Illegality and Legality in Taiwan
I often get emails or comments from people who ask me about Taiwan and what company is the best to work for. Or they ask me about how to get a job and how to get a visa, a driving license or a job in writing. There are no easy answers here. I really enjoy that people read my blog and get something from it, however in Taiwan I can’t quite describe how shady things are here without someone being in front of me and me explaining it to them. So here it goes, I will try.
First of all, I came to Taiwan working with Hess Educational Organization. Most people I know censor their comments and writing about the company and secretly complain about every little thing to their friends, the coworkers or people back home. That is probably because Hess has people combing the internet for bad PR. But quite frankly I don’t really care about that! So if you came to my site voluntarily to find out about the company, I will do my best to give you an honest, (biased but fair) opinion of MY experience. Keep in mind, that’s not everyone’s experience!!! Every city, every branch in Hess is different! I still work for the company, and honestly it’s not that bad but there are pros and cons!
Hess is a big company – in fact I think it’s the largest employer of teachers in Taiwan. As such, they hold sway with the government here in Taiwan, for whatever reason. In every workplace here there is a lot of illegality, a lot of exploitation of employees, and a lot of taking advantage of naive college graduates from North America, England and especially South Africa when it comes to teaching English. I’ve thought a long time about how to approach this topic without sounding pessimistic about Taiwan, because I don’t want to put people off coming here or tell them what to do. It’s a wicked place to live! There is a lot here to explore and do! But there is also a harsh reality that people here find hard to deal with. The way I deal with it is to try to be upfront with myself and my upper-level bosses about what we deal with on a daily basis!
First of all, there are many levels in the larger companies in Taiwan that hire for teaching. The person you talk to at home, ‘the recruiter’ probably has very little knowledge of what life is like here. They probably haven’t been here for up to ten years, and they possibly have the recruiter job because no one else wants to do it. I’m pretty certain they are paid according to how many people they get to come to Taiwan. So that means, they will tell you ANYTHING to get you to come! For example, I was told by both a recruiter in Canada and by upper management at the training course in Taiwan that after six months I wouldn’t have to work weekends. Others were told their medical bills at home would be paid for or their flights would be paid for. If you are coming to Kaohsiung, that is pretty much a lie! Illegal? No. Immoral? Definitely! Everyone here works a six day week with Hess. There are other companies in the city that offer more money, the same support, and weekends off and better hours! But the catch? You have to come here to find it! You can’t set it up from home. And the jobs vary. Sometimes you will have larger classes. Maybe you’ll be lucky, but maybe the school will not be as nice. Maybe you will have to discipline more because the kids pay less and they aren’t from families that are as good so they aren’t as well behaved!
You must come on a visitor visa and find work when you get here, do a visa run, and take your time looking for a job. In the meantime you can try couch surfing, hostels (which by the way are illegal in Taiwan, technically) or camping to live on the cheap! Once you are here, legally your visitor visa can be changed to a work visa. You work visa will then be changed to a resident visa. Your resident visa will then become an ARC card…or something like that! Eventually you will even get health care.
But…
If you are like me, and you come from overseas with very little money, maybe you want some insurance. Maybe you want a guaranteed job that will give you a lot of money up front, that you will pay back over time! This is very possible with Hess. You also get a TEFL certificate valid in over 30 countries. BUT don’t let them fool you! They will tell you that you are working legally when you get here, and really you’re not! It’s impossible. The time it takes to process an ARC is MONTHS! So technically you will most likely be working illegally at first. Once your visa is changed to a working visa, you are okay. But a lot of people are working illegally and they will not even know it! Quite frankly, the Taiwan government doesn’t really care about this that I can see. They don’t often ‘raid’ schools, and when they do (I’ve heard of it happening once in my time here) it’s usually a kindergarten and they CALL THE SCHOOL in advance. Ridiculous! What’s the point? Saving face? I guess so!
So yes, this is a reality of Taiwan. I’ve kind of accepted it, because this is the culture here. Here is a list of all the illegal things in this country, most of which I didn’t even know were illegal until I got here! It might be interesting to some of you. I know that there are some companies who take part in these illegal activities and try to con employees into thinking otherwise. It’s actually kind of funny! Because for the ones who are informed, it all ends up seeming like a charade! Anyway so far…
1- teaching without a working permit (your company might tell you it’s processed…but it’s not!)
