For most foreigners in China, especially newcomers, teaching at a language school is the easiest job to find. It makes money, takes care of their visa and can be a stepping stone to better work.
Wall Street English Started competing with other foreign language training schools in 2000

Wall Street English Started competing with other foreign language training schools in 2000

By Zhang Dongya

Twenty-four-year-old Leroy Philpotts followed the familiar pattern. The Dutchman, who came to Beijing two years ago, went to work as a trainer at Beijing Wall Street English Training Center last year.

But last month, Philpotts sued the center, saying it fired him without just cause. Philpotts accused the company of breaching the new Law of China on Employment Contracts; Beijing Wall Street insists his dismissal was lawful.

The Beijing Municipal Arbitration Committee for Labor Disputes has accepted the case and is expected to hear it this July.

Philpotts began teaching at Wall Street English last June, under a one-year work contract.
An increasing number of Chinese people want to learn to speak English, which created a huge market for language training schools.

An increasing number of Chinese people want to learn to speak English, which created a huge market for language training schools.

Philpotts:
reasons not sufficient

At the end of a workday in January, he said his manager Jon Clayton called him over for a talk. It was then he found out the company was firing him.

“From the talk, it seemed like being late for the class preparation hour was one of the biggest reasons he decided to let me go,” Philpotts said in an email to Beijing Today.

He said Wall Street English teachers are required to come in an hour before class to make preparations, what they call “service hour.” Once, he said, he was late for 45 minutes because of an erroneous schedule released online. He said such confusion in the schedule d already occurred a few times before.
Philpotts said Clayton also cited a complaint from a student: A woman from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region said he once uttered a Turkish word derogatory to students.

Philpotts, who can speak several languages, admitted he did talk to the student in Turkish, which is similar to the Uyghur language. But he said he was not aware he used an offensive word.

He described as “weak” the reasons given for firing him.

Wall Street English:
dismissal is always the last resort

Wall Street English was established in Beijing in 2000; it opened its first training center at the China World Trade Center. It has since expanded into 11 centers staffed by foreign teachers from all over the world.

“Foreign trainers to us, are scarce resources, which we value very much. It costs much to recruit, train and post them, so we seldom consider dismissal, except in some unacceptable situations,” Xiao Yan, PR director of Wall Street English, said.

Li Ran, the company’s regional HR manager, said they fired Philpotts based on strong reasons. Last August, two months after he began teaching, he was given a “verbal warning letter” about being late for class, and he signed it in acknowledgment. Subsequent evaluations of his performance generated unsatisfactory results, Li said.

“He continued to show up late and several students sent us complaint letters, including ones about inappropriate jokes in class and dissatisfaction with his teaching,” Li said. “We highly value student feedback, so his behavior was considered a breach of our rules and regulations, which gives us the right to terminate his contract.”

Wall Street English was Philpotts’s only source of income. And after losing the teaching job, a succession of other problems popped up.
The new law of China on Employment Contract, passed in 2008, is regarded as pro-employee

The new law of China on Employment Contract, passed in 2008, is regarded as pro-employee

Law as a last resort during hard times

“I had to leave China to apply for a visa to reenter … I also had to find another mailing address as I had been using the school’s address. The worst thing was that I had to postpone my university studies online because I don’t have any more regular source of income” he said.

Philpotts said he called and wrote Wall Street English to make an appeal, but did not receive a response. Discussions with his Chinese friends prodded him to bring the issue to court. He believes that under the country’s new labor law, he is entitled to compensation based on improper work dismissal.
According to Article 87 of the law, which was passed in 2008, if an employer terminates or ends an employment contract in violation of the law, it needs to pay damages to the employee.

“I’m sure they knew of the new labor law in China, because the HR person working for Wall Street English is Chinese. I think they just chose to ignore it as they thought I don’t know about it or would not find out,” Philpotts said.

Zhang Ming, a lawyer at Z&Q Law Firm in Beijing, said Philpotts’s story is common in labor disputes, although the parties involved were usually Chinese. “There were several improper procedures when the company terminated the employment,” Zhang said, discussing the Philpotts case. “First, he was informed of the dismissal orally, with reasons like being late for work or comlaints from students. But on paper, there is only the vague statement ‘advance termination of contract for personal reasons.’ This is not in accordance with the law,” she said.

Zhang said that even if Wall Street English insists that Philpotts breached its rules and regulations, leading to unfavorable results, it still had to prove two things: One, that the employee was informed of its rules and the corresponding punishment. Two, that it can present evidence that the employee broke the rules.

Problem-plagued language training market

Language training schools have mushroomed all over the country in recent years in response to changes in Chinese society. More people want to learn to speak English, so there is a huge market for these schools; and few industries will hire foreigners, most of whom cannot speak Chinese well, so teaching becomes their default choice.

The industry, however, has met with problems, especially during the Beijing Olympics. To meet the increased demand for teachers in the run-up to the Games, some schools hired trainers without college degrees or teaching qualifications, said Ed Zingu, from Cape Town, South Africa, who teaches at the Beijing English First Training Center.

Philpotts meanwhile is determined to stand up for his rights and see the lawsuit to the end. “There are English training centers out there that treat their foreign language trainers badly, giving them bull and thinking they can get away with it because supposedly there is nothing we foreign trainers can do,” he said.

Philpotts remains in Beijing on a tourist visa, which grants him a maximum stay of 30 days. He can renew his current visa only two more times, but it is just enough time for him to make his date in court.

Foreigners who would like to file similar lawsuits against their employers should go to the Beijing Municipal Arbitration Committee for Labor Disputes. The committee is tasked with dealing with cases related to employers with foreign capital.

http://www.beijingtoday.com.cn/feature/foreign-teacher-sues-former-school-for-unfair-dismissal
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