Job Discussion Forums

[Frankie Knuckles]

Just wondering if anybody can give me any advice about how I can avoid having to pay a 20,000NT fine for breaking my contract. I am currently employed at a chain school which imposes this ridiculous fine on teachers should they decide to break their contract. Honestly, it really is so stupid for companies to try to enforce fines such as these. I mean it actually encourages teachers to just flee the country without notice. I have already heard of a number of other teachers who completed their training in Taipei at the same time as me who have fled immediately after pay day so that they could avoid the fine.

If they didn't impose this fine I would certainly do the right thing and give them a months notice of my resignation. However, because this school wishes to impose such draconian penalties I feel I have no other option but to just flee. These schools actually complain about teachers leaving without notice. What the f**k do they expect? How could they seriously expect anybody to give a month's notice and then hand over $20,000NT of there hard earned money. What a joke? If the morons who ran these companies had half a brain they would wake up and realise that teachers would actually be more respectful in relation to leaving their employment if these fines weren't imposed.

I originally thought that this practice was quite unusual here in Taiwan but I recently applied for another job with a different chain school and they make teachers pay 25,000NT for breaking their contract. I certainly don't think I am being too picky about my working conditions but currently I feel so ripped off because of all the extra unpaid hours I have to put into this job. I have previously worked in Japan before and never had these kinds of problems. I broke my contract in Japan and just gave a months notice and there was no issue.

I am thinking about just leaving the country and trying to get another ARC in Thailand or Hong Kong. Can I do this easily? Will my ARC be cancelled by my present employer as soon as I inform them that I am not coming back to work for them. If they don't cancel my ARC immediately can I apply for another one while that one is still active. I was thinking of taking a break in Thailand or HK for a week and then getting another 60 visitor visa. Could my current employer make it difficult for me to work here for a different school after I come back to Taiwan or will it be ok so long as I leave the country and cancel my current ARC. How do I cancel the current one? Can I do that voluntarily? I can't imagine my current employer wanting to just transfer the current ARC to another employer. I think they would love to try to make life difficult for me if they could.
Any advice on what I should do in this situation??
Cheers Frank.

[markholmes]

I know how you feel. I left without telling my school for the same reason. I am an honourable person and felt quite terrible having to run away. This is the only time I have done this and is was a direct result of their policy. I actually quit during Chinese New Year holisay and sent the school an email after I checked they had paid my salary into my bank account, thus any money they owed me was holiday pay which I hadn;'t actually worked anyway.

I won't go into it but my circumstances were somewhat different to yours, however isn't there a way you can take a vacation and quit after pay day thus at least reducing the money owed to you.

[wood]

[Mozilla]

I managed to get out of my contract w/o paying the fine. Here is the deal: they don't REALLY have to make you pay it. It's just there as a deterrent to make you think twice about quitting.


I waited until they were really busy and sat my boss down and told her I wasn't happy and wanted to quit. I also said that I would be willing to teach until they found a new teacher...provided they waived the fine. Otherwise I walk out right then and there. She agreed and everyone was happy.

[markholmes]

Will she stick to this?

[wood]

[Aristotle]

I would recommend that you ask for an advance in pay and walk. The management of your school are idiots and they deserve it.
Don't feel bad this is how business is done in Taiwan.
Try lining up another job before you quit. Send your employer a written notice that you are quitting for any one of a number of illegalities in your employment there. Wrong tax deductions, no insurance, arbitrary cuts in pay or hours, work deposit... the list is endless but any one of those excuses gives you the legal right to quit your job without notice. All you need to do is write a letter to them after you get paid. By doing this your former employer will have a very difficult time influencing your future employment opportunities.
Good luck,
A.

[Frankie Knuckles]

Thanks for the advice guys.
Mozilla,

I have already considered doing what you did but I am not really sure that my boss would keep her word. I would be pretty pissed off if I gave a months notice and then when pay day came around my pay was $20,000NT short. How could I be sure that she would keep her word. Did you get the agreement in writing or was it just a verbal agreement?

Wood,

If I do decide to leave without notice and go overseas for a week or two to get a new 60 visitor visa should everything be ok when I return? I mean what happens when you leave Taiwan with an active or current ARC but you don't intend to return and work for the same employer? If immigration ask about whether I will be returning to Taiwan to work what am I supposed to say? I have a multiple re-entry permit stamped in my passport which is valid so long as the ARC is valid. If I was to inform my school that I am resigning when I get to the airport or Hong Kong, Thailand or where ever I decide to go I would imagine but I am not sure that they might take a day or two to inform the relevant authorities of my hasty departure. Also when I get to the TECO office in HK or Bangkok what am I supposed to tell them. Should I just ask them for a new 60 day visitor visa and will they question why I need one if if I have an ARC which hasn't expired? Can they issue a new 60 Visitor Visa when I still have an active ARC, should my current employer be slow in cancelling it?

Thanks very much for your replies

Cheers,
Frank

[gabriel]

I think Aristotle is being a little naive. Employers do not hand out pay advances without some type of security, this usually being your passport. I really wonder who the idiot really is.

Mozilla presents a more sensible solution. Talk to your employer and see if you can eliminate the fine with a reasonable trade-off. Work up to a certain date and allow them some time to re-schedule your classes and possibly find a new teacher. Hopefully you won't get screwed but you've done the right thing.

[Mozilla]

[Mozilla]

forgot to add that it was just an oral agreement. As I have unfortunately discovered, even written agreements mean squat here.

[Frankie Knuckles]

Mozilla,

I was just wondering if you are still working in Taiwan. Did you leave Taiwan and return to your home country after you resigned or are you now working at a different school? If you are still working here was it an easy transition in regards to transfer of your ARC if that is what you did?.

Frank

[Xenophobe]

Try this on for size! A friend of mine worked for an American crack pot in Kaohsiung who decided to stop paying her medical insurance half way through her contract. She was given two days notice of this fact. This nutbar had also not gotten her a proper ARC. She gave her employer five months (in my opinion far too long) to get things straightened out. After countless lies and excuses why she didn't have her ARC and insurance straightened out (at times she was told everything had been staightened out, but after checking with the government offices found this to be false), she quit. Her "American" employer then tried to sue her for almost NT 1 000 000 for breach of contract.

Needless to say, this didn't work so he stalked her and her family including their then four year old son, showing up at their home, places of work and their child's school I think he was eventually deported because he was also causing problems for owners of one of the larger school chains in Kaohsiung. They eventually got on with their lives after he "disappeared" .

[Aristotle]

Email me. I think we can help you.
[email protected]
Good luck,
A.

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