within a short time of starting, then your bonuses like airfare allowance are obviously not going to be a factor. They are there as a bonus for completing each year. So, if after nine months you decide you don't like the job anymore, wait another three months, collect your bonus and then cancel. Medical reimbursement is obviously not a big factor either since whatever the school pays for is very little. Either way you don't lose a heck of a lot, unless you were to cancel your contract just before the end or when one year is almost up. |
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Lorean
Joined: 21 Dec 2006
Posts: 476
Location: Beijing
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| Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 6:34 am Post subject: |
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| Nimah wrote: |
Hey thank you for all the info.
As it stands now if I breach contract I'll have to do the following:
- reimburse medical premium fees
- lose the end of contract gratuity
- pay for my own airfare
All of this considered, I am really just trying to get some teaching experience, and I don't really want to go to Korea to get it. Salary is a factor (good old student loans) but it doesn't override everything. Maybe I'm just being picky too, but I'd rather commit to a year over 2 years.
With this current deal I've been offered a 5 month supply teacher position, which would turn into an additional 2 year Yr. 3 teaching position in August. Anyway, like I said I need to build up experience so I can actually teach at the places I want to teach (i.e. legit international schools). So I could possibly do the 5 months and then break contract, but do you think it would be worth it in the long run?? |
What are your goals in the short and longer term? I don't think you've provided us with enough information. 'Breaking' a contract is meaningless if you plan to never work in China ever again, moral dilemma aside. OR it could be a career shattering move if you plan to work in China. |
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