Job Discussion Forums

gabeltron · Joined: 09 Oct 2007 Posts: 21

I need to get out of my contract and find something else. I was verbally promised some things about my position that aren't happening. I know, I know, I should have got it in writing. In any case, I heard that under the new law they can't make you pay back 1 months salary if you give them 30 days. I heard that they can't even put it in the contract. Is this true? I have no problem paying back the money for the plane ticket, but they screwed me and I don't think I should have to pay a months salary. The other problem is that I want to stay here and find a new job, so I can't just leave.

samhouston · Joined: 17 Jan 2007 Posts: 418 Location: LA

jeffinflorida · Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2008 11:53 am Post subject:

Find a new job. Secure a contract. get a place to live. Once you are ok to move in then just pack your stuff from apartment a and move to apartment b.

Once you are settled in notify your current employer that you quit.

Try and do this at a point when you will lose the least amount of money. Such as right after you are paid.

samhouston · Joined: 17 Jan 2007 Posts: 418 Location: LA

arioch36 · Joined: 21 Jan 2003 Posts: 3589

The New labour law was posted here, maybe last fall, by Lobster I believe. So see if you can find it under search. I think I did once. I believe the new labour law mentions a 30 day probation period

danielb · Joined: 08 Aug 2003 Posts: 490

Yes and no on the 30 days notice. This is still one of the issues that hasn't been cleared up by the practice rules. One interpretation of new law basically says that you be able to pull stumps if you provide 30 days notice, without penalty. Another interpretation says (and I tend to agree) that it is still a relationship covered by the natural laws of contract. As such, if your employer suffers a loss as a result of your noncompliance with the agreement (even though you give 30 days) then you may be held liable for that loss.

Not much help, sorry.

Moon Over Parma · Joined: 20 May 2007 Posts: 819

jeffinflorida · Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2008 4:09 pm Post subject:

Not to get to personal here but I did sign a contract to work at a uni , they got me a Z visa, then - with ample notice - I told them I changed my mind. Took a job a mile away at a different school. They understood what I wanted.

Took me to the police station, informed them that I now worked for them but the other school got me the Z visa / RP and it was switched over that day without an issue.

No negative feedback from the first school - even though they paid for the visa and didn't need a release letter from them.

They new school fao said it was not an issue to him and the PSB would change it for him.

They did.

So the situation not exactly the same...BUT if you are not happy and you got lied to and cheated ( chuckle chuckle ) then you need to do what's best for you and that is get the F@&K out of there soon.

The more notice you give them the more they will screw you. Or have you forgotten that they have lied to and screwed you already...??

You want to lose more Money, Self Respect... whatever?

You need to get out of there because once they know you intend to leave it will become very bad for you.

Trust me once they have no use for you they become rapid dogs. The moment you tell them you want to leave and they find a replacement they will keep your pay, lock you out of your room, steal your stuff - you get the picture.

They will not be nicer to you...

jeffinflorida · Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2008 4:11 pm Post subject:

By the way in China laws mean nothing...

So forget about the law... It won't help you and you are a Stranger in a Strange Land and you can never win, or even break even, just lose.

jeffinflorida · Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2008 4:16 pm Post subject:

Side note, I interviewed with a large uni.

They wanted me to work on an F visa, I said no.

They brought up the subject of the new work laws and said they did not apply to foreigners.

The money was good there, the hours low - BUT I didn't trust them at all and their promises meant shit to me, as did their contract.

I thanked them and left and when they called me to ask if I would take the job I said no.

Your deal will not get any better... The Chinese lie, they can't help it.

samhouston · Joined: 17 Jan 2007 Posts: 418 Location: LA

Anda · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 2199 Location: Jiangsu Province

Jeffinflorida wrote:

"By the way in China laws mean nothing...

So forget about the law... It won't help you and you are a Stranger in a Strange Land and you can never win, or even break even, just lose."

Gabeltron as I said you are in China now and this is the way it is so be careful otherwise you will get stuck without local Chinese friends with pull to help you.

North China Laowei · Joined: 08 Apr 2008 Posts: 419

To the OP:

Again, Anda is very much on the mark.

I usually agree with Moon Over Parma but here I have only small objection : you can, in some instances, overcome the lack of a release letter by going to a difference province where the future employer has "good relations" with the PSB. It has happened and it does happen and this is China and Dorothy isn't in Kansas anymore, so to speak.

That being said, with all due respect to one previous poster, I would concur with many others here present and suggest, with all due respect to this poster, that you absolutely, positively, completely, positively disregard the advice he has given to you.

Some people have very checkered pasts; others do not; some people like living on the edge, or over the edge, others do not; some thrill on endless melodrama, others do not. In the end, the choice that you make here will be a choice that is dictated by your own personality and quirks and idiosyncracies.

The choice here is yours to make but I would still suggest a more "Chinese" approach to things, one that saves face, yours and theirs, and attempt to end this as gracefully as possible. If there are no other choices or avenues open to you, then well...

eddy-cool · Joined: 06 Jul 2008 Posts: 1008

You said you received your airfare but are worried about losing your one-month salary; this is puzzling for the following reason:
They normally pay out the airfare at the end of a contract. Did you get it upon arriving from overseas?

In that case you have to check your contract with them again: What does it say a propos penalty for breaking the contract?

Many enter a stipulation saying you owe them a tidy amount of money if you break the contract (quitting is a break); the amount can reach the level of airfare. It works both ways, though - they must indemnify you if THEY break the contract.

I do not wish to speculate on how to enforce that, though...

jamesmollo · Joined: 26 Apr 2007 Posts: 276 Location: jilin china

OP you need to use your instinct here. The law is very much 'a grey area' I don't pretend to know about it. There was a 20,000rmb breach penalty in one of my contracts, yet I left without insident - in the same city. This was over a year ago, mind you. I don't know about this 'new labor law' but it probably makes no difference as people rarely adhere to the law anyways.
What it comes down to is the power/guanxi/connections of your new employer. You don't need to worry about this, they will protect you. Just make sure your next choice is the right one. Learn from your mistakes.
good luck