Apparently my former employer has put me on some kind of blacklist because I resigned from my employment before my contract ended. What a terrible crime I committed. I resigned because they actually broke the contract by not providing me with the minimum weekly hours which was clearly stated on my contract. However, this employer thinks I broke this contract and they basically think they didn’t do anything wrong at all. Anyway I don’t know much about this blacklist so I am just asking to see whether anyone knows much about it. My former employer told me it would prevent me from getting a work permit in Taiwan. Is that true?? Will I not be able to get another ARC because one particular company has registered a complaint to the government?? I don’t quite understand, I thought in a “partially” democratic society like Taiwan I would at least have the right to some sort of defence. Doesn’t seem that way. Does anyone have any advice for someone in my predicament?? Also how do I actually find out if I am really on this list?? Thanks very much,
I think it’s a bluff and a scare tactic. You could always check with your local Foreign Affairs police to find out for sure, but I’ve always believed these blacklists were more urban legend than fact. At any rate, you have a good case to dispute any actions taken against you for leaving a contract that your employer wasn’t honoring.
I just thought I’d let you know that I have in fact been officially blacklisted. I spoke to an employee at the Council of Labor Affairs yesterday and they confirmed that I have been blacklisted and will not be able to work in Taiwan again. So there you go these rumours about blacklists being a thing of the past are not true. So watch out everyone, if you don’t finish your contract you may not be able to work in Taiwan ever again. Apparently my former employer told the CLA that I went missing for 3 days. What a complete load of rubbish. I never went missing at all. I took vacation after my payday and then resigned in writing on the first day of my vacation. It really annoys me that my former employer has told such a blatant lie like that in order to have me banned from working in Taiwan. I can’t understand why they have such a vendetta against me. Their behaviour is so immature it is almost laughable. I must have made a lasting impression for them to become so upset with me. The CLA told me I could write a letter explaining all of the details of my case but really in a democratic society I thought people were assumed innocent until proven guilty. It seems that in Taiwan people believe that you are guilty until proven innocent.
I just thought I’d let you know that I have in fact been officially blacklisted. I spoke to an employee at the Council of Labor Affairs yesterday and they confirmed that I have been blacklisted and will not be able to work in Taiwan again. So there you go these rumours about blacklists being a thing of the past are not true. So watch out everyone, if you don’t finish your contract you may not be able to work in Taiwan ever again. Apparently my former employer told the CLA that I went missing for 3 days. What a complete load of rubbish. I never went missing at all. I took vacation after my payday and then resigned in writing on the first day of my vacation. It really annoys me that my former employer has told such a blatant lie like that in order to have me banned from working in Taiwan. I can’t understand why they have such a vendetta against me. Their behaviour is so immature it is almost laughable. I must have made a lasting impression for them to become so upset with me. The CLA told me I could write a letter explaining all of the details of my case but really in a democratic society I thought people were assumed innocent until proven guilty. It seems that in Taiwan people believe that you are guilty until proven innocent.
Erick[/quote]
If the CLA will let you explain your story, you should take up their offer. Since you appear to have the proof to refute your former employer’s story, there’s no harm in doing it, especially since you would like to come back to Taiwan one day and be gainfully employed. You just need an advocate and, accept this is how Taiwan works.
Yes, I will be taking the matter further and writing to the CLA. I will name the school but only after I have resolved this issue. I want to make sure I am able to resolve this problem before I start publicly slandering my former employer.
Yes, I will be taking the matter further and writing to the CLA. I will name the school but only after I have resolved this issue. I want to make sure I am able to resolve this problem before I start publicly slandering my former employer.
Erick[/quote]
Its only slander (or rather, libel) if it isn’t true.
Yes, I will be taking the matter further and writing to the CLA. I will name the school but only after I have resolved this issue. I want to make sure I am able to resolve this problem before I start publicly slandering my former employer.
Erick[/quote]
Our office just called the Council of Labor Affairs regarding this matter (without using names). Here is what we found out.
There does exist a Blacklist
The Blacklist does not have any practical application.
The blacklisted person is STILL ALLOWED TO WORK IN TAIWAN. The exception to this is whether or not the blacklisted reason was due to fraud or something similar to that. Then there is a problem. So, it pays to find out what reason an employer listed in his report to CLA.
You SHOULD report back to the CLA with your version of events with evidence (if you are in the blacklist).
End result, if one was on the up and up in their dealings, there is nothing to be afraid of. Taiwanese government authorities despite a lot of issues, aren’t out to “get” the foreigner per se. However, one does need to understand how they work and how to work the system.
Whatever one does, it’s advantageous to deal with the problem ASAP rather than let it go when it will be more complicated, more expensive and more painful.
Did the CLA indicate how teachers can check to see if their name is on the blacklist? It would seem only fair that if such a blacklist exists that we should have access to it.
Maybe there is a number that teachers can call to find this information out.
