There’s an adult buxiban in Taoyuan whose name escapes me that had rumours that the boss was secretly recording the teacher’s room. We all thought the teachers who complained about it were mad and then one of them got fired for reasons that could only have been recorded private conversations. Absolutely nuts! Can you imagine being a boss who wants to waste their time listening to teachers talking to each other?
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I did but you cannot control people mouth with bubble tea. It works few times but that’s all.
Plus, I think they will never accept a foreigner no matter what you do.
I tried my best to adapt myself to the working environment but it’s too toxic and I’m against moral harassment.
Thanks a lot for your advise!!! It gives me a bit hope in this negativity.
I admire what you did it’s very smart! You escaped at the right time. By the way how did you find a job ? I’m wondering if we had the same boss…Did you denounce them?
I am experiencing moral harassment since the beginning with this company… I thought I was the problem but it’s them. As the situation is getting worst how can I stay ? Until they fire me? they would be so happy and proud to fire a foreigner!!!
I have worked in about six different Taiwanese organisations full-time . There was one place though that looking back I realised many of the staff hated me, and one of the senior managers certainly didn’t respect me at all.
Why I wonder ? I wasn’t there that long, I had fairly decent Chinese and very good experience in that industry , I can mainly surmise it was because I was a foreigner and
- They thought or rather ASSUMED I was getting paid too much and got the job and pay just because I was a foreigner (pay was good for Taiwan but nothing compared to Intl company). Taiwanese companies are bad for sharing your salary details internally
- I got to travel internationally
- They didn’t like that I finished work mostly on time (this place was one of those places that would suddenly announce a Friday evening meeting at 7pm)
To boil it down to one word - jealousy.
Fortunately at the time I wasn’t aware they hated me so much (thank God I am slow on the uptake) but later I looked back and realised some were even trying to spy on me (one weird incident where two colleagues disappeared into a dark room behind me…Either to have an affair or spy on me…They emerged one by one 15 minutes later with a couple minutes in between 
) and also bad mouthing me on purpose and pointing out various physical things (the usual you look tired, red, black whatever shit that comes out of their mouths even in the middle of a meeting ).
Only my direct manager was a nice person really. And I was invited to lunch about twice for one entire year including with my closest colleague. He claimed he never ate lunch and indeed I never ever saw him eat lunch once.
I invited some to my wedding and they turned up and had a miserable ole time. Hey at least I got some Hong bao from management.
Very weird bunch including some real assholes .
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OMG!!! People are crazy. What did this teacher say to be fired?
I can tell in my company they put all their energy to record listen everything on my computer and of course all my activities in a day. They also manipulate other colleagues to talk to me to ask more about what I think and do. They also sit next to me to watch my computer screen or check every 5 - 10 min then report to her.
So your boss and colleagues are not your friends…and it’s not only in Taiwan but worldwide. It’s hard to trust another company again
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100% true.
I learned this the hard way in a foreign company ,
I complained about senior mangement and another newly hired middle manager who was busy licking the greasy pole tattle taled and basically got me fired.
Always maintain a professional stance at all times. You never know what agenda colleagues and management may have.
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“Being friends with your coworkers is like being friends with a tiger. Pretty cool but you don’t know when it will turn around and eat you.”
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I can’t remember the details. To be fair it’s rarely 100% employer bad or 100% employee good.
In Taiwan the general process to remove an employee is to make their working life hell. If they want you out, they’ll force you to make the decision for them. All you can do in such a situation is suck it up while finding a better job.
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To be fair, they might be doing the employee a favor. Always better to tell future potential employers you resigned/quit rather than you were fired. 
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Like you I only have experience in Taiwanese academia, but from what I’ve observed the only people who get ‘fired’ are actually given duff reasons as to why their contracts aren’t renewed. As you say, this is better for the employee. Resigning/ having a reasonable excuse for a contract not being renewed is better for the employee.
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In my first ESL teaching job in Korea 13 years ago we had CCTV in our classrooms (this was a buxiban, but there it’s called a hagwon). In the lobby, you could see footage of all the classrooms piped in on 4 or 5 different screens for waiting parents to view. We also had a land-line phone in our classes, and this was only used for the buxiban director to call you and berate you for any behavior he didn’t think the parents in the lobby would approve of. I got awkward phone calls to stand even when I had to sit in order to type in attendance (“stand up now! Parents watching! Okay??!”). Or to pick on a particular student to answer questions even though she was practically non-verbal. I think I even got a phone call that a parent wanted to sit in my class while I taught his 6 year old daughter. I told him I wasn’t really comfortable with this, and this meek protest was swiftly ignored and the parent promptly came into the class and sat in the back. I don’t know if the CCTV picked up sound, but it wouldn’t surprise me. I only stayed there a year, because the director was an alcoholic maniac. Anyway, getting a bit off topic now I suppose, but I do love these jogs down memory lane…
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Small correction, but I do have experience in Korean academia as well. But it’s pretty much the same shit there. If you can’t pass muster, they’ll just not renew your contract. This happened to someone whose evaluations were in the toilet. However, unless the department is vindictive or you did something truly egregious like slept with a student or showed up drunk (someone I know did the former and is suspected of the latter) the uni will usually cut you a break if your interviewer calls for a reference and will just say you left on your own accord.
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Can’t say I agree.
Jobs are on Linkedin, 104 and networking. I did not denounce them, at the end I just didn’t care anymore, I didn’t want to put any effort to even denounce them.
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Do you know what does it mean ?
According to labor standard Act:
Article 19
Upon termination of a labor contract, neither an employer nor the employer’s agent shall reject a request from the worker for proof of service record.
It reads to me that a proof of service must be provided when asked for.
Well, outside from work environment, most people get along well. But under toxic working conditions, where you feel every day that a bear is chasing you, it is very likely you will be tripped by someone trying to survive/get ahead. In my office, we have the ones who turn the bears on us and splash BBQ sauce on us while tying our laces, slapping our backs and telling us what great friend we are. I look like a porcupine from the knives in my back and do feel a lot in common with Caesar.
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Problem is having them follow the rules. There are unfortunately many ways for them to say it does not apply and screw us over.
We have had people fired without a cent paid afterwards. We had people who quit and got full benefits by law. We had people fired at the end of the year yet were cheated out of their year bonus. Everyone says “look at what the contract says” yet contracts have as many loopholes as a mosquito netting…a 20 year old plastic mosquito netting.
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Wow. Sounds like a crappy place to work.
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Not long then. Pretty much a newbie.