Advice on Leaving Current Contract

[j.k.j.D.D.]

I am currently working on a one-year contract. I am 10 months in, and was planning on getting a bonus at the end along with plane tickets reimbursed, and a Spring Festival vacation period. However, the school has had me traveling to 4 different sites throughout the week to teach, some being 2 hours away from where I live. I was willing to deal with the annoyances, including being fined for not sending various reports and newsletters that they wanted me to write, and being fined 1000 yuan for a weekend sick day.

 

A month ago the school granted me a weekend leave (my first leave granted thus far), only to tell me a few days ago that it was not granted and that I was lying (it was granted verbally by my manager, but the general manager says he doesn't believe me, and my manager lies and says she didn't officially grant any vacation or leave time). I told the general manager I have friends in the foreign expert department (which I do) and said that if they can't treat me reasonably that I will leave early. The general manager responded with "well, you're nothing to the school anyways. You have no power here, and there's absolutely nothing you can do...you're just small potatoes." (he's a foreigner as well). I promptly sent in a 30-day notice that I am leaving, and they said they don't accept it.

 

Now, I do have friends who said they might help me in the foreign expert department, but, does anyone have any recommendations on how to best deal with this? I can't stand the corruption, and the fact that they can basically fine me for anything, say whatever the hell they want, and still threaten me with blacklisting (considering I have been a decent employee this whole time). I really am having problems teaching here now, as the general manager has made up a lot of lies, saying I threatened the school, and so on...it's quite frustrating, not to mention people have told me that they likely started acting so rude because they didn't wanna pay my bonus and plane tickets and so on, so they were trying to get me to leave. Should I take it a step further and hire a lawyer to help me leave?

 

[studychinese]

Does a blacklist really exist?

[anonymoose]

If they have you on a legit visa (Z-visa), you could try reporting them to the authorities that issue invitations to foreigners. I doubt it will get you very far, but you never know.

 

On the other hand, if they are employing foreigners illegaly, then you could report them (after you've left of course). It won't solve your situation, but revenge is still sweet.

[j.k.j.D.D.]

Thanks for the advice. Well, I know for a fact that the blacklist does exist, but it seems to have only lead to further corruption as schools in China now hang threats over teachers' heads. This leaves very little recourse for teachers to do anything about the corruption, unless they happen to have guanxi, and even then there is not guaranteed immunity.

 

I have a friend in the city where I live who owns a school, and said he can grant me a Z-visa after I leave this school. However, the school I have been working at thus far has not been willing to give me my release letter. My plan is to return to my country for 2 months, and then reapply after the residence permit has expired. However, my friend tells me that I NEED the release letter no matter what. Is he confused, or is this really the case? I honestly think he's contradicting some earlier statements he made, as I recall him telling me before that I could reapply for a Z visa within my home country without a release letter, and that the process just needs to be started again. Can anyone confirm this for me?

[anonymoose]

It may be different in different parts of China, but as far as I know, in Shanghai, a release letter is required if you seek a new job with five years of having left your previous job.

[hedwards]

Anonymoose, I don't believe that's true as long as you've completed your previous contract. If you haven't. you may need a letter, but my new employer hasn't asked me for a release from my previous employers even though that one ended 2 years ago this month.

 

It might well be that in some areas like Shanghai that they've needed to tighten things up a bit in that regards. I'd expect places like Shanghai and Beijing where people get paid more and more foreigners want to live to have tighter rules about things like that.

 

Personally, if it were me, I'd do my best to suck it up. This is a common tactic here in the US when you want to get rid of somebody, but you don't want to have to pay severance. I would assume that it's a practice that exists in China as well.

 

Then fine itself isn't great, but that's a fairly common practice, depending upon how you're scheduled, that sounds like they're just not paying you for the day.

 

@StudyChinese, I'm pretty sure there is a blacklist of sorts, but I'm skeptical that it works the way that some schools suggest. AFAIK, the "blacklists" are basically records by immigration about who is and isn't allowed to have a work visa. So, if you're caught violating the terms, have a communicable disease or similar, that probably could get you put on some sort of a list. But, in terms of being listed for breaking a contract, I have my doubts. Seems more like a negotiating tactic aimed at teachers that don't know any better.