What can you do in the case of a contract violation?
In most cases the contract is simply being interpreted differently from two different perspectives. The employer is interpreting the contract in a way that is more beneficial to him, and you were simply "understanding" a contract to have certain obligations the employer had no intention of fulfilling.
So, your single FIRST best course of action is to make sure that your contract cannot be "creatively interpreted" and that you are not "understanding" it to say something it really doesn't say. If you have a genuine gripe though, there are at least two things you can do.
1. In China go here and try this website: http://www.englishschoolwatch.org/we...?topic_id=1462
I've never used them, but it seems they may be able to advise you and give you options or maybe actually help you out. However, because I've never used them nor have I ever heard of anyone else using them, I have no point of reference to speak of the quality of help you may recieve.
You can surf the site for contact information in dealing with contracts in other countries as well, but it seems China is the place where the majority of people are getting burned by contracts.
2. Contact the mayor of your city. This may sound like it will never work, but don't reject this idea out of hand without giving it a try. First, if you have stayed with a capital city in one of the provinces, your chances of successfully resolving your case in going to the mayor of the city are actually quite good. Second, I know of someone this actually worked for.
Case Story: A woman in TianJin had a legal dispute with the management of her apartment complex regarding the garden’s responsibility to provide security for the tenants as a thief had managed to break into her apartment. The management claimed he and the apartment complex had no responsibility. Case closed. This foreigner then took her complaint to the mayor’s office in the form of a letter and thought nothing more of it. Several days later the mayor called and asked if her situation had yet been resolved, she said no and the mayor hung up. Less than 5 minutes later the manager of her complex was calling to have her come into his office where they would "talk about her situation again" and the issue was resolved to the foreigner’s satisfaction.
The point being made is that you have no power or authority over whoever holds your contract. In this case, the foreigner had no authority over the management, so she made an appeal to someone who did. In your contract, do not waste time arguing with someone who you cannot influence, but rather take your case to someone who can. While the mayor was the person the foreigner went to in this case, someone else with similar authority over the manager would have also been another possibility.
I say this is something you should try simply because if my friend had no contract with his apartment complex, and security issues were an "understood" part of living there, I would think a clear case where your contract had been violated would logically be a much stronger position to begin with in writing a letter to the mayor.
If anyone has ever tried the website, I'd really be interested in knowing how it turned out. If anyone else has a story to share about how they successfully resolved an issue, I'd be real interested in reading about that as well. As for me, I have learned to write my contracts very specifically and very carefully as a means of avoiding future difficulties with "creative interpretation."