Job Discussion Forums

RWA1981 · Joined: 27 Mar 2014 Posts: 143

I recently learned that half of my colleagues are earning almost twice as much as me for identical hours and work. The only difference is that I went through an agency and they did not. The principal doesn't care squat about this and tells me if I break my contract, I will be "blacklisted" and my invitation will be revoked and then I will get deported. Is there a legal way to break my contract?

choudoufu · Joined: 25 May 2010 Posts: 3325 Location: Mao-berry, PRC

RWA1981 · Joined: 27 Mar 2014 Posts: 143

fat_chris · Joined: 10 Sep 2003 Posts: 3198 Location: Beijing

Big Worm · Joined: 02 Jan 2011 Posts: 171

Breaking your contract would most likely require you to give 30 days notice and pay a fine. Depends on the contract tho.

I'd go about it by talking to your recruiter. You can get blacklisted for pulling a runner.

johntpartee · Joined: 02 Mar 2010 Posts: 3258

Banner41 · Joined: 04 Jan 2011 Posts: 656 Location: Shanghai

Go through RWA1981's posts and the answers will be clear......new name.....same dumb game.....

JamesD · Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2014 6:57 am Post subject:

I do wonder about the lack of creativity. Beyond the trollish-taunting-trivial posts, the names he/she/they use follow a pattern that makes him/her/them easy to spot.

jimpellow · Joined: 12 Oct 2007 Posts: 913

It is just conjecture, but another good possibility is that the headmaster is sharing your skimmed salary with the recruiter. Hence, your exploitation is of his economic benefit.

But people are correct in that you signed the contract for whatever reason. A hard lesson about the Chinese way for those who use recruiters (most) and seemingly failed to do proper research on the school and ESL industry in China beforehand. Quite the debate in ethics if you should honor the contract or not.

If you do decide to bail, I think the midnight run approach is best. Whether you will be blacklisted or not is an ongoing debate, though the new visa regulations do state that you will be denied a work permit for the next five(?) years. One could also argue to what extent this is being enforced.

Do you really love China? If not, there is an entire World out there with ESL positions. People seem to choose China for the simple reason that there are so many postings and thus the easiest route. I live in Cebu Philippines right now and have never seen an ESL job advertised here. Yet there are tons of opportunities for those willing to knock on some doors.

Few Chinese are capable of compassion, empathy and such. I would stop trying to get them to see the unfairness of it as they are simply incapable of such.

Hence, if you decide to do the midnight run, tell or hint about it to nobody. I don't know how many times I have known or read about teachers in China who start dropping hints about their intentions, expecting that it will magically transform the situation, but instead comes back and bites them in the a** by the school figuring out their intentions and taking preventive and punitive measures to stop it.

Good luck and learn from it regardless if you honor the contract or break it.

stinkytofu · Joined: 23 Feb 2012 Posts: 104

You can do something to get fired preferably after the middle of the month, they'll usually pay you for the full month. A simple, "I hate China!" at a staff meeting or in front of your class should do it.

If you decide to do a runner you'll need to move to another province or they'll track you down. Here's my post on doing a runner.

Midnight Runner In China
http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=83923&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

RWA1981 · Joined: 27 Mar 2014 Posts: 143

NoBillyNO · Joined: 11 Jun 2012 Posts: 1762

Fergie · Joined: 10 Feb 2015 Posts: 34 Location: The Middle Kingdom

There are legal ways to break your contract without losing your visa or your pay, but you have to know a little bit about China labor law or find a lawyer that does. As you can see in this link, most foreign employment contracts are illegal if they ask you to violate China law or your own employee rights. http://www.bjstuff.com/profiles/blogs/cftu-advises-how-to-break-your-contract-resign-from-a-bad-or. Just don't make the mistake of assuming you are screwed when you may have a legal back door escape. Maybe you are stuck, maybe you aren't - Check and see.

The Great North · Joined: 24 Feb 2015 Posts: 26 Location: Beijing

dblkhqc · Joined: 26 Feb 2015 Posts: 34

The real issue is the OP's bad business sense and negotiating a contract in bad faith. The way I see it is the OP signed a contract with no intention of honoring his/her commitment. It's the OP's fault alone that he/she is getting the money being gotten. That is bad faith and grounds for termination by the employer.