Got fired for asking my school to use standard international units in their science book

Legal Visa & Residency
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So I live in Taiwan and work as an English teacher, but I have a PhD in mathematics, so I am a legitimate scientist. We’re doing a summer camp all about science next week when I noticed that the amounts given for the experiments were in “cups” and “fluid ounces”.

I’m British, not American, so I don’t know what that means anyway, but I said that it should be in ml and grams to make it scientific.

Problem was all the books had been printed, so I suggested that I would change the amounts to ml myself to save anyone else extra work. That was no good because it would make the parents think the school was unprofessional.

So in the end I relented but said I needed o change my copy because I don’t know what the American measurements mean.

That evening I get a letter saying I’m fired because insisting on doing things the “British way” was a “red flag” and being against “American” English would be a big problem for the future.

So now I’m having to find a new job at very short notice, not to mention I only started working for this school 5 weeks ago and had to use most of my savings moving here.

I’m basically in a very difficult situation because if I have to move I not only lose my deposit on my current apartment, I need to pay another 2 months rent to get a new one, not to mention the hassle of moving.

I spoke to a lawyer. Turns out the firing was completely illegal under Taiwanese law. First of all if I’m failing in some manner they are required to give me a reasonable amount of time to improve. 3 hours is not reasonable. Secondly, they cannot terminate a contract without due cause, e.g. if I clearly cannot perform the duties assigned by my employer, which obviously is not the case for me. So I’m suing for wrongful termination.

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Yeah dude, this is normal. It’s very common that they don’t care about correctness at these buxibans. They’re dead set on what they think is American because they think parents demand it this way.

See if your lawyer can get you compensation like severance pay.

To be honest, if you have a PhD, you should be applying for at least a Gold Card or a plum blossom card and working where your education will take you. Not some buxiban.

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121 posts were split to a new topic: Not about legal topics around getting a job termination notice

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I can get free legal help from the legal aid foundation. I went to the courthouse here in Tainan and that’s what they recommended I do.

They also said even if they had an issue with me not teaching “American English”, they’re still required to give me time to change my approach. The fact that they didn’t give me any time at all is also extremely illegal.

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I guess the only thing they can say is that it was during the probationary period and you didn’t make the cut.

In the us when they fire someone they will not give a reason. This is to protect themselves from lawsuits.

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In Taiwan, the probationary period is 4 weeks only. They fired me after 5 weeks, so they can’t use that excuse either.

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They’re not. When I pointed it out to them they quoted me the passage under Taiwanese law that states “When an employee is clearly unable to perform the duties assigned to them by the employer” as their reason under the law for firing me.

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Makes it easy for you to sue them. You’re clearly able to do the job based on your credentials alone

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If an employer has already hired someone, it is their responsibility to train them if they are not already up to par. Otherwise they shouldn’t have hired them in the first place.

It is only after reasonable training and warnings that they can fire you based on what they quoted.

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Yes, that’s what the lawyer at the courthouse told me. There was no warning or anything like that. She was in total shock when I told her it was literally about 3 hours between the conversation and getting the termination letter.

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79

That’s interesting, do you know the applicable law?

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OP might have it, since that’s what the lawyer at the courthouse told them. Otherwise I’m sure @tando would be able to work his magic and instantly find it.

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I see this which has some interesting points, including suggesting a month’s severance pay may be required? The provisions are not clear about an employee working under 3 months, could this be considered a probationary period?

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Were you given any previous verbal/written warning? Or anything they might argue was a previous warning?

You wrote you weren’t, but I am sure your employer will argue you were.

I know that at where I work, the procedure is verbal warning, followed by written unless it is gross misconduct.

The HR dept were very serious about managers going through each step so I am guessing there is a relevant law.

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83

I cannot, but many lawyers explain it online.

Who has the final say if the laborers are not competent for the job? Pay attention to 5 things, the employer’s dismissal is legal!

A particular worker is clearly not able to perform satisfactorily the duties required of the position held.

With regard to the specific application of Article 11, Paragraph 5 of the Labor Standards Law, the court is concerned with whether the employer implements various measures to urge the employee to improve his work performance, to prove that the employee is “truly” incompetent for the job he undertakes, which is in line with the principle of last resort for dismissal . Common improvement measures in practice include:

Provide education and training
According to the agreement, some jobs require education and training first before the laborer has the initial ability to provide labor services. If the employer fails to provide evidence to prove that he has tried his best to provide education courses first, it shall not be deemed that the laborer is really incompetent for the job (Supreme Court, Taiwan, 1996 Shangzi Judgment No. 2630).

Implement improvement plan
Some companies will stipulate in the personnel regulations to implement improvement plans for employees whose performance is not up to standard, usually setting a period of observation, and the company will assist them to improve their performance. If the employer fails to implement the improvement plan as agreed, or the improvement plan If the goals set are not equivalent to the employee’s rank, salary level, or profession, so that the employee cannot achieve them, or the improvement methods provided by the employer are not specific and feasible (for example, only giving suggestions to the employee), the employee must not be considered Really incompetent for the job (Supreme Court Judgment No. 1184, Taishang Zi, 2015).

Exhortation counseling
In some cases, if the company has proved that the employee has not seen significant improvement after repeated persuasion and counseling, the employer must determine that the employee is indeed not competent for the job (Tai Shang Zi No. Taiwan Judgment No. 784).

Cancel performance bonuses, transfers and other disciplinary actions
Some companies will stipulate that if employees have poor performance appraisals and do not improve within a time limit, they should be punished with demerits and salary cuts. If the employer fails to punish first in accordance with the regulations, it cannot be determined that the employee is indeed incompetent for the job (Supreme Court Judgment No. 341 of Taishang Zi in 2013).

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No, the only thing that comes to mind is when we discussed the first summer camp about game shows, and I just mentioned that I wasn’t too familiar with the shows chosen because they were American and I’m not, but then I went home and watched them so I was familiar with them.

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Ok, save your messages. Screen shot because line messages can be unsent.

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Sadly these conversations were nearly 100% verbal. So I don’t know if that’s going to be a problem.

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Probably helps you in this instance. Sounds like they need to prove that the dismissal was fair

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How long is it likely to take before I get a settlement? I say that, because I don’t have much money left.