Hello all, I’m in a bit of a tight spot and could use some help and/or advice. Here’s my situation: Been in Taiwan (Taipei for 7 weeks). Working for a big chain buxiban for the last 3. Dislike it. I have been actively searching for another job, and would prefer older students, including adults (right now, teaching mainly very young, 7 year olds–I have 5 years teaching exp. in math and science back in the US but am used to middle school&high school), and less mean and incompetent management. I am fully aware that the buxiban business is, by nature, not great, and that there must be plenty of places out there that are the same or worse, so I am wary of jumping ship into one of those, but I am pretty sure there are people out there who are working at better ones, so that’s what I’m aiming for.
By the standard, crazy contracts they have here, I have to quit within the first month or pay a 20K NT fine–(a 20+ yr expat friend of mine said this stipulation is unenforceable and bogus, and I shouldn’t pay any attention to it, but then, he hasn’t taught ESL in 15 years ,either). They are still processing my ARC, incidentally. If I found something else within the next week, I suppose I could theoretically transfer over documents between companies. I really want to quit, though, even if I don’t have something definitely lined up within the next week. It drains my time and my energy, in the meantime, so it stops me from fully looking for other positions, anyways. I guess once I quit, they will cancel my ARC, and I have 10 days to leave the country, is that correct? Is the thing to do to go to HK and come back on the 30-day landing visa and just find something then? I don’t have a ton of savings, and am a little paranoid about going through with that plan, even though it seems pretty standard to do visa runs, as I have an apartment and stuff in it…and don’t want to not be able to come back in the country or something like that.
So, in short, I want to quit, find something better, and not pay a 20K NT fine. Any advice is welcomed. I feel a bit trapped at the moment.
So you want to quit, there is no way you will make it a year. It will be easier to quit now, rather than later. You will be able to find something else much easier if you quit now and save them a lot of hassle. You may lose some cash, sure they aren’t supposed to take your cash, but they probably will. Easy choice, quit.
That’s what I’m tending towards. So how much time do you have before you have to leave the country? Do you recommend just going to HK and back on a 30-day landing visa?
Well you don’t have an ARC yet, so how much time do you have on your visa? Most companies don’t even give this 1 month stipulation. There won’t be any transferring of your ARC when it does come in. Simply go and find a new job as soon as possible and get the process started for another ARC. How many hours does your school, or your contract claim you are working? Best thing to do is to quit Monday or tomorrow if possible, they can cancel the ARC procedure.
My ARC is in transit. I expect it to come within the next few days. My passport was returned to me with a big “cancelled” stamp over my visitor visa. My contract claims I am working at least 16 hours, which I am (I’m doing 20/week). Ok, so I give my one week’s notice on Monday…my visitor visa is void–I officially finish working at the end of next week–when do I have to be out of the country by?
A bit of a dissenting opinion but, given that you are a new person, in a new land, and in a completely new teaching scenario, perhaps you may want to consider sticking it out a bit longer? You’ve been here 7 weeks. Get to know the place a little more before you make any moves.
My ARC is in transit. I expect it to come within the next few days. My passport was returned to me with a big “cancelled” stamp over my visitor visa. My contract claims I am working at least 16 hours, which I am (I’m doing 20/week). Ok, so I give my one week’s notice on Monday…my visitor visa is void–I officially finish working at the end of next week–when do I have to be out of the country by?[/quote]
My ARC is in transit. I expect it to come within the next few days. My passport was returned to me with a big “cancelled” stamp over my visitor visa. My contract claims I am working at least 16 hours, which I am (I’m doing 20/week). Ok, so I give my one week’s notice on Monday…my visitor visa is void–I officially finish working at the end of next week–when do I have to be out of the country by?[/quote]
About as fast as whitetiger’s avatar[/quote]
Yes…I get that…but concrete numbers would be more helpful.
I think it is a week, not certain. If you give a one week notice, they may just tell you to ‘get lost’ straight away and cancel your ARC. Get another job as soon as possible, when the papers are being processed, you can quit. Your ARC can support a second job without interfering with this job, given it is not more than 16 hours. So do exactly the same thing with another job, that you did with this job and when you get, or are close to getting, your ARC, you are free to leave the first school. I know it is illegal to hold back your pay, but you did sign and break a contract. Think about if you really want to pursue the money they charge you.
