Job Discussion Forums

[arcueil_1]

I was accepted for a position by this school very recently. After all the important matters were completed (e.g. job requirements and curriculum, work schedule, selection of texts and materials, work visa, FEC, etc.), I purchased a ticket to head to Beijing. On the e-mail I sent them that included the flight information, I made a request to have most of the lights in the apartment be incandescent (as opposed to fluorescent), as I'm somewhat color blind in the red-green spectrum; if all the lights in the apartment are fluorescent, I have some trouble seeing with 100% accuracy after some time and I can also get strong headaches. On that e-mail I also mentioned that the Internet connection should be 1mbps minimum, but ideally 2.8mbps, as that seems to be the standard these days throughout most of China. Those two items were important and perfectly reasonable requests that have never been declined to me. Additionally, I mentioned that if a couple of speakers were available in the living room, that would be great, but by no means essential -- I can do without those, no problem.

What I got in return today was an unbelieavably rude e-mail telling me that, "Nacel is no longer interested in employing you. We are not obligated to do so, nor are we obligated to reimburse your plane fare," because:

a) Their instructions were for me to tell them how I was going to arrive (plane or train). This in order for them buy the ticket and send it to me.

In fact, I was under the impression that I had been given the option of doing either what they suggested or simply purchasing the ticket myself with a view toward later reimbursement. I purchased the cheapest possible ticket available from Sichuan to Beijing: total cost 1140RMB. I did that in order to save them time and effort, and as stated earlier, because I was led to believe that this option was OK.

b) I did not tell them about my, quote, "disability", prior to being accepted for the job. If they had known about my "disability" they would have not hired me, as per clearly implied on their e-mail.

This is plainly discriminatory and I'm currently in the process of filing a charge with the EEOC (Equal Opportunity Employment Commission), as they are an American school and I'm an American.

c) "Your request for a personal stereo system in your living room is beyond my comprehension! Why you would even think that this request was appropriate is beyond me."

I did not request this at all! I simply said that if a stereo was available in the apartment, that would be great. I also stated that it is perfectly OK if that is not possible. For the reader's information, I should point out that this job requires the teaching of music theory and appreciation; I'm a composer.

d) We all have the same type of Internet connection, so suck it up.

I didn't know what type of Internet connection would be available at the apartment, therefore I just needed to point out that it should be at least 1mbps, just to make sure.

And so, I got "fired" for gracefully asking for regular light bulbs in the house, to check that the Internet connection is the right one, for having bought a plane ticket out of my own pocket in order to save them time and effort, and for having mentioned (not requested) that a stereo would be desirable. That's all.

In my seven years teaching in China and an additional eleven years teaching elsewhere, I have never been treated in such fashion by an employer -- not Chinese, not American, no-one!

These people even had the audacity of saying that they don't feel that they have to reimburse me for the ticket I purchased (after I was told to be there by the 1st) unless I had Air China send them an e-mail of confirmation and a copy of the receipt. Quote: "If China Airlines sends me an email with a flight confirmation number and a receipt for the money paid, I will consider reimbursement as a courtesy." [my emphasis]

How messed up can a school and particularly its administration and human resources department be?! Contemptible!

As far as I'm concerned, they can keep the money. See you in court!

[arcueil_1]

The school is Nacel International School -- St. Paul American School in Beijing.

Position details:

Salary: supposedly $32K per year (10 month contract); 65% paid in US dollars to your American bank account and 35% paid in RMB to your local account; Uncle Sam takes out some for your SS; no medical insurance offered.

Work load: supposedly 37.5 hours per week, but the individual that "hired" me said that it would in fact involve some "extra hours", so God knows what the truth really is...

Subjects: ESL, levels 3-4; Music Appreciation and Theory, and Choral Music, levels 5-6

Sounds good, doesn't it? But is it worth putting up with their almost certain nastiness? I don't think so.

BTW, they never sent me the contract even though I was told that they would, and even though I asked for it twice.

[Lobster]

This post is going to be a bit harsh, but I'm not really supporting this school's actions either.

It seems that you managed to get your wires crossed on this one rather quickly. Of course, they wanted to buy the ticket because they can get a discount and/or kickback. You deprived them of that opportunity. You bought your plane ticket without having a contract. That was precipitous, and they have no requirement to re-imburse you. You weren't fired, because you were never actually hired. Perhaps they felt like you were forcing yourself on them by arranging transportation before the final flourish. Seven years in China should have prepared you for this response to independent action.

If you needed special lighting, i-net connection speed or other equipment, you negotiate that as part of the contract; not as an add-on afterthought. Why couldn't your just spring for those (relatively inexpensive) things from your own pocket, seeing as the wage was good? For the price of the airfare, you'd be all set up. It's not that your requests were unreasonable; they weren't. It's just the way that you dealt with it that kind of bites. You didn't follow their directions, and I can't help but wonder how they interpreted your requests.

