Cram School refuses to pay

Get what your owed. Don’t take shit from these thugs. If you let them get away with it they will keep doing it. It might be you they try it with next.

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I don’t know if OP’s friend worked illegally, but in general, don’t work illegally, especially in a foreign country.

If you work illegally, you actually help those shady business. And your means to get what you are owed could be very limited, when they exploit you.

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You do not need to be caught in flagrante delicto to be punished for having worked illegally.

1. Never work illegally.
2. Never hire an illegal worker.
3. Never facilitate illegal work.

Being caught in the act means they have an easy time proving it, but if you admit it, that also works.


A quick reminder about contracts (putting aside the question of permission to work). In most cases, a contract does not need to be in writing in order to be valid. The problem, of course, is that if it’s not in writing, you need strong evidence to prove (1) that the contract ever existed and (2) what was in it.

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That’s true. Immigration is black and white, either you are working illegally or not. And if she was working illegally she is serving herself up on a silver plate with a signed legal document.
The school would also be fined much worse though

I’d go to the Labour and Health Insurance offices and inquire about how much her boss had been declaring. It’s illegal to under declare but they won’t start an investigation unless the employee requests it. The fines can be pretty hefty for the employer. I think it’s something like 5 times what they owe. It’s a nice way to send your former employer a parting gift. I went to these offices last year and found out that my boss had been doing this. I haven’t filed a complaint yet. I’ll just keep it as an ace in my back pocket if the shit ever hits the fan and I need to give him a heart attack.

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After a certain amount of time the unpaid or underpaid premiums lapse, so if your boss keeps it up, you will always have that ace, but you won’t have a full hand of aces.

If I’m not mistaken, for laobao (labor) it’s 4x the un(der)paid amount but 10x in the event of an occupational illness/injury, and for jianbao (health) it’s 2x to 4x depending on the type and severity of the violation.

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They can go back up to 5 years. Those fines can add up to quite a bit but most bosses just assume that the foreign teachers don’t know or won’t bother. Of course when they get caught the hysteria begins.

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Oh right, most of you guys have five fingers per hand, so yes, a full hand of aces. :hearts::spades::diamonds::clubs::hand:

In a poker competition, once, I was holding pocket aces. Two more came up in the flop. I slow-played it, and checked. By the time the river flowed, there were three of us left. One had two pair (A-K), the other, a full house. They both bet big. I raised them all-in, and they both called. There were some serious looks of dismay on their faces as I revealed my four fingers.
Oh, and I have a colleague who only has four fingers.

But doesn’t that get you out of a lot of taxes? It would be low to go after them for doing something that is mutually beneficial. They might not really care too much though. I know illegal homework schools can easily make over a million a month, and the fine for being caught is only 50 or 60,000. Not much incentive to spend a lot of money to go legal.

First of all, it’s not as beneficial to the teacher as it is to the sleaze bag. They’re going to nickel and dime you for everything and pay you less than what you could be making elsewhere. Furthermore, they’ll probably deduct your taxes based on a certain amount that is probably higher than what they will declare to the tax office. That’s just another way for them to skim some extra cash off the top.

The fine can be much more than that. Most of them are cheating on taxes, Labour, and health insurance. You have to go to each office and figure out if your boss is cheating. Then, if you want to, you can request an investigation. This then can lead to pretty significant fines and a serious loss of face.

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