Job Discussion Forums

[latefordinner]

Getting paid is another.

I was due to go to my previous school of employ and pick up my contract completion bonus today. I was just getting some lunch when my ex-boss called to tell me that he couldn't pay me today. "Perhaps at the end of the month." My contract ended on the first, he was nowhere to be seen that day, and I taught classes into the evening for him that day. I came to the school again on the second, he was nowhere to be found. I came in again on the third, and even taught two classes that had been scheduled for me because the head teacher hadn't been told that I didn't work for them anymore. I went to some subsequent trouble to get hold of him, to no avail. A few days ago he called me asking me to come by today. Yesterday he wanted the keys to the flat (I left it when the phone was cut off, before the end of the contract). No problem, I could drop what I was doing and make a meeting for which he would be a half hour late... Now he calls me at lunch and ...<sigh>. Well, I sort of saw it coming. They do have a history of late paydays, unannounced conditions, sudden changes of plan and such. Anyone have any experience with lawyers and the labour bureau in Dalian?

The school: Outstanding English Academy (Zhuo Yue Wai Yu Xue Xiao), Dalian.

[Roger]

Take the boss' LEXUS as collateral! Or maybe his wife...and her gold earrings!

[izzy272]

But I have yet to meet one teacher who did not have a probelm get paid. All have recieved their wages but there was always one or two things wrong with them. Now like I said it has only been a month for me and I have yet to be paid. It will be interesting to see what happens on the 5th.

It is easy to say..."WELL THATS IS JUST THEY WAY THINGS ARE DONE HERE" true that may be it does not take away from the fact we plan around false promises.

I myself would have left the first week if not for the fact that the kids are just so great. To me it kind of a trade off.

[kev7161]

This is yet another example of the whole "this is China" debate, "so get used to it or go somewhere else." For one thing, we come here with certain expectations - - whether they are realistic or not is one thing. But, when I came to China, I was financially obligated to the move. I sold most of my belongings (including my car) and gave up my job/income to come here. Luckily, I have not had a problem with getting paid on time, but getting them to bend and follow the contract has been a constant struggle it seems. This is ongoing and has been in the three different positions I have held in China (a second part-time job and my summer job) to date. So, if I'm unhappy with something small like spitting or staring, then I can look the other way or vent about it here. If I am unhappy with a school for not following their promises, it's not so easy to just up and quit and go back home . . . or even to move to another school. It takes planning and packing and a certain amount of time to seek another job. There is nothing wrong with expecting a fair shake when we start a job - - at home or in China.

[burnsie]

I work for a branch company of a famous chinese company with the same name. The company is in financial trouble and has decreased in size.

And get this - the employees have yet to be paid for 5 months!

This is inconcievable in most other countries but 'this is how things are done here'! Many of the employees have left because of this little respect for their employees. In the meantime the owners has just completed his renovation of his house. It's only 1,000 square metres in size on a 3,000 square metre block of land. Build with 12 rooms, a sauna, gym, indoor lap pool. Oh he only has 5 personal staff too!

But this is how things happen here!

On the contract side of things the Chinese work as an individual type of arrange rather than a business type therefore the contracts are not really followed. It is only a suggestion to follow and usually a start to normal negotiations.

[Roger]

This is a story that happened to a CHinese teacher friend of mine; it's got a sweet-sour ending - revenge is sweet, but having to forego one's dues is sour.

The man moonlighted for a private training centre, and once he asked me to come to his school. I didn't like it from the outset although the girls and I myself hit it off very well. The school premises was in a rundown state, and obviously, no money was spent on any renovation or the pruchasing of badly-needed materials.

My colleague later confided in me that he hadn't been paid for 3 months by that time, but the lady boss kept promising all the part-time teachers they would get their wages "shortly".

My friend had to divorce his own wife, and that meant a heavy toll on his savings, so he really counted on every extra income he could make.

Then, one Friday, he arrived at that centre to learn that the lady boss had been taken away by cops. The fulltime teachers had decided enough was enod they had complained to authorities.

My friend lost 5 or 6 months in wages, and that lady boss has been in jail ever since that fateful Friday back in 2000...
She had other debts as well - shortchanged people to the left and right.

[nolefan]

I am surprised by the number of "old hands" that still have salary issues with their schools or bosses. It seems to me as though it has been happeneing more and more often as of late. Maybe you guys oughta do what I did with my uni: I had them add a clause to the contract that stated: "If the teacher's salary is not paid on the due date by the school, He/she has the liberty not to teach from that day on until his/her salary is paid in full."

It has worked for me. On my first pay day, they didn't have the right forms signed so I just went back home and asked them to call me whenever they were ready to pay. It took them a few days to sort it out and I was just chilling while they did.
Since then, it has never happened.

Over the summer, I did not trust the school I was dealing with so I just had them pay my wife and I on a weekly basis with the same clause in the contract.