Job Discussion Forums

[Laxmatt]

Hello all, I'm in a difficult situation and would appreciate some advice from those that have been here.

I teach at a private school in Baotou, Inner Mongolia and am having major issues with them. Among flat dishonesty and poor treatment, they are breaking the terms of my contract. I'd like to get out, but also do the right thing.

When I was hired, it was told that I would be teaching all of my classes at the school that hired me, when in reality I am basically wh*red out to anyone they can get a contract with. I teach at all kinds of schools all over the city from 9am to 9:30pm.

2 of these schools though, I like a lot and both have indicated that they would like to hire me to work for them after my contract is up, and one has even gone as far as to present terms to me. They both really want me to teach for them, and would without a doubt cancel their contracts with my school if I were to leave.

Can I void my contract and go teach at these schools on my own? Keep in mind my current school is breaching my contract. Additionally, it turns out that my school is not even legally able to hire foreign teachers, and my residence permit is from Shanghai, where I had to sign a shady lease on some apartment I've never even been to in order to prove I live there. My visa so far has cost me over 8000RMB, when I was told it would cost a fraction of that.

If I can't go teach at the schools I like in the city, what happens if I buy a plane ticket and cut my losses? Will I be blacklisted from China or something? Can I report my school to anyone for running an illegal school? Thanks very much for any help and please ask for any clarification.

[Zimmer]

Could the new school get you a visa ? That would be a make or break thing for me.

[roadwalker]

[Laxmatt]

The 8k does not include my airfare to China. I flew to Shanghai and there was some issue with the visa (probably because it is all shady and illegal) and then had to fly to Hong Kong to get it sorted.

I think the new school can legally hire foreigners and will ask them.

If I take option 1 and just cut my losses, can I still return to China in the future?

Thanks again for the help.

[Non Sequitur]

Can't quite grasp if the new school has foreigner hiring rights. It would seem not if they are sub contracting you in from Employer A.
When I've had to walk I've found the new employer is most help.
Not sure about roadwalkers airfare ideas.
I fly in from Australasia and a return by Cathay/Dragon to say Qingdao is just over 10000RMB.
Back to OP. With all that commuting to other schools have you ever worked out your pay per hour devoted to the job(s)? Perhaps better not

[igorG]

I would assume the other schools that hire a school to provide FTs do not have a permission to hire FTs. Otherwise, they'd hire their own.

If my assumption is correct, it'd be pretty difficult to make such a switch given the circumstances and the fact the schools aren't far from each other. The school that offers FTs makes money out of it, doesn't it?

If i liked that area of the country and if i really wanted to stay there, i would probably stick with the current employer and wait it all out. Perhaps, the other schools will get some sort of a permission to hire FTs there later. I sure would not risk p*ssing the employer in town with a permission to hire FTs.

Having said that, however, it seems the OP's employer may not have all the licensing in tact and his/her practices are, to my knowledge, against the Chinese regulations. As far as i know, you can only work on premises of the institution/school with the licenses. Therefore, if i were the OP, i would further investigate this and perhaps get some of the local officials on my side, although this is an almost impossible task in the country that's as corrupt as it can get.

[Laxmatt]

Yeah I've worked out the pay per hour after including travel time (which I was never told about in the first place) and its depressing.

I don't care either way about the city in particular, but I do like the 2 schools that have offered to hire me. I am subcontracted, but since my school doesn't even seem legal does it matter?

Main question is still, can I come back to China if I cut my losses and go home now for awhile?

[igorG]

I don't think you'll have troubles coming back unless into the same town. Well, even there i suppose would be probably ok after a while. You'd have to apply for a visa outside China though.