It will be interesting to see if you can succeed in court. If I were you, I'd accept the re-imbursement for the wasted airfare unless you'll come here to seek work anyway. Of the disability issues, I'm sure that only the colour-blindness could hold any water, and I'm not sure if it would hold for an overseas post seeing as you disclosed it only after having gotten a positive response. If it's a disability, would you have to declare it before hiring? Could I, for example, arrange a teaching job on the net and then, after being hired say, By the way, I'm deaf and require an ASL interpreter in every class"? The big problem is, you have no paper except the e-mails.

Oh well, live and learn. Let us know what happens. But don't approach another school in China this way or you'll likely get the same results. Tell them about any special needs/desires up front and wait for them to tell you what to do. They don't see a talented composer; they just see another FT. At least it happened while you were in the US and not over here.

[arcueil_1]

You're entitled to your opinion but purchasing a ticket was not precipitous because I was told in no uncertain terms that I was needed right away and I was also told in a veiled manner that the ticket would come prior to the signing of the contract. Additionally, when I suggested that I could purchase the ticket and have the school reimburse me, the individual in question implied on the response that that would not be a problem (it certainly seemed that way to me).

The issue regarding lights is not rocket science and does not need to be on a contract, as that would just be petty. Like I said earlier, I've never had a problem with this before, anywhere, and the fact that this individual went and insulted me about me having a disbility (which I categorically don't have, by the way) and proceed to say that that is cause for backing out on hiring someone is grotesque and illegal (not only in my opinion but also as per informed to me by the EEOC). I had not mentioned this at first because it was not even at the top of my head, particularly since no one had ever discriminated against me for having asked for such a simple thing.

Lastly, don't get confused about me. I'm a professional, not a backpacker working for a few thousand kuai at crappy schools where anything can happen, getting drunk or stoned on hash every night, and trying to pick up Chinese girls (usually unsuccessfully). To those that complain about getting it right in their fundament due to their own negligence and/or lack of cultural awareness or sensitivity, I say this: go to school, get a proper degree, and get a real job. Those people have no sympathy from me.

I've been teaching for 16 years (including seven in China and even more in the States), so I definitely know what's up, and likewise know when an organization has done something truly wrong.

And may I remind you, this school is not Chinese at all, yet they were by far the biggest offenders I've ever encountered anywhere. Chinese schools are easy to deal with if one understands this culture, so no problems there for me. I live and work in China -- I have been almost this entire decade... You should read posts more carefully before posting.

PS: The EEOC enforces their codes in all American schools in China. If you are curious and have the time, just go to the EEOC page and you'll find plenty of detail about this topic. For example: a) Mr. Doe is deaf and he applied for a job involving radio signal analysis. The employer turned him down. No problem. b) Mr. Doe is missing one leg and he applied for a job involving radio signal analysis; he is qualified in every way for the position and perfectly able to perform the job but he was turned down by the employer because of his disability. BAD. According to the EEOC, the employer must make a reasonable accommodation for the employee. If not, the employer is liable. This example fairly illustrates my grievance.

[The_Hanged_Man]

Well, I agree that the school's reaction was poor. Look at it this way, would you want to work there now knowing how they treat people this way? It is probably for the best you aren't going to work for them.

However, you do come across as rather high maintenance in your postings. That whole deal with the lighting for example. Why even bring that up? I'm Red-Green color blind myself, but I would never pester a new employer with something as trivial making sure the proper type of light bulbs are installed. International schools look for flexibility and adaptability in their employees, and bringing up things like that just raises red flags in their minds.

Just my opinion.

[arcueil_1]

"Well, I agree that the school's reaction was poor. Look at it this way, would you want to work there now knowing how they treat people this way? It is probably for the best you aren't going to work for them."

Absolutely. I felt that way immediately, and I couldn't agree more.

As for being "high maintenance", I take in stride all kinds of things over here that the vast majority of laowai would be whining over like lilies.

For example, a few years ago I had a pretty nice job at a school in a town that suffered some serious infrastructure losess after a major flood that caused the building where the provided apartment was located to have no water, gas, electricity or Internet for the entire final three months of my contract. It was essentially like living in a cave, and I had to take showers with buckets of water gathered six stories below. They could not afford to accomodate me in another building. I completed the contract nevertheless because the employers were very decent people and therefore I felt loyalty toward them, regardless of the extreme circumstances vis-a-vis the living situation.

Another example was my second school here (this was even earlier than the above example). This school had the most disrespectful students imaginable and they were invariably late in their salary payments (sometimes quite late). It was also extremely noisy, even for medium-sized city Chinese standards, and with constant utility problems due to lack of payments to the utility companies. No problem. I completed the entire one-year contract.

