Well shame on me for being a newbie in taiwan {not a newb in general, been teaching in Japan for a few years}. Signed a contract, and the school has basically breached it several times in the first few days, and I just don’t like it all that much. They owe me a few hundred bucks, and so far the paperwork has yet to be filed.
I’m wondering what the best plan of action is, one that will get me out and get paid as well. Any advice on strategies is truly appreciated. Thanks
If they only owe you a couple of hundred bucks, cut your losses and make like a tree. Unless you really think things will get better.
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Sounds like you work for the school (i do get that your reply is realistic, thank you) . I get that i can bail and not get paid, but I’d rather not feed the school this lesson - it teaches them that bullying a foreigner is ok. And i want my money.
Listen, you aren’t going to teach them anything. You’re most likely going to be doing a lot of posturing* to get your money, and it may not play out in your favor. This story gets told once a month it seems, and it’s a coin flip. Some people get out and get what they want. But that isn’t up to you. And (most) everybody here on the Flob is sympathetic to your plight - I am; I want you to get your money and find a new gig. But I (we) know better. Bullying a foreigner is perfectly acceptable in this society; that’s the true lesson here. Trust in @ShutUpLegs. Move on. Plenty of other options in this town with fewer piles of bullshit in the middle of the room.
- Posturing = empty threats, laughable demands
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Copy that, and thanks for clarifying. I was hoping for a way to fill posturing…without destroying my chances to work here in the future.
Agree with what the others said. If teaching is what you want do to make money plenty of opportunities as a foreigner. We’ve all heard these stories many of us have gone through bad experiences with schools ourselves. I’m on the other side of the coin being Taiwanese American with school not even considering me for hire as I’m not white or offer less pay. I also was moved around a lot because being a citizen here allows them to put me at any campus unlike having an arc which makes you have one single campus you work at. But I accepted that as they did hire me before I completed my degree. So I found school that was willing to overlook that and the trade off of hiring me was no arc worries and allowing me work at 3 different campuses.
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I suggest doing everything by the book, even though that’s not what people tend to expect.
Not telling you that you would be micromanaged is not necessarily a contract violation. Not paying you when the contract says you should be paid is definitely a violation.
When you exit a job (voluntarily or otherwise), you can get a six month ARC extension (if you have an ARC, that is) by applying at the NIA promptly, with a document indicating that your contract is terminated.
If your job is subject to the Labor Standards Act (for example if you teach in a buxiban), you may unilaterally terminate the contract with no advance notice when the employer fails to pay you or violates the contract or any labor law or regulation in a manner likely to affect your rights and interests (Art. 14). Otherwise, for a fixed-term contract, you (generally) need to give advance notice according to what the contract says.
Document everything, just in case.
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For quite a while, I’ve been out of the loop about some things. So I’m asking the board, is what Loretta wrote in 2011, quoted below, still more or less accurate? Or have I somehow misunderstood the quote above?
Oh yeah, it’s worth mentioning that if they haven’t even obtained the work permit yet, you can’t work for them, legally.
You’re not legally hired, nor can you legally work without an ARC of some kind. Don’t make trouble…! It could really backfire on you…! Just write a polite letter to your boss, saying that you have a family emergency and that since your ARC isn’t filed yet, you would rather spare them the trouble of hiring you, since you have to take care of things. Tell them how disappointed you are at not being able to fulfil the contract, but your family affairs are very urgent.
It’s a normal excuse here, and the one out that might make things easier for you by saving their face, and yours. Seriously, you don’t want them calling the Immigration police and snitching on you. This is a battle that you want to walk away from, whether you’re in the right or not. Focus on the bigger picture of finding a decent job here, and building some contacts, too.
It may feel great to go out with all guns blazing… but it won’t change their attitude. A polite letter indicating issues to them might.
Good luck.
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I must’ve overlooked something ilikecoffee. why would an employer illegally employing someone call immigration? wouldn’t that be the exact opposite of what they want? face a $150,000 or more in fines and trouble just to try and get a foreigner deported for making them ‘lose face’?
They will pay the fine and you’ll get kicked out of the country.
They gamble on you not taking that risk.
However, you can go kamikaze, at least pretend, you would.
I really don’t want trouble for me or the school. I want to walk away and say it is not what I was expecting in terms of a job. I don’t want to leave them high and dry without an illegal teacher the next day - not my style.
They have been nice to me for the most part, and other than leaving out a few ugly details, and misleading me on a few other ones (in their defense, I didn’t ask about co-teaching and specific expectations of co-teachers), which I am guessing are par for the course and not something to get butt-hurt over, they haven’t been overly malicious. Just a little illegal.
They seem to really like their kids, and the Taiwanese teachers work their asses off. I am not trying to change my tune here, just trying to tone down my language - it’s too easy to get bent up over work stuff in a foreign country. My instincts are pretty good, but my knowledge of buxiban nonsense is limited to reading horror stories on forums for the past couple of years. I thought maybe there was some insight I was missing. The replies have been helpful. thanks!
It’s not the ARC that you need in order to work legally. It’s the work permit. The ARC lets you remain on the beautiful island, but if your visa or visa exemption has not expired, your presence is still legal.
I suppose if an employer wanted to conspire, the boss could arrange for a theoretically neutral party to report an illegal alien worker and then share the reward with the employer, but yes, the employer would also have some trouble with the law.