I signed a one year contract with my school in February this year (my second year). I want to give notice now to take up employment at a new school. My contract does not specify a notice period. Some people say that a 20 day notice period is required and others say that a 30 day period is ok. Could you please give me some advice?
The contract also mentions that they hold back a NT$20 000 deposit. As far as I know, this is illegal. It also mentions that we have to teach kindy, which is also illegal. Would this have any bearing on the legality of the contract?
I understand the whole bit about letting the second school apply for a new working visa first, before I do anything else, so my big question is about the notice period if no notice period is specified in the contract.
The Council of Labor Affairs specifies a 30 day period of notice. I would suggest that you give 30 days if you want to avoid any possibility of blacklisting.
The taking of a deposit before you breach is illegal.
If the school is taking a penalty after you have breached, and the penalty is inline with what you agreed to in your contract, then it is perfectly legal.
If you have been teaching kindy for the school for more than a year, then I think that it would look a bit silly of you to raise this issue now.
If you agreed to the payment of a penalty for premature breach, and you are choosing to breach then I don’t see any reason that you shouldn’t pay the penalty that you agreed to. Why not just pay the penalty and move on to your more lucrative career choice in the knowledge that you have done the honorable thing!
The contract may include a penalty but the employer is prohibited under the LSA from making an advanced deduction. That is to say, an employer cannot deduct it from salary owed to the employee and must seek other recourse to recover the penalty. A lot of schools will take the penalty from the last month’s salary but it is technically not permitted or so is my understanding on the matter.
The contract may include a penalty but the employer is prohibited under the LSA from making an advanced deduction. That is to say, an employer cannot deduct it from salary owed to the employee and must seek other recourse to recover the penalty. A lot of schools will take the penalty from the last month’s salary but it is technically not permitted or so is my understanding on the matter.[/quote]
I answer the abve comment with a quote from my earlier post:
I was only discussing the legality of an employer holding back a penalty from the salary owed and commenting generally rather than on the specific facts.
Someone may look to this thread for advice in the future and be in a little different situation so the information should be correct.