Job Discussion Forums

[MStaskal]

I am thinking about accepting a contract for English First in Taizhou. The way the recruiter explained it to me was that she said they were a franchise school of EF. They have sent me all of their documents, but I am weary because they want me to leave pretty much immediately, and I thought that it might take at least a month to get a Visa. Here is the contract, can anyone tell me anything about this?




(1) ________________ Yingzhifu Language Teaching Center (herein after referred to as the �Employer") Authorized Representative:

And

(2) _________________________________(Name), (hereinafter referred to as the " Employee")

Nationality:



Permanent contact address:



Permanent contact telephone number:

Passport Number:

Date of Birth:

Whereas:

The Employer has entered into the franchise agreement with EF Business Consulting (Shanghai) Company (EF English First) for the establishment of an English language-teaching center under the EF English First system.
The Employer agrees to recruit the Employee subject to the terms and conditions as set out below and agrees to provide the Employee with proper remuneration according to this Contract.
The Employee agrees to be recruited by the Employer and is willing to work diligently and faithfully for the Employer, with a purpose of enhancing the development and protecting the interests of EF English First and the Employer. The Employee is confident that he/she can undertake these duties in the best interests of the Employer without causing harm to EF English First and the Employer and without creating any conflicts with his/her conditions of employment and financial remuneration.

In accordance with relevant PRC regulations and laws, adhering to the principles of equality, both parties hereby voluntarily agree as follows after friendly consultation:

Article 1: Term

1.1 The term of this Contract shall be _____12_____months, commencing from _ and expiring on . During the term of this contract, the probationary period shall be _______ months, commencing from _____________________ and expiring on _______________________.

1.2 This Contract may be renewed for a term of one year if both parties agree.

Article 2: Position

The Employee shall serve as Teacher.
The working location is Taizhou (city).

The parties have read, understood and agree to abide by the Job description, Code of Conduct, Accommodation Policy, Flight Policy, Disciplinary Policy, Termination Policy, Confidentiality Policy and Insurance terms as attached. These attachments form part of this Contract.

Article 3: Working Days, Hours and Timetabling

The Employee will be required to work five days a week from Monday to Sunday during the non-peak season and to work six days a week from Monday to Sunday during the peak season. June through August and January through February will be regarded as the peak season.
The Employee�s working hours may be scheduled between 07:30 to 21:30 from Monday to Sunday.
The Employee will be required to work up to 40 hours per week �working hours� in both the peak and non-peak seasons. If the employer requires the employee to work more than 40 real hours in one week regardless of the monthly average teaching hour, the employer should obtain the agreement from the employee and pay the employee overtime at the agreed rate (It does not include the reasonable schedule adjustments due to National Holidays or special center events).
The employee will require a reasonable amount of time for class preparation and course-related administrative duties, i.e. 1 ACH preparation for each 3-ACH lesson.
During the non-peak season, within the working hours, up to 87 hours per month (20 hours per week) shall be contract teaching hours. Any contact teaching hour above 87 hours per month shall be subject to the mutual agreement of the Employee and the Employer and subject to overtime compensation as set forth in Clause 4.2.
During the peak season, within the working hours, up to 113 hours per month (26 hours per week) shall be contract teaching hours. Any contact teaching hour beyond 113 hours per month shall be subject to the mutual agreement of the Employee and the Employer and subject to overtime compensation as set forth in Clause 4.2.
Contract teaching hour in this contract refers to classroom teaching and life club as part of Real English�.
In the remaining working hours, in addition to lesson planning and course-related administrative duties, the Employee may be required to perform other reasonable duties as instructed by the Employer, including, but not limited to, interviewing students for placement testing, developing materials and participating in marketing activities. All these duties shall be planned within the 40 �Working hours� per week
As part of the contact teaching hours, the Employee may be required to teach some off-site courses or to substitute for unscheduled absences of other teachers.
The Employer shall inform the Employee of any cancellation or delay of classes 24 hours before the class is scheduled.
For the purpose of this Contract, one hour equals to 60 minutes and one ACH equals to 40 minutes.
Article 4: Remuneration

Salary will be paid according to the following scale: Probation Period (1st -3rd month) - Start date through 90th day employment - monthly salary of _6000_____RMB(net); Secondary Period (4th � 12th month) - 91st day to 365th day of employment: Monthly salary of _6500_______RMB(net). In addition, the Employee may have the right to get a monthly salary of 7000 RMB(net) if he/she extends the contract for 12 month after the successful completion of this contract or according to the Employers valid bonus scheme, if any.
4.2 For each contact teaching hour over 87 (non-peak season) and 113 (peak season) per calendar month, the Employee shall be paid at a negotiated rate of RMB 100 (Gross) per hour as overtime compensation in line with the market average. Such payment is calculated per calendar month (from the 1st � final day of the month regardless of the payment period or the payment day). In the case of public holidays or paid vacation falling in the monthly pay period, monthly contact teaching hours will be calculated pro rata.
4.3 The Employer shall pay the Employee�s salary on the 8th day of each month. Payment of overtime-contact hours is paid on the 8th day of each following month. If the date of such payment falls on a non-business day (weekends), it shall be advanced to a business day (Friday). If the date of such payment falls on a national holiday, it shall be advanced to the last working day before the holidays, according to local government directives.

