Job Discussion Forums

[jeffinflorida]

Why must they piss me off�Contract issues

Ok, as I mentioned before I took a job at a large manufacturing company that makes cars and cell phone parts, MP3 players, and lots of other electronic stuff.

My contract period is for 3 months, to start on March 1. They paid for the round trip airfare from Florida to HK with a return.

So I came on January 30th. Mainly to spend time with my Pretty Chinese Girlfriend. They gave me the room, some furniture, typical stuff. The room is in a company building so there is no rent involved.

So here�s the issue. The first week of February they asked me to start working. I said Ok, no issues. I asked the HR guy who recruited me about salary; he said no problem, paid full month�s salary for Feb.

Now, he does a turn around says I am only going to be paid for actual hours worked! I am pisssed off. He says I only worked 36 hours so they will pay me for that time not the 80 hours for the month for the full salary. When I said to him that the contract does not say I am an hourly employee and will not get paid less by working less hours than 20 a week he says：�Because the contract started on March 1 it was not effective for February!!!�. Even though THEY asked me to start work earlier.

Now, as you can imagine, my level of happiness is not so high right now� HR geek has empowered himself to recruit me while I was still in the US, pay for my air ticket, write a chinglish contract, but now can not give me straight answers. Every answer he has for me is that I need to speak to the VP of the department, who is usually traveling on business somewhere on Earth.

Sooooo, HAPPINESS ESCAPES ME�.

What advice can you give to me? I ask this to you because when mad I tend to make poor judgment calls sometimes. By the way, at this point I plan on not working anymore until the issues of Feb. salary and chinglish contract are resolved. They are poor at planning and even though I request them to give me a schedule at least the day before (of meetings and teaching times) they often don�t, so I turn off my cell phone and have unplugged my room phone.

[DistantRelative]

I suppose whatever happens, it may ultimately hinge on how valuable the company feels you are to them? If you perform a function they're really in need of and you're freez'in em out I'd expect a knock on your door in a hurry. If not the next move may be your's. What exactly do you do there Jeff? In any case, based on what you've said thus far, it sounds like they're trying to change the rules in the middle of the game.

Zhuhao,

Shawn

[jeffinflorida]

Shawn, I do various things here. Work in the Overseas Sales and Marketing Dept. Do alot of corporate coaching to the senior execs and account managers and project managers. They have corporate customers and I help them deal with tme in the "Proper" fashion.

Teaching presentation skills to these people, some business practices, coaching them how to get US visas, various things.

I think I may be teaching business to them in a week or so...They are generally clueless about what they want to do...

[Ariadne]

Jeff, you seem to have gotten a raw deal for February, but this is March now and so the contract should apply. Plug your phone back in. Just chalk it up to experience. Hey, you got some extra time with your sweetie, that should count for something. Make sure they pay the correct amount for March. If they don't, then get mad.

.

[abusalam4]

When asked for advice, here would be mine:

Secure yourself another teaching job somewhere else first, then leave them!

It seems you ended up with some of these Chinese business guys who know nothing about education and, above all, do not honor your contract!
Stop being hassled by them, leave them to themselves, and go!
They are not worth the efforts you may show to serve them and get your things sorted out!

You can have a better life somewhere else.....

[erinyes]

There are a few options here.

1) you want the job.
You go to the guy (Quietly and rationally) "I accept your decision this time, but I this will never happen again, and I will not be going out of my way to help you ever unless you help me now. This will never happen again and I will be expecting every little decision in writing.

2) You stage a sit in, and might lose the job.

3) Try to figure out a price that isn't the whole, but is fair and they would make you happy. Make them an offer. Saying all the time "you said the whole amount, you said the full pay, I am asking you for what is fair, but you actually said the whole amount!"

Obviously they are just as crap as most other Chinese companies. But the real question is did you really do much less work than usual? If so maybe a little less would be ok.

[jeffinflorida]

[erinyes]

Oh your so right! I was working for someone in Brisbane (a Korean) and they were doing the same thing, paying under the 'award' which doesn't mean anything since the gov changed, the law, but anyway - they said that they would pay at award, and quoted me 28 per hour. I found out the week later that the award for a first year out is 30+ per hour, and with my exp it's 33+ so I quit 4 days after i started. Bad for them since they had enrolled a few students counting that I would be there. But I have no regrets. They were not paying for 15 minute breaks in between classes... that's stupid if you ask me!

Anyway - back to your problem... no school will care about you, just what you can do for them. I would be sitting down asap and going through it.. but in a very polite manner, always smile, and just say very clearly what you will and will not do.

You know, in China workers are just workers. And people who are workers have that mindset too, they are thankful to have the job. You need to say "I will only work as well as the conditions you provide for me, and that is the lesson you need to learn."

You are teaching them about how to conduct a business with foreigners right? So you have to teach them their first lesson, treating employees with respect and giving them what they deserve.

But I think the first thing you need to do is put yourself into the mindset that this is normal for them. They are not being *beep* really, that's just the way they treat everyone. They just don't know how it 'should' be in a capitalist world.

[mlomker]

[Itsme]

What about responding to job advertisements? It's always the same thing:
"Let's discuss this in person."

2 hour bus ride to the office just to hear that it all boils down to 80 RMB per hour. As if ticking me off is going to make me agree to that.
Then 3 hour ride back home because of rush hour traffic.

Then the next person calling me to come in won't understand why I insist on some information before rushing over for an interview.

Anyway, back to the post. A meeting here or there is fine, I guess.
What else..
You are supposed to be working 80 hours per month but you only worked 36 hours the first month?

or

you will be paid the same salary no matter what?

I guess they could be right. After all, we are always the ones crossing the t's and dotting the i's on contracts. If it says it does not start until March 1 then it does not go into effect until then, right?

Who asked you to work? The HR guy or the VP or _____?

I guess you could stop working until you get the rest, especially if they promised you. Did they pay you ANYTHING yet?

[kev7161]

Well Jeff, not trying to piss you off, but . . . How long have you been a member of this forum? You keep writing they "said" this or they "say" that. Do you know these people? Do you know China? Surely you know to get everything in writing when it comes to pay and extras, yes? A spoken or handshake agreement just doesn't cute it in China (and I'd imagine Hong Kong as well). I've been working at my school for almost two years now - - paid in full every month with no problems. They want to offer me a nifty, new job with a brand-spankin' new title if I stay around for a couple more years. I tell them (politely of course), "put it in writing!"

The fact is (and by the way, I'd be upset too, just playing devil's advocate) you came early, worked fewer hours in Feb. than what your contract is for, and stayed for free in your residence. All the stuff you DO have in writing should've started officially on March 1st. Also, your contract is only for 3 months! No matter how pissy the treatment in February was, surely working until the end of May is bearable, right?

[Itsme]

Quoting Kev

[mlomker]

[jeffinflorida]

[jeffinflorida]