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Who "owns" the WP....you or the school??

 
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rico4444



Joined: 01 Apr 2007
Posts: 90
Location: Thailand

PostPosted: Sun Aug 28, 2011 8:19 pm    Post subject: Who "owns" the WP....you or the school?? Reply with quote

If the school applies for and receives a WP for you to teach at their school, I assume the WP is in your name, but does the school "own" it and control your ability to work in the country?

What happens if you decide to blow off the contract and leave for another job in VN?

Do you have to leave the country and then return to VN and subsequently go your new school and apply for a new WP?

Can you "transfer" the WP to another school?

What about the CBC..........if you need a new WP, does that mean you need to get a new, updated CBC?

I would appreciate your help in getting these questions answered. Thanks
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CThomas



Joined: 21 Oct 2009
Posts: 380
Location: HCMC, Vietnam

PostPosted: Sun Aug 28, 2011 11:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The Labor Department owns your WP. They keep it there in a drawer and your school or workplace can't have it.

What your new school or workplace must do is re-apply for the work permit so that it's basically updated to show that you're working at the new place.

So the answers are

If the school applies for and receives a WP for you to teach at their school, I assume the WP is in your name,
Quote:
but does the school "own" it and control your ability to work in the country?


Nope.

Quote:
What happens if you decide to blow off the contract and leave for another job in VN?


Not much, really, though I don't speak as a lawyer here. They could, technically, bring legal action for breech of contract.
Quote:

Do you have to leave the country and then return to VN and subsequently go your new school and apply for a new WP?


Nope.
Quote:

Can you "transfer" the WP to another school?


Yes, in a manner of speaking. See my intro paragraph.

Quote:
What about the CBC..........if you need a new WP, does that mean you need to get a new, updated CBC?


I don't know exactly. I think it depends on how old your CBC is, but I didn't have to do so after my first year w/ the WP and switch to a new workplace.
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rico4444



Joined: 01 Apr 2007
Posts: 90
Location: Thailand

PostPosted: Sun Aug 28, 2011 11:54 pm    Post subject: WP Reply with quote

Thanks CThomas...........that was incredibly helpful information.
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Jbhughes



Joined: 01 Jul 2010
Posts: 254

PostPosted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 6:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Are you sure about the in the drawer of the labour department thing CThomas?

If the w.p. is the blue, folded document with the picture and information on the left inside page and the extension stamps on the right inside page, then 'my' w.p. has been in my possession at times and also the school's, never really the labour department.

Having said that, I wonder if what the school and I have is simply one of 2 or more copies of the same document, or a document that is for the employer/employee with another document being at the labour department. It's also possible that the labour department in the province I work in have made up a different rule or just don't even know what they are doing (the final one being highly possible in my experience.)

Further point worth checking - can one 'transfer' ones w.p. to a new employer in a different province? I know there are some posters on here that have lived in both HCM and HN - did you transfer the w.p. when you changed cities?

Oh, one thing worth noting regarding the leaving the country bit. If you get your employer to help you with a temporary residency card, then the w.p. will be used to get the card. If you naff off from that employer, the employer should, could and might tell the labour department, who should, could and might cancel your w.p. (obviously, if you have already got a w.p. in the name of a new employer then that is fine). The labour department should, could and miiiiiiiiiiiight inform the immigration department who should, could and miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight cancel your residency card. Experienced posters on here have stated that this doesn't happen in practice in HCMC.

w.p.s what a pain Rolling Eyes
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CThomas



Joined: 21 Oct 2009
Posts: 380
Location: HCMC, Vietnam

PostPosted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 7:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Jbhughes wrote:
Are you sure about the in the drawer of the labour department thing CThomas?

If the w.p. is the blue, folded document with the picture and information on the left inside page and the extension stamps on the right inside page, then 'my' w.p. has been in my possession at times and also the school's, never really the labour department.

Having said that, I wonder if what the school and I have is simply one of 2 or more copies of the same document, or a document that is for the employer/employee with another document being at the labour department. It's also possible that the labour department in the province I work in have made up a different rule or just don't even know what they are doing (the final one being highly possible in my experience.)

Further point worth checking - can one 'transfer' ones w.p. to a new employer in a different province? I know there are some posters on here that have lived in both HCM and HN - did you transfer the w.p. when you changed cities?

Oh, one thing worth noting regarding the leaving the country bit. If you get your employer to help you with a temporary residency card, then the w.p. will be used to get the card. If you naff off from that employer, the employer should, could and might tell the labour department, who should, could and might cancel your w.p. (obviously, if you have already got a w.p. in the name of a new employer then that is fine). The labour department should, could and miiiiiiiiiiiight inform the immigration department who should, could and miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight cancel your residency card. Experienced posters on here have stated that this doesn't happen in practice in HCMC.

w.p.s what a pain Rolling Eyes


Though I've never seen that, my guess is that it's an official copy. When I switched jobs, my new employer got nothing from neither me nor my previous employer; everything was on file at Labor already. I'd like to know what are this blue thing's uses.
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TimkinMS



Joined: 18 Oct 2005
Posts: 86

PostPosted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 7:05 pm    Post subject: Re: Who "owns" the WP....you or the school?? Reply with quote

rico4444 wrote:
If the school applies for and receives a WP for you to teach at their school, I assume the WP is in your name, but does the school "own" it and control your ability to work in the country?


rico4444,

The answer is: no one really knows. The Labor Department says one thing, then another. Vietnamese and foreign lawyers at an AMCHAM meeting this year could not even agree.

The schools of course, say the school owns it, and they keep it hidden away. They claim they keep it for the officials who might check. If the school pays for the cost of it, that is fine with me. But it also gives the school control over you.


Quote:
What happens if you decide to blow off the contract and leave for another job in VN?


Let's say, for example, that you do not "blow off" but resign from your school with your WP and then work somewhere else.

Quote:

Do you have to leave the country and then return to VN
No. You don't ahve to.


Quote:
Can you "transfer" the WP to another school?


My friends on both Hanoi and Saigon say, "no." In fact even with a valid work permit, they were only able to get short-term visas.

As usual, it's a very confusing and contradictory system.

Try not to get a work permit.
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rico4444



Joined: 01 Apr 2007
Posts: 90
Location: Thailand

PostPosted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 9:01 pm    Post subject: WP Reply with quote

Thanks TimkinMS.......and also everyone else who contributed. I suppose everything I've heard about VN is true, i.e. the rules and laws change daily according to whomever is doing the interpretation. That's OK......I can deal with it. It can't be a whole lot worse than Thailand or Korea.

TimkinMS......question for you.........you advised NOT to get a WP if possible. If the employer insists, then do you as a teacher say "yes" and go with the flow? and why would you NOT want a WP?

And secondly, if for some reason one can avoid getting a WP, what's the alternative? I assume you're going to say "work w/out one" and get paid under the table, but then doesn't that create other problems e.g. having to leave the country every 30 or 60 or 90 days.

Thanks again
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TimkinMS



Joined: 18 Oct 2005
Posts: 86

PostPosted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 10:12 pm    Post subject: Re: WP Reply with quote

rico4444 wrote:
.........you advised NOT to get a WP if possible. If the employer insists, then do you as a teacher say "yes" and go with the flow? and why would you NOT want a WP?


I should clarify it's not my advice really, it's just what