Job Discussion Forums

[clark.w.griswald]

Know Your Rights as a Teacher in Taiwan

It is often suggested within the forum here at Dave's ESL Cafe that foreign teachers don't have rights. However, foreign teachers in Taiwan have the same rights as local workers in many regards. The biggest difference between working here and working back home is that you really need to know what your rights are and you often need to actively pursue these rights through the relevant authorities. Anyone who has been in Taiwan for any length of time will know how inactive some staff within the local authorities can be, but if you are well prepared and well informed it is generally not too difficult to get the required assistance.

I. General Labour Rights Information

Most of the employment rights that pertain to foreign teachers can be found within the Employment Services Act and the Labor Standards Law. Teachers are encouraged to familiarize themselves with these documents. There is a toll free number with help in English for labor complaints at 0800-885885 anywhere in Taiwan.

Some rights that you want to look for include:

You have the right to be provided with a version of the Chinese
employment contract you sign translated into your native language.
You have the right to know your pay rate and hour requirement and these should be stated in your contract of employment.
You have the right to a copy of that contract.
You have the right to be employed legally and free from the requirement to work illegally.
You should not pay any deposit, bond, or fee upfront to prevent you from running away.
You should be provided with a work permit, resident visa, and ARC within about a month of commencing work with your employer.

The Bureau of Employment and Vocational Training is the government agency tasked with ensuring that the rights of foreign workers in the work place are not impinged upon. This agency has some English speaking staff and established channels available for foreign workers who are seeking advice or assistance with work related problems here in Taiwan. Although much of the information given out by that organization relates to the rights of Taiwan's foreign blue collar workers, the majority of the information has applicability to foreign English teachers in Taiwan. Despite all of the above, problems do occur, and this is where the Counseling and Service Centers established by the The Bureau of Employment and Vocational Training become necessary.

There are a few things to bear in mind when making a labor complaint:

1. Please be aware that no matter how serious your problem may be, there are likely to be other workers whose problems are equally or possibly even more serious. When one considers the relatively poor treatment often afforded to our fellow foreigners, the blue collar workers from South East Asia, often the problems faced by foreign teachers pale into insignificance. Without wanting to trivialize what ever problem it may be that you have, please bear in mind that the staff who deal with labor complaints are under a good deal of stress. If you remain polite and understanding then it is more likely that you will be able to get your case heard, and action taken.

2. Prepare as much documentation about the case at hand as you can and put all of this in chronological or some other logical order. It much easier for a third party to review a case if they can view paperwork pertaining to what you are claiming. Copies of your employment contract, pay slips, and any correspondence between yourself and your employer are particularly relevant documents, and copies of these should be kept in a safe place.

3. Decide upon which issues are most important to you and list these in order of importance. You are probably more likely to receive a favorable outcome if you concentrate on issues that either you know that you can prove through documentation, or particularly serious infractions that you feel need to be brought to the attention of the authorities. Be concise when outlining your problem and stick to the facts that you know. Avoid discussing matters that are hearsay or that relate to other workers in that employer's employ and don't overcomplicate the issue with erroneous information. Let others fight their own battles if they so wish, but don't ruin your chances of receiving a fair hearing by overburdening the authorities with information about situations that don't directly pertain to your case.

4. Be thoughtful and respectful of the individuals giving their time to you. Remember that they are an independent person and that if they can't agree that you have a case to be heard then either you don't have one and you need to accept this, or you haven't explained things concisely and clearly enough for them to be understood. Be patient and don't become emotional or else you run the risk of looking unreasonable.

5. Be honest and don't exaggerate to make things appear worse than they are. It is often going to be in your favor to acknowledge the good things that your employer does, and in doing this in no way do you diminish your case.

For further details about pursuing your labor rights in Taiwan or lodging a complaint against your employer please visit Filing a Labor Bureau Complaint This page lists all of the contact details for Labor Offices and Foreign Workers Counseling centers in Taiwan.

II. General Visa Information

Landing visas are available to most westerners upon arrival in Taiwan without the need to pre-arrange a visa. Landing visas are also known as visa free entry and may have a validity of 14-30 days. The problem is that they are not renewable, not extendable, and cannot be changed for any other type of visa within Taiwan.

Visitors visas are available by application to the Taiwan Economic and Cultural Offices (TECO) in most capital cities around the world. They are generally either 30 or 60 days in duration and may be issued for tourism, visiting friends or relatives, or for studying Chinese. Most foreign teachers arrive in Taiwan on a 60 day visitors visa for the purposes of tourism as they are readily exchangeable into a resident visa within Taiwan and without the need to undertake a visa run. You are not permitted to work on a visitors visa, but you can look around getting your bearings and deciding where you would like to live and work. Once you find a job your employer can sponsor you for a resident visa for the purposes of living and working in Taiwan.

Resident visas are the visas that are the basis for long term stays in Taiwan. In order to work legally in Taiwan you will need to obtain a resident visa. These are only available to foreigners who have been given a work permit to work in Taiwan. Although you can apply for and receive a resident visa from an overseas TECO office provided that you have all of the relevant paperwork, it is generally best to make these arrangements in Taiwan as the system is set up in this manner.

