Difficulty in leaving employer due to 2nd contract

Legal Legal - Work
1

I am stuck as to how to get myself out of a contract. Hopefully someone can provide some insight.

In addition to my standard 2 year contract with my employer (through moea) I had signed a ‘education contract’ which paid for part time studies at a local grad school. When I signed this contract 2 1/2 years ago I was unaware exactly how severe the penalties for not fulfilling the contract are. To complete the contract you must stay with the employer for a specific length of time after completing your studies. If you break this contract you owe the employer money based upon a specific formula. Unfortunately for me this adds up to a total greater than my yearly salary and a sum at least 4 times what they invested.

I know I cannot possibly pay the money and I know for a long list of reasons that staying with this employer for another year (the length of time left) would not be something I am so eager to do.

Of course, I am trying to find a way to leave this job without ‘burning bridges’ or breaking laws. Though I have been sparse on the details, does anyone have any negotiation strategies? If I did leave without fulfilling the contract what legal recourse might they have (it’s a government institution)? Since I likely won’t find work in Taiwan, will they hold my wife responsible for the problem (she will stay here and join me later)? Will breaking this contract affect my ability to work in Taiwan again in the distant future?

Any insight appreciated and I could go into greater detail if necessary.

2

The contract is with you not with your wife, unless there is some other term in the contract that your wife is your guarantor

If you break it, I assume the employer would have to take you the individual to court. If he wins then you would have to pay. This could be enforced by an order to take money from your next company’s salary. But if you are not going to stay in Taiwan or seek employment here now or the future(?), there would be little recourse for the ruling to be enforced.

How about tell the employer you want to leave? Perhaps with reason, the employer may realise that if you don’t want to be there then you don’t want to be there, and he could do little about coming after you if you did leave. Then again maybe the employer will do a freak out on you
How is your relationship with the employer?