What is working in a buxiban or local school really like?

[Throwaway]

Since pretty much everything was covered and there’s a wealth of topics on this subject I’ll just relate some personal experiences teaching at cram schools in Taipei.

@bluewhale

I love this country and would love a job that I can do and not be constantly tired and stressed.

When you find this magical job, please let me know. Working in Taiwan has been the least stressful experience I’ve ever had, and still finish the day tired and stressed out. As an older relative once said, “Everyone complains about their work.”

@bluewhale

What are the conditions like and what is the pay like? Do you get benefits like sick days and holiday pay? How many hours are week are you typically expected to work? I take it we are still on the National health scheme.

bear in mind every business is different and this is just my experience at 2 different places. Like trying to compare KFC to Arby’s (both are fast food chains, similar to how every cram school business varies), there’s no way to generalize these questions.
Conditions - Chinese teachers talk behind my back in Chinese at one of the businesses, but not the other. AC throughout, decent hours, can’t complain
Pay - 600-650hr. With a yearly increase.
Holiday Pay - HAH! My wife makes holiday pay, I don’t. The reason is that she works full time with less pay, “foreign” teachers are often viewed as a sort of specialized employee. It’s more costly to hire us, so it’s hard to find a full time position at a cram school. Since I’m working part time, I don’t get a penny of holiday pay.
Sick pay - I’ll get paid a phone call asking why I’m not working. Even when I was really sick, they just gave me a mask. No sick leave.
Hours - Cram schools begin after public school lets out, and doesn’t dwell too far into the night. Earliest I’ve started was 2pm, latest was 6:30pm. You’ll only get paid for teaching hours, nothing else even if you’re asked to do extra work.

@bluewhale

I’m an experienced teacher with a teaching license, post-grad qualifications etc. so I doubt I will have too much trouble finding work. It’s more of a matter of whether I want to keep working where I am once my contract is up. I just want to know if I would potentially be leaving a job only to come up against similar issues somewhere else.

Same shit, different beast. I’ve seen some people that work at public and cram schools simultaneously. It’s really not that different, aside from teaching material and guidelines.

Editing this post with details about my stance in holiday pay. If I were to create multiple posts about this subject they would all be moved to the temporary forum, so here’s a simple edit to avoid getting anal penetration from the mod team posts removed.

@deceasedtrainspotter

And, as far as I’m aware (coming from my wife who manages a buxiban) you are entitled to 7 days paid holidays after your first continuous year of full-time employment (14hrs/week) in the next working year. Therefore, if you work only one year and do not continue employment with the school after the one year period the school is not required to pay holiday pay.

Here’s a quote from a good topic on the subject. I am working part time for 2 schools, which means not 14 hours weekly at either. And my contacts are “non-renewable.” So, no holiday pay. Exactly what I said earlier.