Job Discussion Forums

[meiqiao73]

Hello. I am planning to start work in Zhejiang Province in early September.

My contract looks pretty good. But I have a couple of questions maybe you all could help me with. Please.

1. My contract says "Party A shall provide Party B with a roundtrip economy class air ticket when he/she is returning home at the expiration of the term of service." It doesn't mention cash equivalent value.

Now, I don't plan on going home after one year, and therefore don't need the ticket but would like a cash equivalent instead (dollars or yuan are both ok). Did your contracts explicitly say "Either a return air ticket OR cash equivalent of up to X amount of money?" or was it like mine? Frankly I dont know what a person returning to their home country for good would do with the return part of a round trip airfare from China...

2. Also, for those of you who have stayed at the same university job for longer than one contract period, did the school offer this airfare/funds to you the second year? Seems like they should continue to give this "bonus" to you every year if you decide to stay, since you would then have experience with the school and they will have to pay for newer teachers' airfare if a teacher leaves. I haven't seen much about this on Dave's, though.

3. Visas: my school contract says they will "provide Party B with a Foreign Expert Certificate and Permit of Foreigner Residence and bear the cost.
Party A shall provide Party B with one entry visa. Party A will help Party B apply for a double or multiple entry visa but Party B shall bear the extra cost." Question: Everything here taken care of? Or am I forgetting a hidden cost somewhere?

4. Vacation time. My uni is affiliated with Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, so I "assume" (gulp!) it's on a similar schedule to that university. The contract says "Besides the vacations in the college timetable and public holidays, Party B may also enjoy a two-day holiday for Christmas, and the salary is paid as usual during the vacation if the service time exceeds one semester. If Party B is engaged to work for an academic year, he/she is eligible for a vacation tour allowance of RMB 3,000 Yuan for the year..."

Does "the vacations in the college timetable and public holidays" mean I will be paid for the Fall week, winter vacation and spring week of? should I have this explicitly stated in my contract, or do you find this unnecessary?

That's it for now. I have a good feeling about my school but I want to play it safe. Thank you in advance for your help!

[kev7161]

You should read my post I just made about my re-entry visa problems. The best advice I can give is ask questions, ask questions, ask questions. Then, get EVERYTHING IN WRITING. Make sure they are quite specific in your contract - - especially when it comes to holiday pay, time off, reimbursement, and visas. There are certainly above-board schools in China, but so many try to cut corners and do nasty things to you when it comes time to move on.

1./2. Make sure they say up to how much they will pay you (usually it is up to 8000rmb). Most schools will reimburse you for that first ticket and then, if you don't go home, they will give you "x" amount towards another ticket - - say 5000rmb. One school will not want to pay you for that ticket if another school already has, but they will make sure you get home.

So, first year, reimburse you for your RT ticket (did you buy a RT ticket or just a one-way?), second year, enough money to buy a one-way ticket home. This is the norm from what I've seen. If you go home during a summer holiday and then come back, then they should reimburse you for a RT ticket on your second contract. Negotiate carefully.

3. That sounds right. Again, see my post about problems if you don't get it in writing.

4. Get those holiday pay amounts in writing. It is not unusual to ask for full pay during holidays, but some schools like to pay you a percentage during those times (and yet work you extra days before and after the holidays to make up for "lost time"). Get things like "100%", "full-pay regardless of Chinese holidays", "full salary each month" so on. I actually had them put the rmb amount I was to be paid each month of the contract along with a total amount that should be paid to me by the time my contract is finished.

I'm kicking myself now for not covering my bases with the re-entry visa problem, but you live and learn. You probably think of everything, but anything you have a question on, get written confirmation. Good luck!!

[Roger]

Airfare: Most of my fulltime employers stipulated in the contract the amount they were going to pay at the end of my tenure; for half a year it would normally be RMB 5000, though many pay the same amount for a whole year. A full year might be remunerated with 8000 to 10'000 yuan.

Multiple visas versus single-entry visas:
To my consternation I have had to accept that the difference between the costs for a single-entry visa and a multiple-entry visa have sometimes to be borne by the employee; my half-year work visa cost the school RMB 160, and the multiple-entry feature set me back RMB 425. My employer has just applied for my one-year work visa and paid for it; they showed me the invoice which specified that multiple-entries cost RMB 850, which I will have to refund the university.
You must make an educated decision: do you intend visiting HONG KONG, MACAU or any other place outside the PR of C during your sojourn here?
If not, you may waive your privilege and just ask for an EXIT PERMIT if you change your mind and wish to visit some place beyond the PRC borders; such a permit costs little, though it takes quite some time to process (maybe one month).

[latefordinner]

Personally, I souldn't settle for anything other than a lump sum (10,000 is reasonable) at the end of a completed contract. If they hedge with "reimburse", negotiate harder or walk. That said, I have too often borne the cost of my own visa, and I have not been making sight-seeing junkets to Macau, HK, etc. Win some, lose some.

[ymmv]

In state-run universities, often, the air fare reimbursement is a funded mandate from the provincial government. (i.e. the government TELLS the schools to reimburse a round-trip (return) ticket for one year of service. An UNFUNDED mandate would be, for example, the SBFE setting wage guidelines for foreign teachers without giving them the money to meet those guidelines. UNFUNDED mandates are merely discretionary here.)

Now, on the issue of whether your school will give you the money for a RT ticket if you don't have one, or don't go home, many schools will do that out of a sense of goodwill, even if it is not in the contract. BUT, the government-funded money only somes through IF you have a RT ticket receipt. In many provinces, they have capped this at 8000.

If you don't have a ticket or don't go home, but your school is willing to give you the cash equivalent, realise one thing here: the school is paying it out of their pocket. If they like you, and you are not a whinger, they are likely to agree to this out of goodwill. They are certainly not required to do this, despite what you may think is fair.

Also, on information and belief: the officially mandated RT reimbursement policy is a non-taxable employee benefit requiring an actual RT ticket to qualify. Otherwise, payments made to the teacher will be taxable as wages. THIS IS WHY many schools, who DO try to do the right thing and pay you an airfare supplement if you don't go home, will usually pay you a reduced supplement. It's a taxable event to them requiring them to withhold employment taxes on the amount. Under the Chinese tax law, it's a bonus subject to a 20% tax

Of course, they will never explain this to you because (in their eyes) it's too complicated for foreigners to fathom.

But that's pretty much the way the air-fare deal works here in the public schools.

[meiqiao73]

good advice everyone.

thank you sincerely and see you soon.

zzz