Canilx Private Language Center - Nanjing

Hi!  I'm a recent college grad looking to spend a year teaching english in china before beginning medical school.  I have a great sounding offer from Canilx, a private language school in Nanjing.  I tried to research them but didn't really find anything at all.  I've been warned against private language centers for the long hours and overtime.  But on the interview, the woman i spoke with was very friendly and seemed helpful.  I don't want to be naive so does anyone know anything about the center in Nanjing? 

I don't speak Chinese so I'm looking forward to learning while I'm there but that being said, the website I was given for the school is in Chinese:  www.njcanilx.com
Can I get some opinions on this? 

i'd be happy to post the contract or go over benefits if that would help anyone to help me! 

thanks!

Yes, do post the contract and appendix. There are many wise China veterans here who are skilled at spotting all discrepancies.

Yeah..post the specifics and we'll give 'em the smell test.
Canilx has a very mixed reputation nationwide.

They're part of the evolutionary chain that leads from Wall Street to Canilx to Web International to all of the local "training centers" operated by former employees of Web who stole the idea (and often the curriculum as well) and went indy. This generally tends to mean adult students, pre-programmed curricula supporting the main work done on computers, complaints of easy but boring work, and very long hours. Pay is pretty good on the upper part of the line, but the further you go from the source the worse the pay usually is.

As with other chains, treatment and pay can vary from place to place.

This Employer is a franchisee of Canilx®Modern English Nanjing Longwen Training School Culture & Communication Co., Ltd.

The Employer is duly licensed to teach English language and has all the required governmental clearance to do so.

This agreement is subject to changes as to comply with local labor laws. When the local labor laws do not address specific terms of this agreement, the terms of this contract will prevail.

The Employee and the Employer have agreed on the following terms of contract:

I. Job Position
This contract is for the position of ESL Teacher

II. Term
The term of this agreement is 12 months commencing __2008.8.1_ and continuing until __2009.7.30 __subject, however, to prior termination of the Employee’s employment in accordance with Section VIII (Termination).
The Employee will be subject to a one-month probation period during which he may be terminated in accordance with Section VII (Termination).

III. Duties
The duties to be performed by the Employee include:
   1. Teaching ESL (including normal classes, VIP classes, corporate classes, Demo classes, marketing activity classes etc.) as directed by the Education Manager whether in school or off-site. Teachers may supplement classes with other materials. However, these materials must have prior approval by the Education Manager.
   2.  Becoming familiar with the language software and the course structure of the school.
   3. Promoting the school’s study method to students and potential clients.
   4. Planning and preparing class lessons
   5. Administering and supervising examinations.
   6. Participating in the school’s various social activities (Extra Curricular Activities) (ECA’s)
   7. Participating in Employee training programs and workshops organized by the school
   8. Participating in promotional and marketing activities organized by the school. The employee’s pictures and video materials taken by Canilx®Modern English Nanjing Longwen Training School during the contract period can be used by Canilx®Modern English Nanjing Longwen Training School within the contract period or after the employee leaves.
   9. Administrative duties including:
         1.  Assisting in the placement testing and interviewing of new students as well as progress testing of students.
         2.  Ensuring that classes start at the scheduled time.
         3.  Advising and assisting students who require additional information (i.e. study abroad options, external exams, etc.)
(These duties would be carried out during a full time teacher’s duty hours when and if necessary.)

IV. Employee’s Obligation
The Employee warrants as follow:

The statement in the Employee’s curriculum vitae, resume and references together with any other information submitted to the Employer in support of the Employee’s application for employment are true and not misleading in any way.

The Employee is of sound mind and in good physical health.
The Employee will devote his/her full working time and attention to the duties of his employment.
The Employee will perform the duties of his/her employment in a professional and diligent manner.
The Employee will comply with the terms and conditions of this agreement and the rules and regulations of the Employer.
The Employee will, at all times, comply with the laws of the People’s Republic of China.
The Employee will not harm the image of the Employer or fellow workers by his/her conduct. Examples include, but are not limited to
Conducting the class while under the influence of alcohol, while smoking, or under the influence of illegal drugs.
Conducting any business or accepting any funds on behalf of Canilx®Modern English Nanjing Longwen Training School without prior permission from Canilx®Modern English Nanjing Longwen Training School. Borrowing or lending of funds to students or conducting any sales of items to students.
The Employee will not, at any time while employed by Canilx®Modern English Nanjing Longwen Training School, offer or accept to teach English for programs not directly related to Canilx®Modern English Nanjing Longwen Training School.

