No Airfare Reimbursement (from employers)?

Work Working in Taiwan
1

I was discussing something with one of my FET colleagues about the airfare reimbursement
for this year. I and my colleague both work in the public school system, and he mentioned
something that I cannot approve of. What he mentioned to me is that if I renew my contract
this year, I will not be granted money for my airfare reimbursement. The reason for that is
because of the travel restrictions and 14-day quarantine regulations. What this means is that if I get my contract renewed and I want to go and see my family, I will have to go to Canada at my own risk and/or at my own expense. Plus I will have to lose 4 weeks of my time in the summer for quarantine. 2 weeks in Canada (plus 3 days in a hotel to wait for my on arrival PCR test results), and 2 weeks back here in my apartment. Someone told me a rumor that if you return to Taiwan the quarantine is now 3 weeks, true or false?

I don’t know if my contract is going to be renewed or not. If my contract is going to be renewed, then I will stay here. Because it’s better to be here in Taiwan with a job, than
to go elsewhere and have no job. (Oh wait, I got a job offer in Canada but it won’t guarantee
me 5 days a week for work). With this contract renewal, if I don’t make it to Canada, it will be
2 years since I haven’t been back to Canada.

If on the other hand my contract does not get renewed, then they will have to give me an airfare reimbursement flying one way back to Canada. But the fact of the matter is, airfare reimbursement is stipulated in the contract whether or not the contract is renewed.

I returned to Taiwan in 2019. I received my airfare reimbursement. Last year that school did
not renew my contract. But as soon as I got an offer to move to this current location in
Taiwan where I am, I told my previous school that I would relinquish my exit airfare reimbursement because I could not bother to go to Canada and come back in the midst of
all this COVID chaos. Plus I had to make adjustments made to my ARC for change of address.

As soon as I started my job for with my current employer, they asked me about airfare reimbursement. I told them that there is no need for my airfare reimbursement because I moved from northern Taiwan and never left the island since Chinese New Year 2020.

So the question on my mind is this: is it really true that they will not give FET’s airfare reimbursement if we have our contracts renewed this summer?

2

Did you ask your employer?

3

Your best bet would be to ask your director/principal or agent this question.

No one at my school has mentioned to me that the airfare reimbursement is cancelled, but they also know I am not going to travel. To my understanding if I choose to return home, then they will reimburse the airfare. I will just have to use all my paid time off, for this year and next year, to cover quarantine when I return.

1 Like
4

I edited the title to make it clear this isn’t about people trying to get refunds from nasty airlines. :slightly_smiling_face:

5

Thank you.

1 Like
6

I am interested in hearing about this also.

They told me in my interview that there would be a reimbursement for travel but the amount depends on the school.

They also told me that quarantine is 2 weeks in a quarantine hotel and then 2 weeks additional of self quarantine. They indicated that the government would refund the cost of the quarantine taxi to the quarantine hotel. They also indicated that part of the quarantine costs would be refunded by the government (although they could not guarantee the amount).

7

That’s only on the basis of contract renewal. If you are coming to work in Taiwan from overseas, they will cover your airfare. By the time you want to renew your contract, that will be the concern. Particularly at this time it’s raising concern for me.

8

Ok. Hopefully they will. But I know anything is possible at this time during the pandemic.

I hope that it will work out for you and that you can go home for the summer.

9

All public schools are required to give 40k each way x 2 people (for you and a spouse or lineal relative). If you’re in a public school, don’t let them not give you this! But MOE was pretty clear that was a “use it or lose it” situation if you didn’t go home last summer

1 Like
10

+1 to this.

Are you sure your agent/employer is being clear? This was mentioned to all of the FET in our program on our first day of the orientation. The agency even laid out a precise plan to utilize days off to tackle the mandatory quarantine days. (Our program mentioned 50k total)

11

Thanks for this info!!

12

Can I ask which agency did you use?

13

Teach Taiwan.