Seeking legal advice after Guangzhou Worlda scam

Good luck with that one !!

Thanks...I'm sure I'll need it.  I'm assuming for the company to be operating as it is, some red envelopes are already being exchanged.  To be honest, I'm pursuing this more on principle than the possibility of any monetary recompense.

One long time expat talks about such situations in his book "A Guerrilla Guide to Doing Business in China"
Amazon Link

Here are a couple of extracts:
A disappointingly large number of employers will still try to scam their foreign teachers. Colleagues at one university were ripped off for 'taxes' each month, even though they were both totally fluent in Chinese. There is a new gimmick I have noticed schools using. It is the half vacation pay. This is a violation of the labour law too. Teachers do not understand the "contract completion bonus" is also a scam. Labour law stipulates your right to one month's "demission" allowance after a year’s contract. Most often the completion bonus is less than a month's pay. The Chinese Labour Law is a friend to the foreign teacher. This is the "worker's country" so do not be afraid to use it while in negotiation.
https://www.ilo.org/dyn/natlex/docs/WEB … 4CHN01.htm
SAFEA (State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs, the P.R. of China)
English language website. http://www.safea.gov.cn/english/
According to the published laws of the PRC, SAFEA with offices on the Third Ring Road, is tasked by the PRC to look after the welfare of foreign teachers while in the PRC. It does recruiting, some TEFL type courses and arbitration for employment problems. It evens runs annual job fairs for foreigners.
Unknown to most candidates, The PRC government increased the funding for foreign teachers in 2001 to RMB 100K per year per teacher, upped this to RMB 200K+ in mid 2004, then to over RMB 300K+ per year most recently, depending on teachers' subject and/or experience with a maximum of 14-16 class hours teaching per week, by law. However, SAFEA still lists the 1970's rates of pay between RMB 3,400-RMB 7,500 per month for a Ph.D. teachers. If a school makes a teacher such an offer, Caveat Emptor! In reality, professors are guaranteed at least RMB 300k+ direct pay checks per year, researchers even more. This is before additional benefits.
Where the additional funds supplied by the PRC government to SAFEA, which are supposed to be transferred to the Chinese educational institutions for the foreign expert teachers go is usually quite obvious and helps explain all those Audi A4s and Porsche Cayennes in so many school parking lots.
New foreign teachers to the PRC are by Chinese law, exempt from Chinese income and other taxes for the first two years. Also, via bilateral agreements with the USA PRC, American foreign experts are tax exempt for first three years. For problems with this Brits, Canadian and Commonwealth teachers, contact the British Council representative or your Embassy. Americans, do not put to much faith in your State Department services.
Check out the SAFEA English language websites (which have a plethora of info for teachers and what Chinese laws 'Requires' educational institutions to provide for foreign expert teachers) and also the PRC tax authority websites, also check with your Embassy. This can be quite enlightening.
In addition, there is no 60 year old ineligibility rule or five year continuous living in China rule or “Copy of Diploma” rule or “recommendation letter” rule being enforced in Guangdong Province.
If things get really out of control then there are lawyers out there that will assist foreign teachers. In Macao, there is Rita Martins, a Partner at DSL Lawyers, and in Hong Kong look up Andrew Hart, Partner at Blank Rome Solicitors. On the Mainland, Jeremy Sargent of JSA has offices in Guangzhou and Shanghai and has been in-country for more than a decade. Bear in mind that Chinese law is Civil law. It is not Common Law. Foreigners are at the bottom of the legal Civil Law "guanxi" stick. If your arbitration/mediation fails, you have the right to go to court. You can wait a year before meeting the judge. Then after the trial, you can wait another year for the verdict.

Thanks for the excellent post, wenshidi.  I appreciate all the information and references.  I have found some very helpful attorneys but the advice seems to be the same, that the costs are likely to outweigh the benefits.  I have contacted the SAFEA to at least voice my opinion on this particular company and issue.  So far there has been no direct response.  I will keep spreading the word and sharing information that can at least be of use to potential teachers in the future.