Job Discussion Forums

amemorylost · Joined: 22 May 2009 Posts: 29

I was surprised to find there was no sticky on this topic and was wondering if anyone could provide a definitive answer. My confusion lies in the fact that a lot of employers(and I would guess posters here will too) suggest that teaching outside of the company/university/organisation that sponsors your visa is against the terms of said visa, but on the other hand the standard SAFEA contract includes a clause that states ' Without Party A's consent, Party B shall not render service elsewhere or hold concurrently any post unrelated to the work agreed on with Party A.', which seems to me to suggest that it would be legal to teach elsewhere if you do get the permission of the organisation that sponsors your visa.

johntpartee · Joined: 02 Mar 2010 Posts: 3258

vikeologist · Joined: 07 Sep 2009 Posts: 600

Not exactly legal, but nobody is going to worry about it. Teaching for another school part-time is something that may get you in trouble if the Police decide to take an interest.

But the title of this thread was private classes.

choudoufu · Joined: 25 May 2010 Posts: 3325 Location: Mao-berry, PRC

nobody really knows. so the answer to your question is 'it depends.'

my understanding is that visa law stipulates that no outside work
is permitted, not even volunteer work. you are authorized to
work only at your sponsoring organization.

safea has additional policy guidelines that appear in the standard
contract. i'm not sure whether safea policy carries force of law.
guidelines are policy suggestions....just recommendations.

if safea 'law' conflicts with visa law, which would take precedence?
i would assume visa law trumps safea guidelines in court.

'legally,' outside classes and private tuition are all illegal, regardless
of safea contract wording. (what's a contract worth here?)

but this is china. laws are not enforced uniformly throughout the
country, or throughout a province, or even across some cities. you
should be able to 'get away with it' in some places, but not in
others. depends on the province, the political situation (visa
crackdown), your school's history, shake-up in the local government,
or new police chief, or time since latest lunar eclipse.

zactherat · Joined: 24 Aug 2011 Posts: 295

Private tutoring is not legal.

Obviously being paid unofficially in cash is tax evasion.

macroidtoe · Joined: 27 Jul 2010 Posts: 128

Another teacher and I used to do a little private tutoring for a kid in our neighborhood, but since we weren't really sure about what was ok as far as getting paid, we just told his parents they could pay us by making dinner for us when we came over. (Although really, I guess even that probably isn't legal.)

Javelin of Radiance · Joined: 01 Jul 2009 Posts: 1187 Location: The West

Private teaching outside of your main job is prohibited in lots of countries, but that never stops people from doing it. Having said that working outside your main job here in China is infinitely easier than in a few other countries in this region.

amemorylost, you'll find private work easy to come by here, and you might also find people at your own school are the ones sending it your way. Where I am we get calls every now and then from our FAO to do private work outside our school, more-so during holidays. FAO just gives us the contact number for the person, we negotiate the time and payment on our own, and we proceed.

kev7161 · Joined: 06 Feb 2004 Posts: 5880 Location: Suzhou, China

Wouldn't working summer camps on your non-expired Z visa or Residence permit be pretty much the same thing? I imagine some people come to China only for summer camp work and get a tourist visa while here. However, others (like I have done in the past) who renew at their current school have a renewed residence permit in their passport and just run off and work in the summer whenever and wherever. My school knows I have done this with nary a word spoken or any cautions thrown in. "See in you in September!" have been parting words.

The Edge · Joined: 04 Sep 2010 Posts: 455 Location: China

OP: Nobody legally works on a Z Visa apart from whilst during a short and legal transition period.
They work on a residence permit.
The Z visa is 'hopefully' converted into one of these by the employer within 30 days of you entering China on a Z Visa which is an entrance visa only.
If you are already here and working legitimately on a residence permit then you should know the score.
Private's are just extra pocket money and are not legally included within the perameters of the residence permit that has been exclusively sponsored by your school.
Generally, nobody really cares though unless your school thinks that you could have taken business from them.
Hope this helps.

sainthood · Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2012 6:55 am Post subject:

I have thought this question as well. I thought ALL outside work was illegal (China's criminal laws) as against just going against a contract (civil law).

So, what about all the IELTS examiners? Aren't they working illegally??

Non Sequitur · Joined: 23 May 2010 Posts: 4724 Location: China

randyj · Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2012 1:19 pm Post subject:

If a foreign teacher's sponsoring school gives permission, then outside teaching is OK. Everyone does outside work (almost), so enlightened administrations give blanket approval in advance with the stipulation that outside work not interfere with the day job. It's practical. Smart administrators do not make rules they cannot or will not enforce. It breeds contempt and makes them look ridiculous.