Job Discussion Forums

[peewee1979]

I work for a school now and when I met with them they were nice and gave me the 5 page contract to take home and examine.

I started working for them and looked at the contract them gave me after it was signed and red sealed.

Pages 1 and 5 are identical but 2,3,4 are different. They moved payday to 15th instead of 10 as I was told and they put in additional fines and requirements that were not in the original contract. Such as an additional 5000rmb visa fine if you quit and made the probation period 3 months.

What should I do? I feel violated.

[7969]

You were given one contract to look at initially, but is that copy the one you actually signed and were given a copy of right after signing? If your school has something different with your signature on it then someone's switched the pages on you. In this case take your copy to your boss and ask for an explanation. Any further steps depend on what your boss says.

If the contract you signed is not the same document you were given to look at earlier and you were given another contract when you came into the office to sign, did you thoroughly read that contract before signing it to ensure it was written the same as the previous one? If you didn't read it closely then you may have unwittingly signed a different contract.

[choudoufu]

this might just be an honest misteak.

the school may have numerous contracts, along with revised copies,
stored on the HR hard drive. you might have accidentally been
given the wrong contract. many of the office workers don't speak
english too good, one contract looks like any other.

(or course, it could also have been intentional....)

no need to feel violated just yet. see if your boss will get you
the correct signed and stamped contract first.

[big_big_bang_theory_fan]

So did you actually read the contract prior to signing it? You're saying, with absolute certainty that the pages are different? You were given a contract to "look at" but you then didn't bother actually reading the one you actually signed, right? Make sure you're clear on the facts.

What you are refusing to say is that you are not accepting responsibility for not signing each page, such as I do. I sign, initial, and date each page of a contract for exactly this reason.

Opened yourself up to it it seems.

[askiptochina]

1) email recruiter
2) receive contract in email to "look at"
3) go to school
4) look at contract for any changes
5) sign contract if it is acceptable

This is the procedure I follow. Let's look at some discrepancies.

[Kysorb]

This is why I initial every page.

[peewee1979]

[Lobster]

Although delivered in the usual snotty and depreciating tone, BBBTF has made some good points. Each page of the contract must bear part of the hiring school's chop. Each page must be initialled by the teacher. It is the teacher's responsibility to thoroughly read the contract before signing and note any discrepancies. It must be reviewed again upon receipt. BTW, they can't instate a 3-month probation period on a 1-year contract. Some may give them the benefit of the doubt for an honest error. I wouldn't. You'll find out when you ask them to change it. A 5k "visa fine"? Payday on the 15th? I smell a rat.

RED

[The Great Wall of Whiner]

I believe that you were intentionally tricked into signing it.

I would not accuse them of it, but I would ask them why the contract you checked is not the same as the contract now.

[Baozi man]

"this might just be an honest misteak.

the school may have numerous contracts, along with revised copies,
stored on the HR hard drive. you might have accidentally been
given the wrong contract. many of the office workers don't speak
english too good, one contract looks like any other." [sic]


Whether the above is true depends on the type of contract you signed. SAFEA contracts are not stored on school hard drives. They are numbered and printed on special paper. Genuine ones are purchased by the school from SAFEA [So I was informed]. An SAFEA contract is required to obtain certain vital documents to legally work in China, This, of course, means that they are likely to be counterfeited.

Who cares if you get paid on the tenth or the fifteenth? That's not the kind of thing to battle about. Contracts are, more or less meaningless to Chinese anyway. They think nothing of changing them because they have little meaning. Nearly every contract in China is worthless because the Chinese enter them in bad faith. There are certain aspects of the contract which they have/had no intention of fulfilling. Free Chinese lessons used to be a part of the standard contract. Few places actually provided "Free Chinese lessons."

I would be wary of contracts which provide opportunity for your employer to cheat you on your final salaries. Planning to actually fulfill your end of the deal, by completing the contract instead of leaving part way through, eliminates many problems.

If you plan to leave because they have violated the contract, who cares what's in it? They nullified it by their own behavior; therefore, you are free to flee as a bird to your mountain.

[Miles Smiles]

"...SAFEA contracts are not stored on school hard drives. They are numbered and printed on special paper..."

More than that: A valid SAFEA contract is a booklet that is STAMPED with a unique, registered number.

[choudoufu]

[peewee1979]

It's not a safea contract and is solely a school contract. its not an addendum - the contract was made by the school. No safea connection at all.

[The Great Wall of Whiner]

Have you asked them why it is different yet?

[peewee1979]