Job Discussion Forums

blateson · Joined: 12 Mar 2006 Posts: 144

Quick question. Now working at Hess, and my situation is looking much like what BigWally posted just the other day regarding his co-worker (no I'm not him). They are the only school on ARC as it's in their rules. Things not going well. Been here a month and they are getting worse. Question, even having work permit/arc etc with only them, if I leave and go to HK or another teco, am I "free" to apply for a new Tourist Visa and start all over, or is it the same way as it was in Korea in which I must wait to re-enter Taiwan only after the date the "contract" ends and ARC expires? Thanks.

dangerousapple · Joined: 18 Apr 2006 Posts: 292

You should give proper notice, which is whatever is stipulated in your contract, so that no one can accuse you of not playing by the rules. Then you'll be free to go wherever you want. If you just run out, you will be screwing up the school, and possibly screwing yourself, as they will try to get you blacklisted.

trukesehammer · Joined: 25 Mar 2003 Posts: 168 Location: The Vatican

Sorry to hear about your hippo riding troubles. You might want to check to see if Hess still has that 30-day escape clause. It sure saved my overeducated, underfunded butt. Cool

BigWally · Posted: Fri Oct 27, 2006 2:34 am Post subject:

sorry about the misfortunes...i've heard so many differing opinions on Hess it seems to depend on the person if its for them or not....i guess thats the risk you run with any chain operation...for some people its good, for others it can be the devil Twisted Evil

SanChong · Joined: 22 Nov 2005 Posts: 335

I'd second Dangerous Apple's suggestions. Remember, no matter what your feelings towards the school, your students, the kids do matter.

Make sure that the school has time to get a replacement for you. If you give your proper notice and handle it in a professional way, you should be able to part ways without leaving any hard feelings on either side.

markholmes · Joined: 21 Jun 2004 Posts: 661 Location: Wengehua

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought you could apply for another job, have them added to your ARC and then resign from the first job, thus negating the need to leave the country. This was discussed at length 18 months / two years ago, but is rarely mentioned now (as I said then, I suspect that in practice this rarely happens).

What's the deal with that?

Toe Save · Posted: Sat Oct 28, 2006 7:32 am Post subject:

BigWally · Posted: Sat Oct 28, 2006 9:53 am Post subject:

Toe Save · Posted: Sat Oct 28, 2006 10:41 am Post subject:

BigWally · Posted: Sat Oct 28, 2006 10:58 am Post subject:

i already do enough volun-told-ism Cool

at my current job to have time to go and give away more of my day for free....

not that i dont think the people who do it arent awesome....but there's only so many hours in a day

blateson · Joined: 12 Mar 2006 Posts: 144

Under Hess rules if you quit either in your first month or after it you are subject to a $20,000 fee and you must leave the country with WP/ARC canceled. This fee will equal nearly all of your first payday. Secondly under Hess rules you are not supposed to have another employer, ONLY Hess but with exceptions on what your branch will let you do. Mine implied "no other school." That's an interesting question, would you be able to get a second school on an ARC without having to inform the first?

Questions:

Is it even legal that Hess has the right to prevent you from getting another school on your ARC? Is that legal?

Is it even legal that Hess can keep $20,000 of the only money you've worked hard for and will definately need while so far away from home? Is it legal to keep your money because either you didn't work out well for the school or they decide not to keep you?

clark.w.griswald · Joined: 06 Dec 2004 Posts: 2056

Personally, while I can see some concerns about it being unreasonable for a school to prohibit outside work, I don't think that it is altogether that unreasonable. If I were an employer I would want to know that my employees were 100% committed to me and I think that Hess probably has two valid concerns with teachers working at other schools:

a) that other work could clash with the work that they want you to do;
b) Hess invests in training and curriculum which you could be using in your work at that other school

Of course any work outside of Hess is likely to pay more than the work inside Hess and there will always be a temptation to pick up more work outside their company than in. I believe howevere that the training, curriculum, and other benefits offered by Hess help make up for the lower wage, and at the end of your contract you can take that knowledge and get a higher paying job elsewhere.

The important thing for me though is that it seems Hess states their requirements clearly upfront and I assume that the same is contained in the contract that you signed. If you have agreed to these terms they are legally binding upon you just as the wage that you agreed to in that contract is legally binding on the employer. You would probably not like the employer to turn around and say that although the contract states NTD550 an hour that they have decided that they are now only going to pay you NTD300, so equally they should not have to accept that while you originally agreed not to undertake work outside their school, now they have to accept this.

Contracts provide the guidelines that help to protect both parties.