Job Discussion Forums

Agent007 · Joined: 27 May 2006 Posts: 17

Hi. I was just looking at a posting about unpaid working hours, and my contract is quite different. I've been in Taiwan for a few weeks, working in Hsinchu, and my contract specifies no more than 25 teaching hours per week, plus office hours for a grand total of 35 hours. So if I teach less than 25 hours, I still work 35 hours a week, because I just work more office hours to make up the difference. My monthly salary is $55,000. I calculate that makes my pay about $400 per hour, including office hours, or $560 per teaching hour, if we consider my office hours as "for free."

I like the people I'm working for, and I don't spend every moment of my office hours doing work--sometimes we eat, etc. Also, I have a short commute to work, so that saves time. But I ask this question partly because of the overall situation. I am disappointed to find that Hsinchu, at least at first glance, has very few Taiwanese that speak English. I'm hoping I'm wrong about this--that there are some places I can go where I might find some Taiwanese to befriend. But my two major goals were to meet and experience Taiwanese and their culture, and to save up some money; since I'm having trouble communicating with any Taiwanese, the first goal is seeming remote, and it would be frustrating if I'm really not saving any more money than I would have in Taipei as well.

I also figured in theory that since I'm an hour from Taipei that I could have some social life there. However, since I work 6 days a week--including every Friday night and Saturday morning--a two hour roundtrip commute is not too handy. Saturday night is the only time that trip really works logistically, and it's hard to see much of a social life springing from that. I'll also mention that except for national holidays, including a week off for Chinese New Year, I have no vacation time.

Does this sound like a reasonable working situation? I'm new both to Taiwan and to Asia, so I really don't know. But I may never get a chance to spend a year abroad again--I have no plans to be an ESL teacher as a lifelong career--and it would sadden me to think I threw a year away. This may just be jitters from getting adjusted to my new situation, but I'd love your thoughts. I was hoping to while away many nights in conversation with my Taiwanese friends, and instead I can't find anyone who even understands me when I order food.

Thanks very much for your input! I love teaching the kids--that's the great part--but the rest I'm not sure about yet. Either your reassurances or your suggestions would be most welcome. Best.

superemma · Joined: 02 Dec 2006 Posts: 5

I think there are ways to make this work for you because I'm in a somewhat similar situation in Sanxia. It's a small city south of Taipei where there's even less going on than I saw in Hsinchu the other night when I stopped there. Here are some tips of what I did in the first few months to make things more friendly:

1) Find a language exchange partner. You can post on all kinds of websites to find people who want to learn or improve their English in exchange for teaching you Chinese. It might take a while to weed out the ones who are looking for you to do their homework, be ther boy/girlfriend, or other weird purposes, but I bet you can find someone fun and interesting. When I put up my ad, I found a nice girl who lived two blocks away from me and is now a close friend.

2) Befriend Taiwanese assistants/staff at your school if they are at all friendly. One of my coworkers who was initially very shy turned out to have a lot of interests in common with me, but I only discovered this because I made a point to say "Hello" and "Goodbye" to everyone every time I came from or went to work, started conversations, asked questions about their interests, spoke silly baby Chinese, etc. Work is also a good bet because many (if not all) employees should speak or be interested in English.

3) www.forumosa.com is an expatriate/English speaking forum beyond the teaching community by itself - they have events postings and general discussion that can be a big help when it comes to all kinds of things. The expertise can really come in handy.

4) www.tealit.com is a site devoted solely to teaching English in Taiwan - it also has language exchange and social opportunities listed.

Good luck!

TaoyuanSteve · Joined: 05 Feb 2003 Posts: 1028 Location: Taoyuan

You raise a couple of points in your post, mr bond. The first seems to be about your job, working hours and pay. The second about meeting Taiwanese to experience Taiwan fully.

To address the first point, I think the six day week and mandatory office hours make your current job a deal you could easily beat if you looked elsewhere. You are earning what many who work only cram schools with hourly pay would make only working 20 hours per week, all in.

