Job Discussion Forums

[Aoisagi]

Hi all,

I'm fairly new with contracts from China so I seek your wisdom.

It's a university gig with 20-23 hours and pay is between 4500-5000 RMB. Housing is on campus and the utilities will be paid by the teacher.


Here is the contract below:

< Obligations >

Party (A)
1. Party A shall be responsible for the application of Work Permit，Foreign Expert Certificate and Residence Permit for Party B to ensure Party B�s legal stay on condition that the employment application has been awarded the approval of Henan Provincial Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs.

2. Party A shall provide free apartment with kitchen and bathroom to Party B. The apartment should be furnished with basic living equipment. For instance: bed, television, and refrigerator, washing machine, heating and cooling facilities. In case there is a breakdown of water or power in Party B�s apartment which is caused by the accident beyond the control of and not caused by Party B, Party A shall take the responsibility to repair it.

3. Party A shall arrange a meeting and inform Party B to take part in it before the new term begins. The Department of Foreign Languages shall make clear the teaching calendar and places of classes, announce the teaching requirement and assessment regulations, and conduct teaching direction and training.

4. Party A shall pay all agreed salaries and allowances on time. Party A can convert 70% of his salary into US dollars at the exchange rate on the day of exchange under Party B�s request. Party A shall buy life insurance for Party B during the contract.

5. Party B shall pay the economy return tickets from his capital airport to Beijing Capital airport, as long as Party B has completed the regulated teaching assignments confirmed by the Department of Foreign Languages and settled up all the relevant cost regarding living in the apartment, Party A shall refund Party B these tickets.

6. Party A shall assist Party B to handle, declare and hand in the individual income tax according to The Individual Income Tax Law of the People's Republic of China. The income tax shall be deducted from Party B�s salary.

7. Party A shall inform Party B with written notification a month in advance in the event that Party A will not renew the contract with Party B considering the score of students� evaluation to Party B and the teaching evaluation result, the information about the teaching post offered by the Department of Foreign Languages.


Party (B)
1. If Party B loses or damages his passport, visa, residence permit, foreign expert certificate with personal reason, Party B shall take full responsibility and apply for a new one as soon as possible to ensure his legal stay without any influence on his daily work. According to Chinese law, during weekends and vacation, if Party B plans to travel outside Zhengzhou, he MUST inform Party A two days in advance. Otherwise, Party B is responsible for all the consequences.

2. If Party B falls ill or other sudden things happen and cannot teach, Party B shall inform the Department of Foreign Languages and the students at least two hours beforehand and undertake necessary procedures to make up the missed hours. If Party B cannot have his scheduled class for other reasons, he shall go to the Office of the Department of Foreign Languages and undertake procedures of changing classes and asking for leave at least three days beforehand. Party B shall make up the missed lectures in one week or will loss these hours pay（90 yuan RMB/hour）which will be deducted from his salary. During the contract, Party B shall not ask for leave more than three days and the total leave days shall not exceed ten.

3. Party B shall give lectures on time according to the teaching time regulations of Party A. If Party B is late for class for more than five minutes due to his own reason, he shall undertake the penalty of 200 yuan RMB, which shall be deducted directly from his salary. In the event that Party B misses the scheduled lectures twice or is late for classes three times in total without notifying in advance, Party A shall be entitled to terminate the contract and stop paying the salary of the current month. It would be an exception if Party B is late for the reason of Party A or force majeure.

4. Party A has to adjust Party B�s teaching time table or schedule or teaching classes in a reasonable situation, Party B shall work in with it actively and accept teaching professional guidance, training and evaluation of Party A.

5. Party B shall be responsible for maintaining the accommodation and its contents on actual user basis, which have been provided by Party A. Party B shall ensure payment for incurred bills such as gas, telephone, internet, electricity, water or other incurrence. Any penalty caused by the delaying shall be fully charged by Party B. Party B shall undertake the maintenance fee for damage to the accommodation and its contents for the reason of human errors.

6. In order to respect the Chinese customs and guarantee Party B�s personal safety, Party B shall obtain permission from Party A for accommodating his relatives or friends at his abode, or once found, 200 yuan RMB shall be penalized and Party B is responsible for all the consequences that may caused.

