I only moved to Taipei three months ago but I already am starting to hate my job due to a lot of unpaid work and a toxic environment. I realize there are thousands of similar threads, but I couldn’t find any that were helpful since the pandemic began.
I will also say that I have talked to enough friends and read several posts on here to know that most buxiban gigs are very flawed. With that being said, I want advice on a few things:
The best way to go about quitting and not be charged. It says I would owe 10000 for breaking the contract, but everyone tells me that they can’t legally do this.
I plan to maybe learn Chinese full-time next year so I’m not looking specifically for a career-advancing job. What are some less sketchy buxibans/prep-centers/whatever that require little to no unpaid work and pay a decent rate?
My job is one of those buxibans that claims to not be a cram school but it most certainly is. I work 10 hours less than I did at my hagwon in Korea and I feel as though I work twice as hard for no extra pay.Even though my younger kids love me, I am getting blamed for the poor test performance of students in my older class and the fact that a couple of them don’t like me (because I ask them to participate).
Of course, I could go on and on, but I will leave it at that for now. Any advice would be appreciated!
As long as I can find an honest school that pays around 700 and I can forget about work when I go home everyday, I will be happy.
Yup, do not do more than you have to do. The less you do the less they will ask. In general give them an arm and they will take a leg. If you want to leave anyway then why do unpaid work all that will do is make them want to keep you more.
I know they’re technically illegal, but that requires very little lessons planning compared to cram schools that don’t pay you for grading elaborate tests,quizzes, hw, and workbooks.
Any ideas on teaching jobs that may still be shitty but once you leave work, you don’t have to think about it. Talking to my friends, they may not love their jobs, but they don’t have to do nearly as much unpaid planning and grading as me.
To answer the question above, yes, I have been paid exactly what I was owed for the hours I clocked in.
Really, that is awesome. Be happy. Your next job you may have less admin but have to fight to be paid correctly. In Taiwan is about choosing which fight is worth it.
Yup, full time jobs must follow Taiwan labor law. For example working five days in a row requires two days off, working requires…
The fines employers face are massive and jail time is a real possibility. Companies get around this by going part time or the full time ones flout the law because the employees think their illegal contracts are binding. Things are changing fast in Taiwan, yes you have rights now.
Also, just to reiterate, are there any jobs that are better for someone who doesn’t want to have a lot of take-home work? I am willing to take a job that might be slightly worse pay if it means I can be free when I’m off work.
Depends on what you can do, what your qualifications are, and how much experience you have. 104 is one job listing site you can try but everything is in Chinese.
Would learning Chinese open up a lot of doors job-wise here? I know that sounds like an obvious question, but I’m wondering if the supply of bilingual foreigners are high enough that it wouldn’t make much of a difference.
Try GJun or one of those language centres. There’s no prep. Just walk in chat with the adult students and follow the book. The only problem is the classes are late and spread out. The pay isn’t good since your hours are spread out.
If you’re going to learn Chinese, you might as well become an entrepreneur and look at starting your own business.
If you’re coming from a Western country and you’re not a highly-specialized professional or C-level executive, the salaries here provide no financial incentive to learn Chinese. And if you are a highly-specialized professional or C-level executive, you probably don’t need to learn Chinese.