More importantly, I think your job is going to affect your success in what you discussed in your second point, the desire to have a more complete Taiwan experience and socialize. Your schedule is going to minimize your chances to get out and meet people, especially if you have to travel outside your town to meet those people.

As far as how to meet people, I agree with the last poster. S/he made some good suggestions. You may, however, want to look at alternate employment arrangements, as your current job is expecting too much for way too little.

superemma · Joined: 02 Dec 2006 Posts: 5

As to the working conditions, I agree. At my school, I only teach 25 hours a week and stay in the office for 29 (including hours taught). Two of my teaching hours are paid break time, and of the four unpaid hours I spend in school I hardly use half of them for work related stuff. In that time I just type up the report of what I did in class, print it, correct any leftover papers, and maybe copy the worksheet for the next class. Five minutes, tops, once you get the system down - it took me more in the beginning as I learned how to do it correctly and efficiently. However, now I spend most of that unpaid at work time doing personal stuff. Also I never work weekends, and although I'm not in Taipei, I can be at the Banciao MRT by express bus in 30 - 40 minutes.

Moral of the story: You can do better.

Toe Save · Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 3:12 am Post subject:

I agree with both posters on all accounts. I was most impressed that TS made a joke.

Agent007 · Joined: 27 May 2006 Posts: 17

Thank you. These responses have been very helpful. I posted this, I suppose, because of a growing suspician that I had been given something of a raw deal. Your responses seem to confirm that.

I'm not sure what the moral angle is on breaking a contract and finding employment elsewhere--but perhaps before switching jobs, I could offer my company the opportunity to cut my office hours, or at least give me Saturday mornings off. If they refuse, then at least I will have tried to make the situation more workable with them. They really are very nice, so I'm going to feel like a louse any way you slice it. Of course, they're also going to get to keep a chunk of my money for breaking the contract, so maybe I shouldn't feel too bad for them.

Thanks, Superemma, for your advice about ways to meet people in a smaller town environment, with not many people who speak English. I'll definitely use some of your suggestions. I especially liked the language exchange idea--I'd never thought of something like that.

Thanks again for all your help.

TaoyuanSteve · Joined: 05 Feb 2003 Posts: 1028 Location: Taoyuan

Toe Save · Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2007 4:52 am Post subject:

Ki · Joined: 23 Jul 2004 Posts: 475

Is your contract with the school or a recruiter? I hope I am wrong but if it is with who I think it is then you will be in for a hard time. It doesn't sound too bad if you cut out the office hours. Maybe you can renegotiate your contract this way rather than quit altogether. If you have one of those dodgy recruiter contracts I would suggest talking directly with your school. They will be more helpful if they want to keep you but don't expect an easy solution. If they can't give you what you want then give the one month notice there and then. If you have given them bond money tell them that this is illegal and will be contested in court. Same for breach of contract fines. They will want to avoid too much confrontation with the law, especially if a kindy is involved.

superemma · Joined: 02 Dec 2006 Posts: 5

I absolutely agree about the bond / contract breaking fee, and I strongly suggest you head over to forumosa if you seriously decide to pursue that option - they have references to free or reduced legal counsel available among the foreign community as well as past experience with such things. It's definitely not legal, and from what they say in most cases if you make it clear to the boss that you're serious and you know what's what, they will back off.

Agent007 · Joined: 27 May 2006 Posts: 17

Thanks for all of this helpful advice. Although I found this job through a recruiter, my contract is with the school, not the recruiter. There is a penalty mentioned in my contract for breaking it--I am interested to learn that this penalty is not legal.

I will certainly follow protocol, and give them notice if I decide to leave. That is going to be one horribly uncomfortable 30 days of going to work, after I give them notice--but I'll deal with it.

I'll also seek out legal advise, if it comes to that--and thanks for information as well. Best.