7. Party B shall be demanded to live in on campus apartment offered by Party A. A written application to Party A shall be given in advance if Party B wants to live off campus, and Party B shall take the full responsibility if any safety problems arise. Party B shall abide by the relevant management of the community where he lives.

8. Only if Party B settled up the bills for water, electricity, gas, telephone and internet during living with receipts, he could obtain his final month salary from Party A.

9. Party B should complete the co-curricular activities arranged by Party A, with no more than
teaching hour per week. Party A should pay Party B yuan RMB per hour.


< Probation Period of Contract >

The probation period of Party B shall be ___ days beginning from the actual working day. During the probation period, if Party A finds out that Party B is unfit for the assignment specified in the contract for reasons of health or professional qualification, Party A has the right to terminate the contract.


<Contract Amendment>

The formation and modification of each clause of the employment contract appendix shall be agreed on by both Party A and Party B and such amendments must be made in writing. Oral agreement is regarded as invalid.

This contract takes effect on the date signed by both parties and will automatically expires when the contract ends. The contract shall be written both in Chinese and English. Both are of equal validity. Chinese and English contracts are in triplicate. Only original contracts are valid.




Is there anything that looks concerning regarding this contract? The university is in Henan province. Looking at other university jobs, the hours seem to be a lot more. What's up with the probation clause? Please help. Many thanks!!!

[johntpartee]

It's kind of borderline as far as hours go; 20 hours for 4500 is not too good. I asked about the probation thing in another post, wondering if anyone had ever been booted during said probation. All of the members that replied said they had never seen a probation clause in a contract. I thought that was odd; EVERY contract I've seen had one, anywhere from one to three months.

Paying housing utilities is something I will NOT do.

It's not really a "stinker" contract, I've seen far worse, but I would try to negotiate a few things, mostly the utilities. 20 hours for 4800 is my own lower limit for a salary. You don't have to pay taxes on 4800 and under, so you might want to take that into consideration.

What school is it? I'm curious because I'm in Zhengzhou.

[Aoisagi]

The university is Zhongyuan University of Technology. I've seen other universities also pay for utilities. Maybe I should re-think and try find another placement.

Edit: Thank you johntpartee. I will see if I can negotiate a better deal.

[unclealex]

The pay is way too low. You're being exploited.

[johntpartee]

Not really WAY too low for this area. A little below average.

[Aoisagi]

What would be considered average? Isn't the 4500-5000 RMB the usual range for universities?

[johntpartee]

Yes, but there are too many hours. As I said, my lower limit IN THIS AREA is 4800 for 20 hours; in addition, paying utilities brings it down further.

[SandyG20]

Looks more understandable than the contract that was sent to me. All the ads for University seem to advertise very much the same thing - unless a person is teaching high level math or sciences - or something special and unusual - seems like all the pay and perks are about the same.

[xiaolongbaolaoxi]

Do you really want to work for a school that spends so much time on penalties in the contract ? Yes, it was cut/pasted onto the post, but isn't that kind of a bad sign that they spend so much time and energy on the negative?

And many readers will reply, well, not all penalties are applied to all people all the time, which is true. But still, this is their first impression, with higher hours, lower pay, and a slew of penalties ? Find a better school or at least a contract written by someone who has taken their happy pills.

XLB

[dharma86]

The pay is too low for the hours...

[milkweedma]

Yes, pay is way too low for the hours. 4500 for 16 teaching periods of 40, 45 or 50 minutes is the standard. More hours, more pay and should correlate to 100 RMB per hour or teaching period thereafter.
Airfare should be 8000-10,000 RMB.
Lots of Uni's in China keep attacking these basic pay levels however. Just turn them down so they get the message. I have turned down quite a lot recently.

[5h09un]

more about zhongyuan university of technology:

http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=85414

[godisasadjoke]

I agree with some of the comments, and some comments in other threads about contracts.

This remuneration is just not worth it. People need to take a stand and tell schools to increase their package.

[mike w]

[roadwalker]

I agree with the comments that it is way too low of a salary for the hours, which are more than usual. And all of the penalty clauses scare me too. And as far as I can tell it is standard for the school to pay reasonable utilities and generally charge the teacher for excessive use only. So if you don't abuse the electricity or gas, they will pay. Teachers often pay phone or for faster internet. This school may have been burned by foreign teachers before and are only being cautious, but I would give them a pass or at least lower the hours and make the probationary period reciprocal.