Question about best way to break contract before it starts?

Yeah, well, it’s tough when one of the drug lord’s mules gets caught, too, but it’s just an expected cost of doing illegal business. And in the same way, it’s not the drug lord doing the time in most instances. They will have no trouble getting someone else. “And another hundred people just got off of the plane…”

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A Daniel come to judgement, yay a Daniel! :grandpa:

I stand by what I said in this other thread:

If it’s wrong for the government to forbid selling your kidney as part of an employment contract, surely it’s twice as wrong for the government to forbid selling both your kidneys. It massively abrogates Darwin’s law.

Or does it? :eek:

If they meet the ECECA’s qualification standards and don’t need work permits (APRC etc.), then I’m not aware of anything to stop them, just the possibility that the kindergarten will get in trouble for having foreign language lessons.

I agree that children that age should be protected from excessively academic education, whether in English or any other subject, but I also agree that the policy should be revised.

Every country/region has its own rules. In many countries, walking down the street without your ID card is illegal. In others, the concept is abhorrent. In HK (last time I checked), it was illegal except for foreigners.

In Canada, where everyone needs a Social Insurance Number to work, it used to be that you could start work as soon as you applied for one, instead of waiting for it to be issued. Iirc they changed that a few years ago.

Most people don’t like to read legalese. The government doesn’t exactly advertise law.moj.gov.tw to foreigners or mention that they should read the Employment Service Act before they read the Labor Standards Act. (Correct me if I’m wrong.) Many of the translations there have enough Chinglish to make their accuracy doubtful.

What goes through a typical FOB’s mind? “Everyone says it’s okay, so it’s probably okay.”

The employer has the upper hand and therefore has greater responsibility.

In HK you are required to carry your ID if you are a resident of HK, irrespective of your nationality.

Ah, my bad. :slight_smile:

They used to have “Drug trafficking is punishable by death” painted in huge letters on the wall of the airport as you entered Taiwan (my mother, who visited once in 1995, never forgot that). Maybe they need to bring that back. “Engrish teaching without an appropriate work permit in hand, or work rights otherwise derived, is illegal in the ROC.” :grin:

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I didn’t realize that the legal resource was there. Good news and best wishes!

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[raises paw]

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Anyone who wishes to apply for any jobs in Taiwan do add
‘UNWILLING TO WORK WITHOUT WORK PERMIT’
underneath the Objective statement.

Furhermore, add to the ‘Hobby’ section,
‘Teaching Job’

Maybe there just needs to be a hefty cash deposit on the part of the employer, placed into escrow somehow, that goes to the teacher if the teacher is arrested or deported before the actual work permit is issued.

It’s all about risk. The employer takes on virtually no risk. The teacher takes on a huge amount of risk considering the status of most teachers who are willing to take on this sort of job. If you don’t want to hold anyone accountable for actually obeying the law (this is Taiwan, after all) then surely equalizing the risk is logical. Of course the party in power (the schools) won’t do it because why should they? No one to hold them accountable.

I understand what you’re saying. To my understanding, ROC government is an evil crime organization, which has not legitimate aothority to govern Taiwan and Pescadores.

Beware of one of its legal tricks. First, it let you in through backdoor. When someday you don’t do what it wants, it would use that illegal movement to punish you.

But that doesn’t mean no one should take a risk to earn a living in Taiwan. In OP’s case, he/she could just tell the employer that he/she wants to forfeit the contract and is willing to receive the penalty according to the contract. If this meeting is conducted in a polite manner, I believe that most employers would be willing to agree. If the OP is a really good teacher, the employer will want to maintain a good relationship for future coorpoeration when time is right.

Other benefits from it are that the bridge for future applicants is intact and the ROC government doesn’t get a chance to put its controlling device.

At Taipei City Hall it’s on the ground floor. No interpreters provided (last time I checked).

The labor departments of various cities including Taipei also provide free legal consultations on certain days at certain times, with (alternative military service) interpreters available.

For a consultation at the LAF, make an appointment and specify whether you need an English speaker or not, but to be safe bring an interpreter anyway. :slight_smile:

Show us a government that has never done anything to bring its legitimacy into question. :tumble:

As the “Daniel” referred to above famously said, in the course of justice, none of us should see salvation.

Yet somehow, many people find the rule of law beneficial to them in their lives and would rather not abolish it in favor of the rule of illegitimate contracts. Especially people who live in developed countries. (I won’t get started on Taiwan’s identity crisis.)

Beware of one of its legal tricks. First, it let you in through backdoor. When someday you don’t do what it wants, it would use that illegal movement to punish you.

This is what we’re talking about: don’t go in through the back door, and don’t ask anyone else to do it either!

But that doesn’t mean no one should take a risk to earn a living in Taiwan.

So much for going in the front door! :doh: :roll: :idunno:

In OP’s case, he/she could just tell the employer that he/she wants to forfeit the contract and is willing to receive the penalty according to the contract. If this meeting is conducted in a polite manner, I believe that most employers would be willing to agree. If the OP is a really good teacher, the employer will want to maintain a good relationship for future coorpoeration when time is right.

To paraphrase what you said about the government, to my understanding, the employer is an evil crime organization, which has no legitimate authority to employ the OP.

Other benefits from it are that the bridge for future applicants is intact and the ROC government doesn’t get a chance to put its controlling device.

:confused:

Future applicants should stay as far away from that business as possible and instead offer their skills to those who actually will obtain work permits for them properly, because the government is in control whether you like it or not.

Go in the front door, and you will have nothing to worry about in that department. You will have earthquakes, typhoons, bad drivers, snakes, and all the other things to worry about, but not getting deported for a work permit violation.*

*(It’s not just the date on which the WP becomes valid that matters. You also need to check the address, the description of the work, and in some cases the nature of every external work location. But not working before permission is granted is the first step.)

WHY in the hell would you even open the door for the employer to demand that some illegal penalty clause be enforced?? In a contract that is illegal in the first place?

That just makes no sense. The “Taiwanese” way is just to disappear. Everyone understands what happened, including the employer. They know what they’re doing, and this isn’t the first teacher who’s run out on one of their shady contracts.

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He didn’t mention about working in kindys being illegal because he probably didn’t even know it was. Ask 10 Taiwanese did they know that foreigners working in kindys is illegal and at least 9 will say they didn’t know that.

In fact I’ve actually had Taiwanese tell me that I’M in the wrong and that of course it’s legal. Then I tell them the facts. They apologize and express they thought all English teaching was the same. Makes sense. Taiwanese don’t have to deal with work permits and ARC so why would they know about what is and isn’t permitted for foreigners.

Of course most Taiwanese don’t know – most Taiwanese are not kindergarten owners or managers! :wall:

Yeah, but a significant portion of them do look for kindergartens where the kids can learn from foreigners.

Not only taiwanese nor laws related to foreigners. Most people don’t know their own countries’ laws that they don’t use for daily life.

country’s

(fixed that for ya, sorry, made my eye twitch)

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