I’m hoping for some opinions or advice about my situation. I was employed at a buxiban that I quit after 2 months for a number of reasons such as being made to work more hours and days than I originally signed for, which severely affected my other jobs; for being charged more than the health insurance contribution listed for my income bracket; for being forced to stay outside of working hours or to come in early without notice or consent on many occasions by my manager (even when I kept saying that I needed to leave because I was late again for my other job); and most of all, because of the management style, the constant criticism making me anxious about going to work.
I really didn’t want to break a contract, it was most definitely not a decision I took lightly, but I couldn’t handle it anymore. So I waited until I finished the midterm tests and reports, hoping it would be a better time to hand over. However, waiting till then meant I worked 26 hours in November for which I didn’t receive payment (pay being given in cash on the 10th of the following month). My contract did include a breaking contract early penalty. However, I checked the Labor Standards Act and it states that a worker is entitled to terminate a position without advanced notice if an employer does not fulfill the contract, for instance, by failing “to pay for work in accordance with the labor contract” (Chapter II, Article 14.5 - laws.cla.gov.tw). All the impromptu meetings as well as the initial ‘training’ I had was unpaid so I presumed that this meant the contract was null and void.
I am now in a quandary with regards to what to do about chasing the money. I was going to leave it as I felt bad about quitting suddenly. But my finances could really do with some help. I tried phoning the CLA hotline to ask for their advice but I had some difficulties communicating with the operator. I haven’t spoken to the school since - they ignored my emails asking for a termination certificate for my new arc.
You should contact the Labor Bureau in the city or county where you live. Go there in person. You definitely have a case. Holding back wages and refusing to issue a termination certificate are both serious violations that the labor authorities will do something about. I don’t think the contract is ‘null and void’. Let the labor authorities sort it out and hope for the best.
They have to actually pay you, but they can try to win it back in a court case. (Which they likely will not even try). The fact that they refused to pay you would look bad for them in court. Article 26 and 27 of the labor standards act say:
26: An employer shall not make advance deduction of wages as penalty for breach of contract or as indemnity
27: If wages are not paid on schedule, the competent authority may order the employer concerned to pay them within the prescribed period.
As the previous poster stated. Withholding documented hours is blatantly illegal. They can try and come after you IN COURT later on, but my guess is 15,000NT in wages is not worth their while.
Please re-post and keep us updated.
So many foreign employees (English Teachers) talk tough about going to CLA, only to be overwhelmed, back off and get nothing.
This is exactly what most schools hope for and usually get.
I think you are going to have problems. What paperwork was involved when you terminated the position? If you just left the position because you considered them in breach of contract because of unpaid training hours and mandatory meetings then you could find yourself in a situation. The time to get the CLA involved was before you left the position.
If he did that then he would have been let go right at the start. To the OP - try and do the best that you can, i.e chase it.[/quote]
The OP will need to clarify (contract termination paperwork) but I think the lost wages are a secondary issue at this point. Yes, the school was likely breaking the labor law but I don’t think that is enough to void a contract. This is a labor dispute that the CLA should be made aware of before just not showing up for work. And the OP can clarify that because it certainly sounds like the OP just abandoned the job and is now considering the contract voided because the buxiban was breaking the labor laws. Without contract termination/completion paperwork the school might be able to prevent the OP from getting work permits in the future. The CLA would have helped with this paperwork if they had been contacted BEFORE the OP simply stopped showing up for work. I’m not sure what the CLA can do now but the school can definitely file a complaint against the OP for not showing up to work.
This is all based on the OP not notifying anyone and just not showing up for work but the OP is a little vague so perhaps he can clarify.