V. Remuneration

A. The Employee’s remuneration will consist of the following:
   1. A basic salary of RMB10,000 monthly, which is due and payable on the __17th_ of each month. Each month is calculated from the 16th of one month to the 15th of the following month.
   2. Any additional teaching hours within 40 working hours will be paid on a pro rata basis
   3. Working overtime will be paid 120RMB/hour (teaching will be paid 150RMB/h)
   4. After the completion of 12 months on a year contract, the Employee will be entitled to get RMB 8000 for the airplane ticket.

   2. Working Hours
Work consists of 40 working hours including 25 teaching hours and 15 hours office time (including preparing materials, interviewing students or potential customers, updating teaching materials, Questions and Answers and other daily affairs assigned by Education Manager) per week between the hours of 9a.m. and 9p.m. (5 teaching hours times 5 days) from Monday to Friday and on weekends. The employee should clock in and clock out when coming in or out school.

The Employee will be given a weekly schedule, however the Employer reserves the right to change the schedule as required. The Employer will try to accommodate the Employee’s schedule by offering two days off, but due to fluctuating student demand, the Employer reserves the right to separate those two days off. The arrangement of daily teaching hours is based on schools demand.

   2.  Taxes
The basic salary as referred to in Section V (Remuneration) is after tax; the Employee is therefore responsible for the payment of the taxes in his/her country if applicable.
Other parts of the Employee’s remuneration may be subject to taxes.

2. Holidays
The Employee will be given all statutory holidays as paid holidays. Should the Employee be asked to work during those Holidays, he/she will be compensated in the form of extra paid holidays to take at a time mutually agreed upon by the Education Manager and the Employee. Statutory holidays include National day, Chinese New Year (also referred to as Spring Festival) and Labor Day.

In addition, the Employee will be granted a 1-day paid holiday on Christmas Day and another one on January 1st.

After the completion of 12 months on a year contract, the Employee will be entitled to take a paid vacation for a total of 5 days or get the payment for 5 days vacation. The Employer reserves the right to approve and specify the dates on which Employees will be on holidays. Besides statutory holidays, if Canilx®Modern English Nanjing Longwen Training School arrange other holidays, the Employee could take these paid holidays in advance.
The Employee can take unpaid vacation(no more than 20 days) only once referred to in Section II. (Term). Otherwise, the Employer reserves the right to terminate the contract immediately. Meanwhile, the Employer reserves the right to approve and specify the dates on which Employees will be on holidays. As for long vacation (more than 7 days), at least one month prior notice is required to get the permission to leave.
   2. Sick leave
The Employee is allowed 3 sick days without deduction of salary during the period of employment referred to in Section II. (Term). Certification by an attending physician must be required. Extra sick days are not paid and the Employer reserves the right to deduct an amount from the Employee’s salary for each additional day that the Employee is absent from work. This amount will be prorated to the total number of teaching hours the Employee has not worked.
   2. Bereavement Leave
Three days bereavement leave will be paid to the Employee in the event of the death of any members of the Employee’s immediate family.
A signed statement must be submitted from the Employee verifying the reason for leave.
   2.  The total number of other leaves (personal leave, emergency, unpaid sick leave, etc.) is 6 days. If the total number exceeds 6 days, the Employer reserves the right to terminate the contract immediately.
   10. Accommodation
The Employee will be paid housing allowance of RMB 1,000 or be provided with an apartment by the Employer. If the employee is provided with an apartment by the Employer, the Agreement of Apartment Provided by Nanjing Longwen Training School must be signed between the Employer and the Employee.

VI. Legal documents, visas, work permits and residence permits
The Employer is authorized to employ foreign Employees and, in conjunction with this application, will obtain a visa and complete all official requirements after the probation. The Employee will bear the cost of the visa first. If the employee finishes her/his contract, then Canilx®Modern English Nanjing Longwen Training School will reimburse him/her for the visa procurement.

The maximum validity of this permit is subject to the contract term, or until the Employee ceases to be employed, whichever comes first. However, residence and work permits are renewable if the Employee’s contract is extended.  To enable the Employer to obtain the visa, the Employee warrants that he/she has a valid passport with an expiry date that is no less than six months beyond the date of expiration of the visa.
He/she is not a member of any organization that may be regarded by authorities as a threat to national security or social order.

