Recently my former ayi called me crying. She needed advice and someone to talk to.
She was working as a yuesao for a family and, out of the blue, they asked her to leave immediately without giving her her full pay. When she refused, they called the police to have her escorted out by force.
My former ayi works for a company called HoayunMama, which takes a hefty commission out of every employee’s pay in exchange for finding clients. When ayi met this new family, the husband and wife suggested that they pay her under the table rather than go through the company. It should save them a few thousand RMB and ayi wouldn’t have to pay commission to the company.
Thinking that they looked like trustworthy people, she agreed. Her yuezi period with them was supposed to be 42 days and they agreed on paying her a total of RMB 17,000 instead of the RMB 26,000 that would have been the price had they gone through the company.
RMB 6,000 was paid upfront after a 15-day trial period, but when it came to the 40-day mark, ayi was suddenly asked to pack her bags, with the family saying they would not be paying her the rest of the money she was owed.
After arguing with the family and refusing to leave without being paid, the family called the police and had her escorted out of their apartment.
Flustered and upset, she called me seeking advice.
The entire ordeal sparked an interesting question: The two parties had a gentleman’s agreement. Can these cases be brought to court? After all, in the eyes of the law, it’s a case of he said, she said…
As cited by Edgar Choi from LawInAMinute, there would be a legal basis for a case if there was written evidence of the agreement.
Choi cited a hilarious example from his own experience, of a Taobao seller who didn’t live up to their promise. “Electronic data refers to information formed or stored in electronic media by email, electronic data exchange, online chat history blogs, micro-blogs, SMS messages, electronic signatures, domain names, etc. Electronic data evidence has three characteristics: 1. Can be accurately copied. 2. Can be spread quickly in virtual space. 3. Easy to clip and modify.”
In Choi’s example, the conversation between himself and the seller through Taobao’s messaging feature is classified as electronic data and can be used in court.
In this case, however, ayi didn’t have anything written that could prove their agreement. The two parties agreed on the terms verbally, and not a single text message was sent including the starting date, ending date, or salary. The best I could do was console her, but in terms of legal assistance, there’s not much that can be done.
Nevertheless, there’s a lesson to be learned here for all of us. No matter how nice you think someone is, when money is involved, keep it professional and protect yourself with evidence written in black and white.
Keep Reading: We Need Your Help! Our Annual Ayi Survey Tackles All the Big Questions
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