Job Discussion Forums

aclot018 · Joined: 30 Mar 2010 Posts: 2

Good morning!

I have just received the following contract from Jiangsu University and since it's my first job in China, I wanted to get some feed-back before signing it! I already know of a few things that need to be changed (my changes in bold), but please let me know if it looks ok or if I'm being too specific!!

(For the sake of this post, I have removed the first part of the contract which seems pretty standard, but I can add it if necessary)

Attachment of the contract

1. The period of service is fixed 10 months starting from September 1st, 2010 to June 30th,2011.

2. For Party B,five working days each week, 16 teaching hours per week(45 minutes/teaching hour) (MAX?), participating in the academic activities of the department concerned, providing counsel for Chinese teachers upon request, giving private coaching to students,when required. (Teaching / Non teaching hours?) (Overtime rate? Optional?)

3. Party B will be paid 5200RMB as monthly salary ( including 200RMB utility allowance)on 25 of each month and Party B�s round trip international air ticket to China ( economic class) will be reimbursed before completion of the contract.

4. During the period of employment, Party A will provide Party B with a free furnished lodging which includes a bedroom ,a sitting room, bathroom, kitchen, hot water, western-style toilet, shower, air-conditioner,telephone, washing machine, refrigerator, microwave oven, TV, DVD, ADSL,cooking stove, blankets & pillows. (Single? Who will pay for what? Computer? Curfew?)

5. Party A will provide Party B with medical insurance. Party B will get free treatment at Party A�s clinic on campus for minor disease.

6. Party B will have one month paid winter holiday from January to February of 2011.

7. Party B will be offered 2200RMB Yuan holiday allowance at the end of the contract term.

8.Party A will provide assistance to PartyB for him or her to apply for work visa in the Chinese Embassy,including the required invitation documents to Party B. (Work Permit? Paid by school?)

Sorry for the long post and thank you for your feed-back!!!!

Cheers,

Andy

chengdu4me

randyj · Posted: Wed Apr 14, 2010 5:48 am Post subject:

It would definitely be a good idea to nail down who is paying for the RP and any health exam.

drjtrekker · Joined: 16 Feb 2008 Posts: 251

Chengdu 4 ME.......ur deal is quite unique..if almost unheard of for teaching english, especially in Chengdu.

U can't really use ur scenario as a standard or example, IMHO....

amemorylost · Joined: 22 May 2009 Posts: 29

Here are some of my thoughts about the way I would do things, so take them with a pinch of salt if you have a wildly different opinion or disposition.

Firstly, I generally don't quibble over contract issues such as when you get paid. Whether you get paid at the start of the month or the end of the month doesn't make much difference and hammering out a certain time is just a waste of energy given that it's quite usual for University to pay a bit later or earlier than expected.

I think the reality is that contracts for foreign teachers in China should be used as guides of how a University is going to treat you, not the same legally-binding document that you can cling to back home if something goes wrong.

The most important thing is ensuring the person who's recruiting is working at the Foreign Office of the University and working how trustworthy they are. So direct your bold questions to him/her. What I'm getting at is that a University could agree to your contract changes and then ignore them anyway, and you wouldn't really have much of a chance fighting it, so knowing your potential employers is pretty important.

Anyway, talking about your contract, the stuff that puts me off is as follows:

I wouldn't accept 10 months University contracts. Most Universities offer you 12 and so them offering you only 10 but giving you the 'travel bonus' of 2000rmb is basically just so they can save the 8200rmb difference of paying you for the summer months.

The salary is okay I guess for that area, though they do seem to have loaded up what you should be doing in additional to your 16 hours work. When you take all those into account it's a bit low, but now as obscenely low as I've seen from other advertisements.

Curfew-wise, I think a lot of Universities close their gates around 10.30pm, but from my experience having the guards open the gates for you isn't a problem at any time of the night. Depends I guess on your University so ask about it. And the accommodation does seem like it'd be single, but clarify it anyway.

I'm not sure about other people's experiences but I ended up paying for my work permit myself, as did the other foreign teachers here. I'm not sure what the common practice is but my University is mostly fantastic so I wasn't too bothered about it.

Personally, I'd continue to look elsewhere. There are better options available than this one.

drjtrekker · Joined: 16 Feb 2008 Posts: 251

The Ever-changing Cleric · Joined: 19 Feb 2009 Posts: 1523

aclot018 · Joined: 30 Mar 2010 Posts: 2

Thank you so much for all of your replies!

I have received a new contract this morning with the few changes I requested. I take it as a good sign that they are really eager to reply and make the different changes.

As I'm not looking for a job in one of the major cities in China, how does the pay mesure up?

By the way, I have a Bachelor degree and Masters in Second language teaching (French and English) but English is my second language. I'm fully bilingual but I have a very subtle French accent when I speak. Since I have not experience teaching in Asia (but 2 years teaching High School in Canada) I am tempted to start with this contract and see where I go from there. (and I'm 22 years old and teaching is my career)

Thanks again!