Not Re-signing Contract - Refused Letter or Recommendation

[zlick45]

I am currently working at an unnamed private elementary school in the Taipei area. I currently have an on-the-face-of-it good relationship with my employers, but I do not wish to continue due to the face that my base salary is so low in relationship to the level of administration that I do.

I wish to move to an international school and have had a few interviews and have more pending. This was looking pretty good until my current school tried to lock me into another contract by shoving it into my face and asking for it to be signed on the spot. I refused to do so until I had had time to discuss it with my family.

Now I am being given the cold shoulder when asking for a letter of recommendation from my superiors. I am also not getting much of a response when asking for a certificate of employment from them.

I have previous employers who have said they’d provide me with the documents I need, but one of them was not from an elementary school. Still, some documents required state a preference for documents from my most recent employer. Is there anything I can do, given that I will complete my contract in good faith (and to the best of my ability) to ensure that my current employer supplies me with a letter of recommendation and employment certificate?

I have had a look around on this forum for answers and found something about in “implicit obligation” regarding the certificate, but not much else. Perhaps my search skills are lacking, but I would appreciate any insight into this.

[SuiGeneris]

Try typing up a letter yourself and ask them to sign it. A lot if employers ask their employees to write their own letter of recommendation.

Go back and ask again nicely. Can’t hurt to try again.

[Marco]

@zlick45

I have previous employers who have said they’d provide me with the documents I need, but one of them was not from an elementary school. Still, some documents required state a preference for documents from my most recent employer. Is there anything I can do, given that I will complete my contract in good faith (and to the best of my ability) to ensure that my current employer supplies me with a letter of recommendation and employment certificate?

Labour Standards Act Article 19

Illegal to refuse your request of an employment certificate.

Article 79 - $20000-300000 fine for violating Article 19.

[yyy]

Correct, but as OP works for a private school, he/she may or may not be covered by the Labor Standards Act.

@zlick45, I suggest going to the labor department at City Hall, showing them your contract, and asking them whether or not your job is 適用勞動基準法.

If they say no, ask them what recourse you have in the event that your employer refuses to give you a 服務證明書/離職證明書 (acknowledgement of your employment). Even without the LSA, the employer can probably be pressured one way or another.