Job Discussion Forums

[eihpos]

I am working at a uni, in the second year of my contract which expires in January.However, I may (not sure yet) have another opportunity in another institution. If I wanted to leave my current contract I would give them at least 2 months notice ( it mentions something about 30 days in the contract) I would feel bad about not completing but I wouldn’t want to pass the opportunity either! Does anyone have any experience of leaving a contract early, and how did the uni react? Could they refused resignation?

[Kierana]

Unless you have real reasons to do this (such as contract clauses being broken) then I would complete your contract and then move onto the new job, because you will need a release letter and your current FEC to be cancelled by your current workplace, else you wont get a new residence permit without returning home and starting over from the beginning, even then without a release letter you might be refused/blacklisted if this is a public school you want to break contract with.

If this new job is legit they will know all of this stuff already and would wait for the current end of semester/contract. A late teacher is better than a headache with the authorities/previous school over a teacher who broke contract.

New term starts end of August at the earliest, as long as you apply for your new residence permit before the old one expires you are good.

TL;DR - Schools that push you to break contract are a huge reg flag, super shady stuff in my opinion. Don't break contract if you want to continue working in China, any good school will wait for you.

[eihpos]

Yes, I know about the release letter. I was just wondering about other people's experiences, and whether anyone has finished a contract early (with notice)

[Non Sequitur]

Yep I did that. I waved goodbye to my airfare refund but it was worth it to be out of 'Hellhole College'.
That said I had started in Feb so I was exiting at end of the academic year. The school had time to recruit for the new year starting Sept.

[Elicit]

I have held two previous jobs here and have left both early. The first switch created no problems but the second many.

The length of a contract as well as a teacher’s length of service with the institution may be variables that come in to play, I had done over a year in a two and three year contract respectively. Relationships between oneself and the current employer’s academic department and administration are also factors to consider.

If you stand to lose the new opportunity due to unfortunate timing and it really is a good step up, then it is worth the risk of sounding the current employer out or just handing in the required notice in your contract, in my opinion.

[Non Sequitur]

That's fair comment. My relationship with my boss was poisonous.

[nimadecaomei]

If it is in the contract that you can give notice, then technically it is ok. However, as mentioned it depends on how they take it. They can create trouble if they want to do so. My previous job did the reverse and decided not to renew at the last moment, that was fun. Bunch of British blokes telling me in June that I was not being offered a new contract, but they would tell me if they knew of any work around. Very nice 90 days notice