Did the CLA indicate how teachers can check to see if their name is on the blacklist? It would seem only fair that if such a blacklist exists that we should have access to it.
Maybe there is a number that teachers can call to find this information out.[/quote]
Hi brian,
The CLA indicated that as per their procedure, they will contact the teacher (or any employee) with the latest information they have of their whereabouts for the purpose of answering the employer’s complaint. So, this means that those teachers who are “transient” are a bit out of luck. It pays to have your contact information up to date.
CLA’s contact number: 02-8590-2866. Don’t know if they have an English speaker on staff to answer these kinds of questions.
According to CLA, for practical purposes, the blacklist doesn’t negatively affect those on it and many employers don’t bother checking it. CLA told us that a person can still get an ARC to work in Taiwan even if one’s name is on it, unless it is for fraud.
I think the conditions concerning this blacklist are not very clear at all. When I first found out that I was on the blacklist I asked the lady if that meant that I wouldn’t be able to get another ARC and she said that it should be possible to get one with another employer. However, after asking a couple of other questions I asked her again. “Are you sure that I will have no problems getting another ARC?” I then heard her speaking in Chinese to a co-worker for sometime after which she then replied something like this. “Actually you cannot get another ARC and cannot work in Taiwan ever again because you went missing for 3 days and didn’t tell your employer”. Like I said in an earlier post before that is utter crap. I never went missing. So you maybe able to get another ARC even if you are on the blacklist, however, if your employer decides to tell a very big lie and say you went missing for 3 days then your blacklisting situation could be much more serious.
I think that this is typical government banter here in Taiwan.
Previously teacher blacklisting of teachers only had effect for a set period of time - a couple of years if I remember correctly. I think it highly likely that the CLA would not issue a new work permit to a teacher blacklisted for contractual concerns forever.
I agree with Erick that the situation is confusing, and begs the question, if the blacklist doesn’t mean anything and doesn’t affect ones chances of getting another work permit, then why bother having a blacklist?
Cartman - Thanks for the details. I will follow up and let everyone know if I find anything interesting.
This whole blacklist thing is ludicrous IMO. How can the gov. blacklist a foreign teacher before they even heard both sides of the story? Just doesn’t sound fair to me.
This list is used mostly by other schools(I think) who may look up your name when you apply for work. It’s like legalized slandering. It upsets me that foreigners are stripped of basic human rights and it may not be that they are out to get you per se but they sure make it difficult for us when work disputes happen.
This would apply to the previous list held by the MOE which was public.
My understanding of the current situation is that there are no lists as such, there is just a mark against your name. This information is not publically available, and the only schools that would have any knowledge of your blacklisting would be an employer who makes an application on your behalf for a work permit after you have been blacklisted.
I can confirm from speaking with the CLA that blacklisting is aimed at being permanent. Once your name has been blacklisted, and assuming that you have no grounds for an appeal to overturn the blacklisting, then you can safely assume that it is permanent. This may of course change in the future, but at this point in time it is a permanent arrangement.
What is not clear to me however is whether the blacklisting applies to work permits in general or whether it only applies to work permits to teach. I assume that it is the former as the CLA processes work permits for more than just teaching, but it would be good to get a solid answer on this. So the question is:
If a foreign teacher is blacklisted can they obtain a new work permit in another field of work?
From my understanding of the OP’s current situation I can tell you the following. He enquired about appealing the decision and it was reviewed (although not really officially). He was instructed to contact his school in order to ‘complete the terms of resignation properly’ and reading between the lines it seems to me that the CLA meant that he should pay the breach penalty that he had agreed to when he signed the agreement but had tried to avoid paying. This was afterall the crux of the reason that the school provided the CLA with the information for the blacklisting in the first place. Although not positive, it does seem that had he paid the NTD20,000 breach penalty he could have had the blacklisting rescinded. He chose not to do this and to the best of my knowledge is not intending to return to Taiwan. Therefore his blacklisting is still in effect.
I can confirm from speaking with the CLA that blacklisting is aimed at being permanent. Once your name has been blacklisted, and assuming that you have no grounds for an appeal to overturn the blacklisting, then you can safely assume that it is permanent. [/quote]
Thanks, brian. Did they give you any idea on what are possible grounds for a successful appeal? I assume that a successful appeal is possible?
From my understanding of the OP’s current situation I can tell you the following. He enquired about appealing the decision and it was reviewed (although not really officially). He was instructed to contact his school in order to ‘complete the terms of resignation properly’ and reading between the lines it seems to me that the CLA meant that he should pay the breach penalty that he had agreed to when he signed the agreement but had tried to avoid paying. This was afterall the crux of the reason that the school provided the CLA with the information for the blacklisting in the first place. Although not positive, it does seem that had he paid the NTD20,000 breach penalty he could have had the blacklisting rescinded. He chose not to do this and to the best of my knowledge is not intending to return to Taiwan. Therefore his blacklisting is still in effect.[/quote]
