Thanks guys.
Its REALLY great to have advice, as I am getting nothing but CONFUSION at work.
Just talked to my boss tonight and she told me she needs my passport and ARC to send to an office in Taipei to get a piece of paper I will show when I leave the country that ends my contract. She showed me ones that she already has for my co-workers. Whats up with that? … What is this magic paper? How do I need it to leave, and how do my co-workers who just arrived already have one? Do I have to surrender my ARC to her when I end my contract?.. and she said I need to take pay stubs from january to get my tax refund, which would be impossible, as I am working up till the day before I leave. How is this needed, if I am only being refunded for the 1st 6 months when I was taxed at 18%?
… and yes, I might blacklist them, depending on how the next few weeks go, and on what your feedback is to the legality of what I just described above. A big part of the problem is her english is so confusing I have no idea what she is trying to explain.
[quote=“Icon”]If she is offended you are suspicious, that is her problem. She is being shady. 9000 nts for ARC processing?! I have heard of blood sucking agents, but that is, IMHO, a bit too much. I mean, it is already too late to complain for that one, you already paid, but I have heard of many bosses discounting things left and right to scam the new teachers. Being suspicious at that is of no fault of anyone but them.
BTW, the only deductions by Law from your salary should be the taxes and your national health insurance. Those have to be paid before you leave -good excuse to have your money owed paid in advance- or you ain’t getting on that plane. That simple. What percentage is your boss deducting? How are you going to get your tax return if you are already out of the country? Normally, you get a nice big chunk of money back, so don’t neglect this item.[/quote]
It actually does cost 9000 if it includes the visitor visa (2000ish), resident visa (4000+), health check (1800ish) and 1 year ARC (1000). Taiwan logic applies to why on Earth you have to buy a visa for them to just cancel it and give you another visa but I have had that done twice (as an American).
[quote]I called the airline and it is WAY too expensive to change my ticket. 900! So that option, and the ARC extension, is out for me.
I think I will plan to break my contract 2 days early on the friday before. (So I wont leave mid-week.) I will get my tax money myself beforehand, request my pay the week before my last week, so I can wire it all home…and get paid for the last week in cash. I will ask for termination paperwork the week before to take with me when I leave the country… If I do it this way I will have the option of staying and filing a complaint if they try to withhold pay my final week. Hopefully nothing will happen. [/quote]
You can’t unilaterally decide to end your contract early (even by a day or two). If you do not show up for work as your contract states they can report you to immigration and possibly detain you at the airport long enough to miss your flight. Whether it’s right or not does not matter since legally buxibans basically hold all of the cards.
There is almost zero % chance that you are going to get your pay a week early and likely the contract termination paperwork. Expect both of these (definitely the pay) on your final agreed upon day.
I’m sorry but it’s hard to feel sorry for you since you don’t know the rules and this whole situation could have easily been avoided if you knew (or had asked earlier). That’s the issue with being a newb at something. It’s unfortunate that your boss/buxiban is incompetent but as you said she is new also.
Don’t expect them to cut just a few hours off of your schedule at the end of your contract. Once they have hired (and faux trained) your replacement your hours will be cut in half or worse. But they will probably require you to still be there (maybe 2hrs/day). That happened to me my first time and I said that I consider the contract fulfilled if I’m not given the min hrs (14/wk) as stated in the contract (they reconsidered).
One thing that screws everything up this year is that CNY is late and your contract ends before CNY. They probably want to hire someone to start after CNY and that’s why they want you to work until the last day. That might be why they reneged on their agreement to let you travel on 1/31. Another reason is that if they don’t cancel your ARC then they still need to pay taxes/NHI like you are working but you aren’t. That’s not cheap.
Thanks for the info. I certainly don’t want you to feel sorry for me, but as I said its nice to have advice. I am a newbie, after all. Since I have communication issues at work this is a great resource. I agree with you that the ARC charge was legit, after I dug around I found the same thing, and thats why I apologized to my boss for not trusting her… It just FELT like a lot.
