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fat_chris
Joined: 10 Sep 2003
Posts: 3198
Location: Beijing
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 Posted: Wed Nov 27, 2013 12:03 pm Post subject: |
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Man, and one of my game plans for next year was to attempt to sign on as an IELTS examiner in Chengdu and Chongqing. Hmm…
We'll see how this turns out.
Warm regards,
fat_chris |
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choudoufu
Joined: 25 May 2010
Posts: 3325
Location: Mao-berry, PRC
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| Posted: Wed Nov 27, 2013 12:12 pm Post subject: |
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what's the problem here? china says to BC you gots to pays yer taxes.
okay, bound to happen sooner or later. most colleges have gotten away
from the monthly stack of cash, gone to direct deposit, along with the
pathetic 25 rmb in taxes.
i suppose BC could have arranged to have the tax deducted and leave
it at that. nah, they gave you a 20 rmb raise to cover the 20 rmb tax.
you're out a total of 0 rmb. anyways, you might even get a portion of
that tax back. how many of you are in the 20% bracket?
had BC refused to play, china could have shut them down completely, yes? |
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theoriginalprankster
Joined: 19 Mar 2012
Posts: 895
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| Posted: Wed Nov 27, 2013 12:27 pm Post subject: |
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| had BC refused to play, china could have shut them down completely, yes? |
Could have. Might do. And then none of their little darling prince and princesses would be doing an IELTS test, in China, in order to study/waste time/dumb down the class abroad.
Abroad = HK, Australia, NZ, England, Canada, and increasingly the US. IELTS is the test these countries want. They're not interested in the other guff.
The gubment makes money, BC makes money (the test costs about RMB1680 - goes up every few months or so, and is a lot more expensive to do here than many other countries), and examiners sit on the same cruddy pay they've gotten for the last eight or so years.
BC is just another of the gubment's lap dogs. That's life, I can dig it. |
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choudoufu
Joined: 25 May 2010
Posts: 3325
Location: Mao-berry, PRC
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| Posted: Wed Nov 27, 2013 12:39 pm Post subject: |
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yebbut.....with this new tax deal, you're affected how?
no change in pay, but ya gotta sign a paper? that's rough.
go ahead and strike if ya wanna, i'm sure it'll be really hard
to fill all those examiner slots. |
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fat_chris
Joined: 10 Sep 2003
Posts: 3198
Location: Beijing
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| Posted: Wed Nov 27, 2013 1:25 pm Post subject: |
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| choudoufu wrote: |
| go ahead and strike if ya wanna, i'm sure it'll be really hard to fill all those examiner slots. |
Oh! Maybe I could be a scab then.
Warm regards,
fat_chris |
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choudoufu
Joined: 25 May 2010
Posts: 3325
Location: Mao-berry, PRC
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| Posted: Wed Nov 27, 2013 1:42 pm Post subject: |
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| fat_chris wrote: |
| choudoufu wrote: |
| go ahead and strike if ya wanna, i'm sure it'll be really hard to fill all those examiner slots. |
Oh! Maybe I could be a scab then.
Warm regards,
fat_chris |
be careful! don't run afowl of the teachers' union! them's tough binggan! |
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fat_chris
Joined: 10 Sep 2003
Posts: 3198
Location: Beijing
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| Posted: Wed Nov 27, 2013 1:53 pm Post subject: |
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| choudoufu wrote: |
| be careful! don't run afowl of the teachers' union! them's tough binggan! |
Oh! Chou, thanks for the warnings. Dey iz tough binggan's, dat dere teachers' onion. Yeah yeah yeah, wouldn't certainly wanna mess with dem, dat's few sure.
[shaking in my boots and hiding under the covers at this very moment just thinking about the big, bad teachers' onion]
Warm regards,
fat_chris |
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theoriginalprankster
Joined: 19 Mar 2012
Posts: 895
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| Posted: Wed Nov 27, 2013 1:57 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
go ahead and strike if ya wanna, i'm sure it'll be really hard
to fill all those examiner slots. |
I've seen grown men (and women) start to salivate, shake and go into seizure when they hear what we earn - it'll be a breeze for BC to get a fresh, compliant batch of examiner-wannabees.
It should be said that it is the most mind numbing work I've ever done. It's like my brain has been drilled for two days non-stop.
Some examiners like that they get to tell their posse "well, I stay in the Sheraton/Westin/Shangri La when I do IELTS examining, AND they pay me to listen to drivel for a weekend".
I like that I bank all the money, which is useful for future pursuits. Looks good on the CV too.
IELTS examiners are indeed an interesting (peculiar?) and varied bunch - apply now at BC for a whole new circus of colleagues, besides the ones you already have at your stock job! |
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Volver
Joined: 27 Sep 2013
Posts: 181
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| Posted: Wed Nov 27, 2013 2:35 pm Post subject: |
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Got news for everyone: The Chinese government was NOT the party that instigated this - BC did it all on their own. THEY approached the government and said they wanted everyone to start paying taxes. Then they go and get us all excited for a couple of months about a 20% raise. 3 days later, they tell us that now we owe taxes. And oh, by the way, we are also going to tax your stipend on top of what they pay. Many of us will actually get a pay cut out of this. Some people will now be in the 30% tax bracket. This is directly from the guy in charge of the examiners in China.
This is not over by a long shot. More s--- will hit the fan. ALL examiners are working for the BC illegally and it doesn't matter if you have a Z visa or not. Is anyone reading this so naive to think the BC will look out for its workers?
Lest you think the job is so wonderful, it is truly the most boring work I have ever done in my life. Add in the hassles of traveling around this wonderful country and I am looking forward to the day I can leave it behind. And it is true that the examiners are, by and large, an "interesting" bunch.
