Tamara asked 4 years ago
Hello dear,
I am writing you regarding the problem I have with my previous employer. In order to get the new working permission, my Curriculum has to be in order, right? The problem is my previous company “omitted” 8 months of work in the agency, and now the government asks what did I do in that period of time. I started working from March 2019, and they apply me on the system in December 2019! The thing is even worse, they said they gave me the release documents and that’s it!
What solutions do I have? This disturbs me a lot, even more since I have all the documents properly, and I worked for them for 17 months. How long should Chinese companies treat foreigners like this?!
Thank you in advance
smooth-administrator Staff answered 4 years ago
Hi Tamara,
That sounds terrible. Seems like a terrible and irresponsible agency. Maybe you could report it to the labor bureau.
If you still have a copy of the old contract that shows you started on March 2019 and that they did pay from March 2019-November 2019 (that probably indicates they didn’t pay taxes on your salary for those month), then those are probably enough evidence for the labor bureau to go after your former employer. That is, if you wanna go down that route.
Depends on what your new employer says.
Did your work permit expire naturally or you left the job before your work permit expired?
If you left the job before your work permit expired, then your previous employer must cancel your work permit and then provide you with the employment release letter. It is one of the required documents for the next work permit application.
Any company who has hired a foreigner before should have the online HR system for hiring foreigners. You can get your new employer to check if your name is still tied to the former employer, I think. If they didn’t release you yet then, perhaps you can report it to the Labor Bureau.
The resume / CV problem:
Was this your first job in China? If so, you could modify on the Chinese resume:
“December 2019 – August 2020 [Your Role at the agency] [Agency name]”
Even if you had another job in China before March 2019:
“January 2018 – March 2019 [Your Role at the other job] [Other job name]”
“April 2019 – November 2019 [Job title that would make sense for a career progression between the two jobs] [A friend’s company outside of china]”
“December 2019 – August 2020 [Your Role at the agency] [Agency name]”
That’s all I can really think of.
If you need professional help, I’ll introduce you to a trustworthy visa agency (that you get your new employer to pay for).
Otherwise, you could also follow and ask this guy who provides legal advice (wechat ID: edgarwlchoi )
Good luck.
Warm Regards,
Just Another Expat