Another one: my first job here was with a school that flat out deceived their teachers regarding their possession of a license to hire foreign educators and therefore they weren't able to provide work visas. No sweat -- I sucked up the terrible deception, worked for them for six months (even though my contract was for one year and all the other teachers had taken off in disgust), and paid for my own visas until the police told me that I could not renew anymore. I made several good Chinese friends there (I still hang out with them from time to time, even after nearly a decade has gone by), and simply moved on to another school.

The issue regarding St. Paul is not one of me being "high maintenance". It is one of simple discrimination as per American law. That's all. I'm very indignant about their actions, and although I have no intention of following up with a private lawsuit (as they are simply not worth my time), I'm definitely pursuing a formal charge against them via EEOC. Uncle Sam will take care of the rest. They deserve some sort of punishment. (BTW, to file a private lawsuit in this type of case, filing a charge with EEOC is a requirement.)

[bearcanada]

arcueil_1, I've read your posts and have no sympathy for you at all. It doesn't require much reading between the lines to recognise that your attitude got you into this mess.

You can forget the court action; that's whistling in the wind. It's time to accept that you are pretty much entirely the author of your own misfortune.

And by the way, I have a 90% suspicion that you've exaggerated your experience and qualifications. and your deep knowledge of China.
MOD EDIT

[arcueil_1]

I think the problem is that there are too many "teachers" that can't handle a serious and well written post about a serious matter... Very mature and lucid of you, chief.

If the tone and tenor of my posts on this thread seem hard and severe that's because I'm taking this recent issue seriously and I want to express it in the best way possible. Right now I have little patience for trolls and such. Sorry. My e-mails, telephone conversations and work etiquette are quite different from what you're reading here. Again, I apologize.

[Lobster]

Don't get so steamed up you guys. Whether you side with the school or the teacher here isn't all that relevant. What counts is that we can learn something from this post about action/reaction in China. Whether you think, "I'm never going to make requests like that!" or "I'll never work for that school!", you learned about another experience in the Middle Kingdom. Bear, you shouldn't refer to another poster as a flake, and I have no idea what else you flung at him that the mods deleted, but it couldn't have been very nice. The OP didn't seem like he was in attack mode against forum members, and it's not like your cousin runs that school or something. Gee....

RED

[arcueil_1]

MOD EDIT

You mentioned this being a Middle Kingdom experience to learn from. In fact, I actually see it as a completely different monster. This was not a Chinese issue; it was (and still is) an American one.

The bottom line is that the requests were put forth in a very professional and direct way, yet elegantly, friendly even. This after we had made pretty solid arrangements... The one thing still missing was for us to put signature to paper right after my arrival at the very end of this month. You see, I trust people, and that's why they trust me and I can manage very well in this country (and others), even when things are funky. Basically, their attitude was, "We don't give a flying f*&$ over a rolling donut about your request or about you, so get the hell out of our sight, and to hell with our arrangements." In plain parlance, it's called Corporate America. I can take it. However, where they went really wrong was in discriminating toward me based upon a simple case of very mild color blindness that can cause me some discomfort if the lights are fluorescent in and out of the classroom (i.e. all the time). That is wrong and illegal. No one had ever discriminated against me in any way prior to this. That's why I will be sending next week the report/charge to the relevant disctrict office in the States. (I'm currently filling it out and it's a pain in the ass; I'm sure that there will be more forms and probably some red tape, but it's worth it because I know that at the very least I'll have the satisfaction of knowing that they got slapped back, even if just a little. That's good enough for me.)

Also, in order to clarify my reason for having requested those damn lights, I'll exapand a bit on what I've already said elsewhere:

I certainly can change the bulbs myself. It's entirely absurd for people to think that I didn't want to or couldn't do it. My reason for asking was simple. Firstly, I was going to embark on a course in music theory and music appreciation almost immediately after arrival. In view that it was explained to me that the school has a small crew of people doing stuff at the apartments, I thought that it would be a good and perfectly reasonable idea to have those folks change the lights (if it was even necessary) prior to my arrival in order for me to be able to quickly focus on the matter at hand -- teaching to advanced English students two subjects that are entirely unfamiliar to them, and not exactly easy. Secondly, in order to facilitate the preparation of my first lessons. (Do you guys have any idea how messed up reading classical music scores with improper lights is?!) Thirdly, to avoid the possibility of a headache creeping in prior to my "debut" in the classroom. And lastly, because I've asked for this in the past with no problems whatsoever... I didn't even think twice that the person that "hired" me would flip over such a trifle.

I hope that that explanation is clear to those posters who enjoy second guessing...

Cheers

[Mr. Kalgukshi]

Several postings have been deleted or edited. The thread is now locked. If and when it is unlocked, should the personal attacks and insults continue, the thread will no longer be available and responsible parties will be sanctioned.