VII. Termination
   1. If the Employee seeks release from the Contract for cultural differences, homesickness, or personal problems, he will report to Canilx®Modern English Nanjing Longwen Training School to work and will receive the same salary as normal, until a replacement instructor is positioned, but not to exceed four weeks.
   2. If the Employee fails to conduct him/herself in a professional manner, resulting in damage to the image of Canilx®Modern English Nanjing Longwen Training School, Canilx ®Modern English Nanjing Longwen Training School has the right to terminate the contract immediately. Salary earned up to the time of termination will be paid by Canilx®Modern English Nanjing Longwen Training School. If Canilx®Modern English Nanjing Longwen Training School’s Director violates the contract, the Employee has the right to terminate the agreement immediately and the salary up to the time of termination will be paid by Canilx®Modern English Nanjing Longwen Training School.
   3. The Employee’s position will be terminated immediately if the Employee fails to act in accordance with the Contract agreement resulting in damage to Canilx®Modern English Nanjing Longwen Training School’s reputation.
   4. If the Employee fails to conduct him/herself in a professional manner, resulting in psychological or physical abuse, the Director has the right to terminate the contract immediately.
   5. The Employee will be informed of actions or teaching which does not conform to Canilx®Modern English Nanjing Longwen Training School’s standards as stated in the Contract. If these actions continue the Contract may be terminated immediately.
   6. The Employee will inform Canilx®Modern English Nanjing Longwen Training School of policies which are not in accordance with the Contract and may seek release from the Contract, but the Employee will be expected to work for up to two weeks to allow for scheduling changes to be made. The Employee’s pay will continue.
   7. If an employee is given three written warnings, they will be asked to leave the employment of Canilx immediately.
   8. If the employee’s availability is too limited for Canilx ®Modern English Nanjing Longwen Training School so that it can not meet school’s demand, the Contract will be terminated immediately.
   9. The Employee will not, at any time while employed by Canilx®Modern English Nanjing Longwen Training School, offer or accept to teach English for other language training schools or agencies which compete with Canilx®Modern English Nanjing Longwen Training School. Otherwise, the Employee’s position will be terminated immediately.
  10. The Employee will not, at any time while employed by Canilx®Modern English Nanjing Longwen Training School, introduce customers from Canilx to other language training schools or agencies which compete with Canilx®Modern English Nanjing Longwen Training School. Otherwise, the Employee’s position will be terminated immediately and compensation will be requested.
  11. The Employee will not, at any time while employed by Canilx®Modern English Nanjing Longwen Training School, give private teaching to students from Canilx®Modern English Nanjing Longwen Training School with or without pay.Otherwise, the Employee’s position will be terminated immediately and compensation will be requested.
  12. If the fraternization level between the Employee and student is too deep, the Employee’s will be given a written warning.

VIII. Confidentiality
   1. The Employee will keep all information about the Employer’s teaching methods and administration procedures confidential, including all Canilx®Modern English Nanjing Longwen Training School Operation Manuals.
   2. The Employee will not disclose the details of The Canilx® Methodä.
   3. The Employee will not disclose details of his/her contract.
   4. The Employee will not use the Employer’s teaching method and materials in the instruction of any private student and/or with another Employer.
   5. Failure to comply with the requirements above will result in the termination of this agreement.

IX. General
   1. This agreement will be interpreted in accordance with and subject to the laws of the People’s Republic of China. The Parties submit irrevocably to the jurisdiction of the courts of the People’s Republic of China in respect to any dispute relating to or concerning this agreement.
   2. The terms and conditions of this agreement will prevail over any conflicting or inconsistent provisions of the Employer’s rules and regulation in effect at any time.
   3. This agreement is effective immediately and supersedes any prior agreements, understandings or representations relating to or concerning the Employee’s employment by the Employer.
   4. Should one party desire to renew or terminate this agreement, he/she should formally make the request to the other party no later than a month prior the termination date of this agreement.
   5. Each party will receive a signed copy of this contract. Both versions are identical and equal in the eyes of the law. The Employee acknowledges receipt of a copy of this agreement.

X. Teacher’s Bonus Structure

The bonus structure is contained in the separate document, Canilx®Modern English Nanjing Longwen Training School will change it from time to time, and the employee will be given 30 days written notice of any changes.

XI. Both parties have read the above conditions and agree to the terms in good faith and will attempt to resolve any disputes in a reasonable manner.

Hokay...
Seen worse than this...

First thing: you don't need a visa. You need a Work Permit (sometimes called a "Foreign Expert Certificate") and a Residence Permit. These documents need to list you as a Teacher employed by this organization. Make sure that these are in fact what you will be getting. THIS IS A DEAL BREAKER. Don't let yourself be talked into settling for a simple visa...that will make you an illegal migrant worker in a very authoritarian country. If you don't get a Residence Permit, walk away and never look back.

Second thing: You're being put on the hook for a 40-hour week. Coming from the West you may think this is normal, but it's a LOT (or at least can be) for this kind of environment. You're also being put on the hook for a lot of other stuff- marketing, training, those jolly-sounding ECAs...all kinds of stuff. You're basically agreeing in this contract to let yourself be shoved into anything they may care to shove you into.
Well and good...but make sure you're getting paid for it. If your work-week ever goes over 40 hours for ANY reason, get paid for the extra time. A lot of places will try to load what should be your off time with unpaid stuff. DON'T let this happen to you.

