I can attest to all of this. I’m annoyed with parents with terrible equipment who then blame the teacher.
One student is relying on internet tethering from his Dad’s phone and loses signal whenever his Dad walks to another room.
Another student is doing a writing class on a tablet when he really needs a keyboard and mouse.
As yyy said, you don’t have to request a non-fixed contract because the LSA deems you to have the rights that go with one:
Blockquote1. Where an employer raises no immediate objection when a worker continues his/her work.
Blockquote2. Where, despite the execution of a new contract, the prior contract and the new one together cover a period of more than ninety days and the period of time between expiration of the prior contract and execution of the new one does not exceed thirty days.
This covers most buxiban jobs.
(I clearly can’t work out how the HTML editor works.)
Yes. Those are the rules, I am just dealing with a lot of desperate attempts to deny their existence. One thing biting this ex-boss which amuses me, she can’t claim any of the COVID relief money being handed out because she never enrolled in the labor insurance scheme.
Yeah these are all problems that are uncontrollable as teachers so don’t worry about them.
I had a parent complain because their child was playing video games during class time and wasn’t paying attention on the class.
Like wtf, do you want me to come to your house personally and switch it off for you? Or are you gonna be a parent and control your kid…
Some parents can’t control their kids. When the kids get called out on their behaviour or other people see that their kid is out of control, they feel embarrassed. So they try and blame the only person that won’t fight back. The teacher.
If you are on APRC, the issue is whether the contract is employment or commission, iiuc. You may want to make sure that your contract doesn’t say it is a commission contract.
Yes. My lawsuit centers on this question, as the contract was labeled “commission contract,”; while the ex-boss insists this means my employment was thus not covered by the LSA, the judges at the Labor Court have made it clear that what determines if the commission contract is valid is the actual working practices, not the contract, not the fact both parties signed it (which the ex-boss keeps howling about, “You signed! You signed!”)
To give an example of how the actual working practices make a difference, a commission contract is supposed to function in the manner of providing a service, so it’s incompatible with payment based on needing to be at a particular location for a particular amount of time; hence, the fact that my ex-boss used time cards is seen as indicating an employer-worker relationship of the kind the LSA covers.
Another point is that the LSA states that any contract which covers employment (thus including commission contracts) must adhere to the minimum standards set out in the LSA. This is another route to obtaining what one is entitled to.
(It’s all very well thinking, “Don’t sign this kind of contract,” but, having just dipped my toe in the waters of getting another teaching job, straight away potential employers are saying stuff like, “We won’t pay your labor insurance” (illegal, as I have an APRC and am married to a Taiwanese) and “We won’t register you for health insurance,” etc. Basically, one may as well adopt a strategy of signing what one is presented with on the understanding that you’ll sue them when you leave to retrieve it (my lawyer says this usually works when a teacher has only worked a year or two at a school, what has made my ex-boss put up such a fight is that 7 years of benefits, plus the fines that will accompany having broken the rules, is a much larger sum.) Because otherwise schools will likely just choose not to employ you and find another candidate.)
I’ve heard that scooter sales among foreigners are peaking.
They are buying or selling?
It’s a buyer’s market.
That’s a pretty solid leading indicator if it’s the case.
I guess people are raising rent or air ticket cash? Beer money? You’ve “heard” this. You see the listings on sell sites by foreigners?
I’ve only heard this.
If you are young and were only planning on staying a year or two, why would you stay?
For my first year here, I went out twice a week and played football with my mates. Went to the cinema and ate out with friends.
I couldn’t do any of that now. And no one really knows for how long.
I’m surprised more people haven’t left.
Yes, this is really so terrible. I’m seeing people try their best to make something happen but it isn’t. I’ve never experienced anything like this ever. Lots of ruin already and so much more to come. So sad
Yes and no … overall it’s terrible, but for the people who have come here for a fun experience teaching overseas for a year or two, it’s bad but it’s not that big a deal. It sucks that their year(s) abroad have been cut short, but in the grand scheme of their life it just means they go home earlier than planned, probably with less money saved up than they’d hoped. However, while I feel empathy for them, I’m not worried about them.
I’m not even sure how many of that young crowd is around now vs ten or twenty years ago - not that I’d run into them these days anyways.
Of course, it’s a very different situation for those who have built careers around the business and lives in Taiwan.
Mine is a beast but I aint selling
True , if I was young I would be gone. No ifs or buts.
They were also fairly ‘fortunate’ that it came towards the end of their school year and the West is opening up again.
This has a much bigger impact on people raising families or running businesses here . I know a few guys just about ticking over for over a year already …Although they seem to have also enjoyed their free time .
I did a lot of new things last year but this year I’m busier than ever I wish I had more free time. And of course we can’t do much right now.
Indeed. If someone showed up here January 2020, planned to stay about a year, stuck around until now, and then headed back home to North America or Europe … pretty much as good an experience of 2020-21 as you’re going to get.