Job Discussion Forums

[lpm782]

I'll be brief in describing what happened in my two (count them, two) weeks here.

1. The manager told me that I would be paid 10,000RMB as a Chemistry teacher;

2. Later, he told me that I would be an English teacher (this is after the contract was signed);

3. Later still, he told me that I would take a pay cut, but he didn't know how much that would be;

4. At the signing of the contract, it was agreed that I would go to HK for a visa and be reimbursed. Later, the word "reimbursement" was redefined to mean "loan."

5. Two teachers quit in one week at one point.

6. The boss swore to me the whole time that he was "honest," but kept avoiding my questions when I asked how much I would be getting paid (you can imagine what might happen if you expected to teach for 10,000 and then found out that you would get 5).

7. He also told me that he would fine me for going to Hong Kong to get the visa. Four days fine-- even though I was in HK only one and a half days.

8. It also came out that the school was under investigation by the police for other similar problems with foreigners.

9. Also note that the school is near the airport-- and therefore a million miles away from everything else. The bus comes erratically (especially on the weekends). It's about a 25 minute walk (one way) to any nearby restaurants. And a 1.75 hour bus ride to LuoHu/ LoWu

10. The other teacher that came here was told that he would be teaching PE. Then, after he signed the contract, he was told that that position would be available 6 months later and that he was teaching English (for the time being).

[Hansen]

What type of visa did you use to enter China?

[El Macho]

What a nightmare! Have you already left the school? Nice that the airport is so convenient

[Mister Al]

Tell us you have left that bunch of muppets.

If you have time on your visa (assume it's L visa) and the funds to stay look for another job. Don't let the b****ards get you down, pal.

[kev7161]

1. If that amount was in your contract, then that is what you should be paid, regardless of what you would be teaching. You say the principal "told" you the pay. Was it in your contract?

2. Would you have been teaching Chemistry in English or just a generic "Spoken English" class?

3. Did you laugh in his face when he mentioned a pay cut?

4. Again, there's a strange word: "agreed" Was this agreement in writing or just a spoken "promise"?

5. Was this before or after you had signed on? Not that it matters, just curious and when did you know about this?

6. This kind of speaks for itself, doesn't it?

7. & 8. No comment

9. Did you know of the school's location before signing the contract or did this come as a surprise for you?

10. Seems to be a trend in this school doesn't it?

Well, sorry for your troubles but it's yet another reminder for all newcomers (and old-timers as well) to ask, ask, ask questions and get EVERYTHING in writing and maybe make sure it's a legitimate school (to the best of your abilities) before signing on. Good luck in your next school.

[Hansen]

"I'm an honest man, I'm an honest man." Many of these people have no idea what the word "honest" means. I'ts an undefinable, abstract concept with no practical application in business or communications with foreigners, perhaps with each other as well.

[arioch36]

If you came on a z -visait would be easy enough to call the SAFEA to resolve written contrac promises. My advise get your z-visa real real quik, or leave. After you get your z-visa you have the complete power for anything in the written contract he doesnt do. Write an e-mail (just one) that can serve as official breach of contract if you want to press to get your full pay. Lots of schools still looking for FTs

[lpm782]

When we signed the contract he left the salary spaces blank. And he also refused to give me a copy of the contract. He found every excuse in the world to not give it to me so that I would have some evidence about what he said that I would be paid.

You might not believe this, but:

I told the school that I would teach any more classes until it was clarified what I would be paid.

The very next morning the school's assistant called me and told me that my contract was canceled. (I asked how much I would be paid and she hung up the phone.)

So.......an hour later I went to the office and asked her how much I would be being paid for 2 weeks worth of work. She said: "900RMB." I asked her if she could explain that figure and she told me that I had to talk to the principal.

Up to the 4th floor I went and walked into his office. I asked him if the figure of 900RMB was correct, and he said that "Now is not the time to talk about it." (This is the same thing he said yesterday when I asked him.) The salary should have been something like 4700RMB for the time that I was there-- and so that meant that they were finding 3800 worth of fines as an excuse to not pay me. (They also didn't pay another teacher 4500 in visa fees and he almost-but-not-quite quit.)