They already told me I could end my contract 2 days early, and that they would pay me for in most of January the week before my contact ends so I can wire the majority of my cash home… and hopefully this will work out. At their request, Im meeting to sign paperwork changing the contract next week.
I do hope that everything works out fine and it probably will, but in the meantime its helpful to get advice from people with experience on what the usual procedure is.
It has been very helpful.
So thanks!
To the OP:
It is useful to talk to old timers on the boards, but you really need proper advice. And that means the National Immigration Agency (NIA).
You should go the NIA and explain the situation and get your own extension. It sounds like your boss is trying to set up the paperwork to force you to leave the country when your contract ends. The paper she showed you might (and I stress might) be a formal end of contract form for the Ministry of Labor Affairs, that she can submit when she wants to. As soon as your work related basis for being in the country ends, you must leave the country.
If you get an extension ASAP, then when she puts that form in it would not force you to leave until the extension was over.
DO NOT GIVE HER YOUR PASSPORT OR ARC!!! They belong to you, your government, and the ROC government. Taking foreign workers’ passports is the oldest trick in the book here to get leverage. Your school has zero legal basis to ask for them, other than a copy.
"Foolishly forget " to bring in your passport or ARC. Talk with the NIA about your extension ASAP. And avoid any violation of the labor laws or your work contract until this thing works itself out. Don’t get played! Defend yourself. 
Just for the record, and no offense intended toward Abacus, but I do feel sorry for you. It’s tough here sometimes.
Thanks,
Yes I am going to go to the NIA ASAP. If I can’t go today then after the weekend. … and I’m visiting the tax office with a trusted chinese-speaking friend, and hopefully she can help me understand what to do regarding that. Thanks for the warning about the passport and ARC- I wont give them to my manager unless the NIA says I should.
She has said she needs it, my ARC, and a copy of my airplane ticket, so it could be what you described. I have already put her off twice.
Its the weekend now but hopefully I can get through to someone soon, as I do need expert legal advice. Although you have all been wonderfully helpful! Its funny but as frustrating as this situation is, (kicking myself for poor choices!) I feel a lot better than I did before. It’s good to have support.
Tell her its illegal for YOU to give them to her and you dont want to break the law.
SHe is lying to you…she only needs copies. Make them yourself at 711 and bring them to her.
DO not be bullied into giving her your arc or passport… that is LITERALLY the dumbest fucking thing you can do when teaching in Asia except catching and std.
don’t fucking do it, i repeat, dont fucking do it.
If you give them to her and come here crying… you only have yourself to blame.
TUff luvvin
[quote=“Confuzius”]If you give them to her and come here crying… you only have yourself to blame.
TUff luvvin[/quote]
I wont, I promise! It just keeps getting crazier and I feel like this is a play-by play.
My boss called me today and said it would not be “fair to the school” for me to file for my tax refund on my own with my friend as a translator. She has the official document and wont give it to me unless I go in with HER and my friend. Maybe she is worried I will report her. I dont know, I just want a translator to know wtf is going on. I have to work with this woman for the next few weeks so I am holding back on screaming at her, but its hard when she tells me things like this that are such BS. My prior boss told me it was very simple and I just needed to walk in with a letter, on my own.They are making it so much harder then it needs to be.
Im thinking it might be helpful to try and use this as a chance to get them to explain things… My friend is willing to help me, and having a translator will outline their version of things so at least I know what is up, and they will know what I would like them to do. But I am guessing it will be a icky confrontation.
Q- Would you recommend I just go in to the tax office on my own 1st? I have all paper envelopes they gave me my pay in, that list the pay and deductions (written in pen and ink!)…But I don’t know if this counts.
I called the NIA hotline and they recommended I complete my contract. Im thinking I should just plan to suck it up and work till the 10th and fly on the 11th.
If the only way they will let me leave work 2 days early is to have me surrender my passport and go through a lot of hoops, I’m not up for it.
Q- Is there a website you guys know of that outlines this not surrendering a passport rule? because actually they took it once already at the start of my job, when I applied for my arc. I got it back, with the visa sticker in it. If they press the issue it would be good to have something legal to back me up.
