Job Discussion Forums

mat chen · Joined: 01 Nov 2009 Posts: 494 Location: xiangtan hunan

It's getting to the end of my contract and I would like to stay on because I like the students the school and my apartment. The problem is the system. I complained about not going to be paid in September because they were afraid teachers would just leave. It meant I would have to wait three months for my pay. I pointed out the contract that states I would be paid on a monthly bases for ten months. I got the money eventually after telling my FAO that I would not leave him untill I saw the money, then my salary was roled back 500rmb a month. I then complained to the recruiter who got me the job and I was told that they were under the impression I was being paid about 1,000 rmb less. The whole thing then made sense. The FAO has to pay the recruiter a month of your salary. This means they save 1000. There are other teachers at this uni who were asked not to tell their recruiters that they had signed contracts. So next month there will be 15 new teachers here mostly working on 5 month contracts and nobody will know the difference.
So in this faceless world of computer hiring and multiple cell phones it is easy to take advantage of teachers in China.

tommchone · Joined: 27 Oct 2009 Posts: 108

Yes, well, I've known for years that contracts are only any good if they're written on soft paper so you can use them in the bathroom. US, Asia, Europe anywhere. If somebody decides not to honor a contract, what are you going to do? Get a lawyer? Spend thousands in litigation and hope like hell you win? Even if you win, you have to be awarded court costs to "really win".

The Great Wall of Whiner · Joined: 29 Jan 2003 Posts: 4946 Location: Blabbing

chinatwin88 · Joined: 31 Aug 2009 Posts: 379 Location: Peking

Labor Boards in most countries have similar responsibility but really little enforcement power, which is for the courts. Canada's is similar to Chinas.

Both Labor boards are responsible for adjudication, mediation, and to resolve grievances, complaints and other labor relations matters short of a hearing or a legal process. When the disagreement continues beyond mediation, the courts are the only answer here or in Canada.

Contracts are broken world wide and this "Alice in the Labor Pool" view of the protections one receive back on the block is a romantic version of employment relations which simply doesn�t exist.

The real diffrence is the unfamilar FT with the local process of greivance adjudication.

mat chen · Joined: 01 Nov 2009 Posts: 494 Location: xiangtan hunan

Well said twim. Foreigners need to be aware of the advantages of working in a country where the worker have legal protection. China is a country where the foreigner has a the rights and means litigation

Hansen · Joined: 13 Oct 2008 Posts: 737 Location: central China

While it may work sometimes, a lawyer acquaintance quietly informed me that it might become "inconvenient" for me in China if I became embroiled in litigation.

Don't be stupid. Nearly everything here is rigged, one way or another. If you think that you will be rewarded in a conflict with a local who has any guanxi at all, you are dreaming. When I say rigged, that's when the locals are involved. A foreigner, LOL.

I can't even imagine what kind of justice you might receive. As we used to say to inmates, who wanted something to which they had no right, "You got nothing coming."

chinatwin88 · Joined: 31 Aug 2009 Posts: 379 Location: Peking

Not in my experience, where I have been in litigation on more than one occation and have found the process fair and even more far reaching in settlement abilities than western processes. The most recent post illustrates the posters lack of knowledge on the particulars and instead relying on a Chinese perspective instead of trusting his ability to discover procedures and find solutions.

I have also been involved with the criminal side of the police both as a detainee and as a complainant. Working problems out over here really are a lot more affordable than in the US, for example and this unsubstantiated fear of doing things the China way is what keeps foreigners in the dark. Stand up for yourself for gods sake man and stop shaking in your boots when ever the Chinese management or the locals do something.

I once was involved with claims of a lawsuit involving an accident. Since I had paid for the xrays that the plaintiffs were going to use, I petitioned the cops to regain my xrays (which were of the victim of the accident) which they did as I could show a receipt showing I had paid for them. With their help, no case could stand.

Pays to know what u needs to know and to have the guts to take a chance.