It *just so happened* that I knew that the school was already under investigation and so they would not call the police (they had already been fined something like 30,000RMB for something in which the police had to get involved). When I told him that I knew that the police would be interested in this situation, he smirked and dared me to go to them (in English) A calculated risk from somewhere deep inside told me that I would rather punch the principal than accept only 900RMB-- and (having nothing to lose at that point) I DID JUST THAT.

We tussled around and I got in a couple of good blows (not as many as I could have if I was thinking strategically, but I was SO LIVID at the prospect of being cheated out of all of my money) and knocked him to the floor in the office. The security finally came and pulled us apart and took me back to my apartment. (It is probably a good thing that I was as angry as I was about being cheated. because if I had been thinking straight the beating would have been a lot worse.)

The school's senior leadership told me that as a condition of receiving my last full pay I would have to apologize to him. (I never got around to it, since he didn't want to accept a phone call from them on my behalf.)

I told them that I had seen this same situation MANY TIMES in China. (And all of us have seen people fighting over amounts less than 5RMB. My best memory was where a seventyish old man and old woman were PHYSICALLY fighting with the security guards at a restaurant over 5RMB.) I do know that people have been killed in cities in which I have worked for amounts less than 3000RMB-- and so I know that this principal knew how explosive it could be to try to cheat someone out of his money.

What came over me you may ask? It was knowing to not lose an opportunity. I once went to Korea and tried to get into an elevator with an old woman and was assaulted by two guys. One of them put his finger in my mouth and when I bit down it I broke a tooth that cost me every bit of US$3,800 to get an implant to replace.

The school was upset and said that I had damaged the reputation of the school (a parent was there). Maybe so.

[Mister Al]

Brilliant, well done, mate. Seems he deserved a good smack.
So where are you now and what are your plans?

[Buch]

Thanks for the information and posting this thread. I recently applied to this school. The head refused to let me ask questions to a foreign teacher.

I never heard of that before and knew something was wrong. I was so close to accepting this job. The best refusal by me in a long time.

[SpedEd]

That's a Gong Show for sure. 'GONGgggg!' It reminds me of a prestigious school in Wuxi I once had the misfortune of trying to work with. I went Bye-bye in about two weeks.

[KaiXi333]

[brsmith15]

Was the Chinese guy's name Bing Liang? Sorry you had to be put thru the wringer like that, but your story is not unique here in the Middle Kingdom.

[jimsh]

Hello everybody. I'm an American man who worked at Shenzhen Oriental English College for 2 1/2 years, from February 2006 to July 2008. I cannot confirm or deny what poster lpm782 wrote here--it would have happened after I left--but in all my time at the school I did not have any of the issues he claimed. I do know that the remoteness of the school does not appeal to most teachers, and I certainly cannot say it is the highest quality or best managed school, but still, knowing what I do about the school, the situation as he describes it seems a bit extreme to me. Why he would have signed a contract which did not list the salary is beyond me, but in my case, I made sure all terms were firmly agreed upon and included in the contract before I signed anything there, and I never had a problem with those terms being honored--actually throughout my time there I got regular pay increases (every term or two) based on their satisfaction with my performance, which was beyond the stipulations of my contract. Also, I never knew the school to have issues with the police while I was there--all the foreign teachers I worked with were there working legally and provided with legitimate Z (work) visas to the best of my knowledge. I would imagine some things have changed since I left (I know a new principal has since been appointed), but I wouldn't think the situation would have deteriorated that drastically.

Actually I heard from a friend about this teacher punching out the principal. It was apparently the culmination of some other unprofessional behavior by the teacher, which I will not go into here since I was not there and what I heard was second-hand. What I do know is the school tends to be pretty desperate to keep foreign teachers, as it continuously needs English-speaking teachers in all subjects for the IB grade school curriculum program it runs, so the fact that the school was not desperate to keep this teacher--but instead chose to terminate his contract after two weeks--tells me something was likely askew in his actions or teaching performance. So, I am hesitant to take poster lpm782's words at face value, or I at least think there is more to the story than he is letting on.

I no longer have any ties to Shenzhen Oriental English College and am simply posting as another teacher who has worked there--I spent a fair amount of time at the school and felt the need to present an alternate perspective in addition to what was already posted here. That's all. Thank you.

[The Great Wall of Whiner]

Hello, American man. How are you? A few questions if I may:

1. What prompted you to bring up this old post?

2. Are you recieving anything for making this post?

3. Were you asked to write this?