Job Discussion Forums

scarab1169 · Joined: 07 Jun 2007 Posts: 42

I've read up a bit on forumosa.com. It seems that the buck stops with the teacher. As I understand it, if a teacher either knowingly or unknowingly works illegally, and gets "ratted" out or discovered, said teacher could be deported. Unfortuantely it seems not much can be done to the school unless they employ a teacher legally and illegal practices come to light.
That's probably why this school keeps on employing teachers illegaly so they can get away with the kind of crap that they seem to be pulling. OP - walk away. You're going to get burned, and the school owner is going to get away with everything and continue their illegal way of doing business.
NT$ 6000 is not worth a deportation or revoking of permanent ARC. Plus the fact that for the last 6 months of your working there you actually didn't have a valid contract and ARC. IMHO you don't have anything to stand on legal wise. If you don't want to take my word for it-again I refer you to www.forumosa.com the "legal issues as work" section. There's a sticky about work rules for teachers. You can also ask the same question and see what kind of answer you get. The whole legal section is moderated by lawyers-people who know Taiwan's laws very well.

zipper · Joined: 14 Dec 2009 Posts: 237

scarab1169 · Joined: 07 Jun 2007 Posts: 42

Unfortunately, the minute he goes to the labour council they will ask his ARC number and then the school's number. I don't know if there's anyway to get away without disclossing this information.That's why maybe if he really wants to fight, he should go to the forum I directed him to and ask the same question.

Yes Zipper, it sucks that schools like this can get away with that kind of crap, but we as teachers should stop endorsing such establishments and refuse to sign contracts with schools that are shady.

If all the teachers on this little island started getting informed about the law with regards to work permits and legal schools, all the shady schools should start losing their business cause they won't have any FTs that want to work there and close.

But that's just a dream because so many people come here without doing their homework and then get stuck in sticky and less than great working circumstances and being screwed over. And then some land in situations like this knowingly and cry fowl the minute they get screwed.

I may sound less than forgiving towards the OP, but he knowingly worked illegally. I don't see that he's going to be treated fairly and getting what he wants when he tries to go to the labour council.And you have to go to the labour council for mediation before you can even consider a court.
There are endless posts about similar situations on forumosa about this.It's heartbreaking to read, but the law is less than forgiving in cases like this towards us foreigners.

Again, I itterate what I said earlier - go to forumosa.com. Get expert opinions before taking action. Don't consider a lawyer now-get your facts straight before you take any actions.

As a side - @lotto. I didn't mean to attack you personaly when I first posted. It just felt that you were ignoring the blatantly obvious - that the OP worked ILLEGALY at a school KNOWINGLY. That to me already disqualifies him for any type of help and spells danger.Just my humble opinion.

markcmc · Joined: 18 Jan 2010 Posts: 262 Location: Taiwan

To go to court over 6,000NT does not seem an intelligent option. Keep asking for the money owed - but don't let it drag down your life. If your ex-boss decides to go sue you - a very unlikely event - then you will have to fight. Otherwise - life is too short for this kind of hassle.

Especially as it would be very difficult to win and the costs would be higher than the amount owed. Your ex-boss will also most likely lose money due to the sudden change of teachers.

creztor · Joined: 30 Dec 2009 Posts: 476

What's the point? The government does not or can not even enforce labor laws regarding employment of locals. There are heaps of jobs that pay less than the minimum wage and plenty of them include working unpaid overtime. If the government can't even look after their own people why would they care about foreigners?

Taylor · Joined: 24 Oct 2003 Posts: 384 Location: Texas/Taiwan

Dear Readers,

Let's recall that the OP wrote that he "needed to stop due to family issues."

I'm still not clear on the math here. He wrote that the "fine" was going to be 5,000 NT for each class. Since he said he found 4 teachers to sub, I thought he was to be fined 20K NTD.

Then, the number 10,000 NT was mentioned. Finally, it was down to 6,000 NTD.

I'm with Rooster on this one. Forget it.

Any lawyer is going to charge more than 6,000 NT to even fool with this.

Apparently, the "family issues" were not of a financial nature, right? Otherwise, how would quitting a job help the situation?

No more suing. No more Labor Departments. No more legal advice.

Just move on with your life, OP!

Taylor
(10 years in Kaohsiung)

zipper · Joined: 14 Dec 2009 Posts: 237

I am with myself on this one. Pest her for it!

Zipper
(20 years Taiwan) Laughing

JZer · Joined: 16 Jan 2005 Posts: 3898 Location: Pittsburgh

You could bluff her that you will go to the Labor Board if she does not pay up. Tell her you are on a marriage ARC and are not afraid to go to the labor board to file a complaint. Since you were working there illegally before you cannot go to the labor board but she probably does not know that unless you have told her that.