Job Discussion Forums

[Sleigh]

I went to Taiwan with my husband during the 2004/2005 school year. Our experience was much like �harrietthespy�s� (see My Year at Hess post) except we were not as lucky to get the airport pick-up that was promised. We too paid $600 plus CDN to have our health checks done when we could have paid $50 had we known we could have waited until we were in Taiwan to have them done. On top of that we dealt with promises of getting paid for doing extra work (parent nights, open houses) and then had to argue about the hours we worked every single pay period. All in all it was annoying and I would definitely NOT have worked for Hess had I known the headaches we had to deal with.

The very worst part about my experience with Hess came when I received devastating news from home six months into our contract. My father had been killed in a car accident. We left that day so we could attend the funeral and be with my family. This is the worst thing that has ever happened in my life and I find it hard to talk about or to share my story which is why it has taken me so long to write this post. Since my husband and I had left Taiwan to attend to this family emergency, they placed two new teachers in our school. I understand that the students needed teachers and something had to be done in our absence, but they fined us both NT 30 000 for breaking our contracts...even though they had given our jobs away and we had no jobs to go back to. In our contract it even said that teachers were permitted three weeks (unpaid of course) in case of an emergency. We left on a Wednesday and they had new teachers in place by the following Monday. We didn�t even get three days.

One foreign teacher sent condolences but other than that we never heard from our director (she would not return our calls or emails) or any of the other trainers that are so caring and accommodating during training and evaluations.

My experience in Taiwan (beyond Hess) was very good. Of course I wish I didn�t have to leave so suddenly, but I got to meet so many great people, experience stinky tofu and other interesting cuisine, climb several mountains and go to countless night markets�I hope to go back and visit someday.

[jonks]

Thank-you for your input. I would however recommend that your first post was not a biting criticism of a reputable language school.
There are many good things that can be said for Hess too.
They employ legally for a start.

[Sleigh]

I taught kindy full time and our kindergarten did get raided by government officials while I was teaching...very scary... I'm pretty sure teaching kindy as well as fining teachers (which the school I worked for also did) are both illegal in Taiwan.

Some Hess schools are better than others, although none of the teachers who were hired when I was enjoyed working for them. Obviously there are some teachers who do enjoy working for Hess, I was just not one of them.

[Ki]

Yes, HESS does has a reputation, a big reputation. It is not all good either, neither is it all bad. I would even say that it may be a good option for new teachers.

Legal is such a subjective word in Taiwan. I'm not sure how legal their kindergarten positions are. I don't know how legal their teachers are working at two or more different branches, which is just about compulsory when you work for HESS, with only the one branch on your ARC. I also don't know how legal, or moral, the deductions/penalties are for when you come late to work or leave your contract early.

However, these are not HESS specific things, with a posible exception to being forced to work at two or more schools. Could someone deny or confirm this for me?

Many foreigners here teach in kindergartens. I am told that this is only legal to do when you marry a Taiwanese local. Many foreigners also teach, subbing or part time, at schools not on their ARC. Many schools have a lot of varied deductions and penalty clauses. Some of these are fairly innocuous but others are downright immoral. Losing half a day's pay for being one minute late for work is not right but losing 10 NT for every minute you are late may be something you need to compromise on. Read the contract and refuse anything dodgy. They can easily change the contract though of course they hate to do so. I have friends that argue that the leaving work mid-contract penalty is illegal and you should take the school to the tribunal over that.

[jonks]

Point taken. They do get ARC's for their teachers though don't they?

[Sleigh]

I agree with you Ki, despite the negative experience I had. Hess is a good option of new teachers. I think new teachers need to know they likely will have to put up with some headaches if they do choose to work there.

As far as I know they do get ARC's for their teachers, at least they did for my husband and I when we worked for them (just over a year ago). Our ARC's said we worked for a Hess school that we never set foot in though so technically we were working illegally at the two schools we did actually teach at.

[atiff]

With the recent law changes (c. April 2006), Hess and all other schools can now add "secondary" branches to your ARCs. This allows NSTs to be registered at more than one branch legally.

Cheers
Andrew Tiffany

[wix]

The NT$30,000 fine is not legal and entirely unreasonable. It raises big question marks about the business ethics of Hess.

[clark.w.griswald]

[Ki]

What's an NST? Is it a HESS specific TLA?

Ah, the ARC distinction between legal/illegal. It does make life easier with an ARC, getting a SIM card, bank account, avoiding visa runs, trips to the police station and the like. My previous post was merely making a point. In practice I am less concerned about "being legal"

Atif, I know that you are allowed to add extra schools to your ARC but do people actually do this?

I think that clauses like the $30 000 penalty clause is morally wrong but of course large insecure corporations need to keep their workers in check. In their shoes, however, I can see why they would need to employ these safe-guards. Us foreigners are not known for being reliable and a couple bad eggs can destroy an entire nation's image.

I can also see why they would take advantage of your misfortune. But again, not HESS specific. These are just some of the things you need to decide if you want to compromise on. My current job has a $6,000 penalty clause, double if I don't give one month's advance notice. But it is just one of those things I had to compromise on to secure what I consider a great job. I wouldn't have agreed to $30,000 though.

[kuberkat]

Sleigh, this is a spine-chilling experience and your writing about it is a very important contribution to this forum. The penalty against you was entirely unreasonable and the school is definitely at fault here. However, it would seem to have been the decision of a few people, and many others in the organization would strongly disagree with it.

Ki wrote, very sensibly:

[harrietthespy]

[atiff]

[atiff]

[atiff]