Business visas are by their very name for business people who make short visits to Taiwan on a regular basis. You cannot legally work as a teacher on a business visa and it seems unlikely that a business visa can be changed to any other type of visa within Taiwan.

III. Airline Ticket Information

According to the policies of major airlines, and the Immigration Act here in Taiwan, all foreign national entering Taiwan must have proof of onward travel out of Taiwan. This can be in the form of a return ticket back home, or simply an outbound ticket to Hong Kong. It is certainly possible to arrive in Taiwan on a one way, but it is equally possible to get turned away from immigration in Taiwan if you don't comply with the outbound ticket requirements. For a comprehensive discussion of ticketing requirements have a look at the article titled Return ticket requirements for entry into Taiwan

IV. Teaching English Legally

In order to be a legal teacher in Taiwan you will need to first meet the requirements of the government here. These requirements include:

a) Being a resident of a country determined by the government here to be a native English speaking country. These currently include the US, UK, New Zealand, Canada, Australia, Ireland, and South Africa.

b) Holding at least a Bachelors degree from an accredited tertiary instiution or a diploma plus TESOL certification. You will need the original diploma certificates, copies and transcripts are not acceptable.

c) A valid health certificate which is best obtained here in Taiwan.

If you meet all of these requirements and receive a job offer from a school then you can begin the process of attaining the right to work legally here. The steps in the process are:

1. Get a work permit: the school will apply for this on your behalf and it currently takes around 10-14 days for the school to get this document. It is a letter written in Chinese that contains both your name and the name of the employer that you are permitted to work for. If the school you are working for takes longer than two weeks to obtain this document for you then you should contact the Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) to ensure that the school has the right to employ foreign teachers.

2. Get a resident visa: once you have the work permit in hand you need to take it, your contract with the school, and your passport along to the Bureau of Consular Affairs to get a resident visa in your passport. This generally takes around 10 days to get and is a sticker placed in your passport.

3. Get an Alien Resident Certificate (ARC): once you have your resident visa you have 7 days to go to the relevant Foreign Affairs Police (FAP) station to get an ARC. It normally takes from three to seven days to get the ARC. The ARC is a card that acts as your photo ID while in Taiwan. It is a requirement under the law that you carry it with you at all times. The ARC states the name of the employer that you are legally entitled to work for, and you cannot legally work for any employer other than the one named on your ARC.

What work in Taiwan is illegal for foreign teachers?

Any work, paid or unpaid, for any person other than the employer/s named on your ARC is deemed to be illegal work. This includes unpaid volunteer work, music performances, the teaching of private students, and of course work at other schools. It is possible to add more than one employer to your ARC but each new employer must first obtain a work permit for you and you must take the work permit to the FAP to update your ARC.

At this point in time foreign teachers cannot legally work in kindergartens in Taiwan regardless of whether or not the kindy job offers you a work permit.

Teachers being offered positions within government schools (elementary, junior or senior high schools) should take extra care to ensure that they are being employed legally. With the exception of a government initiative being offered at selected schools through the Ministry of Education (MOE) foreign teachers are not permitted to work in government schools in Taiwan.

How do I know if I'm working illegally?

You can only legally work for the employer named on your ARC. If you compare the Chinese name of your employer as stated on your ARC with the Chinese name of the employer as stated on the certificate of business registration hung on a wall in the school, they should match. If they don't then you may want to investigate this as it is likely that you are not working legally.

[ramakentesh]

To summerise - you have very few rights - and any right to have a hearing for appeal in a biased governmental instrument requires time and a chinese speaking/reading/writing friend - all at your expense while you get entangled with bereaucracy.
At the end of the day its the fact that people come here so desperate for money that they are willing to let themselves be treated badly in working situations that are quite outrageous that has created the status quo in Taiwan - that of confrontation and distrust between employer and employee - a sad state of affairs...

[teacha]

[clark.w.griswald]

[ramakentesh]

'yet failing to give any reason for your comments'

What do you mean reason? My reasoning is that your painting a picture which is far from the reality of what ESL work in taiwan is like.

I dont need to demonstrate anything - most people when they arrive will find it very similar to how I feel. And I know this to be the case.
I am being negative - because compared to other asian countries that Ive been to this experience has by-in-large been negative.

The schools in general - and there are some good employers and we were lucky enough to find them because we had the financial resources to take our time to do so - are by in large confrontational and willing to basically screw ESL teachers here and if people think that the bureaucracy or governmental avenues for appeal are willing to look at your situation impartially when they do, you will be sadly dissappointed.

Im not doubting the fact that if you persuede some situations for long enough you could get a favourable outcome but I dont think its worth it.
Most people dont -

As for telling to leave. I dont need you to provide me with guidance on what I should do or how I should live my life. I would rather spend my time telling people what its really like in taiwan...

Taiwan would have been nice in the past - my friend tells me that it was - but you get westerners over here willing to put up with shit and the inevitable result is that the schools expect people to put up with it...

[teacha]

Wow. A wordsmith of truth.

[clark.w.griswald]