Job Discussion Forums

Cyberkada · Joined: 04 Dec 2011 Posts: 306 Location: Xi'an, China

Does an unsigned contract imposed upon a FT upon arrival carry any weight? Legally, no, but in actuality, yes. What can a FT do about it short of pulling a runner? I doubt any FT sued a company over a contract issue in China and stayed in China to tell the tale...

Lobster · Posted: Sat Dec 24, 2011 6:41 pm Post subject:

Please disregard the speculative comments about your personal life and boyfriend. Certainly when one accepts a job in a given location they expect to work there and not be shipped off on the employer's whim. If they consider you a "bad teacher", how do they figure that making you teach in a different city would solve that? This has dysfunction written all over it.

You'll have to tell them that you're sorry that you cannot meet their expectations, but will not accept any contract revision, increase in hours or change of location. This will require them to leave you be or terminate you. It puts the ball in their court. Because you haven't shared the details of your probation and termination clauses, it's hard to assess what would happen.

You should start talking to other schools about positions asap, being careful not to badmouth your current employer. See if you can get an offer. From the sounds of it, your current school will probably be as vindictive as possible. That means they'll probably revoke your FEC, refuse to issue release letter, try to withhold your last month's pay and try to get hold of your passport so they can cancel your RP. Do not, under any circumstances, allow them to get hold of your passport!

The first three, you can do little about. You'll probably have to get your new employer to arrange new paperwork via HK and go that route. If you don't line something up quickly, you're going to have a real problem. If you're staying in a school-provided apartment, that will also compound the problem. Seeing as you have few teaching hours now, use the time to line up that new job, and get on it now, because it seems this one's going to crash and burn immediately.

RED

t-dawg · Joined: 03 Oct 2011 Posts: 13

I have resumes and cover letters ready to go for Monday morning, and have already been in contact with managers at other foreign schools, both in my city and in others nearby. I have enough money to see me through a week in HK and possibly longer if necessary. I am going to do my best to avoid "breaking" my contract, and extricate myself gracefully from this situation.
I feel that I definitely made the right decision as far as locales go, and other foreign teachers who have had the exact same problems have managed to switch to the other foreign schools in the city with minimal hassle. It's just a matter of getting on top of this and being ready. I do have real friends here who will happily take care of my stuff for me while I am in HK or while I make a move to another area.
To clarify: I am not a party animal. My boyfriend is very sweet, but this is not love, at least not now. I have been through loneliness and culture shock before and am not acutely suffering at the moment. I have always wanted to be a teacher, but a lack of employment options back home made me reconsider my career path, and I'm just getting back on track now. This is something I really want to do, and want to do well. Any further misogynist comments will be ignored entirely.
I sincerely thank everyone who has had real, helpful input into this problem. This is a really unpleasant situation, and it's nice to know that I can rely on help from other teachers who have seen this kind of thing before.

max81 · Joined: 26 Sep 2010 Posts: 59

What is the name of this magical city???

grape_fruit · Joined: 11 Aug 2011 Posts: 17

Working, teaching, accepting a salary, doing anything whatsoever, before you have a signed, stamped, legal contact in-hand only places the responsibility and consequence(s) on the employee/teacher him/herself and gives this person no right to complain or bad-mouth anyone.

You are legally allowed 30 days to have a signed contract and then obtain your F.E.C. Other time frames are allowed for obtaining the A.R.P., etc.

If you accepted a job, don't have a signed contract, it's all your fault. Why anyone would work or do anything without the perceived protection is beyond me.

t-dawg · Joined: 03 Oct 2011 Posts: 13

I DO have a contract. It is signed and notarized. I have a copy in my desk. It is a revision of terms that my employer wants me to sign, not the contract itself. The original contract stipulates that the revision of terms only becomes part of the contract once it has been signed--ergo, I have not signed the notice of revision.

askiptochina · Joined: 26 Feb 2010 Posts: 488 Location: Beijing

Cyberkada · Joined: 04 Dec 2011 Posts: 306 Location: Xi'an, China

Baozi man · Joined: 06 Sep 2011 Posts: 214

"I have always wanted to be a teacher, but a lack of employment options back home made me reconsider my career path, and I'm just getting back on track now. "

This is the real reason the FT business has become a buyers market. In previous times, Chinese employers were happy to get FTs from the Beautiful land, Canada, England, and Australia. In some respects, they felt we were doing them a favor by coming here, perhaps even marvelled that we would leave the land of wealth and prosperity for a developing nation

After the financial collapse in 2008, the Chinese attitude toward the West and America in particular, changed. It changed dramatically, for the worse.

Now they think, rightly so, in many cases, that they are doing us a favor by providing work. That is bad news. Once they think they have the upper hand, they will use it to smite and abuse, not help.

Why is the OP getting such rough treatment? Because her employer considers her just another foreign dog in need of a bone. What other justification would there be for such shabby treatment?

I don't blame the OP for this. It just so happens that the glory days of English teaching in China are gone.

Miles Smiles · Joined: 07 Jun 2010 Posts: 1294 Location: Heebee Jeebee

rogerwilco · Joined: 10 Jun 2010 Posts: 1549

Baozi man · Joined: 06 Sep 2011 Posts: 214

Roger, When I asked for a raise in 2009, the FAO told me it was denied by his boss. The reason: "He's an American. They are the ones who brought financial trouble on the rest of the world. Don't give him anymore money."

7969 · Joined: 26 Mar 2003 Posts: 5782 Location: Coastal Guangdong

you should have sewn a Canadian flag onto your shirt and told him you were from the Great White North. I had no trouble getting a raise from one year to the next Laughing

Off to get a two-four now. Catch ya later eh. . .

mrwslee003 · Joined: 14 Nov 2009 Posts: 190

Ms Dawg,
Sorry to hear about your problems. It sounds like you are handling the situation with patience without exacerbating the situation. It also sounds like you have an excellent overview of everything.

Your employer at the moment is trying to coerce you to go to an out of place location where nobody wants to go. Your employer is using his unfavourable view of your teaching ability to manipulate you into changing your contract, which you resist for good reason. You also have leads to other schools that like to hire you should you become available.
You also have friends, local and Fts, to support you. Does that sound
pretty much what is going on here?

I say work on getting the other schools to offer you employment. Insist on not signing a new contract with your present school. Say sorry to your present boss that you are not meeting his/her expectations and let your probation period reach its conlusion. And let yourself be released from that contract. Go to HK and do the paper work for your new school.
In that way you have offended no-one and you get to transfer from an
unpleasant job to a school that appreciates you.

Does that sound too simple? Good luck.

kev7161 · Joined: 06 Feb 2004 Posts: 5880 Location: Suzhou, China

One thing that has not been discussed is what is the OP's educational/professional background? Have you ever taught before this job and, if so, in what capacity? Do you have a degree in Education or TEFL (or something) certificate? Did you have actual classroom experience before this job? "Always want[ing] to be a teacher" is different than actually pursuing said career in the way most teachers have.

The reason I'm asking these questions is, as abysmal as your situation sounds, how much of the burden is upon the school and how much is yours? If you are a novice with little to no experience, almost any teaching scenario is going to be quite challenging, I'd imagine -- especially here in China! I'm not trying to deflect blame away from your employer, but I feel we're only reading one side of the story so far.

Also, from reading your first post, they seem to have given you an ultimatum: take that other job at that other school or you're fired (is that basically it in a nutshell?). So what's the big deal? If they are letting you go, then you are not in breach of your contract and they have no right to financially penalize you. Sure it sucks to have to find a different job and maybe lose out on promised airfare and what-not, but at least you're out of a job that you don't seem to really want to stay with anyway.