I guess I will just deal with it… and maybe I can take a weekend trip to Taipei before I go.
It will be over soon enough…
The tax office doesn’t want to see paystubs. They want to see the tax receipts that the school reported your income and paid the tax deduction with. Your school is supposed to give you these in January. This is similar to getting a W2 withholding statement in the US.
Some schools have someone that will process visas/ARCs/anything else for new teachers and they take your passport for that. This sounds like the first time you gave them your passport. And then they give it with an ARC back once all of the paperwork has processed. Perhaps there is an end of the contract process that requires you to go into NIA with your passport (I can’t remember) and they want their agent to do it. There is no reason that you can’t do this yourself and then you keep your eyes on your passport at all times. I would take the advice above and request to go wherever your passport has to go (NIA, tax office, mystery spot, imaginary spot) by yourself or accompanied.
I advise against claiming you can’t do this or that “because it’s illegal”. Yes, it may be illegal – but it won’t get them to cooperate with you any better. They will just dig in and refuse anything you want harder.
The correct approach, as has been said, is to “stupidly forget” and “regretfully apologize” if they ask for things you will not provide (like handing over your passport). You’re doing the same thing, but you’re saying words that Taiwanese people find easier to accept. Stupid? Depends on your viewpoint. This is now a game of getting what you want, so putting on their culture and their expectations, but always striving for your goals, is the way to do that.
I can’t comment on whether or not the request for documents is legitimate – I’ve never been in this sort of situation. But the way you talk to Taiwanese people hasn’t changed that much. You can’t do it from a Western perspective of “but I’m right!” Just doesn’t work.
But this really isn’t a cross cultural discussion. It’s about the OP dealing with a specific problem. Let’s keep that in mind, and focus on the main point of her going to the NIA and sorting out the situation rationally.
Your school is illegal in ALL sorts of ways.
YOu need NOTHING from the school, I repeat, NOTHING to file your taxes.
You just need your ARC. Yes, the school is supposed to give u a tax paper…but u don’t need it. She wants to go with you because shes trying to cover the company’s illegal dealings.
Just take your passport and ARC and go with your friend. Do not tell the boss. Just go there and file your taxes. Should only take like a half hour or so. They just put your ARC number into the computer and it automatically tells them the taxed salary the company has been reporting.
that’s it. Super easy.
[quote=“Confuzius”]Your school is illegal in ALL sorts of ways.
YOu need NOTHING from the school, I repeat, NOTHING to file your taxes.
You just need your ARC.[/quote]
Ok. My problem is if they are breaking the law, and I expose them, that is not the end. How will I get through the next 4 weeks? Will it cause them to be even more fd up to me? Its bad enough as it is.
[quote=“Confuzius”]Your school is illegal in ALL sorts of ways.
YOu need NOTHING from the school, I repeat, NOTHING to file your taxes.
You just need your ARC. Yes, the school is supposed to give u a tax paper…but u don’t need it. She wants to go with you because shes trying to cover the company’s illegal dealings.
Just take your passport and ARC and go with your friend. Do not tell the boss. Just go there and file your taxes. Should only take like a half hour or so. They just put your ARC number into the computer and it automatically tells them the taxed salary the company has been reporting.
that’s it. Super easy.[/quote]
This is true for normal filing but you do need stuff if you are filing early. I’m not sure what the earliest dates are to file but if you are too early (and now might be too early) they won’t file unless you have proof that you are leaving the country (end of contract and flight). I have also had a friend that forgot his tax receipts and they told him that they wouldn’t look up his info on the spot until May (it was Feb/Mar). He could either bring in his tax receipts that day or come back in May.
One additional issue the OP will have is that they won’t give you your tax refund on the spot. My friend is also leaving in January (a school far more screwed up than this one) and we decided that the best choice for getting a refund was to direct deposit it into her Taiwan bank account and then withdraw it overseas at an ATM. The boss is of course going to offer to get the refund for her and then ‘send’ it to her.
[quote=“penelopeFreeze”][quote=“Confuzius”]Your school is illegal in ALL sorts of ways.
