Does anyone have a citation to statutory or regulatory provisions requiring employers to provide translation of employment contracts?
It would seem that being told to sign here, here, & here on Chinese draft is a contract of adhesion. We do accept Ks of adhesion everytime we install shrink-software or sign-up for access to this or that web-based service.
The term contract of adhesion is also used to void Ks where bargaining pwer between parties was disproportionate. Rent-to-buy furniture, slumlord are examples, corrected by judicial action and subsequent evolution of regulatory framework.
Pretty much signer beware. Thing is, even if there is an English translation, the Chinese version will be the only one usable in court should a dispute arise.
Some contracts that I have looked over, especially those by agents, have terrible translations that are misleading, and a native English speaker would never know until it is too late. :fume:
A wise move would be for people to check out their employment rights with the CLA. I don’t know how many illegal contracts I have read, too many is about the right number.
Think about what you are signing first. Hey, at the very least, if you have it on a computer file, which I have been lucky to have a few times, run it through some translation software first. There are some real “gems” to be discovered when you do this.
The most important thing to remember is that many contracts with language schools are not worth the paper they are written on, especially the ones that contract you specifically to work for a kindergarten.
Then again, I am not a lawyer, so I’d like to have a little disclaimer here. Any opinion given in this post is just that, an opinion, and should not be taken as legal advice.
The parties can select what language the contract will be written in and whether the same will be translated. The parties can elect to have the contract written in English and have it translated into Chinese for reference. However, the parties can stipulate that the English language (or any other language) meanings shall prevail.
Don’t confuse the fact that a judge will require a Chinese language translation of the contract as being the same as having the Chinese language version prevail.
Where the parties have agreed that the contract will be written in some language other than Chinese, and the judge requires a Chinese translation, the parties will need to agree on the correctness of the translation.
if there are clauses in a contract that breach Labor regulations or even laws, and both parties (employer and employee) sign to this agreement, does this invalidate the persons right to claim that the employer has broken some regulation at a later date or would the contract be considered invalid?
My understanding is that any clause that is illegal is unenforceable. You can’t have a legally enforceable contract for illegal activity.
If the clause is relatively minor, and doesn’t affect the whole contract then only that clause could be invalidated. The rest of the contract would remain in force. So therefore if you had a contract for 13 hours when the labor regulations stipulated a minimum of 14 hours, then you could appeal the validity of that clause, but both parties would still be obliged to honor the other terms of the agreement.
If however the whole contract is based upon illegality then it could be deemed that the whole contract is invalid.