Job Discussion Forums

[kait]

I currently teach 24 hours per week. My co-workers are full time, and teach 37 hours per week. I'm curious about what your experiences have been. Do most schools in Taiwan only pay for actual teaching hours or do they pay for prep time? Are most people actually teaching close to 40 hours a week, plus doing class preparations and grading on top of that?


I'm finding I need to find additional work or different work all together. I came here hoping to pay off bills, and I'm not finding I can't make much progress with 24 hours/week. It seems that Hess doesn't have a kindy class to offer me right now. I'm not sure if I want to break up my day like that even if they did. Teaching 9-12, 4:30-8:30 and doing prep and grading in between, wouldn't leave much space for life outside of work.

[TaoyuanSteve]

It is, unfortunately, industry standard to calculate your wage based only on class instructional time. You can be paid per hour, or paid by salary. Theoretically, salary jobs pay for prep time because they pay a lump sum per month. Unfortunately, they almost always require a lot of hours and work out to be a bad deal. The trick is to get an hourly paid job that doesn't require too much prep time or marking time. This way you get the most bang for your hourly buck, so to speak. Also, as you get more experience, and have taught the same lessons repeatedly, your prep time goes down and down.

Hours of work is a subjective thing. Each teacher decides how much s/he wants to work and earn and accepts the trade-offs that come with each decision. For the moment, I'm happy with around the same number of hours as you currently work. It alows me to have some interests and quality of life appart from work. I have, at times, been offered off-site gigs that would have sent my monthly pay throught he roof. But, I would have also always been on the verge of burnout. I know someone who took a gig I had turned down. His take home pay was huge for a while. However, at the end of it he had to take a lengthy and expensive vacation to recover. Sometimes more hours aren't worth it.

The split shift thing doesn't appeal to me either. That's why I don't do kindy hours. Another reason is I don't want to do more children's classes than I already do. Ideally, you'll be able to find a few good adult conversation private classes to earn extra money. Also consider adult cram schools like Global village. They have daytime classes and might be worth it for extra hours. Their low pay is stuff of legend, but they also don't expect much either.

[A.K.A.T.D.N.]

[quote="kait"]I currently teach 24 hours per week. My co-workers are full time, and teach 37 hours per week. I'm curious about what your experiences have been. Do most schools in Taiwan only pay for actual teaching hours or do they pay for prep time? Are most people actually teaching close to 40 hours a week, plus doing class preparations and grading on top of that?



They'll put it in the contract that you only teach 25 hours or so and then stipulate in the same contract you must be there eight hours a day. In between time, of course they work you to the bone with meetings and particulars such as making schedules, doing prep time, singing and dancing to the kids etc., without getting paid. It's a 9 to 5 job here, but because they think teaching is the least of concerns, you're never actually teaching 40 hours but the particulars will wear you out all the same. Hey, listen to this deal if you or others don't believe me.

I had a job working for a company called IDEAR. They promised me NT 60,000 a month right off the bat, tax-free, so I jumped at it. The hours were first stated at being only five per day, 25 a week.

Well, I had to get to school by 8:30 sharp and wait until classes started at 9:40. This was supposed to be preparation time, a little singing and dacning with the kids for 30 minutes or so.

Lunch came at 12:00, and we had a decent two hour break, but had to sign out and be back promptly at 2:00. The next sessions classes didn't begin until 2:30.

We worked until 3:45 but then had to sit around for 45 minutes and could only leave at 4:30. This, along with real preperation time you had to put in in an assinine amount of time, without materials to boot, led up to about an actual 7 hours per day. It made me sick to then think they could harp about being one minute late and deduct NT10 dollars! The punch clock was also fast?

Hey, not like I don't bend to a bosses will. In Korea anything-most of the time-in excess of 30 hours was considered overtime, which is the way it should be. Teaching is unlike most jobs.

