Does your school:
a) condense final packets/bonuses so you receive them all at the end of the school year?
or
b) continue to receive your final pay packets/bonuses staggered throughout the summer?
I leaving my school in Shanghai, and my school is saying that it is impossible for them to pay me my July pack packet rolled in with my June pay packet. It is extremely difficult/nearly impossible with Chinese bank accounts to send money out of China, unless you are there at the bank in person! I am worried that my last pay packet will be stuck in my Chinese account. A member of staff from last year ended up having to fly back here to Shanghai in order to transfer her money out. Our school says this is normal practice for international schools. I'd like to know what your school does!
Thanks!
Final Pay at end of contract... what does your school do?
Response
Well its normal for the tier and type of IS you are at, so yes thats partially true. They are saying it is impossible because they want to, its a last bit of passive-aggressiveness, not because of any insurmountable difficulty. Good ISs will have final pay dismemberment for departing staff ready before ITs depart or by last day of contract.
Re: Final Pay at end of contract... what does your school do
Ask the school for an advance equal to that amount citing an emergency expense and ask them to deduct from your salary or ask your local bank for a loan and see if they could do a similar deduction. Another option would be to open an account with HSBC or Citibank and transfer online at a later date.
Re: Final Pay at end of contract... what does your school do
I am also at a Shanghai school and we get ours bundled together.
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WinterFerret
- Posts: 11
- Joined: Thu Apr 27, 2017 7:04 pm
Re: Final Pay at end of contract... what does your school do
It's not too hard to get money out of a Chinese bank account when outside of China. Set up internet banking, and get your bank's app for managing money. Sending money is relatively easy through the app, however may still need a working Chinese phone number as it is often used for security reasons.
Or just withdraw your last few months salary from a unionpay ATM. This can be kinda annoying but works for small amounts, and for small amounts the fees will be around that for a wire transfer.
Or just withdraw your last few months salary from a unionpay ATM. This can be kinda annoying but works for small amounts, and for small amounts the fees will be around that for a wire transfer.
Re: Final Pay at end of contract... what does your school do
WinterFerret wrote:
> It's not too hard to get money out of a Chinese bank account when outside of China.
> Set up internet banking, and get your bank's app for managing money. Sending money
> is relatively easy through the app, however may still need a working Chinese phone
> number as it is often used for security reasons.
>
> Or just withdraw your last few months salary from a unionpay ATM. This can be kinda
> annoying but works for small amounts, and for small amounts the fees will be around
> that for a wire transfer.
Yes, I have online banking set up, but we are not allowed to make overseas transfers unless it is in person with my bank. We can only transfer to local Chinese accounts via online banking. Also our bank has a pretty small daily limit so I won't be able to effectively withdraw the entire last salary. :-( Thanks for the suggestions though!
> It's not too hard to get money out of a Chinese bank account when outside of China.
> Set up internet banking, and get your bank's app for managing money. Sending money
> is relatively easy through the app, however may still need a working Chinese phone
> number as it is often used for security reasons.
>
> Or just withdraw your last few months salary from a unionpay ATM. This can be kinda
> annoying but works for small amounts, and for small amounts the fees will be around
> that for a wire transfer.
Yes, I have online banking set up, but we are not allowed to make overseas transfers unless it is in person with my bank. We can only transfer to local Chinese accounts via online banking. Also our bank has a pretty small daily limit so I won't be able to effectively withdraw the entire last salary. :-( Thanks for the suggestions though!
Re: Final Pay at end of contract... what does your school do
I've been working in a Shanghai school and had a very similar problem just this past winter. Long story short, force the pay at least 3 weeks before you leave or on the last day of school. Teachers get paid for the 8 or 9 months they work throughout the year: You should not have to wait throughout the summer when you have officially finished working.
Practically, it is very difficult to get money out of China on many different levels, especially if you are abroad.
1. China has a very small limit (like $500 a day) on currency EXCHANGES, unless a Chinese person does it for you in their name (technically illegal) or unless you have all the employment, tax pay, passport and etc documents. This applies to all banks in China as far as I know. Obviously, this is only possible if either you or your trusty Chinese friend is in China.