Be careful re: apartments.
If you find your own, be aware that in Nanjing you'll probably be very lucky to find a decent apartment for 1000 RMB a month. You will have to put up a LOT of money- as much as 5 months' rent or more (note the skillful apostrophe use )up front, just to move in. You'll be responsible for utilities and for leases, repairs, and other asssorted hondling with your landlord.

If you take a school provided apartment, 1) make sure it's decent and 2) make sure it's private. Be open-minded...some schools actually put people into nice places. Many more just go for the cheapest horror they can find. Look closely at the apartment (and there's good stuff in the Library section about Chinese apartments...) before agreeing to anything, and if you feel it's not workable for you, don't agree to it.
Also, a lot of schools try to cut their costs by putting 2 or more teachers into the same apartment. Don't fall for language that says "private bedroom" and so forth. Most people don't get to select roommates; unless you're really sure you can share a place with a drunk, neurotic, whiny, malodorous, lecherous 61-year-old wanker (like the good folks on this forum ), make sure the ENTIRE APARTMENT is all yours.

If you can navigate all this, and handle a big workload (which probably implies few evenings and weekends to call your own), you could do worse. 10K and an apartment is not at all bad for Nanjing.

Good luck...

You get only 5 days holidays plus the statutory ones? That sucks.

That kind of training center work is tiring, time consuming, and repetitive.  Really.  If you're a guy/gal who invests a lot of him/herself in her job, a year of that kind of work is soul destroying.  If you're someone who can do what he's got to do to put some money in his pocket and still has energy for doing the rest of everything she's up to, then a job like this'll get you 10k a month.

Take a look at the contract again.  It's got a lot of "terminated immediately" clauses.  Not in itself a bad thing, some of the clauses are reasonable, barring Termination point 8, but... it's likely a sign of what the company's been through in the past, so there's some measure to be found hidden away there on the character and callibre of your future colleagues.

In sum, if you want to think a lot about the work you do, don't take that job.  But if you don't mind the grind and you want your life to be focused on Nanjing city centre, it'll be a decent way to get in there, get some money, and get going.


And like Raoul said, apartment and visa.  Think 2-4k per month rent (and utilities) if you go out by yourself.  And think Z visa and Residence Permit, or think work elsewhere.

My impressions..??...

No Resident Permit, just a visa that you have to pay for yourself.  Don't think so.40 hours (25 teaching and 15 office). You got to be Kidding me!  That's more hours than teachers work in the West - more like 35 (25 and 10).

Take my picture and use it even after I've gone.  Nope.

Work hours from 9 till 9.  Are they crazy?  That makes for 12 hours (times 5 days = 60 hours). 

No apartment automatically provided?    (See comments/posts above)

No outside teaching allowed?  Well, you'd hardly have the time or energy left to yourself to sleep, anyway.

Run any extra supplementary materials past the Admin?  Why?  So they can copy it?  Or confiscate it?  Teachers use whatever it takes to do the job properly.  Don't they know that? 

No helping any of "their" students, privately?  What if one (or more) asks for help to understand the lessons?  Do I tell them to  ??

No guaranteed Rest Days?  Don't think so.  And to have them alter days?  Not good.  What if you've made plans? 

Only those holidays that They decide to agree to?  Only 6 days' Sick Leave (total)?  God forbid that you should wnat to take a Holy Day , or have a case of chickenpox 

Personally, I wouldn't go for any training centre.  I'd stick to public schools or universities.  Pay may (most likely will) be lower, but the working conditions should be better.

But that's just me.

Good Luck with whatever you decide.

And, please do check in here and keep us posted.

Wow, damn!  Well, I wrote them two days ago about changing the start and end dates and i haven't heard back yet but as soon as I do, I'll present a lot of these questions for clarification and changing. 

Thanks a lot, really!  I will definitely update as I find out more...

I think AMonk may have misunderstood some of the terms...

The documents are paid, but you have to pay it first and get it back if you complete the contract. If you bail early, they give you a prorated amount. This is pretty common in training centers of this genre; they've had to pay for too many permits for people who quickly split afterwards.
It's also pretty common for contracts to simply say "visa". You should at least check that this really means "residence permit"; get this as a written amendment to the contract before signing.

I'm also not too worried about the wording on the housing part. Just make sure you get everything clear before signing.

There's plenty in this contract that is...less than generous. But I've definitely seen worse...

The Employer is authorized to employ foreign Employees and, in conjunction with this application, will obtain a visa and complete all official requirements after the probation.

Not so happy about the 'after the probation' part - what do you do in the meantime?

Yeah...kinda wondered about that one, too.
I'm not too keen on "probations" in general anyway.