Techno Company Not Providing Work Permit?

Legal Legal - Work
1

So I have been offered a sweet second job, starting at 1200 nt/hr. Problem is, as far as they understand it, they cannot give me a work permit.

This is NOT a school, it is a software company, though I would be teaching a number of their employees English (I would still be an English teacher).

Is the company correct that they cannot give me a work permit? They say “as long as I have residency, even without a permit, they can employ me” (since I have an ARC) which sounds like total BS to me.

Its great pay, little prep, but I do not want to get deported (sure, no one is ever going to raid a software company to make sure there are no English teachers, but I do not want to get screwed next year when I have to provide my tax statements to renew the work permit for my arc based school).

Thoughts community?

2

According to the Hsinchu Foreigner Assistance Center, unless you have an Open Work Permit through JFRV or APRC, “Employers who wish to hire foreign nationals to come and work in Taiwan are required to first apply with the Council of Labor Affairs to obtain a work permit for the foreign nationals they wish to hire.” It does not differentiate teaching jobs from any others.

The OP quotes the software company, “as long as I have residency, even without a permit, they can employ me.” However, according to the above, not all residence statuses give open work rights.

I think the OP is smart for smelling BS in this case. My guess is that the software company wants to avoid reporting income, thus no work permit applied for.

EDIT: I just noticed Copyright © 2008 Hsinchu City Government at the website, so perhaps the laws have changed?

3

If he has a plain ARC, the answer is no, as it was in 2008. No work permit, no can’t do. Of course they can employ him, as in paying him under the table and not worry about residency or taxes, his or theirs. Of course, when the police comes around, they will wash their hands off the whole business, get a slap in the hand while he gets deported. Of course…

If he had APRC or JFV, then all would be semi well. Something does smell fishy.

4

You need a work permit (I’m assuming you don’t have a JFRV or APRC). Most companies couldn’t care less if you get deported.

5

Thanks for the replies, agree with all of the above (just got plain ole ARC btw).

But why would a multi million company, with offices in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan and even other countries, act as though they cannot provide me with a work permit? Is it sheer ignorance? At first they thought they had to provide me with 14 hrs…but they would be my 2nd employer, not the first.

6

Apparently you can have a second employer officially added to your ARC, although I have no idea about the procedure or requirements. You’d need to ask the NIA. I assume the employer would still have to apply. If they still refuse, I’d walk away rather than risk it - they’re obviously a shit company. Being big doesn’t make any difference. I work with big (Taiwanese) tech companies that seem to make a strenuous effort to be shit companies.

7

They may not be willing to give you a work permit because:

  1. they may really not know the law/procedure -scoff, unlikely but, give them the benefit of the doubt. Maybe they’ve worked like that in the past, no problems… for them.
  2. a company has to earn a certain amount to earn the right to hire a foreigner. not every company can hire a foreigner legally. Maybe they have not applied -this implies opening their tax records to the Govt. and we know not everyone is keen on that.
  3. Maybe they have maxed their foreigner hiring capacity. Even at that point when they are allowed to hire foreigners, it is not an infinite number.
  4. to you, the per hour sum is very nice. If they are not willing to give you a work permit, it means they are not reporting the salaries to the tax office and hence, no taxes are being paid. even if they are, without a permit, you can’t collect the reimburse and most of all, there is a paper trail to follow. If they report your salary, they also have to pay NHI, laobao and other details over there. Turns out very complicated for some English lessons.

I agree there is a possibility to add a second employer, but that second employer has to be willing to give you the necessary paperwork, ie work permit. Remember that on a common ARC, the work permit belongs to them, they can deactivate it any minute they want, it is not yours nor it lives on in your ARC. Your ARC is just a reference. Also, I think there are provisions as limitations on that second employer. search that topic well.