Goodbye!

Trip Start Jun 03, 2006
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Friday, November 17, 2006

"You're fired!  You've been doing all these things wrong for the last 3 months, but we didn't tell you."  You have 2 days to get out of your accommodation."  It's an unbelievably brutal message, but that's what happened to one of my colleagues last week.  There is no protection from employment law here.  The cynicism of this was compounded by the fact that the school just happened to have a replacement teacher lined up to start work.  A fabricated charge?  Perhaps - I'm not privy to the details, but all I can do is draw from the experience.  There is certainly no reason to expect any fairness or warning.
 
There is a clause in my contract that says the school can break my contract and pay me 2 months salary as compensation.  I now know that it isn't worth a thing because they've ignored it where my colleague is concerned, instead accusing him of "breaching the contract by failing to fulfil his duties, and waiving the payment due to the school by him for breaching his contract as a gesture of goodwill."  What that has to mean is that I can ignore the clause in my contract.  I'm not surprised by this, but it's a stark reminder of the ruthlessness of the Chinese psyche.  "We want you, we like you. Not now, goodbye, you are the scum of the earth."  It's a little alien, but if you understand those are the rules of the game then two people can play that game.
 
You can draw your own conclusions, and speculate ad infinitum as to the permutations of circumstances that led to this decision and its implications.  Personally, I know that it's a decision that I would be embarrassed to be associated with if I was in management.  It is dishonourable to my way of thinking and reflects very poorly on the institution and the individuals involved.  Perversely, I benefit, because it has taught me a lesson about looking out for myself.  Nonetheless, the sorry episode makes me all the more determined not to allow my personal identity to be merged with that of the institution.  I will do my job and take my money, but then I'm an individual at a distance.
 
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