Expat Rights was contacted two days ago by an individual having a contract dispute with their school.









"I would like to ask of some questions that happened about my friend. That until now we are trying to figure out how can she get back her hard worked earn money from a company here in China.This company is hiring English teachers. They didn't pay her salary for May and her flight reimbursement."





"The owner of the Company /agency said that its okay to end the contract earlier because they cant give her husband a job to finish his contract . So the couple decided to just leave the Company. Now the agency is denying everything that they agreed upon. Not giving the salary for the wife . And the husband didn't get the pay that he is supposed to get for his bonus."





"The problem is they hired her with a dependent visa, and promised a working visa that later on didnt come true."





We thought we could help them until we saw that last line - the teacher was working "illegally". If they were legal they could contact Safea and start a dispute process with the government's "assistance'. But because they are "illegal"... they're fucked.









So what options does an "illegal" teacher have when the school decides not to pay? We contacted SAFEA anyway and they couldn't help. They told us to contact the 劳务局 (Labor Bureau). We just contacted them but since we didn't have the schools information they refused to answer any additional questions.







Frankly we see no possible outcomes that are good for the "illegal" foreign teacher. If they want to testify they will surely be punished, banned from China, etc.





"We know dependent visa shouldn't be working, but the Company let her work and promised a work visa."









And our educated guess is that nothing will happen to the school. And we certainly don't want to create an "adversarial" environment in China where schools become afraid to hire foreigners "illegally". But, when a school decides to screw over their "illegal" employees, will our report to the labor bureau get the school punished? Stay tuned here on Expat Rights!!!





Leave a comment below if you have more information or suggestions.

















We are here to fight for ALL EXPATS!!









Your consulate doesn't give a shit about you. We do.

Message us on this official account if you have a problem.









P.S. "Legal" teachers, we're not interested in hearing you shit on other expats for working "illegally".





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