In the middle of leaving my last school and getting a new school, arc has been canceled and I guess I have 14 days to apply with the new school?
Anyhow found a small to middle size school, offer standard hourly rate. Will make an application to the government to get me a work permit / arc. Thing is, they only have 11 hours for me to actually work for them (for a while anyways), but govt minimum is 14 hours(?). Said they will go ahead and apply anyways as though I’ll work 14 hours a week. They’ll cover costs and health insurance, however my question is, they said that for the 3 hours per week I won’t actually work but still report as work, I’ll need to cover the taxes for those 3 hours myself (i.e. they take it out of pay). I’m still in the new worker tax zone I think that’s 20%? I figure that will be $120NT an hour for hours reported as worked but I won’t work but will have to pay for nonetheless, or about $360NT a week. Does this happen regularly or another way around it?
There are as many arrangements as there are employers, but NT$360 per week for a visa (essentially) doesn’t sound that bad compared to the cost of visa runs and the risk of being deported as an illegal.
Also, it’s early in the year, so if you make your 180 days this year in Taiwan, you’ll actually only pay a lower tax rate on that money. That means some nice money back at tax time next year. Think of it as an imposed savings plan (with the government, rather than your employer, holding your money – much more legal and you’re more likely to get the money!)
This is assuming you are satisfied with all the other terms and conditions and are going into this with your eyes open, etc. etc. etc.
Will you be able to make ends meet if you only work 11 hours a week? As long as the hours at the new school are not spread out during the hours of 4-8 pm weekday evenings, it could be ok. But if you want to find more work, which you can do legally by putting both schools on your ARC, I believe. If you don’t have those hours free, it’s going to be much harder to find more work, as your students are likely coming to study after their school or work lets out. Just something to think about.
Hi ironlady and twocs. Looks like the new school is ready to apply to Labor. There’s one thing on my mind.
Both in the contract, and orally, we had a discussion which states something to the effect that because this school is applying for my work permit and ARC sponsor that they are effectively my “main school” (14 hours) and there is a sort of precedence over other matters, and that I should basically be able to honor any needs the school will make, such as making schedule changes to other days I don’t normally work. I understand this happens around holidays, but I don’t see it as an absolute. I’ve told them doing it once in a while would be a pleasure but perhaps by tone of voice I get the sense that this school sees itself as being in a position of ownership and “rights” because of that. Or it could be a cultural misunderstanding. I have told them that in any schedule changes I also need to think of the needs of other places I will work. Anyhow in my view, I only really have “responsibility” to them on the 3 days we’ve agreed upon with a willingness to try to allow changes or additions, but the 3 days is the only “guarantee”. I’ve told them I need to start packing in a full work load and will soon pick up more days at other places. Although they’ve acknowledged I’ll pick up work at other places, they still seem to show a policy that their school takes precedence. Perhaps it was the tone of voice at one point of the school owner that seemed a little like “ownership” to me, whereas my point is I really “owe” nothing more than the 3 agreed days, with the intention to try to be flexible. I’m not really sure how much of this is due to cultural misunderstanding and how much of it could lead to a heating point.
Twocs, the 3 agreed days are Monday (4:30 to 8:30), Friday (3:30 to 6:30), and Saturday (8:30 to 12:30). I was figuring I could pick up more hours on the days off at other places (Tue, Wed, Thur).
Here is a copy of the above mentioned text I am looking over with care:
[color=brown]The Employer shall have the right to increase or decrease the number of classes or to change the curricula and class schedule of the Foreign Teacher in accordance with the ability, willingness to cooperate, and teaching quality of the Foreign Teacher and the continuing operation of the school while the contract shall be in force. The Foreign Teacher should give full support to the Employer. If the Foreign Teacher fails to cooperate with the Employer, the Employer shall have the right to terminate the contract prior to the date of expiration. The Employer shall be free from any responsibility for a breach of contract when the contract is terminated in such a manner.[/color]
It sort of doesn’t seem so great when in conversation the owner acts really friendly and flexible but then we need such a wording of contract. Also, that line in there “The Foreign Teacher should give full support to the Employer”, is that the norm for small to mid size schools? Anyhow I don’t mind hard work and doing what I can, but for 3 days a week I think the above, to me solely, seems worth question. Thanks anyone with some sound feedback.
“We own you. We will fire you whenever we feel like it. Please get ready to bend over.” I’m not joking. I wouldn’t touch this place with a ten foot pole.
Actually I’m not really concerned so much about being let go. If they wanted to let me go 6 months down the line I wouldn’t even mind, but I don’t think that’s their intention. It’s a smaller school. Actually what I’m thinking is that they would use the above clause to mess me around and get testy. Anyways the vibe is like this: in person the owner is all friendly and personable and says that really, she doesn’t even use the contract. She borrowed it from another school and just put her school’s name on it. However, when things get underway I’m thinking it could be different.
Anyhow I guess my question is this: when a school sponsors your work permit and ARC are they given a sense of “entitlement”, or is the 3 day schedule they sign you for their only guarantee?
Some people like the stability that a contract can promise. As far as Taiwanese schools are concerned, they may like that their employee signed such a contract, but actually it’s really up to the government what they need to do to hire foreigners. It’s a requirement for them to have you sign a contract, and they will send a copy of that contract when they apply for your ARC.
It used to be the case that you could only sign one contract and only work for one employer. Nowadays, you can sign with more than one employer, but you’re supposed to put all employers on your ARC and pay taxes for all the hours you work.
Sounds like you need a tub of Vaseline and something to bite down on.
They give you hours in the middle of the buxiban time and on days so you couldn’t possibly get another job as many buxibans and adult schools do scheduling on an every other day basis or on a three-day gap basis. For example, you might have Class A on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays or on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. You might have it Mondays and Thursdays, on Tuesdays and Fridays, or Wednesdays and Saturdays.
Not many schools have a class that meets three days a week in the middle of the week.
Then they say they can work you for more hours or cut your hours and you have no right to complain. This also means that if you take on privates in your spare time, they have every right to tell you to give them up if they decide to change your hours.
They are not giving you enough hours to cover the legal minimum and, unless they are paying you over $700 per hour, you are not going to have enough to live on short of becoming a Buddhist monk or joining Catman in busking at Hsimenting.
Hold off on signing a contract until they can give you a legal amount of hours. That way, they have to find the work for you and if they don’t, you still have an out. Also, keep looking for a job because trust me, if your calculation of taxes is based on $600/hour like I think it is, you are going to need something else unless you really, really like instant noodles and 7-Eleven lunch boxes.
Your “intention” doesn’t add up to squat. You are legally hired by a school. Your work hours are determined by min and max allowable by law and contract. The school runs the risk of getting busted if an illegal teacher is teaching the hours that YOU should be teaching, but due to ‘flexibility’…are not.
“Owe” :loco: that ARC is the legal ticket to living and working in Taiwan.
Or,
You could do the 2 month visa run on ‘all’ the privates you accumulate…