Once you make the currency exchange, you may be able to use internet banking to send money out of China. However, Chinese banks, especially those that do not deal with foreigners often, do not know their job well and can give midleading answers (ask several times to different branches and customer service). Things can go wrong which is why I recommend you get your money at least 3 weeks before you leave China.
2. Once you have your currency in dollars, you are much better off than before, but this can still cause problems if the money is in China. First, you need to have the wire transfer fee in rmb in your account (at least for ICBC). Second, you need to know how to use internet banking, which can be confusing, because the English internet banking pages are not necessarily well translated. It took me over 6 weeks to get a reply from the bank to figure out why I couldn't succeed in using internet banking and I still have about 1500rmb in China which I just gave up on.
3. If you go out of China, it is unlikely that your Chinese phone service will be available. As WinterFerret said, some transactions may require you to input a code that comes to your Chinese phone. You obviously won't be able to get that code if you are out of China.
I got all my sum like 4 days after the last day of school, 3 weeks before I left China. It was enough time IF everything went smoothly, but it did not. If a problem occurs, 1 week will pass by very quickly as transfers take several days and only happen during business days, which is why I recommend you try to get everything early before you leave.
If your target currency is dollars, you'll have more options and less risk. But if you are unlucky, you will have to go back to China, at which point you will need a new tourist visa and probably won't have anyone to give you documents or help you out.
Practically, it is very difficult to get money out of China on many different levels, especially if you are abroad.
1. China has a very small limit (like $500 a day) on currency EXCHANGES, unless a Chinese person does it for you in their name (technically illegal) or unless you have all the employment, tax pay, passport and etc documents. This applies to all banks in China as far as I know. Obviously, this is only possible if either you or your trusty Chinese friend is in China.
Once you make the currency exchange, you may be able to use internet banking to send money out of China. However, Chinese banks, especially those that do not deal with foreigners often, do not know their job well and can give midleading answers (ask several times to different branches and customer service). Things can go wrong which is why I recommend you get your money at least 3 weeks before you leave China.
2. Once you have your currency in dollars, you are much better off than before, but this can still cause problems if the money is in China. First, you need to have the wire transfer fee in rmb in your account (at least for ICBC). Second, you need to know how to use internet banking, which can be confusing, because the English internet banking pages are not necessarily well translated. It took me over 6 weeks to get a reply from the bank to figure out why I couldn't succeed in using internet banking and I still have about 1500rmb in China which I just gave up on.
3. If you go out of China, it is unlikely that your Chinese phone service will be available. As WinterFerret said, some transactions may require you to input a code that comes to your Chinese phone. You obviously won't be able to get that code if you are out of China.
I got all my sum like 4 days after the last day of school, 3 weeks before I left China. It was enough time IF everything went smoothly, but it did not. If a problem occurs, 1 week will pass by very quickly as transfers take several days and only happen during business days, which is why I recommend you try to get everything early before you leave.
If your target currency is dollars, you'll have more options and less risk. But if you are unlucky, you will have to go back to China, at which point you will need a new tourist visa and probably won't have anyone to give you documents or help you out.
Re: Final Pay at end of contract... what does your school do
Out of five schools I've worked in, and three more for my spouse, all decent schools, only three bundled the money in June. Four pay it later, and the odd one out started by bundling in my first years there, but switched to paying later after I'd been there a few years. So there is no normal, just different answers.
And they all kept back a certain amount for several months in case people leave behind unfinished business.
And they all kept back a certain amount for several months in case people leave behind unfinished business.
Re: Final Pay at end of contract... what does your school do
I am also in Shanghai, our school had us fill out the wire transfer paperwork from the bank, and then they will submit it so that the bank will wire our money to our account back home (we have the option of being paid in USD). As far as our money that has to be paid in RMB, they will pay it all out in our June paycheck, and as you know we cannot exchange it all at the bank at once so I can exchange it at the airport or withdraw it from an ATM.
Re: Final Pay at end of contract... what does your school do
It sounds like bad practice/crummy treatment IMHO. Your school should pay you out in full either in cash or by bank transfer to your home account. If a school is that hard up that it can't afford to pay two months pay then that would be a worry. I would be very concerned about leaving any school in any location without getting final dues by my last working day.