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tw
Joined: 04 Jun 2005
Posts: 3898
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 Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2006 5:13 am Post subject: Are they trying to pocket what should be mine? |
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Long time no post, hope everyone is doing well.
A potential employer tells me that they will only reimburse me a one-way airfare upon the completion of a one-year contract because (1) I am already in China and (2) because I'd be living in the provided apartment for a month before classes begin. In the contract they sent to me, it states:
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| Party A will provide Party B with an international air ticket coming to China and one international air ticket after this contract expires to leave for home country. |
Yet, I know one of their former FT's and he told me that they paid him a round-trip airfare instead of giving him a one-way ticket to come to China. I am very sure I am not the first FT in China who has completed a contract and then look for new employment somewhere else in the country. So I want to know, does your new employer also insist on paying only a one-way airfare since you "are already here in China"? As much as I'd like to agree with them, I have the feeling that they are trying to pocket the airfare.
Last edited by tw on Fri Jun 09, 2006 12:31 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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Super Frank
Joined: 03 Feb 2006
Posts: 365
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| Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2006 6:35 am Post subject: |
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Did your last employer give you the fare to go home at the end of the contract? If so all you will have to keep doing is get the return fare home at the end of each contract, that way you will remain ahead. They will pay for you to join them but I don't see why they should or could pay for the equivilent air fare from a country you are not in.
My employer will pay for me to go home at the end, and pay for me to come back/return, but if I stay in China before begining the new contract I wouldn't ask/expect to pocket the money. |
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no_exit
Joined: 12 Oct 2004
Posts: 565
Location: Kunming
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| Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2006 7:27 am Post subject: |
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They need to ammend the contract if they only want to pay you one way airfare. They can't have you sign something that says they reimburse round trip airfare and then only reimburse you for one way.
My school pays about 8000 RMB at the end of a one year contract. This is "airfare" money, but the school is pragmatic enough to realize that most of our teachers are just going to pocket the money. They don't care either. The airfare money serves as a "bonus," an incentive to complete the contract, and the boss knows that.
I wish more schools would take that approach. Honestly, what you do after your contract shouldn't be their any of their concern. |
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tw
Joined: 04 Jun 2005
Posts: 3898
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| Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2006 8:41 am Post subject: |
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| Super Frank wrote: |
| Did your last employer give you the fare to go home at the end of the contract? If so all you will have to keep doing is get the return fare home at the end of each contract, that way you will remain ahead. They will pay for you to join them but I don't see why they should or could pay for the equivilent air fare from a country you are not in. |
My current (and soon former) employer is too poor to pay for round-trip airfare. So I am only going to get about 4000 RMB of airfare (what I paid to come to Huhehaote).
| Quote: |
| My employer will pay for me to go home at the end, and pay for me to come back/return, but if I stay in China before begining the new contract I wouldn't ask/expect to pocket the money. |
I know, and I think most employers are smart enough to know that anyone who's finishing off a contract in China and is changing employer without going home first is looking for some easy money to pocket. Still, I miss the old days when they'd automatically give you round-trip airfare with no questions asked.
| no_exit wrote: |
| My school pays about 8000 RMB at the end of a one year contract. This is "airfare" money, but the school is pragmatic enough to realize that most of our teachers are just going to pocket the money. They don't care either. The airfare money serves as a "bonus," an incentive to complete the contract, and the boss knows that. |
That's obviosuly a school rich enough to be able to afford to do this. I am starting to notice more and more job ads stating that they'd only reimburse one-way airfare.
This all wouldn't such a big deal if it wasn't for the fact that one of their former foreign etachers is still teaching in the same city for another employer and he got a full round-trip airfare. |
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Yu
Joined: 06 Mar 2003
Posts: 1219
Location: Shanghai
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| Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2006 9:02 am Post subject: |
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My first job (coming from the US to China) only offered return airfare.
My current job picked up the airfare for me to return to China and go back to the US again this summer. As I am continuing there they will also give me another RT airfare for the next year. |
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China.Pete
Joined: 27 Apr 2006
Posts: 547
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| Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2006 9:06 am Post subject: Too Poor |
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"My current (and soon former) employer is too poor to pay for round-trip airfare." - TW
Any reasonable employer ought to pay either a round-trip airfare for a one-year contract or the equivalent amount of cash in lieu of same. Employers who refuse to pay all or a portion of the airfare because you're already in (or not leaving) the country, even when the contract stipulates they will, is simply trotting out another one of the many lame excuses that unscrupulous employers use to avoid their financial obligations. "Too poor" my asss!
Last edited by China.Pete on Fri Jun 09, 2006 9:15 am; edited 3 times in total |
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no_exit
Joined: 12 Oct 2004
Posts: 565
Location: Kunming
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| Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2006 9:08 am Post subject: |
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| tw wrote: |
| wasn't for the fact that one of their former foreign etachers is still teaching in the same city for another employer and he got a full round-trip airfare. |
In that case ... did the former teacher tell the school he was going to go home and then just ... not? Does the school have to know what you're doing afterwards? Or do they want to see proof of the ticket. I don't see why you can't get full airfare if he did.
