Job Discussion Forums

Louras · Joined: 24 Nov 2004 Posts: 288

My contract states that I'm employed to the amount of X for 16 hours a month. I had to do a visa run - which was the schools mistake - and they cancelled some classes. They deducted from my salary all the classes I have missed for both the above reasons. Now I don't need all the slagging about what a pathetic ahole I am, just what you'ld do in my situation.
Thanx

Super Mario · Posted: Fri Dec 23, 2005 4:44 am Post subject:

Sorry, but I think you're screwed.
Sucking up to whoever is directly responsible is your best chance. Tell him what a great school it is, he's a great leader, you'll help find a new teacher.
It depends on whether you have any self esteem!

Louras · Joined: 24 Nov 2004 Posts: 288

They are not trying to sack me - they just employed me. I just think that classes that was cancelled because of me should be unpaid but any cancelled by the school is making my hours less and my contract states they employ me for 16h per week. Maybe it's just the initial "let's see how far we can push you" situation?

erinyes · Joined: 02 Oct 2005 Posts: 272 Location: GuangDong, GaoZhou

Well, if they have stated that you'll get a monthly salary then it should be a monthly salary... no matter how many classes you work. The contract usually says if your miss a class then they can deduct, but I would take in the contract and say to whoever "this says if I miss a class, not if you cancel a class." Then say it's their responsibility to schedule make-up classes. If they can't do that then they should pay you anyway.

I would say - I signed up for THIS much a month, so that much is how much I expect. If I knew it would only be only 'this' much then I would have gone somewhere else.

And by the way, another school has just offered me a position near by for "this" much. That's more than I earn here. But I like working here so I told them I didn't want to leave my current position.

Babala · Joined: 28 Jan 2005 Posts: 1303 Location: Henan

Who paid for the visa run? How many classes did you miss and how much do you stand to lose?

brsmith15 · Joined: 12 May 2003 Posts: 1142 Location: New Hampshire USA

Get out. Now!

Louras · Joined: 24 Nov 2004 Posts: 288

I paid for the visa run with my so-called travel allowance which they gave me in "advance". This was not how they put it to me directly but I'm sure that's what it's gonna come to. I had to pay for the visa in HK, accommodation and my ticket (Y4000). They promised to refund me half of the ticket but you can't blame me for being sceptical. I missed 8 classes for the visa and 4 for the medical/physical on a different occasion this month. Any more thoughts?

Babala · Joined: 28 Jan 2005 Posts: 1303 Location: Henan

Wow, they are really trying to screw you. I would tell them that either you get your whole salary or you're out. Taking money out of your pay for missing classes because you are getting a medical or your visa is beyond outrageous!

7969 · Joined: 26 Mar 2003 Posts: 5782 Location: Coastal Guangdong

i sympathize with you somewhat. i'm in a similar boat now.

my school told me two months ago they couldnt convert an L visa into a Z but they said they would try anyway (by talking to local officials). last week they told me there was nothing they could do and that i had to do a visa run. my L visa expires in 5 days now and i'm leaving the school next week and not returning until after spring festival. that means i'm going to miss the last two and a half weeks of this term (their suggestion not mine). i expect to be paid my january salary before leaving but i'm not sure if they'll try to deduct this two weeks that i'm about to miss. they havent said so and i'm wondering if they'll try and pull a fast one on me. i don't think they will as they've been pretty good to me so far, but the possibility exists. i'm paying for the visa run on my own.

will keep you posted as we have similar circumstances here.

Sextus · Joined: 03 Nov 2005 Posts: 80

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

1. When your boss is crossing the carpark from his car to the school door, rugby tackle him from behind, yelling "WHERE IS MY F----- MONEY?!?'

2. When your boss is crossing the carpark from his car to the school door, approach him smiling with a large bunch of flowers. Get really close. Whisper into his ear, "I love you so much ... it hurts" (Warning: may only work if you are a stunning, 21-year old blonde. You hear me, Roger?).

3. When your boss is crossing the carpark from his car to the school door, let him see you practising Tai Ji some metres away. He will probably stop and say something like, "Ah! You do Chinese Taiji Quan?", at which you should open your eyes suddenly, perform double standing backflip and then split boss's car in half using sheer willpower. Keep his gaze as he staggers to safety. Apart from your glowing, fire-sparking eyes, do not move a thing. (Warning: may only work if you can "do Taiji". But an awful lot of you can, eh, my foreign TJ master friends?)

4. Whip local peasants up into a bloodthristy frenzy. Be sure to provide banners ("PAY ME NOW!" "THE BOSS IS UNCIVILISED!" "THE VILLAGE UNITES AGAINST BAD ENGLISH BOSS"). When boss is crossing the carpark from his car to the school door, proceed to throw bricks through school windows. If boss continues to withold pay, burn down school. Regroup in fields. Repeat until paid.

