What Should You Do When Signing A Teaching Contract In China?

Even while genuine staffing agencies make every effort to deal only with respected educational institutions and companies, you still need to exercise extreme caution before signing a contract to ensure that you do not become a victim of a scam.

The following components are required to be included into the contract in some capacity:

The compensation received (pre-tax & after-tax)

The date on which a payment is actually processed

The least, the most, and the standard amount of hours that must be worked each week

Taking time off over the holidays, regardless of whether or not employees are paid for their absence.

The additional benefit (like the details of reimbursement)

The whole name of the organization or company, as well as its location (your exact workplace)

You are required to do additional duties in addition to teaching as well (like office hours)

"Liquidated damages" is a collective term that refers to the expenses that are involved with quitting your job too soon.

Getting a letter of release via any number of different channels

And there's no reason why you shouldn't:

Read the whole agreement to confirm that the draft of the contract that they provided you with to go over and the final draft of the contract that you are about to sign are identical. Check the agreement that you are about to sign to ensure that it does not include anything that may be seen as ambiguous or vague.

If you come across anything that makes no sense to you, don't be hesitant to inquire more about it.

Even if you are incredibly excited about getting the job, you should never sign the contract in a rush. Doing so might have serious consequences.

You should under no circumstances entertain the idea that a visitor's visa may act as a stand-in for a work visa (z-visa)!

In the case that your employer behaves in this way, there are a few things to which you need to direct your attention, including the following:

They are likely to have "hidden restrictions" that they don't want you to know about and will thus prevent you from hiring other teachers as a result of this (both current and former).

Refuse to allow any changes to be made to the clauses of the contract that are unfair or unequal. Make an effort to "persuade" or otherwise pressure you into signing the agreement.

They will make assertions such as, "There are other other excellent teachers who are interested in this role," and "It will be your big loss if you refuse to sign the contract," amongst other things. Also, "Even if you relocate to China, you won't be able to find a job that comes close to being as fantastic as this one." Because China is home to a great number of respected institutions that look for skilled instructors, you should make every effort to avoid accepting a contract that will leave you feeling disappointed.

Schools and companies that have worked hard to build a great reputation will always be grateful to their teachers and place a high value on them. Therefore, keep your eyes open when you are legally signing the contract so that you don't agree to anything that you don't want to agree to. This is especially important if you don't want to be held down by an employer that has a "black heart."