Job Discussion Forums

[rckiwi]

I need some help.

Well, the story goes like this. A few weeks ago I was told that I will not be paid for the semester break (Spring festival). As we had Christmas performances coming I didn't want to rock the boat until the past few days.

Yesterday I told them that I expect to be paid for the holidays as my contract states I get the same amount of pay each month and that I was not told about not getting paid for the holidays when I signed the contract.

Today my teaching director informed me that the principal of the school is not satisfied with my performance and that I should find another job for next semester. As I was paid today I'm not sure if I should even go back or tell them to **** ***. I did tell them if they plan to fire me then I would like it in writing stating why. There is a clause in my contract which states

This contract will be subject to immediate termination under the following conditions.

a. If the party of the second part has failed to maintain and improve his/her working attitude, failed to act upon directives, and failed to improve his/her performance or other misconduct(s).

b. The dismissal will be instant for any action deemed unaccepable by the party of the first part.

A few other clauses as well but these are the ones they are trying to ping me on.

While I have not been the perfect teacher I have been improving and that has been recorded (regular class checks) and they have said it. The principal has never sat in my classes and gets her spies to report on me.

The company I work for is a branch of a famous Taiwanese one looking at making inroads in China. As far as I realise the contract I have signed is with them, not the school I am teaching at. They said there is nothing about getting paid for the holidays so they don't have to pay me. It is actually a management company set up to "farm" the teachers out. There are not many foreign teachers here yet.

What I would like to ask is are there any particular rules in Chinese law about the hiring and firing of staff. I'm in Shanghai so the law should mean something here right?? I told them I want to finish my contract and they said its not possible. Do I have any legal grounds to pursue or should I cut my losses and go?? As I said my contract is with the company and not the school. Also should I see a lawyer about it??

I'm just a bit lost and looking for advice.

Thanks in advance

[Mister Ed]

Teachers here had a similar vacation pay dispute last year. Legal advice gained via "guanxi" suggested we'd win the case and the school paid up. They did alter new contracts however.
Try these links:
http://www.efl-law.com/china_faq.html
http://www.lehmanlaw.com/indexx.html
There used to be a lot of knowledgeable people on this forum, but no more.

[rckiwi]

Thanks

I'll look them up.

[arioch36]

i would strongly suggest contacting The Foreign Experts Affair Bureau. If you are working here legally, your contract is under their administration. It should even say on your contract you have the right to seek arbitration from them.

I fought with my school for two months because my school wouldn't pay for all my airfare as promised. When to teh waiban (Freign experts) office, and the next day the school became lovey dovey, and said for me to bring in my receipts the next day.

if you are working legally, The Government pays your school a couple of thousand each month, the government gives the school the flight money. If you aren't getting the money for the contract period, I wonder who is?

If you are not working legally, then...

But if you are working legally, that's the place to go if you want results. no cost to you either.

[Roger]

The education bureau is s o m e t i m e s helpful, but not evrywhere, and not always. It may be true of Henan, but it's not true, for example, of the education bureau (one of them, anwyay, as there are sevral ones) in Guangzhou.
I went to report a case of blatant breach of national regulations and contractual obligations committed by a public college with strong CP affiliation.
The person at the EB agreed with me completely, but he added he could do nothing except to REMIND them of the rules and of their duties, but taking action was out of question.

That can only be initiated by you if you take your case to a special tribunal in Peking, set up to handle cases involving foreign nationals.
In any event, you have to engage a lawyer at your expense!

[rckiwi]

Thanks for the help.

I've decided to bugger off and go back home. I can't be bothered with them and if they don't want to try to help me then it's their loss. I'll miss the kids but making the school and the company lose face is priceless.

Feels a bit weird leaving after 2.5 years but there is no shortage of Chinese in Auckland. New Zealand summer here I come. )))

[Dalian Veteran]

[Dalian Veteran]

Looks like a certain school's web police is out again looking for dissent against some of their past or present company policies. Is that how they spend most of their time in the central office? I always wondered what they are doing in that gothic-looking tower called Yuexiu Dasha (unless they moved again, probably to hide).

True, unpaid holidays are mentioned in most schools' teaching contracts, and in the case of my former employer, teachers got to see the contract before coming to China. But prorated salaries are still generally frowned upon by Western teachers. I say, have a flat monthly base salary for the whole year. If the school can't really afford a consistent 6000 RMB a month package, why not just advertise it this way, "Average salary of 5700 RMB a month, with frequent opportunities for 6,000 RMB or more." No matter how it is stated in the contract, teachers will always rebel regardless of how it is repeatedly explained to them, and the middle managers will take most of their flak. Foreign teachers like to have a consistent monthly base salary. And you can't really blame them, nor can one expect for them to become 100% Chinese, especially in their first tour in a totally different culture.

As much as I would like to change the name Dalian Veteran to a new name in order to re-mask my identity, I won't really have the time to spend on Dave's ESL Cafe once the spring semester begins at Arizona State University. I'll be busy, busy, busy. Probably in the next few days, Dalian Veteran will say good-bye as he moves to Phoenix, Arizona to begin his graduate studies. But I have enjoyed posting on Dave's ESL Cafe. For one, I was able to express my new-found freedom of being able to criticize some of the policies and aspects of my former employer that I disagreed with (while not totally forgetting the positive aspects either). But it is hard to do that while still working for an employer, especially one that has foreign upper management that constantly scan Dave's ESL Cafe for dissent, kind of like the PSB's internet police. But then again, they are probably concerned about the reputation of their company, and rightfully hope that their positive aspects (which they certainly do have) won't be totally overshadowed by their bad aspects (which they also certainly do have).

But in a way, those of you teachers who work for Chinese employers are lucky in one respect, and that's that your management probably never even heard of Dave's ESL Cafe, or atleast they don't continuously scan it, thus giving you a safe haven to rant and release pent-up frustrations without rocking the boat or burning bridges. I probably should have picked a different internet site. I thought the "information warfare officers" would be too busy, recovering from the SARS closures and all.

[Roger]

Goodbye, Dalian Veteran,
I for one will bear you a fond memory!

thanks for your posts over those months
Roger

[NumberOneSon]

Hey, DV, don't leave without firing a final salvo!

And be sure to PM us on the feedback

Good luck with your studies. If you are going for the
MBA, I'm sure your experiences in China will give
you a wealth of examples to draw upon in discussions.