5. Dig pit in carpark the night before. Fill with faeces-smeared wooden stakes. Cover with loose matting of branches and grass. When boss is crossing the carpark from his car to the school door, spring out from behind a lamppost and cry, "Be careful!" When he stops short, run up and grab him. "You see?" Point at the deathtrap. " You almost fell into a pit filled with faeces-smeared wooden stakes". Then turn suddenly serious and extremely threatening. Get up close and say, "You are very lucky, Sunshine. Very lucky." (Warning: works best if you are slightly mad-looking. CMM, please note.)

6. Come to work wearing a jester's hat, blowing a trumpet and riding a tricycle. When your boss is crossing the carpark from his car to the school door, blow your horn, pedal up to him as fast as your oversized clown shoes will allow, and then try to swipe him one in the shin. Then burst into tears. Repeatedly sob, "Why does nobody respect me?!?"

(Works best if you are this Scottish guy I know)

Listeners to the Ricky Gervais show will know why this is certain to work -- part of it, at least (www.guardian.co.uk/rickygervais)

7. Do deal with Devil. (Warning: may not work if you have already sold soul in return for current employment) Ask Devil for full payment of monies owed. If Devil has outstanding agreement with your boss, consider asking for flight-ticket home.

8. When your boss is crossing the carpark from his car to the school door, be waiting for him in full Japanese WW2 regalia.

9. Take boss to court. Explain to judge (boss's cousin) why boss (judge's cousin) should pay you, an illegal worker, the fees you are owed. If judge seems to lose interest anywhere in the proceedings, rend clothes and wail, "I DEMAND JUSTICE!" Threaten to contact consulate the next time you are allowed near a phone. After your case has been thrown out of court onto its sorry hide, limp back to your home country and p--- and moan about it on Dave's until Sperling locks your account. Then read ad on internet for "UNQUALIFIED FORIGN TEACHERRS NEED BY BLACKDUCK MOUNTAIN INDUSTRIAL DISPOSAL AND ENGLISH-TRAINING COMPANY LIMITED / 3000 RMB / month. Location: Inner China". Set off for orient without a care in the world. Repeat until valuable lesson learned.

But the best way is the simplest:

10. When your boss is crossing the carpark from his car to the school door, walk up to him with all the necessary paperwork, visas and permits, which you had quite correctly sorted out before ever setting foot in China.

The moral of the story is this: sort everything out before you come. If you arrive here on a dodgy visa and a promise, you are opening yourself up to disappointment, frustration and misery -- misery all the more sad for how easily avoidable it was. And when the proverbial hits the fan, there won't be very much you can do about it, apart from dream of revenge.

And believe me, you just don't want to join that army of hungry foreign ghosts!

Roger · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 9138

The mystery is: why did you have to make a Hong Kong visa run?

Most "FTs' have to do that because they are not employed legally; they pick up a tourist or "businessman's" visa.

If you are in that kind of situation you have no handle on your employer.

If, however, you were ordered to obtain your work visa ('Z') in Hong Kong (which means you applied to the visa office rather than to a travel agent) then you should have a contract and certain rights.

Enuff said - everything above this is speculation!

Louras · Joined: 24 Nov 2004 Posts: 288

There are many provinces that require you to get a Z visa outside China if you came in on a tourist visa

Louras · Joined: 24 Nov 2004 Posts: 288

That was your funniest post ever!!! You must have a lot of time on your hands to come up with and write this stuff. Lord knows we need some funnies here.

hesterprynne · Joined: 16 Sep 2003 Posts: 386

sextus- laughed so hard root beer came out of my nose- and I was only drinking coke

tom selleck · Posted: Sat Dec 24, 2005 12:37 am Post subject:

This sounds all too famaliar. Web Urumqi did the same thing to me.

Well, not exactly. Total expense to tom, English teacher, erstwhile multi-millionaire, "I just do it for the love of teaching-not the money", woe-be-gotten are those who cast aside the omnicient warnings of "King Rog" selleck:

Y6000.

Air flights from Urumqi to Hong Kong are probably more pricey than anywhere in China.

Br Smith probably gave you straight advice: At the beginning, that's as good as it gets.

Because I am a multi-millionaire, it's not the expense that burns me. Hell, I light Cuban cigars with $100 bills!

It's the non-stop conveyer belt of fools who continue to knock on the doors of such establishments without researching the enourmous hold of information available on this site. Instead the dewy eyed newbys are seduced by two words: "Silk Road". Two words, and they can cast aside any common sense, just like that.

Put the rotters out of business by posting warnings to inexperienced teachers and informing them of the negative reputation said school has garnered by treating their teachers as indentured serfs. Some schools have closed their doors because of an inability to get teachers.

But in a country where 6,000 coal miners die every year, I don't imagine they care too much about a few English teachers. We only have each other to rely on. The only thing that was missing from your post, IMO, was the name of the school.