4.4 On production of legally required receipts, the Employer shall bear all authorized expenses incurred by the Employee, including, but not limited to, travel and accommodation costs for off-site teaching programs.
Article 5. Flights Please refer to the Flights Policy in the EF English First Company documents.

Article 6. Housing

The Employer offers the following options. Please indicate the Employee�s choice: ___A___________ Please refer to the Accommodation policy and guidelines document in the EF English First Company documents.

A: The Employee requests to be provided with shared accommodation by the Employer with conditions as set forth in the attachment. OR B: The Employee wishes to be responsible for finding and contracting his/her own accommodation in the city where the Employer is located.
Article 7. Insurance:

The Employer will buy Erika Travel Insurance to cover the Employee for the medical and accident insurance purposes. For details refer to the attached EF English First Teachers insurance Basic (Policy No.903.300.wws)

Article 8. Holidays

8.1 Public Holidays

The Employee will receive the following public holidays should they occur during the Contract

New Year (1st January) One (1) day Chinese Lunar New Year (January/February) three (3) days

Tomb-Sweeping Day(Apr) One(1)day Dragon-Boat Festival (June) One(1) day

Labor Day (1st May), One (1) day Mid-Autumn Festival (Sep) One (1)day

National Holiday (1st October), three (3) days Christmas day (25th December), one (1) day

The Employee is entitled to 12 days as public holidays in one year.

If the Employee�s scheduled day(s) off fall on a public holiday the Employee will be entitled to the equivalent number of days holiday in lieu. These lieu days will be subject to approval under the same conditions as paid holiday.

8.2 Paid holiday

Further to the above, the Employee is entitled to ten (10) working days (2 working weeks) paid holiday per full year contract. In the case that the contract term is less than 12 months, the paid holiday will be pro rata.

Holiday may not be taken during the probation period or in the peak seasons. ( January through February or in the months of June through August).

Three weeks notice in writing shall be given to the Director of Studies stating the Employee�s request to take leave and shall be subject to the Director of Studies� approval. Teachers who need to take emergency leave, may not be subject to three weeks prior notice, but shall obtain prior approval from the Center Manager.

If either party terminates the contract for any reason, the paid holiday shall be calculated pro rata based on the length of the Contract completed. If the number of days paid holiday taken prior to the termination exceeds the pro rata number, the Employee agrees to repay the salary for the excess days.

8.3 Any unauthorized leave shall be counted as unpaid leave deducted from salary and will be penalized by disciplinary measures.

Article 9. Sick Leave

9.1 The Employee shall notify, and seek approval for, sick leave from the Director of Studies or his/her deputy immediately in the event of sickness. All sick leaves must be supported by a doctor�s certificate unless prior approval from the Center Manager is obtained. The Employer can provide reasonable assistance to obtain the doctor�s certificate upon request. Upon return to work a sick leave form must be completed and approved by both the Director of Studies and Center Manager.

9.2 Any unauthorized sick leave shall be counted as unpaid leave deducted from salary and will be penalized by disciplinary measures.

9.3 For the first 3 days of accumulated sick leave within the contract term, salary will be paid at 100%.

9.4 For accumulated sick leave over 3 days and up to 30 days within the contract term, salary will be paid at 60%.

9.5 In cases of accumulated authorized sick leave beyond 30 days within the contract term, the Employer has the right to terminate the contract, according to the EF English First Termination Policy. If the Employer chooses not to terminate the contract, the salary will be paid at 50%

Article 10. Legal documents

The Employer shall provide all necessary legal documents including, but not limited to, working permit, residence permit and visa provided by the Employer on behalf of the Employee during the term of this Contract. The Employee shall return all legal documents arranged by the Employer to the Employer upon completion or termination of this Contract. The Employer may remove and cancel all legal documentation upon termination or expiration of this Contract. The cost of a single entry visa to China will be reimbursed, in local currency, by the Employer within 2 weeks of the employee�s arrival at the center, provided the Employee produces legal receipts / invoices for the visa.

Article 11. Disciplinary Procedures

Please refer to EF Disciplinary Procedure (Academic Staff) in the EF English First Company documents.

Article 12. Expiration and Termination

This Contract shall expire upon the ending date as set forth hereto.

This Contract can be terminated according to the EF Termination Policy and procedure in the EF Company documents

Article 13. Force Majeure

Neither party will be responsible for delays or failures in performance from acts beyond Parties� control (�Force majeure�). A written statement from the US or UK Embassy or the Employee�s embassy advising its citizens to leave a particular town or region or country will count as sufficient reason for the Employee to leave their school without breaching the contract. In such case, the Employer shall be responsible for transportation costs to the nearest point of safety outside of the town, region or country stated in the embassy�s advice.

Article 14. Confidentiality, non-solicitation, non-competition, royalty and Intellectual Property

Please refer to EF Confidentiality Policy (Academic Staff) in the EF Company documents.

