I work part time at a small buxiban, and got paid 500 dollars an hour. My hours per week rose from 6 hours to 10 hours, and now my boss wants to give me 470 an hour. He says this is normal in Taiwan. What do you think? I was never told about this when I signed the contract.
Your boss is taking the piss at 500 an hour.
Seeing that he got you to accept 500, he figures he can get you to accept less.
He is taking out his ass, but to accept 500 per hour is ridiculous on your part.
Any school offering less than 600 per hour is best avoided like the plague. They are just looking for teachers to take advantage of, as in your case.
Tell him to go fornicate with his grandmothers dog.
hahahahaha Unless you’re desperate tell your boss to go f*ck themselves. Don’t kid yourself about the contract b.s. either. They can’t withhold your cash even if that is worded in there. 500/hr? eeks!
I get $500/hr but its teaching adults with minimal prep time and low stress so I don’t really mind.
There would be no way I would ever teach kids for that rate and for $470??
I agree with everyone else, tell him to see if he can find someone else that will do it for that price.
Gina Rinehart would be proud of you.
Grief! This is where (at least one segment of) the market is at? Are things that bad in the U.S. that people are willing to come over here and put up with such nonsense?
Yes, bosses who are so dumb that they think it’s clever business strategy to shaft their valuable employees is, sadly, normal in Taiwan.
Anyone know how to say that in Taiwanese? Sounds like a useful phrase.
There oughta be a law against that kind of stuff.
Oh wait, there is.
NO you are under contract to ME. I demand you now work 200 hours per week and as a favour I will pay you 50nt per hour. That’s still 10k nt which is treble what you were on for only working 6 hours. See what a nice boss I am.
Tell your boss that you are happy with your hours. Taiwanese people have a different work ethic to most Western ideals. Make up a lie about how you have something super imprtant to do. They appreciate you openly lying to them better than they appreciate the truth. “I would take you up on that offer but I have to… apply turtlewax to butterfly wings/ rear wild betelnut girls/ laminate my pubes/ write formal poetry to A-Bian/ marry the ghost of my neighbours dog to stop the local rabbits from freaking out/ wank excessively/master air wing chung/ figure out how Kanye and Kim actually fornicate/ transcibe Friends into Esperanto/ design a new keyboard with my name chronologically as the top row/ locate and kill Gary Glitter/ design a post it note using human phlegm as a base/ mail my house piece by piece to Tom Hanks.” You know, the usual stuff.
I don’t believe this is where a section of the teaching market is.
It is just unfortunate that some teachers accept such crap hourly rates.
I do understand that some might be desperate for work and accept such amounts, but I hope that they are actively looking for a better paying position, and tell the cheap boss to suck it when they find one.
NT$500/hour??? That is freaking criminal! Get outta that scene A.S.A.P.
I haven’t been paid by the hour for quite some time…can’t believe the “schools” are getting away with this. I made NT$650/hour at cram school seven years ago. Come on people!
Have told said boss to suck it. Thanks for the advice! It’s what I was thinking anyway. Just wanted to check I wasn’t the mad one.
Does he have an attractive daughter you’d be interested in? Tell him to add her to the deal and you’ll think about it.
It is NOT normal practice in Taiwan, or anywhere else, to lower your rate of pay when you’re given more hours. Just a stingy boss. I’d look for a new job.
You should out the name of this school for other people and location to the black list section. 500 per hour he was already ripping you off bad.
This might be of some help in future negotiations:
Damn! Only 500NT an hour? My Taiwanese wife makes that much, and you’re a foreigner? Now may not be the best time to find work, but before Chinese New Year comes, be ready to find another job. The lowest you should go is 600-650 an hour, depending on how many hours you get. If it’s 30+ teaching hours a week, maybe 575, but even that’s a rip off for you. I guess we all don’t know how big the school is and how many students are in your class. If it’s more than 10, the boss is treating you like you’re his free ride.
[quote=“Chris”]There oughta be a law against that kind of stuff.
Oh wait, there is.[/quote]
What is the law?