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theoriginalprankster
Joined: 19 Mar 2012
Posts: 895
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| Posted: Wed Nov 27, 2013 3:06 pm Post subject: |
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| the guy in charge of the examiners in China. |
Shall I ... shall I? MXXXXXl KXXg, in Beijing - you've been named and shamed.
Edit: I believe it might be against this board's policy to name and shame, thus the edit. |
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El Macho
Joined: 30 Jan 2006
Posts: 200
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| Posted: Fri Dec 06, 2013 5:13 am Post subject: |
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I am going to stop examining for the BC, not because I disagree with the tax scheme (which is entirely legal and being implemented in a standard way), but because (a) travel – especially air travel – in China has become more and more disagreeable and (b) the tax means a fair sized pay cut when you take into account that the monies for subsistence (several hundred RMB/weekend) will also be part of the sum taxed.
I can see IELTS examining as being worthwhile if you don't need to travel from your own city but if travel is involved, it just isn't worth it. Calculating travel time into the equation, I can earn more on an hourly basis just arranging a few more classes here. There is a substantial advantage to this as I can schedule extra classes at times that are convenient to me and not have to give up weekends. |
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fat_chris
Joined: 10 Sep 2003
Posts: 3198
Location: Beijing
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| Posted: Fri Dec 06, 2013 5:48 am Post subject: |
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| El Macho wrote: |
| I can see IELTS examining as being worthwhile if you don't need to travel from your own city but if travel is involved, it just isn't worth it. Calculating travel time into the equation, I can earn more on an hourly basis just arranging a few more classes here. There is a substantial advantage to this as I can schedule extra classes at times that are convenient to me and not have to give up weekends. |
I would have to agree with this.
If I have heard correctly, examiners in my neck of the woods examine in Chengdu and in Chongqing--that would be doable--a two-hour train ride from Chengdu. I would have no problem with that, but anything further…
Warm regards,
fat_chris |
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shawadywady
Joined: 13 Mar 2013
Posts: 40
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| Posted: Fri Dec 06, 2013 12:03 pm Post subject: |
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| (which is entirely legal and being implemented in a standard way) |
well that's quite a statement. the legality is murky to say the least given that examiners are not BC employees not to mention Chinese (ahem) rule of law.
and the implementation as someone said earlier is a textbook example of how not to do it. i don't think there's a 'standard way' of doing anything in the PRC.
but i would agree with you about travel not being worth it (apart from the free slippers from the hotel obviously). |
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Volver
Joined: 27 Sep 2013
Posts: 181
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| Posted: Fri Dec 06, 2013 1:26 pm Post subject: |
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When you factor in the travel time involved for many examiners, the job is not very good - probably under 100/hour. I divided my pay for a week-end by the total number of hours I both worked and traveled and came up with 150/hour. This is higher than most because I live so close to a couple of examination centers. If I lived further away, I would never travel to do the work simply because I could make a lot more doing side work.
The horror stories about missed flights, nights in airports, waiting forever in the rain for a taxi, etc., make me wonder why some of these examiners do the job in the first place.
I now understand that the examiners in BJ have to come by the BC to pick up their train tickets. This means even more "travel" time and hours missed that could be devoted to side work. I am a short bike ride from a ticket office so buying my own ticket and getting reimbursed is not a big deal. If I had to travel across BJ to pick up my ticket every week, I probably would never travel.
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El Macho
Joined: 30 Jan 2006
Posts: 200
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| Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2013 9:07 am Post subject: |
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| shawadywady wrote: |
| Quote: |
| (which is entirely legal and being implemented in a standard way) |
well that's quite a statement. the legality is murky to say the least given that examiners are not BC employees not to mention Chinese (ahem) rule of law.
and the implementation as someone said earlier is a textbook example of how not to do it. i don't think there's a 'standard way' of doing anything in the PRC.
but i would agree with you about travel not being worth it (apart from the free slippers from the hotel obviously). |
…free slippers AND a fruit plate!
When I wrote "implementation" I had in mind the logistics of the tax scheme itself, not how they announced it, rolled it back, and then re-rolled it out. You're right, that was an absolute mess.
Why do you think this is illegal even for work permit holders?
Here's why I think it is legal:
The BC is treating the examiners as contract employees who are already legally employable in China. (I think this presumption of legal employability is the sticking point for many who are complaining.)
The BC are doing the same thing that my two main side jobs have insisted on doing since early 2011, when they told me that new laws had come into force. Both those side jobs require me sign project-length contracts with them each time there's a new class, lecture series, etc. Tax is deducted automatically from the wage (at the rates that the BC has stated…30% really hurts) and I wind up with tax certificates. Sounds like what the BC's doing, right?
The biggest threat for trouble in this is if your contract with your employer includes the SAFEA clause about not doing outside work. This is only an issue, however, if your employer makes it an issue.
The other potential problem, of course, is for all those examiners who are illegally examining on tourist visas.
I know that a number of examiners claim that they have consultancies etc set up and pay tax through those. Basically I don't believe most of the people who say that are telling the truth. From those for who it is true, I'd love to hear how having a WFOE (e.g. a consultancy) is somehow incompatible with being a contract employee for the BC. Does the visa not allow it?
| Volver wrote: |
When you factor in the travel time involved for many examiners, the job is not very good - probably under 100/hour.
…
The horror stories about missed flights, nights in airports, waiting forever in the rain for a taxi, etc., make me wonder why some of these examiners do the job in the first place.
…
I now understand that the examiners in BJ have to come by the BC to pick up their train tickets. |
I agree with you 100%. |
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