Rent has gone up quite a bit where I live, and due to a combination of bad luck and bad timing, I ended up signing a lease that’s more expensive than I’d like. It’s manageable, but over a year it’s going to add up. I’d like to earn a little extra each month to give myself some breathing room.
I’m considering doing a few hours of tutoring on weekends. I don’t need much. 3 to 4 hours a week at even a modest rate ought to cover it.
The issue is that my employment contract states that I can be dismissed for “accepting outside work without the express written permission of the Employee’s Manager and the Head of HR.”
I know plenty of my foreign colleagues have side gigs. Some tutor English, some play in bands that get paid, others do creative stuff like appearing as extras in commercials. It might be illegal (some admit to working under the table for cash) but management generally seems to look the other way unless it becomes a problem.
Has anyone been in a similar situation? Is it worth asking HR for permission, or does that just draw unnecessary attention? Alternatively, are there side gigs that are generally viewed as less likely to create issues with an employer? I’m mainly looking for weekend work and it wouldn’t be more than few hours on weekends. Positions I’m looking at would net me around 8 to 10k a month from what I’m seeing.
Because you have both US and Taiwan, you have the advantage of being sent to any branch they need you as a sub and a part time teacher. Foreign teachers must work at the location they are allowed to work at. But you have full work rights as ROC national and a lot of Buxiban will value that and give you work as there is much less admin to worry about.
I basically did this for extra money in Taiwan while doing other jobs as well.
This can’t be legal for a ROC national can it? I don’t know employment laws well but this sounds absurd unless your work permit is from them. But you don’t need a work permit.
From your post it feels like you’re not realizing you have full work rights.
You accomplish that with a reasonable non compete and none solicitation in the contract along with anything else to say you can’t share company information.
And performance is a separate issue. Any poor performance is already subject to discipline.
I’ve never seen a you can’t work anywhere else if we don’t allow it. Very weird
There are two angles. One is the immigration angle. OP can’t be kicked out of the country for having a second job. Technically they can even work at 7-11 and it wouldn’t affect their right to stay in Taiwan.
The other is the contract angle. OP might get kicked out of the job if the company finds out they are working a second job or has additional income without permission.