YOu need NOTHING from the school, I repeat, NOTHING to file your taxes.
You just need your ARC.[/quote]
Ok. My problem is if they are breaking the law, and I expose them, that is not the end. How will I get through the next 4 weeks? Will it cause them to be even more fd up to me? Its bad enough as it is.[/quote]
Pick your battles. Get your tax receipts and see if they reported all deductions that they took out of your paycheck to the government. Then check to see if they reported all of your income to the government. The first one is the important one for you and is an absolute no doubt must do. The second one doesn’t really matter to you and in fact means that you will get a bigger refund as long as the first part is met.
Yes, life will be terrible if you turn them in for tax discrepancies. And there are almost for sure tax discrepancies since nearly all small businesses (and probably all) cheat on their taxes. Pick the battle where they are trying to cheat you.
[quote=“Abacus”][quote=“penelopeFreeze”][quote=“Confuzius”]Your school is illegal in ALL sorts of ways.
YOu need NOTHING from the school, I repeat, NOTHING to file your taxes.
You just need your ARC.[/quote]
Ok. My problem is if they are breaking the law, and I expose them, that is not the end. How will I get through the next 4 weeks? Will it cause them to be even more fd up to me? Its bad enough as it is.[/quote]
Pick your battles. Get your tax receipts and see if they reported all deductions that they took out of your paycheck to the government. Then check to see if they reported all of your income to the government. The first one is the important one for you and is an absolute no doubt must do. The second one doesn’t really matter to you and in fact means that you will get a bigger refund as long as the first part is met.
Yes, life will be terrible if you turn them in for tax discrepancies. And there are almost for sure tax discrepancies since nearly all small businesses (and probably all) cheat on their taxes. Pick the battle where they are trying to cheat you.[/quote]
Use it as leverage against them. Ask your boss what she means by “it’s not fair to the school if you file the taxes by yourself”. See if you can benefit from the situation in some way. Get even. This is your chance.
It’s not a cross-cultural discussion, but why shouldn’t the OP use all the tools at her disposal? If she knows what to do to protect her own interests and can do it while lulling the school into some degree of complacency she gets an easier win. If she does the same things but insists on being confrontational in tone or words, she will have a harder time. It’s all about her getting what is due to her, not making a point that won’t get made anyway.
Yeah, I am trying to avoid confrontation. It does no good, as they dont listen to anything I say anyway. it only makes things worse. As long as I can look after my needs these last few weeks, Im ok.
I had my meeting and it was very stressful but its done. Its very good that my friend came with, I think it helped a lot, we got some things done (signed an agreement changing the date my contract ends to a few days before I go) and they seem to be chilling out about asking for things that are illegal and that I dont want to give (like my passport and ARC!). Hopefully they will not bring it up again, but if they do— well I will just need to make a dental appointment. Or forget… or something.
They are being a pain and denying me my vacation pay. I am supposed to get a paid holiday during chinese new year, but bc I came right after new year’s last year and this year it is late for some reason they can deny me my holiday and pay on a technicality. This is very cheap and exploitive. ( I had no vacation longer than 4 days all year, and no paid vacation at all.) But its not worth fighting as the way the contract is worded its pretty hard to get around…
I will file my taxes later as I guess its early yet, but I might stop by 1st to double check what they are doing, and make sure its legit. They agreed to pay early for Jan., and pay for the few days in Feb when I hand over my apt keys (hopefully no issues there!). I will get a few days to chill before I fly off. If there ARE more issues, I guess I will file a complaint with the NIA (or someone) and blacklist them here. As it is, Im not sure they are bad enough to actually blacklist, I feel like I need something very criminal to do that.
I am glad I will soon have new employers, and hopefully better ones. Its almost over! Thanks for the help, it has been very useful.
It’s rare that buxibans pay holiday or vacation pay in Taiwan. It’s rare that they provide housing. I keep reading this thread and keep seeing fewer and fewer things to really be upset about. It just doesn’t sound like a well run organization. Par for the course unfortunately in Taiwan.