A meeting here and a little preperation there, providing they've got the materials to prepare with, isn't bad. I had a job in one part of Korea where I got paid about 2.2 million won a month for about 28 hours a week but spent at least an hour each day before classes to get things prepared. Believe it or not, this was my own idea, but then the teacher expected more and started adding on more classes.

Japan is the same, and will always have you at the workplace for a full 8 hours a day. Korea is trying to play privy to this now, but you'll pretty much find that most teachers there have settled for nothing less than 30 hours a week or else. . . Some schools I applied for in South Korea paid 2.4 million won a month for about 26 hours or so a week, but these usually attract the greedy. If you go to Busan or the Southeastern part of Korea, you'll find that the employers can be real rip-offs, so just be aware. Some try to charge rent, security deposit, housing costs and a whole lot of crap to make up for your desire to make a few bucks for being there.

As for preperation, it is usually not needed if the school has a decent textbook, and materials, since too much verbiage and lesson planning often leaves the students out in the cold and the expectations of the students are not that you're a real teacher anyway.

The Chinese will resent this anyway, thinking the other particulars are of greater importance and thus become jealous they've got to make less for their cheap-labor-boss's mentality.

[TaoyuanSteve]

AKADTN: You're limited experience here doesn't give you much basis for discussion in this thread. You describe one type of job; the kindie/cram lump sum monthly salary contract. I've already said these arrangements are less than ideal. For your salary, you'll be expected to put in a ton of extra unpaid hours. These are not the only pay/work arrangements available in Taiwan.

Cram schools that pay by the hour are a different story. I get paid for 25 hours a week and that is all I work.

[Taylor]

Kait,

Have you only been in Taiwan a few months? You can always expect the first half-year to include lots of unexpected issues. It is true that the more experience you have, the less prep time will be required--especially with HESS-type materials and curriculum. Are you planning on staying for only one year? Certainly, staying a second year would allow you to really rake in some more cash...since your fixed costs have already been covered.

Of course, you can always choose another place to work for in your second year. I am not sure about the current situation, but previously all paperwork needed to be submitted one month in advance of the end of your current contract/ARC ending date.

If this is still the case, you really need to be finding another school about two months before your last scheduled date with HESS. All of this gets pretty tricky, so it's best to visit with others who have actually been through the process. Sometimes a trip to Hong Kong is required, etc.

Best wishes.

Taylor

[kait]

I am new to Taiwan. I moved here in mid-August. I'm sort of trapped at Hess right now. They offer you a 0 interest 30,000 dollar loan when you first arrive. This is to help you get through the first month before you get a paycheck, and to help you get established. Although it's illegal to do so, they keep your passport until you pay it back. They also have a 20,000 dollar fee for leaving before your contract expires. So, I can't afford to stay with Hess exclusively, but I can't afford to leave either.

A mid-afternoon job would be great. I'll try to find out if there is a Global Village in the vacinity. I like that option a lot.

[wombat]

[kait]

Uh...ok!

I hope I didn't come across as unappreciative. I have no intentions of demanding my passport or causing grief. I realize Hess had no obligation to offer any of us a loan. When they offered the loans, they explained that legally they should not be taking our passports, but that it is standard practice for Hess to do so. I wasn't complaining so much as explaining that leaving Hess is not an option for me right now because I owe them money, and they have my passport. That's all. I'm not upset about the situation, but it does impact my decisions. I hope that clarifies.

[wombat]

Thanks for the clarification Kait. I may have read a bit too much into your post.

Whatever happens you will find that Hess will no doubt do the right thing by you. Sure they will want their money back, and they will most likely penalize you financially as per the stipulations in the contract that you have signed with them if you choose to leave early. At the end of the day though, you will not be unfairly ripped off by them, nor will they do hte dirty on you.

If things are at the stage that you are considering breaking your contract over the fact that you don't have enough hours, why don't you speak with Gary or one of the other foreign staff in head office. I have never worked at Hess, but I can't imagine that they would be totally unwilling to accept a request for a transfer to a different branch that could offer you more hours in line with your expectations, as opposed to having you do a runner.

