Job Discussion Forums

[nomad-ish]

Alright, I would like to change my employer and I wanted to know if there are any changes to the regulations.

Must I have a letter of release? I would ideally be leaving after the semester finished, but before my contract is up, so they obviously won't be thrilled.

Other than that; do I have to leave the country? Do another medical check? Also, does anyone have experience with penalty clauses in their contracts? Would the school actually sue or could I bargain with, say, leaving asap or staying til the end of the semester if they drop the penalty clause? Has it been done before?

[dean_a_jones]

If you are working legally (came in on a z and then got your RP) then you will need to get a release letter. If you can obtain this, then you will need to give it to your new employer, and will not need to leave the country or sort out another medical. The RP will be transferred to your new employer, and you just keep going from there as normal. So this is usually pretty straightforward.

The problem is that even under normal circumstances (i.e. end of contract) the release letter can sometimes be a pain to get (many places don't really seem to know what this is rather than them trying to screw you over). In your circumstances, this can obviously be even more difficult.

Are you suggesting you will stay where you are now until the end of the first semester, and hop to a new place during the winter break? If so, and if you have only just started, why?

It is a bit difficult to give advice, as I would suggest a different approach depending on the circumstances and your feeling about how the employer will react. For some places, if you leave during the semester break, give a bit of notice so they can sort out a replacement and are honest about the reason why you want to leave (but it is not overtly negative about the school, and you might be better off with a white lie here) then you might find it is not so complicated.

If, on the other hand, your relationship is poor and they want to give you trouble, then you might find you have a hard time with the whole situation.

I don't actually know anyone who has been forced to pay a penalty clause, but this obviously doesn't mean it doesn't happen. It just seems that many people either negotiate a way out without needing to do so, or pull an runner (though you might lose pay, apartment deposit etc. by doing this).

The reasons why you want to go and how long you have been at the school would be helpful in terms of addressing the likely response.

[nomad-ish]

the school is a decent enough school, that's why i would like to negotiate with them to leave at the end of the semester so that they could find a replacement during the break, but in exchange i wanted a release letter and the penalty fee waived.

i actually started at my school very recently, however i'm starting to find that my school was not forthcoming about certain aspects of the school that, if i had known, i wouldn't have accepted the position in the first place. this wasn't specifically put in my contract, but this is what my employer told me during the interview and through the many emails we exchanged afterwards (i was hired abroad). it's not a horror story, but this is definitely not the job that we agreed upon verbally.

i don't think the school will react badly, they'll be annoyed of course, but i was worried about how difficult and time consuming it would be to change my RP (getting it soon) to another employer. i was also worried about the penalty fee, since it would be one month's wages for me.

any thoughts?

[wangdaning]

Who paid for all of your paperwork, visas, medical, air travel? If they came out of pocket for any expenses for hiring you be willing to give it back. You work what is in your contract, not what you talked about, so if you want to split due to personal reasons (not contract violation) then you are potentially up for a breech fee.

The breech fee can be waived or negotiated down depending on the employer. I would not try to threaten a leave now or stay for a term deal. In all likelihood they would call your bluff and then refuse the release letter at the end.

Do you have something else lined up? If not I would just look around during the term. Once you find something and get the paperwork processed to go to HK (hopefully towards the end of the term), notify the school you will not be coming back.

Either way you are shafting the school, so I would not expect them to cooperate much with you getting a new position (unless they are really understanding and your reason is good).

If you still have your Chinese medical that should be ok. I am sure most potentials of this situation have been executed in the past. If you want to cooperate then it really comes down to how well you can gauge the employer and why you are leaving.

[LanGuTou]

[dean_a_jones]

I think you have two issues here:

First, what you agreed outside the contract vs. the reality of your situation.

Second the fact that this is at the moment causing you to consider leaving early.

You still have not explicitly stated what the exact problems are (and of course you might not want to). This lack of specifics, and our inability to gauge the employer, makes any advice a shot in the dark.

On point one, I would make your case on this without mentioning leaving (if you want to bring it up and try to fix it). Yes, certain things might not be in the contract, but that is normal (I don't expect every single minor aspect of my job to be listed in the contract, but the important stuff should be).

There can be a tendency here to shift the goalposts slightly, either because of circumstance, or to see how far one can be pushed. This might be done without considering the person involved (often because most Chinese teachers seem to put up with it and worry about their ability to advance if they don't). Nevertheless people here expect to negotiate in life, so if you sit down and are polite and reasonable, you might find certain things will change (though this is harder if you have been putting up with them for a while without complaint). You said this was agreed verbally, but also said you have things down in writing via email. What you have agreed in writing might help your case here.

The second point might hinge on the first, if you can get things closer to what you agreed. Otherwise, I would give the school advance notice (perhaps 2 months) on the fact that you want to leave and as I said before, try to have a credible excuse that is not damning of the school itself. It is not clear if you work for a public or private school. If public, then the end of semester is the only time they are likely to agree to a break. It would also be easier at a private school (and less disruptive for the students) but as they tend to hire year round, they might be happy to let you go simply with ample notice so they can recruit another body.

As you state they are not breaking the actual contract, whether they let you out without penalty is pretty much up to them, and how well you get along with the people who are in the position to make this decision. If you can't or don't want to address your immediate concerns, then I would try to at least get on the good side of whoever it is you plan on raising your departure with in a few months time.

When you do sit down to talk about leaving, I would not even mention the penalty fee yourself. Also, I would be talking to the teaching office rather than the person in charge of your visa and contract (assuming they are separate). Usually if you can get the people in charge of the actual teaching to agree to a departure, the admin office that deals with the paperwork will just process things as requested. This division is probably more common in universities than in training schools.

Finally if you do leave, expect things like airfare to be adjusted accordingly (i.e. if you were promised 10,000RMB/year, expect it to be 5,000 and if your ticket over cost 6,000, expect to have to pay back the balance). Other expenses the school has covered may be brought up by them, expect to negotiate if so.

[dean_a_jones]

[Non Sequitur]

First things first.
Get another job offer - hopefully from a school with more status ie a university if you are at a vocational school.
Get the FAO at the new school on your side. They can bring pressure to bear on the current employer in ways that we wouldn't know how to achieve.
Without that assistance you can expect no part of the airfare or other travel allowance and possibly a penalty payment. In other words bank on the worst case scenario.
Accepting what you say about misrepresentation, the Chinese ain't going to have their crappiness thrown in their faces. It is YOU who is at fault.
In short, get the next step sorted before you give up what you have.
Good luck and BTW Welcome to China!

[askiptochina]

[nomad-ish]

[askiptochina]