So I signed a contract to work part time. The contract period began at the beginning of the month but I wasn’t supposed to actually start working until the beginning of the best month.
I suddenly received a much better offer for a full time gig. I want to break this part time contract but I’m not sure what I’ll need to do. I contacted the employer already and wrote an email explaining the situation. I even offered to help them locate a replacement.
I’m wondering what will happen. The contract is a bit strange. The number of hours isn’t specified but it still has that one month termination fee clause. But I earned 0 dollars this month obviously.
How can I go about navigating this. I feel bad for leaving so last minute but this new opportunity is really just much better fit for me all around. Of im forced to pay some kind of penalty it’s Most likely still worth it since the increase per month is so much more money.
Any advice?
I forgot to mention, I’m on a marriage arc so open work permit and not worried about arc
It’s bad practice obviously, but what can you do? I can’t imagine the employer would hesitate to screw you over if it suited them, and you kind of have to do what’s best for you. Do you have a trial period written into your contract?
You should check, but I wouldn’t expect the penalty fee clause to be enforceable if they haven’t yet incurred any training expenses or whatever (i.e., a good reason for a monetary penalty to recoup legitimate costs — I believe these are only possible under quite restricted circumstances). I certainly wouldn’t be offering to pay it. I wouldn’t go any further than a sincere apology and an offer to advertise the position on some Facebook groups or whatever (with no commitment that it’s now your responsibility to find someone suitable).
I believe there might be a 30 day period where either party can walk away from the contract. As Andrew mentioned, your average Taiwanese cram school owner wouldn’t bat an eye if they wanted to hire someone else once you’d signed a contract so… Do what’s best for you and that’s it.
Well, it would burn that bridge for that place in the future (if that hasn’t already), but you haven’t been arrested and it’s not a prison sentence, so I’d just start the good job and not worry about the other lot.
It would be a waste of their time to “go after you” about it so there probably won’t even be any blowback to be honest.
Honestly, I looked at the ad for the replacement. Don’t worry about it. Take the other job: do what’s best for you. The school will do what’s best for themselves. That’s the way it works.
Does the contract state that it’s a ‘contract of mandate’ or ‘commission contract’? If so, under Civil Code either party can terminate without giving notice. (Article 549 of Civil Code).
In your case, I would not worry about any repercussions beyond some bad feeling. It’s not possible to enforce the penalty clause without taking you through the courts and, in addition, they didn’t specify a dollar amount.