Good luck!

[Aristotle]

Holding your passport is illegal. Report it immediately to the local FAP police in writing. Use a copy of that written statement as evidence of wrongdoing on the part of your employer "Hess" voiding your contract and find a real job that pays you for the work you do. If they give you a hard time and don't pay you, press charges.
Please read this,
http://www.geocities.com/taiwanteacher2002/Success.html
Good luck,
A.
[email protected]

[TaoyuanSteve]

[wombat]

I think that TaoyuanSteve has already covered this ground but here goes anyway.

[kait]

Mon Dieu (pardon my French)!

I don't intend to "pull a runner" unless my only other option is filing bankruptcy back home. I have told my immediate supervisor, my branch manager, my district manager and a couple representatives from the HR that I need more hours and need help finding other options. I have not called Gary directly, but I would do that before making a final leap into breaking my contract. Mostly, I hope to find suplementary income in the area where I live before requesting to be transferred to another school. I mean, afterall, I have a rental agreement on my apartment for a year as well. I don't suppose you would suggest I "pull a runner" on that contract either, right?

I also have no intention of reporting Hess for keeping my passport. I'm sure that if I really needed to leave the country for some reason, my branch would give me my passport back. Sure, they might cut off my pinkies or something, but I could get my passport back. By the way, for the concrete thinkers among us, that was a joke. I hope that Aristotle is not so crazed by his personal crusades that he would take it upon himself to report Hess. I don't think anyone who received the loan would want that at all.

Perhaps I have shared more of my personal situation on this board than I should have. I just need to find a few more hours to work per week, and Hess doesn't currently have it to offer me within a reasonable traveling distance of where I live. My search for additional hours has just begun. So far, I have run into dead ends but I don't anticipate that being the case for long. I suppose, in the unlikely event that I cannot find supplementary income without leaving Hess to start over somewhere else, I'll have to consider it. But, if I do, it will come as no surprise to my co-workers or employers because they all know I need more hours. I have to do what I have to do to pay my bills. I've heard people carry on about the big money they're making in Taiwan. I just wanted to know how many hours a week they were working to do so.

I have no beef with Hess's business practices. I am grateful to have received the loan. I recognize they have worked hard to train me and get me comfortably settled into Taiwan. I am relieved that they are dealing with a lot of the official paperwork for me. In fact, when I first arrived, I lost my backpack, which had my money, passport and prescriptions medicines in it. An HR rep went with me to deal with all of the formalities necessary to request a new passport and such. A few of the trainers even offered me personal loans to help me get through until I had access to my bank accounts again. My backpack was found the same day, so we had to then jump through all of the hoops backward. I was glad to have help with that process. I am well aware that Hess takes care of its employees.

I know there is one other poster on this board who seems to be always complaining about Asia, and I hope that I'm not gaining the same reputation.

[Fortigurn]

Great post kait, respect.

[TaoyuanSteve]

Kait, you're definitely not getting a bad rep at all. In fact, you're one of the sanest voices on this forum. Please do keep posting. No one suspects you will pull a runner. Even if you did, that would be your business and not for us to judge.

Most of the negative action on this thread has been directed at Aristotle's advice. BTW, I wouldn't worry about Aristotle reporting anyone. His so-called organization is pure fiction; it doesn't really exist and has no sway over authorities here.

You're not revealing too much about yourself. You've simply stated that you are seeking hours and you've described a payroll advance you were given. Nothing too revealing or innapropriate. Much of what you write is quite useful stuff. People in similar situations will look at it and may gain something from your experiences.

About the complainer we all know well. Well, that individual is responsible for his own predicament. His attitude is his own worst enemy. You, on the other hand, will eventually get what you are looking for, I'm sure of it. You seem responsible, honest and have a decent work ethic. You will be successful here.