Does antone have any experience with contract disputes with Chinese employer?
My school (large national university) refused to pay me for winter holiday. They changed my contract...Chinese version only to be intrepreted - loosely = that they could withhold my February salary payment. This change was after an agreement that my contract was not to be changes.
SAFEA regulations state that a foreign expert with a one year contract is entitled to 4 weeks annual holiday. This is clear-cut and straight-forward. I have had legal opinion from several sources that my university is acting improperly.
The problem is that no one here in Wuhan will do anything about it. I have been to !.) My FAO 2.) the Dean of my school 3.) The university Dean for foreign teachers, 4.) SAFEA (Wuhan branch), 5.) the Provincial Education Office, 6.) The Arbitration Court. None of them will take any action. The advice I get is to have the university resolve the problem, but the university will take no action to correct the situation.
I am now of the opinion that contracts are worthless. The schools can interpret them any way they want and there is no "higher" authority to appeal to when a foreign expert is disadvantaged. An authority that can force the school to obey the law or to disallow illegal clauses in contracts.
What is totally frustrating is that the schools have all the power...they control the money...your salary. If you protest too loudly you can loose another month's salary or have your airfare reimbursement taxed.
If anyone has had contract disputes with their school, I would like to know if they were successfully resolved...and how they were resolved.
I am not sure if this is just a Wuhan problem, or if it is more widespread.
I have had it with Wuhan...see you in Dalian in September.
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jim
