Breaking a contract before it starts

Legal Legal - Work
1

I’ll will try to keep this short. I searched on here, but the results were very hard to read ( I think a problem with my IE). Anyway,

I have a JFRV and ARC through my wife, so I do not have one or need one from a school. I recently interviewed and accepted a job at a small school. We read the contract together, and the manager and I both signed and received a copy.

The contract does not begin until the end o August, but she asked me to sub a week this week, which I said was ok. I have been there only two days, and I am starting to think we both have diferent understandings of the contract. Basically she wants me there for about 12-15 unpaid office hours a week. This is stated as something like: “The teacher is responsible for teaching duties and preperation rom 1-9” That isn’t the exact wording, but close enough. I read this as i I am prepared and I teach my classes, then I have done what the contract says. She wants me to actually sit in the oice at my desk whether I have anything to do or not. So, in my miond, this is a major deal breaker. I don’t need 15 hours to prep 25 hours of class. (Even when I was new, I didn’t need that.)

Ok…so the big question. I thought that I had read somewhere that i a contract has not been started, then it is easily broken/cancelled/voided…whatever. Is this true?

Also, there is no contract breaking penalty listed.

How can I get out of this, and what are the possible legal repercussions.

p.s. We have scheduled a meeting to discuss this issue, but I have a eeling she will be firm with her 1-9 policy.

Any help would be great. (argh, I need a better keyboard, sorry about the typos)

2

Okay, first off I’m not a lawyer, etc. etc.

I would say that in my experience in Taiwan, in common practice “no damage, no problem”. If you “get out” of this contract now, the school reasonably has another month to find someone. There’s no real “damage” to them – i.e., classes aren’t being left untaught with students sitting there, etc. etc.

It would be better to come up with a face-saving “reason” for your change of heart. Do NOT cite the real reason (obviously). I certainly agree that this sort of arrangement is onerous, but it’s common. In some schools, they want the office hours on paper but are not very strict about your actually being in said chair for said hours (Taipei Medical College was one example, where the janitor, whose office I shared (!) used to tell people “She must be in the library” when he knew good and well I was in the States for three weeks!) Sometimes it’s a face thing, and of course you cannot directly tell the admin that you’re not going to do XYZ against their wishes.

For other schools, it’s a real requirement, although stupid (in our opinions). They want the foreigner to be available (that’s what they’re paying for, in their view) to “chat”, edit stuff, and generally show a foreign face to all who inquire. Some laid-back souls don’t mind this; it would drive me nuts (and did in the past).

I’d say you’re fortunate to have found this out for sure before the real school year begins. Just come up with some sort of excuse, and tell them regretfully that it will be impossible for you to teach as arranged. They can’t hold salary, and I doubt any court in Taiwan would hold you to the performance of the contract (although as stated I am NOT a lawyer and things may have changed). I just don’t think any school in Taiwan would think of taking you to court to try to make you teach at their school under these circumstanaces. You may get some threats (veiled or not) but since you do not need their visa/ARC, there’s not really much they can do to you.

You do say this is a small school, but you don’t say whether you live in a small place or whether the school is in a small place. Obviously the repercussions would be greater in a smaller place where the owner might know a greater percentage of “everybody”. So that you would have to judge for yourself.

Hopefully others can weigh in on the question. But as I read it, it’s more about face at this point than legalities, as there’s no real money involved. (Although if you act now, which would be my advice, you may lose the money for the subbing you did.) I would thank my lucky stars that I found out about “how things are” there through a subbing period rather than in misery in September, with no relief in sight.

3

Hey,

Thanks for your reply. I followed that approach and she actually restructured the contract or something we both eel is reasonable. Thanks again or your advice. The bit about allowing her to save face, or not attempting (accidently even) to make her lose face was very important. Thanks!