My school is fairly well off, although they try to cut corners sometimes, like all schools. However, on top of the airfare at the end we also get a performance bonus of up to 2000 RMB. A teacher who honors his contract is going to walk away with a big chunk of money at the end, no doubt. As a private training center there is a huge emphasis placed on keeping teachers around. There are even further incentives for re-signing each year for another year's contract. We've got several teachers working on their third or fourth year here. |
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grwit
Joined: 20 Apr 2006
Posts: 329
Location: Dagobah
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| Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2006 9:29 am Post subject: |
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| Or do they want to see proof of the ticket. |
Yeah my college asks for proof. They dont want the actual ticket but they do want to see the receipt for the ticket. If I decided to stay in china for the holidays and could not produce a receipt for an airfare then I guess they would not pay me. However because they do pay me in full for my airfares I always go home for a short time at the end of my contract. It's a free trip back to see my family once a year! |
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tw
Joined: 04 Jun 2005
Posts: 3898
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| Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2006 10:21 am Post subject: |
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| no_exit wrote: |
| tw wrote: |
| wasn't for the fact that one of their former foreign etachers is still teaching in the same city for another employer and he got a full round-trip airfare. |
In that case ... did the former teacher tell the school he was going to go home and then just ... not? Does the school have to know what you're doing afterwards? Or do they want to see proof of the ticket. I don't see why you can't get full airfare if he did. |
He was simply told that they wouldn't renew his contract.
| China.Pete wrote: |
| Any reasonable employer ought to pay either a round-trip airfare for a one-year contract or the equivalent amount of cash in lieu of same. Employers who refuse to pay all or a portion of the airfare because you're already in (or not leaving) the country, even when the contract stipulates they will, is simply trotting out another one of the many lame excuses that unscrupulous employers use to avoid their financial obligations. "Too poor" my asss! |
My current employer is NOT the employer who wouldn't pay me a round-trip airfare because I am already in China. I came to my current location from Canada, and because of the fact that I am currently in China, another employer is saying that they see no reason why they have to pay me round-trip airfare should I choose to work for them. |
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Malsol
Joined: 06 Mar 2006
Posts: 1976
Location: Lanzhou
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| Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2006 10:27 am Post subject: |
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| Look at the airfare as an earned perk that you should be able to spend any way you want. SAFEA requires that airfare be paid, reimbursed or some other agreement. |
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Midlothian Mapleheart
Joined: 26 May 2005
Posts: 623
Location: Elsewhere
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| Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2006 10:49 am Post subject: |
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post deleted
Last edited by Midlothian Mapleheart on Sat Jun 10, 2006 1:32 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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kev7161
Joined: 06 Feb 2004
Posts: 5880
Location: Suzhou, China
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| Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2006 12:18 pm Post subject: |
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| It's a free trip back to see my family once a year! |
I like this line. Though no fault of my school's, my "free" trip home is never free! Yes, my school will buy my RT ticket because I'm returning in September. They are simply looking at last year's ticket and, since this year's is less, will also give me the difference in cash, so that's nice.
However, once I land in LA, I'm wiped! So I always rent a room for a night before heading back home to Kansas. It really refreshes me as I can't really sleep well on a plane. Then, of course, I have to pay for the domestic flight RT from LA to Kansas City (almost $300 this year) and when I return to LA, I arrive the night before for much the same reason. Luckily, while in Kansas, people treat me to dinners and movies and what-not, but I still manage to spend a bundle buying new clothes, books, food stuffs, anything I think I may need upon my return here.
So, my "free" trip costs me upwards to a thousand dollars!  |
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tw
Joined: 04 Jun 2005
Posts: 3898
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| Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2006 12:29 pm Post subject: |
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| Midlothian Mapleheart wrote: |
| If they won't pay the airfare they should assist with the living expenses you incurred here between jobs before working for them or as a signing bonus equal to 1/2 the one-way airfare. The other option is a lump-sum payout. As this is a prospective employer, you need to nail down the amounts before signing. An employer gets a lot by hiring someone who's already here and has China experience, and there's no way they should use that against you. |
Those are good suggestions and I do agree, my being in China already should be more of an asset to them than a burden consider the fact that they don't have to worry about getting me the Visa Notice and the Work Permit.
Unfortunately, my plan is to move from here to the next employer's city so there won't be any living expenses. I think the employer feels that as I'll be living for "free" on campus for at least a month before classes begin, I should be grateful and satisfied and not ask for anything more. Maybe I should ask them for more vacation pay?  |
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China.Pete
Joined: 27 Apr 2006
Posts: 547
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| Posted: Sat Jun 10, 2006 3:08 am Post subject: One-Way Ticket |
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| I think most FTs think of the airfare reimbursement as part of our total compensation package. Therefore, employers who hire locally should not be allowed to squeaze out of the expense. My response to employers who would do so is to find a new employer as quickly as possible, but not before sticking the cheapskates with a really expensive one-way ticket "home." |
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Midlothian Mapleheart
Joined: 26 May 2005
Posts: 623
Location: Elsewhere
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| Posted: Sat Jun 10, 2006 3:32 am Post subject: |
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