What actually goes wrong, in teachers' own words
11 real situations reported by foreign teachers in China. These are the scenarios
that never appear in the contract text — they are in how the job actually plays out.
Read this first. Self-reported. We reproduce what the poster wrote; we have not
independently verified each account. Employers are not named here — follow the source link for the full post.
Small sample, and people post problems far more than smooth experiences. Not legal advice.
The cases
Bait and Switch?
ai check missed clause
Poster admits they ran their contract through an AI to find red flags instead of reading it, and later discovered problematic clauses (penalty + unpaid salary issues) that the AI pass had not surfaced as a dealbreaker.
The teacher had the contract checked and still hit the problem, because the issue was in the clauses that describe how the job runs day to day, not in the wording a summary would flag.
This is completely my fault for trusting AI, But basically, I put my contract through AI to find any red flags within the contract without reading through it. I found some leg...
Foreign teacher in Shanghai - employer didn't pay social insurance, now threatening to deduct
social insurance and deduction · Shanghai
Employer failed to pay social insurance, then threatened to make deductions from the teacher's pay. Poster asks about labour arbitration.
I'm a foreign teacher in Shanghai and could really use some advice from anyone who's been through labour arbitration in China.
Won an arbitration lawsuit against a Shenyang international school
arbitration outcome · Shenyang
School stopped paying the teacher in their second year. The teacher pursued arbitration and won - but describes the process itself as slow and frustrating.
A school I worked at for two years stopped paying me in my second year there. The p...
outcome: wonAgency Review (Shenzhen New Silk Road) 0/5
agency misconduct · Shenzhen
Poster reports being placed at a bad kindergarten, being threatened when they tried to quit, and being paid late.
They put me in a terrible kindergarten, and when I asked to quit, they threatened me. They paid me late...
Help! Breaking Contract with Nightmare Kindergarten
penalty for leaving
Teacher wants out of a kindergarten contract and is trying to work out the least damaging way to leave, given the penalty structure.
I'm a bit desperate for help right now for help breaking Contract with a nightmare kindergarten.
China Legal Help
worked without permit · Beijing
Poster says they worked for their first weeks in China without a work permit, at a very large multinational - i.e. the employer's own compliance failure, not theirs.
turns out my first few weeks here I was working illegally wothout a work permit by a VERY very big worldwide company.
China work permit rejected at final stage due to 5-day overstay warning
permit rejection
A work permit was rejected at the final stage because of a previous 5-day overstay. Shows how a small historical immigration issue can block a permit later.
China work permit rejected at final stage due to 5-day overstay warning
TALK915 Experience as an ESL Teacher
platform misconduct
A China-facing online teaching platform the poster worked with for 2 months, described as bad throughout.
have only experienced bad ships with this compan...
Employment contract in higher education in China: a few questions
university contract questions
Teacher reviewing a university employment contract asks about unusual clauses before signing.
I received my employment contract a few weeks ago.
Job search ESL am I being picky?
post departure search
Had to leave a first job in China; now job-hunting on a stay visa while recruiters pressure them - illustrates the visa/employment coupling that traps teachers between jobs.
I had to leave my first job that brought me to China for some reasons and now I've been looking for another job while on a stay visa
Should I slog out one more year in the middle of nowhere?
unpaid months
Kindergarten in a 6th-tier city pays a monthly figure that only applies to 8 months of the year, cutting the effective rate by a third.
I received 16,000 CNY per month but I only get paid for 8 months a year so it's only 10,667 CNY on average per month.
See which clauses cause the most trouble →