Article 15. Handing over

Upon the termination or expiration of this Contract, The Employee shall hand over, in writing, all information, documents and experience relating to the Employee�s job, including but not limited to clients� names, contacts, and other information required by the Employer, to any person designated by the Employer.

Article 16. Disputes

16.1 Both parties shall resolve their labor disputes through consultation. If no agreement can be reached through consultation, both parties agree to submit the disputes to the Employer�s local labor arbitration committee for arbitration.

16.2 If either party does not agree with the arbitration award in accordance with Clause 16.1, it may submit the disputes to the courts where the Employer is located.

Article 17. Governing Law

This Contract shall be governed by and interpreted in accordance with PRC laws.

Article 18. Miscellaneous

18.1 This Contract shall become effective upon signing. This may be in the form of fax signing.

18.2 This Contract is executed in duplicate and each counterpart shall have one, which has equal legal validity.

18.3 This Contract is translated into Chinese. In cases of dispute the English version shall prevail.



(signature) (signature)

For and on behalf of Yingzhifu Language Teaching Center

Attachments

Job Description 5) Offenses and resulting disciplinary actions
Code of Conduct 6) Flights policy
Insurance Policy 7) Accommodation policy and accommodation guidelines
Confidentiality policy Termination policy

[Mister Al]

They seem like exactly what they say.

It takes one day to get a Z visa if you have the correct paperwork, which the school should send you.

If they ask you to come on an L visa first (and they might if they want you asap) make sure you get it in writing that they will cover ALL expenses related to you getting a Residency Permit as this may involve a trip to HK or such.

The contract seems standard for them though I didn't look too closely.

I know nothing about this particular franchise. Some are good others not so. Is it in Zhejiang or Jiangsu province? The former has a beach!
You could ask for a current teacher's email so you can get some info.

[MStaskal]

Thanks for the info. They are really helpful and have 3 or 4 different employees sending me e-mails answering questions, so I am pretty confident. I just didn't know about the visa time table because everyone else is telling me it takes around a month. It is in Zhejiang, great news that they have a beach, super cool.

[brsmith15]

The contract's too long and full of weasel clauses.

These kinds of things always bother me.

[mnguy29]

I agree with the length of the contract and too many clauses. I have also considered EF. I have worked for another private training school in china for a year. Its ok working conditions, however, be prepared to work alot and have very few holidays for travel and fun in China. Did you see the part in the contract that says during the busy seasons you are required to work up to 6 days a week and 27 classes a week? Believe me, this is alot and it will become stressful. Did you also look at the low pay for all this work? Other training schools will pay better. You will also work mostly evenings and always weekends. If you are ok with many hours of work and little time off, it may be ok. After one year of this I will not do it again.

[vikeologist]

The contract's standard EF. The below points pretty much relate to all EF schools.

The overtime rate is a tiny bit lower than usual. You might ask how often FTs are actually required to do overtime.

You say you're in contact with employees. You need to be asking questions of Foreign Teachers. For what I hope are obvious reasons, the administrative or managerial staff may not be in the best position to give accurate advice or information about life as an FT. Also, it's a reasonable asusmption that the recruiter knows nothing about the school. Empty your mind of everything that they told you.

How many hours do FTs actually work? Firstly what the average amount of hours that FTs work there during the off-peak season. Just because you may have to work up to a number of hours doesn't mean that you actually will, or that its a good idea in terms of quality. Ask to be copied into next week's schedule. Also how many 6 day weeks do the FTS actually do during Jan and Feb? They may not do 8 6-day weeks. With Chinese New Year that would be mpossible anyway. Lastly on hours, remember that they're academic hours.

For instance, off-peak you could be doing 10 2 hour classes, each of which would be 3 ACHs. This would be pretty tiring. However, if you were doing 30 40 minute classes; well that would be bad! So, if you get the schedule, you'll also be able to see the typical lesson durations. ideally you'll have some 3 hour (4 ach) lessons sprinkled in there, especially in peak season.

Your working location is Taizhou. Ask if all your lessons will be in the centre, as it will be a pain if you're regularly expected to go and teach in local primary schools, especially if they're the other side of the city.

Consider carefully whether you really want to share accomodation or not.

Will your two days off be together or split?

Getting a schedule would also clue you in on how many foreign teachers there are at the school.

Lastly and most importantly, make sure that you chat with the Director of Studies. I think that the DOS is the key to whether you'll have a good or bad experience. Ask them about teaching to see whether they have anything useful to offer you in terms of development and support.

None of this is meant to dissuade you from EF. It's just nice to have as few surprises as possible when you arrive.

[Lorean]

just skimmed the contract. Looks like hell. Too many hours (20+) and the 6 day work-week are an automatic deal-breaker.

[MStaskal]

Very valued information, thank you. Will definitely be asking these questions.

[MStaskal]

What would you consider reasonable/acceptable working hours?

[Lorean]

16-18 teaching hours. Teaching hours 50 minutes long. Monday to Friday. Teaching location confined to an area no larger than 1km in radius. Right of refusal for any overtime.

[MStaskal]

Has anyone worked at or know anyone who has worked at EF Shijiazhuang? Does anyone know anything about it?