Job Discussion Forums

[pest2]

my wife is working here, but her school recently informed her that they will be taking a vacation from mid-July to mid-August -- 1 month -- without pay so they can remodel the school (originally it was supposed to be just one week). She is having trouble finding a summer temp job, so her next best alternative to going completely unemployed for 1 month is to just quit in early or mid-July and get a new job here. (after that, the next best alternative is to flee from Taiwan and never return).

However, her contract stipulates that 1) she should give a month's notice if she desires to quit 2) If she fails to complete the 1 year contract, the school will not issue a "letter of termination".

Meeting the conditions of 1 shouldnt be a problem if she can find a new job to start a month later.

For 2, however... is it possible that a school would not issue a termination letter to the immigration office? I assume the letter of termination is the one they have to send to the office when an employee quits; after such a letter is received, said employee has 2 weeks to leave TW?

If the school does not issue such a termination letter.. then what? Would the employee still be legally employed at that school?? If so, the employee still has an ARC? So he or she can stay in Taiwan? I believe it to be the case that the visa office must inform the employee after a termination letter is actually issued. Maybe if the school wont issue a termination letter, she can just start working at the new job anyway? Why not, after all?

Also, can a school just fail to pay a contracted employee for a whole month? Surely there must be a limit on the amount of unpaid vacation an employer here can impose while still being allowed to be "employing" its workers? If the contracted period is for 1 year, surely there must be something to proscribe employers from disallowing employees from working at other places of employment in case those employers go out of business or decide to only keep employees on the payroll for self-gain? Do the companies in Taiwan really have that much power, such that they can stop people in the country from working anywhere by simply having infinitely long vacations if they so desire??? I must be missing something.

Obviously the labor laws in Taiwan suck for FTs compared to alot of other countries in Asia, by the way and to anyone who is considering coming to Taiwan from Korea or elsewhere... Just FYI...

[BJ]

She can complain to the relevant authorities, I am not a lawyer or versed in industrial law, but it does ring bells that we do have contracts which are enforceable. SO the answer is she can appeal this but watch out for a long process of appeals.

Reading between the lines, I would suggest "Flee" back to Korea or Japan is the best solution:)

[pest2]