Boss doesn´t accept my resignation

Work Working in Taiwan
1

Hello, I am in a stressful situation so I hope somebody can help me with some info on what to do. Sorry in advance for the long story:
I have been working in a company (in sales) for 8 months, I gave my boss my resignation letter last Friday, to leave on April 25th (that´s a bit more than 10 days notice), I am leaving Taiwan on April 30th. She first wanted me to stay one month saying that is company policy but my contract doesn´t say anything about early termination (so I checked the labor law, and less than a year was 10 days notice), in the end she agreed to finish on the 22nd, exactly 10 days. She told me to give her everything on Monday to do the paperwork and no need for e-mail, but as she has done some other illegal stuff before… I did send her an e-mail as a formal resignation (even tho she told me not to do it). She replied to this e-mail on Sunday saying that we need to talk about my employment commitment. Now, my contract only says that I am EXPECTED to commit for 2 years, so it is a 2 years contract but it doesn´t say anything about compensation or anything.
Today I asked her to start the paperwork (I need to pay my taxes cause I am leaving Taiwan on April 30th), and she told me she hasn´t accept anything. I said I called the CLA (which is true) and they told me the e-mail was valid cause she replied, therefore, she read it. But she insists that I am breaking the contract and that she won´t give me any paper (taxes or contract termination) cause she hasn´t accepted anything. I will be calling the CLA to report her, but I have to leave Taiwan (not planning on working here ever again) and I am worried about the taxes and obviously that she won´t pay me this month (99% she won´t pay me). Is this legal?? Any advice?

Thanks in advance!!

2

According to the Labor Standards Act, Article 15 and Article 16:

law.moj.gov.tw/Eng/LawClass/LawA … e=N0030001

[quote]1. Where a worker has worked continuously for more than three months but less than one year, the notice shall be given ten days in advance.
2. Where a worker has worked continuously for more than one year but less than three years, the notice shall be given twenty days in advance.
3. Where a worker has worked continuously for more than three years, the notice shall be given thirty days in advance.[/quote]

Your 10-day notice is sufficient for your 8 months at the company. If your boss doesn’t accept your resignation, she would be violating the Labor Standards Act. However, if your contract has a specific duration, then some other regulation applies.

Those in violation of the Labor Standards Act can be fined up to 90,000 NTD according to Article 78 and 81, and it will get on their criminal records.

3

What do you mean you’re worried about the taxes? You don’t have to file. If and when you come back to Taiwan you can file then.

4

I won’t be coming back to Taiwan, only at the end of the month on a tourist visa for 3 days to pick up my stuff. I ask a lady in the Ministry of Labor, she said 10 days even if is a 2 years contract is enough. But I do need the paperwork from my boss.

5

Keep calling the CLA everytime that your boss doesn’t give you the resignation letter. And tell the CLA that you didn’t get paid. I might plan on spending a little more than 3 days here to take care of this but the CLA will back you up on that.

6

Is it a bilingual contract? Your boss may intend to explain it as a mistranslation… :unamused:

If you’re covered by the Labor Standards Act and have within the last 30 days become aware of any action by your employer that gives you a reasonable fear of your rights/interests being harmed, you can quit without advance notice by using Art. 14. This also entitles you to severance pay.

For taxes, the worst case scenario is that you have to deal with them later (you have until May next year) and/or by proxy.

7

I hate to be pedantic in my free time, but the “CLA” has been the Ministry of Labor since Feb 2014. :no-no:

8

I have been talking to the CLA and tax office, my resignation is valid, so in case she still doesn’t accept to give me the documents on my last day of work (April 22nd) I will file a complaint and a mediator from the government will arrange a meeting with me and her (this can be done by a proxy). My fear, more than my salary which I’m pretty sure she won’t pay, is that by the time I come back from my trip (May 1st to May 26th) if I haven’t paid taxes by May 30th (when I will leave Taiwan for good), I will be stopped at the airport or sth…

9

It is only in english, and it is only one page. Actually, is the job offer, I wouldn’t consider this a contract in Europe, but I don’t know how things work in Taiwan…

10

If the termination is already valid, the employer’s refusal to sign can’t invalidate it. In case you have any difficulty proving the validity, you can send a new termination notice invoking Art. 14, assuming the employer has committed at least one violation that you’ve become aware of in the last 30 days and/or owes you money.

This year’s tax return isn’t due until May of next year, and your employer should have given you last year’s tax papers by February of this year. I don’t think they do the airport thing for taxes these days.