OP needs to get down to the immigration bureau on Monday and ask them directly if he wants a definitive answer. They can provide advice on how to transfer sponsorship without a visa trip (and how long s/he has before such a trip becomes necessary).
Hope you don’t get too stressed about this situation. You can solve it without taking a trip. However, now is the wrong time to be looking for work-there’s less available, so I’d advise patience, set up more hours outside this job, and quit a few months later (giving 10 days notice) then fight the 20k penalty.
You should talk to the police about what I advise below, as well as the 20k fine…
The police are flexible if you give them a chance to help you. By this I mean, get another application in at the labour affairs dept before quitting. They will probably extend your visa situation/stay in Taiwan another month (it’s happened to me twice), to let you tidy up things legally. So, you have a week to find a new job who would immediately apply to the labour affairs dept-you can take the paperwork along yourself to speed things up if need be, it’s on Yen Ping N Road. Once you have that receipt, immediately head to the police (in Taipei it’s near XiaoNanMen, Taipei COunty is near Fuzhong). They’ll extend your stay a month.
The 20k fine is illegal, but it’d take you time to fight.
One other point…your old medical checkup may still work for your new work permit. You can get a second one at your hospital, but it costs a little extra.
[quote=“Kea”]Hope you don’t get too stressed about this situation. You can solve it without taking a trip. However, now is the wrong time to be looking for work-there’s less available, so I’d advise patience, set up more hours outside this job, and quit a few months later (giving 10 days notice) then fight the 20k penalty.
You should talk to the police about what I advise below, as well as the 20k fine…
The police are flexible if you give them a chance to help you. By this I mean, get another application in at the labour affairs dept before quitting. They will probably extend your visa situation/stay in Taiwan another month (it’s happened to me twice), to let you tidy up things legally. So, you have a week to find a new job who would immediately apply to the labour affairs dept-you can take the paperwork along yourself to speed things up if need be, it’s on Yanping N Road. Once you have that receipt, immediately head to the police (in Taipei it’s near XiaoNanMen, Taipei COunty is near Fuzhong). They’ll extend your stay a month.
The 20k fine is illegal, but it’d take you time to fight.[/quote]
Thanks Kea, that’s all quite helpful. Perhaps then the best thing is to stay the course for now, keep looking, and not sweat the purported 20k fine, as my friend said. As far as picking up extra hours outside of it–I feel that’d be a little difficult–it is a mental burden to make it through every day, and currently have 20 hours per week, and soon I have to pick up 4 more. Still trying to have a life here, look for work, make friends, and improve my Chinese…I didn’t come to TW to work!
On that note, a girl I know said she recently switched from a work visa to a student visa–I’d love to just be a student, but I don’t have a scholarship or much savings (applied for the MOE scholarship last year, didn’t get it). She said this is easier, and I guess it’s nice because you don’t have to worry about the whims of a work situation to sponsor you and can just pick up hours whenever/however, but it seems counterintuitive, because then I have to meet my living costs and my student costs, without any guarantee of the required amount of work to fulfill both.
It seems like a student visa might be preferable from a logistical standpoint, but more difficult from a monetary standpoint.
First, stick it out. The grass is not (much) greener elsewhere, so this can be a good experience how to cope with Taiwanese management styles, and the language industry in general.
Second, penalties in contracts are indeed enforceable. It’s just illegal to deduct it directly from your pay. They have to collect it from you, in court if necessary.
Third, get a second part-time job added to your ARC. This can be done without even needing to inform your current employer or leaving the country. If you like the second job better than the first job, they can easily be named your sponsoring employer down the road. Complete details of the process can be found on Tealit.
First - Is there a reason why this job is intolerable and a different job is going to be better? There’s a chance that you go thru all of this and find yourself in the same situation.
Second - I disagree about finding part time hours elsewhere. If you’re serious about leaving this job then you should be looking for a full time elsewhere. then you can leave your job and not be unemployed while looking for work. And this is the important thing right now. Don’t leave your job no matter how intolerable until you have a new job lined up.
third - what the hell are the police going to do? The OP needs to talk to the labor board or whatever they are called regarding how much notice he has to give and to find out if the penalty clause is enforceable. he needs to talk to immigration about transferring his ARC but FIRST he needs a new job. That’s not going to happen in one week.