Job Discussion Forums

[CaseLThor]

So I just want to run this by others and see how fair others think it is.
Over the summer, my department raised the base pay. The problem is that my contract didn't end in June; it ends in February. So all the other teachers have received the pay raise, but I'm stuck at 4,300.
I'm seeing two sides of the argument in my mind: 1. It's a base pay raise, so it should apply to everyone and no one should be paid less than the base pay, but 2. I'm still on contract for 4,300 monthly, even though they just made me sign a revised version of my contract, still for 4,300.

So, any thoughts on this? I can understand both sides of the argument, but obviously, I'd prefer the side that bumps my pay up to 6,300 monthly.

[johntpartee]

[roadwalker]

[johntpartee]

[CaseLThor]

I'm really not in a position to bargain in my department at the moment, and it was a sign or be out of a job type situation, really.

So I'm guessing the verdict is it's fair for me to stay at the same pay despite a base pay raise.

[choudoufu]

[CaseLThor]

Old base pay: 4,300
New: 6,300

I'm still getting paid the 4,300, so 2,000 below the current base pay. Been here for one semester and starting my second. Had a rough first semester that puts me in not such a good position to bargain.

I read over the contract. It was essebtially the same, but one section was worded differently. Nothing significant.

[choudoufu]

okay, that's a nice fat jump.

you say all the other teachers got the raise. how many of them are new
hires starting new contracts? how many got the raise despite being on
a current contract?

YOUR contract had no significant changes. what about the new ones.
a 2000 rmb raise is rare; you usually see 100-200 rmb increases.

in the NEW contracts that get the raise, and change in:

*working hours increased?
*airfare allowance paid in installments?
*housing allowance included in salary?

[teenoso]

"I'm really not in a position to bargain in my department at the moment, and it was a sign or be out of a job type situation, really."

If your old contract was running until February , how could they fire you if you did not sign the revised one?
I understand for many employers here, the contract obligations are largely 'fictional ' and they can always find a reason to get rid of someone , but at least you would have had some basis for complaint for breach of contract (to the foreign affairs office in your city).
In the real world of course , nobody wants to lose their job , so I can understand why you say you were 'forced to sign' the revised contract.

[CaseLThor]

New teachers are getting the new pay raise. I'm also the only one with a contract that didn't end in June.

As for the other contracts, there were no changes in required teaching hours or allowances. It's still 14-16 minimum teaching hours.

[buffalobill12323]

[Bud Powell]

"...Being on a winter to winter contract is relatively rare..."

In the public universities where I have taught, and among FTs I've known who work at other universities, winter-winter contracts are common. All it takes is a run of Generation Y kids who throw hissy fits and bug out when a university of 18,000 students can't accommodate their wishes for a three-day work week.

It doesn't take much to throw a school's desired hiring schedule off. You'd be surprised.

[buffalobill12323]

[choudoufu]

[Bud Powell]

" It's a base pay raise, so it should apply to everyone and no one should be paid less than the base pay..."

You're on a different contract and bound by different contractual agreements.

What do you mean by "base pay"? Do you receive a commission, or are there incentives like the not-so-reliable "travel allowance" to be paid at the end of the contract?

"...I'm still on contract for 4,300 monthly, even though they just made me sign a revised version of my contract, still for 4,300..."

Do the revisions merit an increase or decrease in pay for any reason? I had a contract once that called for extra pay for good reviews from my students. I never saw one extra yuan, even though my students liked me and did good work. Their "work leader" was responsible for submitting student satisfaction scores. The work leader had the personality of a cockroach, so...

You need to think Chinese. In the west, departmental raises in pay usually take effect at a certain date, regardless of contract span. The Chinese don't think like westerners. (Are you surprised?)

For example, in the U.S., overtime is computed as any number of hours over forty hours worked during a seven-day pay period. In China (at least, wherever I've worked), a pay period is considered one calender month. I once worked for a university that had me work on-campus for 14 hours four weeks per month, then it farmed me out to another school for two weeks a month for an extra eight hours per week. The contract called for overtime pay for a work schedule of 14-18 hours per week; overtime would be paid for any hours over worked over eighteen hours per week. One would think that I should be paid overtime for those extra hours when I was farmed out.

Nope.

Look at your contract as if YOU were the employer and see how the employer might gain from a rather fluid interpretation of the contract.

It's difficult to reconcile yourself to this kind of BS, but this is how many employers conduct business.

I'd like to compare both contracts if you have them digitized and are able to post them, or at least tell us the exact wording of critical passages.

Excuse the long response and accompanying anecdotes.