There is a recurring ARC issue of concern to Bushiban teachers which is the number of hours they need to stay financially afloat in Taiwan.
In Korea, laws for the issuance of conversational teacher employment visas require 25 hour minimum work week (Mon-Fri, weekends are “overtime pay”), return airline ticket, paid accomodations, and health insurance.
Severance pay after the annual contract is added.
In general, there is broad compliance, but the premiums for health insurance might not be paid.
Taiwan is more culturally tolerant of foreigners, but the financial problems of 15 hour work weeks is a drawback. It should be raised to 25 hours minimum, or the monthly equivalent of USD 1300.00 base pay. If the employers collectively balk at this, then the “Korean standards” of additional costs of housing and airfare should be added by MOFA.
Raise the minimum standards for weekly hours to 25 as part of ARC visa conditions. This will help to reduce the need to violate status. Of course, it won’t really stop ‘second jobs’ on weekends, but the ARC sponsor will have a monopoly of 25 hours weekly.
I agree 100%! However, I don’t see this happening in the near future. Maybe if one day all the foreign bushiban teachers staged a protest in front of the MOFA and the Ministry of Education maybe they would listen. But, let’s be realisitic…
Has anyone ever tried writing a complaint letter to the labor buearu, Ministry of Education, or the MOFA about this issue? If so, what were the results? Again if all the foreign bushiban teachers wrote a letter complaining, maybe they would look at the issue. I’m saying maybe, not certainly. Anyway, that’s just my opinion…
I suppose the main objections to the proposal of a minimum of 25 hrs/wk are 1) some bushibans may not have a schedule that supports that many hours, especially smaller schools and 2) some teachers probably like having more “free time,” especially if their schedules allows the pursuit of other activities.
My favorite, however, is schools that advertise in the newspaper for teachers who alreadly hold work visas. They are blatantly saying that they’ll only hire teachers who are working illegally! And I’ve heard of government agencies that have done the same thing - hire English teachers, but not offer work permits!
A lot of people are happy to take 15 hours a week from one school and leave their options open to study Chinese, do other work, etc. It is also possible to live on the income you get from teaching 15 hours a week. Remember this is probably more than the average Taiwanese receives for a 44 hour week.
For non-teaching, I believe there is no specified number of hours. You need to earn twice the minimum salary (@17000)set by the CLA, so about NT$34000/month. You can call the CLA and ask whether there is a minimum number of hours, but if I were you, I would just not raise this issue in my application.
I’m glad this has come up, as I was wondering the same thing.
Let me see if I understand what you are saying, Feiren… For a non-teaching job, they would have to pay me at least $34,000 per month for me to be eligible for an ARC. But, as far as you know, there is no minimum # of hours required?
Now I’ve been to the CLA found out the minimum monthly salary for a foreigner is NT$47,971. I can’t imagine how they came to that figure. My prospective employer has rounded it up to NT$48,000 on the application.
I get my work permit for a part-time non-teaching job that only pays around NT$40K. No problems from the CLA.[/quote]
Ah, so you’re illegally moonlighting at an additional job that you don’t pay taxes on. Welcome to Taiwan. Every foreigner here has their “visa job” and their supplementals. Sometimes private students, sometimes tending bar…
I think the difference here may be that Sandman is here as a foreign spouse and I am just an “ordinary” foreigner. Different rules may apply. The CLA were very definite about that strange figure of NT$47,971 for a minimum monthly wage. Frankly, my employer can’t afford to pay me that much. Nor can some other people who would like to employ me. It is very restrictive. Jobs I did in the past paid around NT$33,000 for 5-6 hours a day - but that was then and this is now. Have any other people not married to an ROC citizen been approved to work for less than NT$47,971 - recently?
Update: Juba was right and I was wrong – kind of. His minimum figure is correct, but I renewed my work permit just before the implementation date. Others in my office who renewed after me now get the minimum amount but I get the lesser, original amount until renewal time. In fact, nothing really changes – They get more per month but no year-end bonus, while I get less per, but I do get the bonus. I wonder if they’ll give me the bigger amount next year when I no longer require a work permit?
i didn’t know that there’s this minimum salary for foreigners. anyway, my company’s paying me less than this minimum. how will this affect me in paying my taxes?
Welcome to Taiwan. Every foreigner here has their “visa job” and their supplementals. Sometimes private students, sometimes tending bar…