Advice on labour arbitration
Hi everyone,
I’m a foreign kindergarten teacher in Shanghai and I’m hoping to get some advice from anyone who has been through labour arbitration in China, especially as a foreign employee.
I started working at a private kindergarten on 1 March 2026. My contract says I must give 60 days’ notice after probation or pay one month’s salary as liquidated damages.
Over the past few months, a number of serious issues have happened.
I discovered that the school had not been paying my mandatory social insurance. When I questioned it, I was told by the owner that social insurance for foreign employees was optional and that they didn’t have to pay it. I have audio recordings of these conversations.
I also have recordings where the owner:
- threatened to deduct a 20,000 RMB agency fee because I was leaving;
- said she would not cancel my work permit unless I returned to Vietnam;
- later threatened to deduct a month’s salary for not giving 60 days’ notice.
After seeking legal advice and speaking to the labour authorities, I notified the school that I believed I was entitled to terminate my employment because of the failure to pay social insurance.
Since then, the situation has become increasingly stressful.
The school has:
- sent formal warnings about my absence;
- claimed I’m still under contract;
- continued threatening salary deductions;
- and has now changed its position on social insurance. Instead of saying they didn’t have to pay it, they are now saying they will pay the employer’s contribution but want me to pay my employee contribution for the past four months.
I also repeatedly asked the school to provide proof that my social insurance had been paid but never received any evidence.
Last week I went to the Labour Arbitration Commission to file my case, but because I don’t speak Chinese they asked me to return with a Chinese speaker.
Tomorrow my lawyer will accompany me so I can formally submit the arbitration application.
I have:
my employment contract;
WeChat messages;
emails;
bank records;
and multiple audio recordings of meetings with the school owner discussing the social insurance, agency fee, work permit and resignation.
My questions are:
Has anyone had a similar case involving unpaid social insurance as a foreign employee?
If your employer later offered to pay the missing social insurance after you had already resigned, did that affect your case?
Did the employer’s failure to pay social insurance allow you to terminate immediately despite a contractual notice period?
Were you awarded statutory economic compensation?
How long did labour arbitration take from filing to receiving a decision?
Did your employer try to claim you had abandoned your job after you relied on Article 38 (or a similar legal basis), and how did the arbitration committee deal with that?
I’m honestly very anxious because this is my first time dealing with labour arbitration in China, and I just want to understand what I should realistically expect.
Any advice or experiences would be greatly appreciated.