The Worst Job I Ever Had
My first job in China included fights, infractions of labor laws, and court.
As I’ve mentioned many times before on my Medium, I moved to China from the United States in 2020. There were many reasons I made this move, the two most important of which were how easy it’d be to pay my student loans and see new things.
I was brought over to China by one of my good friends. Little did I, or he respectfully, know that the job he was bringing me to was one of the worst I could imagine.
Before we get into the hellscape that was this job, I want to say that the friend that brought me there isn’t at fault. He hadn’t been back to China since his family started this school, so he had no way of knowing how badly I would be treated there. He and I are still good friends and talk regularly. I cannot say this for the rest of his family.
The Contract
Before leaving, we had a long process of acquiring the correct visa and permits. If you’re an ex-pat, I’m sure you know the deal. Well, multiply the difficulty of securing this paperwork by ten. With this waiting time, I had plenty of time to review the contract offered to me.
The overall breakdown was something like this:
- One year
- 15,000 RMB a month ($2152)
- 20 teaching hours a week
- Ten office hours a week
- 20 days paid vacation
- Saturday & Sunday off
It doesn’t look all that bad if I do say so myself. It was my first contract in China, and I had no one I knew whom I could fact-check this contract to see how it lined up with other prospects I could get. 15,000 RMB a month is extremely low for (certified) English teachers. However, I didn’t know, so I let it roll!
Arriving in China
The wait for the visa and all paperwork is a nightmare story for another time. It was fierce and took almost an entire year due to different circumstances. Yet, we got it done, and I finally flew to China.
When I landed in Yantai, Shandong, China, I was waiting for my boss and friend who brought me to China, who returned the same week as me, to pick me up. It took them two hours to pick me up while I waited outside in the snow. I thought it was no big deal, but with hindsight, this was a sign of what was to come.
I arrived on January 28th, 2020, a week before the entirety of China was shut down due to covid. Talk about lucky timing!
Expectations Met Reality
The first red flag was raised after I asked when our first weekend off was. I was met with a heart-stabbing
“What weekend?”
That’s right. My boss said the weekend off described in the contract was to trick governmental laws, where we will only have a day out on Monday. You’re probably wondering why I didn’t head for the hills and run away.
I was alone in a country across the world, I put in over a year’s worth of work to get in that position, and I had no one else to turn to besides “giving up” and running home. So I decided to stick it out.
Fast Forward 8 Months Later
Eight months later, I worked 58–62 hours a week with 30+ teaching hours a week without overtime pay. I was denied any vacation time of the 14 listed in the contract; I took monthly pay cuts of up to 65% for “performance,” but it was never elaborated on or detailed how I could improve or what I should do differently.
This was all compounded by working with a legitimate psychopath who gaslighted me at every turn and lied to my boss countless times to get her to fire me. All while spreading rumors about me to all coworkers, even self-harming himself and sending me photos of it.
I finally met some other ex-pat friends I could talk to, and they were amazed at how much I was being exploited. I had no idea, as this boss was the only person I knew in China.
These friends I met connected me with agents and jobs that paid double what I was making with half of the teaching hours. I applied all around and found a job I liked. But did you think it was going to be that easy? Hell no.
The Last Two Months
The last two months of this job consisted of constant threats that the school’s leadership would hold my passport and all essential documents and that if I quit, they would have me arrested for not having a visa. Of course, I went, got a lawyer, and decided to fight with them.
Surprisingly, all it took was a hearing in arbitration for them to see I was serious, and they backed off. They gave me all my paperwork and everything necessary to be on my way.
Luckily, everything since then has panned out exceptionally well. My new job after this one treats me great, they follow the contract, and I’m finally out of the hellscape of that first job.
What’s the worst job you’ve ever had? Please drop a comment down below so we can chat about it!
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