This week, I sent an application online to a local public school in Taipei.
When then responded to me, they told me that all the other foreign teachers
at the school are married to local Taiwanese. So they mentioned to me that
they need to see a work permit, and my ARC. So I responded to their email
and sent them a scan of my work permit, and a picture of my ARC. But when
they saw my ARC, they told me that my ARC is going to expire on July 31st.
They went on to say that the foreign teachers at this school are married to
Taiwanese, and that their ARC documents are ongoing, hence they have
APRC cards through their spouses who are citizens of Taiwan. So I responded
to them by asking what can I do to solve this? I also told them that I am not
married. Since then I never heard from that school.
This I can say is an example of job discrimination because of marital status.
I am a single man, I will never get married in my life because either I don’t
believe in marriage, or because no Taiwanese woman wants to give me a chance.
Besides I knew two men who were married to Taiwanese and are now
divorced. One of these men is now in the USA and the other is still in Taipei
working.
Regarding this particular job that I applied for, I wonder if I should
expose the name of this school here? Perhaps if I can do so, I would
go to the other thread on the blacklist of schools and add that particular
school’s name. I should also contact the Labor Board. Whatever I can
do I may just do it, because no public school should stop a foreign
teacher from having an equal opportunity just because he/she is not
married to a local Taiwanese. But if being single cannot keep me in
Taiwan for a long time (as it did in Korea), then perhaps when July
comes and there’s no contract offer from another employer, I will
just pack up, leave, and never come back to Taiwan forever. I am
not ranting nor trolling. There are just some things that are not in
my control. So I just have to accept it and move on.
This seems unusual. I’ve always been under the impression that some types of schools (usually the ones with high turnover) prefer to hire people who depend on them for a visa, as they can exert more control over them that way. The ones with marriage visas are too free to comfortably quit as they please for their liking. Or something like that.
I’ve missed out on a few jobs for the same reason. Some companies either can’t be bothered applying for work permits or they’re under the capitalization requirements.
I’m not sure if it is an example of job discrimination because of marital status. More one an example of job discrimination because of residency/visa/work permit status?
Married people with non citizen spouse may be at the same condition with you, and some single people with ARPC through employment are at the same position with the married teachers to Taiwanese.
There are many reasons why schools prefer teachers with open work rights. Not declaring the teacher is the obvious one. They can also send the teacher to other locations. As has been mentioned above, it also removes the hassle of applying for a work permit.
Perhaps they should abolish the work permit document system.
When I worked in Korea I never needed a work permit, just my
valid ARC with my visa. They need to do it the same way here
in Taiwan, but just get rid of the work permit system.
That school is probably engaged in something illegal like kindergarten teaching. In this case, if the teacher gets caught teaching kinder but is married, then he/she will not be deported, only fined or other minor thing.
Or they are just not reporting their income and paying teachers under the table, which actually means no taxes, no NHI, no pension payments. Might be good for some but when the proverbial manure hits the fan - one motorcycle accident, sudden illness, divorce- happens, the teacher is left mid sh*t creek with no paddle.
So thank your good luck you are not working with them. They are probably in cahoots with the local authorities so random complaining won’t get anywhere. However, if you know someone you trust and is in a high above position, then by all means, go ahead. But vengeance is rarely in favor of the atoga.
I also had one school tell me they prefer the behavior of married men in Taiwan. They implied something about the lifestyle of single foreign men in Taiwan. Needless to say I didn’t get the job
What “work permit” is this? A work permit for your current school or an open work permit. If it’s not an open work permit, they probably just assume (rightly or wrongly) that most APRC+open work permit holders are married because that’s what all their staff has and is. A school definitely can’t require you to be married but they can prefer a candidate with an open work permit. It’s possible for a public school to get an ARC for a teacher, but it’s probably a hassle they don’t want.
My landlord said he took me over a Taiwanese single because of the ring. Didn’t say why that mattered to him.
I see ads all the time limiting the jobs to “those on a marriage-based visa or APRC.” I think they just don’t want the paperwork hassle of sponsoring an ARC (and maybe other stuff like avoiding taxes, etc. as mentioned above). I say just keep searching until you get the job, then work on getting an APRC.
For what it’s worth, before I came to Taiwan I wanted to teach English in Japan. I was 44 years old at the time, and all the job postings specifically stated that applicants had to be 35 years of age and under. I had to settle for Taiwan (but I enjoy my life here).
Life is hardly fair. But companies need to invest time and effort into their foreign workers. You incur expense for them and some aren’t prepared to deal with it beyond very set boundaries. Financially, we are a burden, not only for visas applications but also everyday operations. Speaking and reading Chinese or having a Mandarin-speaking spouse is an advantage for employment. Does admin at my university even want to bother translating every single of the bazillions of emails and documents I get into English? That would be a huge expense for them. They rather you can read Chinese or have a spouse who can translate for you at home…Because other teachers sure aren’t gonna do it for me for my whole career. And the poor department admin worker is already swamped and stressed as it is. If you have kids, you’re generally seen as more stable, too. I’m not saying any of these assumptions are correct or fair but that is the nature of the job market. From an investment standpoint they want to reduce risk, and thus pursue the perceived safer opportunity.
There’s every sensible reason you can make for discrimination… from risk management viewpoint or corporate culture viewpoint. But fact is discrimination is wrong, immoral, and illegal.
If the real reason is because the company does not want to have to sponsor for visas, or wants a bilingual person, then make it clear on the job qualifications. But not hiring someone because he is unmarried is poor excuse.
They make job qualifications say “will not sponsor for visas” all the time. It isn’t illegal, but achieves the same goal.