11

[quote=“yyy”]If the termination is already valid, the employer’s refusal to sign can’t invalidate it. In case you have any difficulty proving the validity, you can send a new termination notice invoking Art. 14, assuming the employer has committed at least one violation that you’ve become aware of in the last 30 days and/or owes you money.
This year’s tax return isn’t due until May of next year, and your employer should have given you last year’s tax papers by February of this year. I don’t think they do the airport thing for taxes these days.[/quote]

The first termination I send it by e-mail after she refused to sign the letter in paper, she replied to that e-mail (to tell me I had a commitment with the company, not to accept it). With this I can prove she has seen it, therefore I already informed the company of my resignation. However, I don´t think she will make the same mistake a second time. So how should I send a new termination and make her accept it?
About the salary, I can´t know if she will pay me until May 15th (she pays second week of next month), but I know that a previous coworker had less problems than me, and still didn´t get paid half of the salary. He didn´t protest because of fear of her talking to his next company. I don´t have this problem cause I have no plan to stay or come back to Taiwan ever.
Also, I still can´t be sure of the airport thing… I don´t want to face that problem right before leaving…

12

It is only in english, and it is only one page. Actually, is the job offer, I wouldn’t consider this a contract in Europe, but I don’t know how things work in Taiwan…[/quote]
Taiwan’s legal system has “Chinese characteristics” but is based on the civil law principles of Europe (Germany etc.). A contract can be executed in writing or through oral agreement. The problem with oral contracts is that their contents are difficult to prove. In a worst case scenario, your employer will summon witnesses (in court, not at mediation) to claim you agreed to a two year contract, and if you summon witnesses who have had disputes with the employer to back up your side of the story, their testimony can be ignored because they’re presumed to be biased (whereas your employer’s witnesses are unbiased, of course :astonished: ).

Mediation is not binding unless both sides agree to the proposed settlement, but there’s (supposed to be) a fine for making false statements during the meeting.

13

[quote=“yyy”]Taiwan’s legal system has “Chinese characteristics” but is based on the civil law principles of Europe (Germany etc.). A contract can be executed in writing or through oral agreement. The problem with oral contracts is that their contents are difficult to prove. In a worst case scenario, your employer will summon witnesses (in court, not at mediation) to claim you agreed to a two year contract, and if you summon witnesses who have had disputes with the employer to back up your side of the story, their testimony can be ignored because they’re presumed to be biased (whereas your employer’s witnesses are unbiased, of course :astonished: ).

Mediation is not binding unless both sides agree to the proposed settlement, but there’s (supposed to be) a fine for making false statements during the meeting.[/quote]

The two years contract is not supposed to be a problem. Let´s say it is a valid contract for 2 years, I have been working for less than a year. Taiwan law works with free-will, therefore I can quit whenever I want as long as I follow the law. I gave her my resignation 10 days in advance (April 8th, said my last day will be April 22nd, and I plan to come to the office to work till then even if she ignores me and hates me haha). Thus, I am quitting with the legally stated time for the notice, and as far as I know, is not illegal to break a 2 years contract as long as you give the proper termination, is this right?

14

I thought LSA Art. 15 only applies to non-fixed term contracts (and contracts of more than three years). Otherwise, if the contract says nothing about your right to quit, Civil Code Art. 488 and 489 should prevail:

[quote]If the duration of hire of services is fixed, the contract of hire of services terminates with the end of that duration.
If the duration of hire of services is not fixed or can not be fixed in accordance with the nature or purpose of services, either party may terminate the contract at any time, however, if customs is in favor of the employee, such customs shall be followed.
Even though the duration of the hire of services has been agreed upon, either party may, in the event of any serious occurrence, terminate the contract before the end of such duration.
If the occurrence as specified in the preceding paragraph be due to the negligence of one of the parties, the other party may demand for the injury from him.[/quote]

If for whatever reason your resignation isn’t valid (I mean if you didn’t have the right to quit with X days’ advance notice), send another resignation notice, this time invoking Art. 14 of the Labor Standards Act. All you need is one violation of the LSA, the Enforcement Rules of the LSA, the Regulations of Leave-Taking of Workers, the Act of Gender Equality in Employment, the Labor Insurance Act, or Art. 482 to 489 of the Civil Code (not to mention a few other things), plus the fact that you became aware of the violation within the past 30 days (unpaid wages including overtime etc. are not subject to the 30 day limit). Considering how lousy employers generally are, you probably have a wide range of violations to choose from. Did you get paid for the holidays? Even the holidays that still existed last year but were widely ignored e.g. Dec. 25? etc.

If you do it this way there’s no notice period, and in addition to whatever money you’re already owed (holiday pay, overtime pay, etc.), you can also receive severance pay. Your boss hates you anyway, so why not? :wink:

In theory, you’re supposed to file your tax return early if you leave Taiwan, but if you “intend” to return later the same year, there’s no problem.

15

why would you have to file taxes for 2016 before you leave? You don’t have to file those until May 31st, 2017. Don’t worry about being stopped at the airport for this.

The only problem with getting paid is that you will be out of the country on payday and that might make difficult to file a complaint although there should be a way.

16

Some government offices still like to pretend email doesn’t exist, but if you use the contact form on the Ministry of Labor’s website (even the English version), they should forward your message to the relevant department. If it’s a department that doesn’t like using email, the eventual response may be a letter sent to your previous address.

17

I will come back briefly to pick up my stuff (I am leaving on vacation first), so by the time I come back from the trip the salary has to be in my account.
Also, to keep you guys updated in case somebody goes through the same thing: I filed a complaint to the CLA, they said I did everything correctly (resignation wise), and they will contact my boss to let her know that, and also that she has to give me all the proper documents and the salary for all these days in full.
So for now, I will just come to the office normally till April 22nd, and resist her hatred towards me.

18

Just curious if any update and how did it all work out in the end? Best hopes for you.