Verbal agreements broken! What to do! Help!

[Sylvia]

Hello everyone!

I need your input on our situation! About a month ago, my husband and his future employer agreed upon a verbal contract. These were the conditions in which they both agreed upon:

1.) The employer would offer him a one year contract without a trial period. In fact, the boss stated that the trial period was the one year contract since he wanted my husband to work for him for at least 5 years.

2.) The employer would pay for my husband's working permit and residence permits for the both of us.

3.) He would pay for relocating to China, provide housing, insurance, retirement benefits, and other miscellaneous items such a cell phone, laptop, and things needed for my husband to do work.

Based on this verbal agreement, we literally packed up all our stuff and booked our tickets to China only to receive a written contract that did not include the verbal agreements made before hand.

The changes were:

1.) A three month trial period in his one year contract.

2.) He will not pay for my (the wife) residence permit.

This surprised us, as you can imagine, since we have almost packed everything up and given notice to my employer that I will move to China with my husband. We did not expect this 3 month trial period nor denial to pay for my residence permit. The employer states that he did so under his laywer's advise. Personally I find it rather insulting to have us pack up , sell our stuff, give notice to my employer, family, and friends and to change the terms our my husband's agreement one week prior to our departure.

The employer, for whatever reason, took him one month after my husband and his verbal agreement to finally have the contract drawn up. Whenever my husband inquired about the when it would arrive, he would come up with excuses. Now that we have it we are extremely upset and disappointed since we feel that we are not asking for much in return other than the basics and my husband was very, very clear on these three items.

What do we do? I can ask for my job back and continue life on in the U.S. but I need your input. My husband e-mailed him on these points and told him that it would be too much of a risk for us to go under the 3 month trial since we are leaving everything behind in the States and fully intend to stay there for 5 years. The 3 month thing is really for the employer's protection, not ours. This is especially disheartening since he told us, face to face, that "The one year contract is the trial period." then changed it at the last minute.

What do we do? We are tempted to forget the whole China deal and continue on. The employer's reaction to my husband's e-mail was that he was annoyed with the e-mail that my husband sent and that he was hiring him not wife as well. Why a change in atitude?

Please give us some input, experiences, anything that relates to the verbal agreement not matching up with the written contract!

Thanks so much!

Sylvia

[Xiao Kui]

I don't want to give you a hard answer, but there are definitely some warning signs about proceeding ahead with this particular school. I worked for a pretty honorable school in China for 2 years and though they often made verbal amendments to my contract, they usually agreed to put them in writing when I asked.

Can I ask if this is a teaching job or some other kind of job? Most of my answers have to do with teaching in Chinese schools.

Certain aspects of the agreement seem too good to be true: such as them providing you with a laptop, other electronics, etc. They may just mean you'll have access to the company's computers. Since I'm not married, I don't know if companies usually pay for spouse's residence permits or visa. But a visa is usually not more than $75 US. Also, if you are moving to a major city, you will be able to find teaching work yourself after arriving, as the opportunities are plentiful. As one friend who can't speak a lick of Chinese but spent a year in China recently said to me "in my experience (LIMITED:)) the best way to find work in China is to move there first and then look for work.

This is my opinion and make sure you get others as well, but I think you are getting, but I think there's something fishy about this situation and others have posted horror stories on this site- they ignored the warning signs and arrived in China to find they had been lied to. On the other hand, a certain degree of dishonesty is found even in companies that are pretty good. (some of the ways of communicating are cultural - people will agree to whatever you want to your face because they want to make you happy - they think you will be happy with them even if they don't do what they said) So to find out the truth abt this company, you want to make sure you do the following thing - it is the most important: TALK TO ANOTHER FOREIGN EMPLOYEE THAT HAS WORKED THERE AND SEE WHAT THEIR EXPERIENCE WAS LIKE - WERE THEY SATISFIED? Ask for contact info from the company - if they have a good track record they'll be happy to supply it. If you can't do this then DO NOT PROCEED AHEAD with this company.

Also, I urge you, even if you decide not to go with this schoolDON'T GIVE UP ON YOUR DREAM OF GOING TO CHINA! Check out other schools with recommendations on line. Lots of teachers have posted their reviews at www.eslcafe.com and other websites. If you were planning to work in something other than teaching English and it doesn't work out, i would recommend at least looking into teaching. Lots of foreigners are enjoying a nice lifestyle in China on their English teaching salaries. A salary that may seem little to you is probably 5 times what the locals are making and the cost of living is low. There are schools that will offer you less than this guy's offering but they will at least be honest about it. Living in China is definitely the experience of a lifetime, so I would continue to pursue it. I lived there 5 yrs and am planning to return there next year to stay indefinitely.

Hope this helps. -XIAO KUI

[roddy]

On a practical level, these are fairly small things. A three month trial period should be just a formality (assuming you trust the employer and are confident about the job) and visa expenses aren't much (check they will assist you though, even if they don't pay).

If they are paying up-front for your relocation expenses (and I seem to remember you mentioning shipping a significant amount of stuff) then the employer presumably has a financial interest in making your husband's employment work. I'd look at this as the employer trying to show who's boss, let him know you aren't happy about not being informed until the contract turned up, and perhaps renegotiate something to show you won't be pushed around. I wouldn't let it put me off the whole idea though (and remember, it's only when you get there that the real problems will arise )

Roddy

[Sylvia]

Thanks for your input!

My husband is in the I.T. field. We see both sides of your point. It could be the lights warning us not to proceed ahead or it could be a slight misunderstanding and all is good.

What we are most worried about is the change of atittude the "future employer" gave my husband. Why did he go on the offensive and write an official letter via e-mail that he was hiring " I.T. Manager" and not "I.T. Manager and Wife"? The tone was very insulting....

So please continue to give us input as to your experiences with anything similar to our situation. We are trying to buy time and see what happens...

Thanks,

Sylvia

[roddy]

Hmmm, I think I know who you might be working for

Might be worth clarifying that if he's employing your husband, part of the deal involves providing you with whatever it is that's already been agreed, and if he wants to renegotiate anything get it done now, before you land.

Do you know if you are their first foreign employees? Sounds like you might be, and therefore there will be a fair number of problems to iron out as they get used to the weird ways of the bignoses.

Roddy

[Xiao Kui]

I agree with Roddy that these particular discrepancies in the contract and what he told you are very minor. if you trust them to reimburse you (or they are paying ahead of time for your relocation) then they do have a major financial interest in helping you to succeed and enjoy a smooth transition to China. If it's a English school and they promise to reimburse you that's a different matter. Hope my post didn't confuse you, as I said my experience is limited to English teaching and Chinese schools. -Xiao Kui

[Sylvia]

Hmm.....You might know them?

You nipped the problem at the root since we are their first expats! Just as you stated, we are the "guinea pigs" and we are setting the precedent for future expats....The problem is that we are the first and it will probably take the "future employer" a couple of runs with other "future expats" to realize the my husband is not asking for beyone what is reasonable.

Sadly, it will be done on our expense. As time goes by without contact from the "future employer" we will continue on our lives in the States. A real, real, shame since we have were very positive and eager to move to China!!!

But continue on giving us all your advice and suggestions since we are holding on to any shed of hope!

Sylvia

[geraldc]

Most of the standard ex pat deals I've seen, generally involve the husband going out for a few months as a trial, living in a hotel and seeing if he likes the job (although these have generally been transfers within a company rather than a completely new job). If he does, then the family moves over once he's found a suitable place for them to live, which normally takes a couple of months at least. The trial period is important as it offers both sides a way out.