Job Discussion Forums

[PyRoT]

Hi,

I have been working at a school which seems to be one of the worst I could have gotten into. The main reason I have stayed is because I have company classes at a French company so this experience would be valuable if I decided to stay here one day.I have gotten a terrible deal here but will leave soon before the Olympics. Anyway, this post is not about my treatment.

Anyway I have included below some things that this boss does to his Chinese employees. I would like to know if any of it could be used to report him to the authorities after I leave and hopefully punish him for being such a bad person. It breaks my heart to see the Chinese teachers being cheated and exploited as much as they are and I feel he really deserves to suffer some huge consequences for such unethical behavior.. common or not.

* By law he should provide his teachers with health insurance at his expense. However, he blackmailed them into singing a waiver giving up their right to this insurance by telling them he would cut their salary by 600RMB a month to get the insurance if they didn't sign it. Teachers begin with a salary of 900RMB and top off at around 1200RMB so this is a terrible thing to do since they could not survive if they didn't sign.

* Demo classes for potential students and some first classes are free for students. In these cases, my boss extends the "free" label to the teacher's salary thus they are not paid for them.

* Some new teachers joined the school and signed a contract. They had to come to work 6 days a week and prepare for their teaching by going over textbooks, training etc like everybody else. When payday came he did a back-flip on his earlier statement that salary would be counted from the start of the contracts and instead, counted it from the first week that he scheduled classes for them. This meant that instead of starting with 900RMB, a few of them only got 450RMB. This is not even enough to eat for a month and it totally ignored the fact they had spent a lot of time at work training. One unlucky teacher who was trained for longer, only received 100RMB for her first month. I am sorry for tainting my letter with emotion but this is an extreme form of cold-hearted greed and total disregard for other human beings.

According to the above, teachers are only paid for doing classes on Saturdays and Sundays. However, they are still forced to come to work from Tuesday to Friday to "prepare" for class (which takes them a fraction of the forced time) or else they may be fired. Since coming to work from Tuesday to Sunday results in no pay unless you have classes, it is obvious that he forces them to work for free most of the week. It is unclear how he benefits from this but one teacher's theory is that it prevents them from finding other, better work.

* Some of the staff and teachers do not have a contract at all. However, this seems like a good thing considering he doesn't follow them or local laws.

* Perhaps owning up to working on an F Visa (after I leave) could also get results


I hope some of these things are illegal and capable of resulting in heavy penalties. I am told however that it would be easy to bribe one's way out of any trouble...

[jwbhomer]

Imagine one Chinese exploiting another! It reminds me of the old joke about the difference between communism and capitalism.
Q. What's the difference between capitalism and communism?
A. Under capitalism, one person exploits another, while under communism the reverse is true!

Could we please know what "singing a waver" means? How does one do that? Does one need special voice training?

[fluffyhamster]

If I only received 100 RMB for doing what sounds a lot more hours than that sum is worth, I'd be spending it on a baseball bat and balaclava and seeing the boss for a little "talk" in some parking lot (needless to say, I'd also relieve him of that heavy bundle of cash that poor he wouldn't then be capable of carrying). But those teachers who feel "forced" to come in on weekdays are fools (when the school can't fill those hours with enough if any classes (which few schools can, BTW)). They should all stop coming in (and get or have day jobs) and insist on just turning up for their scheduled weekend classes (which I am sure they prepare well enough for); then if the boss refused to pay them, he'd soon be out of teachers. But there's always somebody willing to work practially FT for a month for only 100 RMB.

[PyRoT]

These are mostly female Chinese teachers so it's unlikely but I wish they did choose to engage in the vigilante justice mentioned...

Anyway, I have from the beginning suggested and encouraged them to act as a group. I am certain they could change things if they all threatened to leave at the same time.

However, they are scared individuals and have become accustomed to their conditions (learned helplessness). Also, the weekdays never have any schedules classes for the Chinese teachers. Only weekends. Sometimes they may have a VIP but most of the time they have nothing to do but prepare. These are essentially free days since coming everyday and not receiving a class to do on the weekends means you get paid nothing (100RMB).

While I feel terribly sorry for the teachers, I do see that they are architects of their own situation in some ways. I really cannot think of any way to convince them to do something themselves. Their current conditions should do that easily without my intervention.

[patsy]

According to my too many years in China, I know what they should do, the teachers had better "keep a good mood" because it's good for "their healthy" and to "deal with this situation". They have no way. there is so many people in China. They need to maintain a smile and endure this thing.

[killian]

the chinese teachers are easily replaceable. organize a group action? ain't gonna work. the solidarilty will be split. those who "get tough" will be shown the door. the best thing they can done is start their own schools.

if you work for yourself who can fire you?

[fluffyhamster]

The point is that it simply isn't worth one's time if one is getting as little as 100 RMB. They'd be better working elsewhere (or as you say, Killian, working for themselves).

[Anda]

It is general for China I think you will find. Many government schools are no better the way they treat their staff.

Only 30% will get a half decent job after graduating university or college here in China.


Watch your step also as you don't know what pull your boss has with local government.

All you can do is find yourself a good job and perhaps help a few close Chinese friends with a bit of money or stuff if they are having a rough time.

[PyRoT]

Thanks for the replies. The teachers continue to work after receiving half or less of their salary in the first month because they know its a loss they can't do anything about and that next month they will get their full 900 or so.

It seems like the general consensus is that nothing can really be done to punish this boss, at least in a legit way. Why is this so? Does China not care about such things? It should care a lot considering its communistic roots. Is it corruption? Other priorities?

My boss also has another trick which he like to pull. Despite only getting 1 day off, whenever a public holiday comes up like this May one in a few days, he basically forces the Chinese teachers to work, thus trading their day off for the public holiday in a way.

There must be something that can be done. I don't care if this is a huge problem and my action can't make a difference. I just want to ensure that at least one of these cold greedy !@#$%&*$@%#!@ gets punished hard. Maybe it will spread some fear among the rest. Maybe I am being idealistic but if such schools were more often reported, then they would fear exploiting their workers so much.

I know my boss has some indirect connection to the local government of my satellite city of Beijing as he used it to avoid a fine for litter caused by his marketing. However, wouldn't the rules he is breaking now attract a less easily bribed authority like a Labor Bureau?

[fluffyhamster]

Do tell us if you find of some quick way of disposing of these bodies that were bloated even before death.

[kev7161]

Some of the single Chinese teachers at my school MUST work the upcoming holiday to recruit students. Why? Because they are single, have no kids, no family holiday commitments, etc. Essentially, if you don't have a family, you don't have a personal life. The glorious pay they'll receive? 50 rmb.

[killian]

dickens woulda felt right at home. may 1 is workers day. the kids in my public school get thursday and friday off. the blowback? everyone comes to school on sunday. all day.

i told mgt on sundays i go to dalian for religious services. they laughed. so did i.

[patsy]

It's so crazy, the teachers at my school were forced to work the weekend before the May holiday to make up Monday and Tuesday when they would hold a "sports meeting". Then they are forced to work the weekend after the may holiday to make up for the May holiday. So in essence, they have worked like three weeks straight with with only two days off. Some holiday.

When they called me Friday night to inform me I must work Saturday and Sunday, I also said I had religious services and other plans, they said "Work is number one". I told them not for me it isn't and hung up.

[PyRoT]

[Teatime of Soul]