Job Discussion Forums

[Itsme]

Doesn't it seem reasonable that the employer should pay for airfare, regardless of whether it's for one semester or one year? Is teaching English as a second language the only "profession" where the teachers are the ones footing the bill, especially in China where salaries are pretty low anyway!? A one-way trip is usually as much as one or two month's salary, depending on the salary of course. I suggest that more prospective teachers request that their airfare be paid for so perhaps it will become commonplace in the future.

[NateM]

On the one hand I agree that salary and compensation are lacking significantly in China, and need to be improved. On the other hand, I can see why schools want to push teachers towards one year contracts. No one wants a teacher to stay for just six months. With many teachers that's just when they're starting to get a feel for the school.

[Itsme]

ok fine. Assuming that all contracts were for one year, wouldn't it be reasonable for the schools to pay for the airfare?

[davidq]

I aggree the one way reimbursement doesn't really make sense for the typical person flying in from overseas for a contract since you need a round trip ticket to fly into china to begin with according to airline rules and immigration laws. Anybody who gets onto a plane headed for China with a one way ticket from overseas can consider themselves lucky.

In the case of a typical one year contract I would avoid a school that only pays for a one way ticket, or will only pay up to a certain amount say 5000 that doesn't cover the full cost. There are always other schools that will reimburse the full amount of a return ticket, or guarantee that in the contract

In the case of a six month contract I would imagine these are typically taken by people that happen to already be in China and aren't as concerned with airfare issues

[Roger]

It's been my understanding that airfare reimbursement is a legal and nonnegotiable part of the EMPLOYER'S duties!
If he wants to hire you legally then his contract must contain such an offer.

[clark.w.griswald]

[NateM]

I don't think that's necessarily true. I narrowly missed out on a job in a public school in Rizhao, Shandong, which was offering 5,000 RMB for 12 hours and 6,000 for 16. I think the government standards specify a minimum, but not a maximum. Schools just tend to hover around the minimum because either A) They can, because the school is able to bring in people willing to work for those wages, or B), because the school, being a public school, doesn't have the cash to pay teachers more.

[clark.w.griswald]

Yes, fair enough.

I agree that a government school could theoretically pay more than the amount set by the government, however I believe that it is not the norm. Generally speaking if you want to earn over the detrmined salary amount for 'foreign expert' teachers then you need to look outside of the public school system.

Although in practice most private employers will cover airfares or offer contract completion bonuses which can be used to cover airfares, to my knowledge though there is no legal requirement for them to do so and therefore teachers need to ensure that the airfare payment is agreed to and stipulated in your contract. As to when it is paid, well this is up to you to negotiate. As mentioned earlier, it is my understanding that government institutions are required by law to make the airfare subsidy available but this generally comes at a cost to the teacher with the offering of a lower wage.

From earlier information on this forum regarding airfare payment it seems that around 50-60% of teachers receive this payment during the course of their contract, 30-40% receive it in full upon completion of their contract, and around 10% receive it upfront either through tickets being sent to them or through full reimbursement upon arrival. Therefore teachers should probably expect to get some of the payment within the first six months of the contract, and the rest in the second half of a one year contract.

I certainly see the point about receiving the full reimbursement for a six month contract, but as someone else has already stated most schools will want a full year from you in order to offer the full benefit.

[Itsme]

Well my main point is that I believe that airfare should be paid for by the employer and that this should be a normal part of the contract and not something that causes gasps and groans from the employer when mentioned. As far as I know, in most professions, when an employee moves to another country to work, the employer covers all costs associated with relocation.

[clark.w.griswald]

[Don McChesney]

'Itsme" is correct about the payment of one way fares only for a 6 month contract.
It suits me to do this, and the school will pay half my fare, but this still leaves me about 8000 RMB for the return trip, although I do buy a round trip ticket, the one way fares inside China and Australia are expensive.
This means I 'lose' about the first two months salary to the airlines, thus making my average salary pretty low.
It's even worse if your school or Uni will only pay a figure like US$700.
Yes, it's my decision, but take note of this if you intend to save lots while working in China.

[Roger]

[LeiShan]

I look over the conditons of employment before I even apply! If I don't like the reimbursement then I don't bother with the job. It is the same everywhere in the world! Some offer more and others less. Go with what your expectations are and leave the rest alone. Outside the public school sector (mostly within as well) it is a pure capitalist world and everyone is trying to make the bucks for themselves. I stay where I am because I get the benefits I want! (3 years and counting)

[davidq]

China is desperate for teachers even with the airfare reimbursement. It would be interesting to see how many teahers would (or wouldn't) come to china if airfare was not reimbursed like some other countries, especially South East Asia. Consider a case where the salary is around 3000RMB give r take (alot of college positions) and the airline ticket cost around 10000RMB. It would take over 3 months of salary just to cover the cost of the ticket. The airfare cost is very high compared to the salary, compared with countries like Japan and Korea where you could pay for the airfare out of your first paycheck and it is more managable.

[tony lee]

Get the occasional teacher crying poor and wanting the school to pay the airfare up-front. My view is that if you are that poor,you need to stay well clear of China because it is not a good place to come without some sort of safety net - ie, friends back home, return airfare in pocket, bank balance back home, travel insurance, credit card or similar..

Schools will quite sensibly refuse these requests because they have no way of getting their money back if the teacher decides to do a runner or not even show up. The payment of the airfare (by the teacher) and the practice of refunding some or all of it at the end of the contract is considered to be in leiu of posting a bond (in dollars) as surity for completing the contract. This requirement was official policy and can still be found in official documentation.

I would require that at least half of the fare be repaid on arrival or at least at the end of the first semester, but would have no complaints about having to wait to the end for the second half of the fare. Don't let the school keep your return ticket either - whether for "safekeeping" or not.

You need to get these provisions written into the annexure to the contract because despite all the assurances that such and such is government mandated, the reality is that if these extras such as airfare policy, hours of teaching, overtime policy, visitor policy, payment of utilities, holiday pay, travel bonus, method of payment, conversion to US dollars etc are not specifically written in, then they will not be provided or honoured. At the very least, such matters should be clearly discussed and agreed to in emails from the FAO and or the academic director as appropriate. Never with the recruiter. Preferably only one item per email, rather than a whole list of items because otherwise misunderstandings will occur.

Tony