2- teaching kids under 6 – everyone does it, no one cares. Also this ‘law’ has changed about five times in the past ten years.
3- working at a place other than your contracted work, that includes working for the same company but a different school
4- subbing at another branch of your company (duh duh duh put me in jail right now)
5- being paid in cash and having no paper trail or documents to prove what you made
6-companies falsifying tax documents. For example, saying you make a lot less than you do, and then claiming fewer taxes
7- driving with no license, even though supposedly your international license is okay from a Canadian or American perspective, it’s NOT okay here, so they say!
8- running red lights (ummm oops, because if I don’t run the red someone will HIT me from behind!)
9- taking private students (oops again)
10- withholding pay from someone is they quit before their contract ends (ahem)
As you can see, EVERYTHING HERE is illegal. No let me correct that. It’s shady. We don’t know. Unless you speak Mandarin, work for the government and study the policies every day you will never know! So if you’re coming to Taiwan, the best advice I can give is, just be aware! Look at what you are signing! If you have the money, come on your own dollar, and have an adventure. See if you like it! Out of a Hess training group, more than half leave by the end of the year. I don’t think it’s the company people don’t like so much as the fact they are ill informed and have false expectations. If you’re coming to Asia for a year and want to save a load of money, Taiwan might not be right for you. But for someone willing to invest in the connections, or not concerned too much about HOW much money they are making, it’s an awesome choice!
The lifestyle in Kaohsiung is unbelievable! Where else can you get an all-day pass for a massage spa for $7 Canadian? Where else can you drive 20 minutes and be in the mountains or on the beach? Granted things are hard at first. At certain times of the year, pollution is very bad and cultural differences are difficult to overcome. But the payoff, in my opinion has been worth it. I love my coworkers and my job. The lifestyle is great so far. I’m on a dragon boat team where I get a free gym pass and after six months I’m finally starting to save more money! I’m taking Chinese classes and learning what I never thought I would learn! More opportunities open up here the longer you stay and commit, so it’s good to keep an open mind about how long you will be here. A lot of people here for only a year end up staying four, and there is a reason why. But not everyone has the same experience and if you sign a contract with a company not even knowing where you are going to live in Taiwan it can make all the difference. You location and home are everything! The people you meet are everything! So if you want to come to Taiwan, come but do it knowing that it’s not always easy and it will take several months for the reality to set in and for you to feel welcome here!
I hope that some of the people thinking of coming to Taiwan can read this and make the right choice! Regardless, it’s an interesting experience here and I don’t regret a second of it!
Hey!
How’s it going. I just finished reading your post about the legal/illegal things in Tawain. It’s very interesting. I’m glad to see you’ve adjusted to life in Tawain. I know the first little while is the toughest, because there’s so much you have to adjust to, but you seem to have adjusted nicely.
Thanks for stopping by my blog
I’m glad that my blog inspires you from time to time. I’m inspired that you’re living a life immersed in a new culture and trying to teach them about environmental awareness. You are correct when you say that we here in Canada are very lucky to be very aware about the troubles plaguing the environment.
There are times when I find it hard here in Canada to be environmentally friendly, simply because a lot of companies seem to be jumping on the band wagon and adding lines of “green” products to their catalog. It’s hard to tell if these products are really green (especially when there’s no ingredient list on the label).
Anyways, I have a friend who recently flew to Japan and is teaching English there. I told him to read your blog and use it as a guide and now he has his own blog, that he’s going to use to keep his friends/family up-to-date on the things that he’s doing in Japan
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I’m glad to hear that things are going really well for you in Tawain. Keep up the good work and don’t get discouraged about the low awareness about environmental issues. The work you do will trickle across a greater number of people over time
Take care!
-Juancho
Don’t you get it? Hess kindergartens are given prior warning about “raids” to save their face! Can’t you think of a more obvious reason?
I taught in a regular Hess branch in Taipei way back when. I’ve seen it all. All the classrooms in the basement were illegal so a thick board was constructed to cover the stairwell. With a bucket of umbrellas and some boxes on it you would never know there was a basement. Of course, that was just placed there on the day of an inspection.
Another time, the branch covered the sign outside the school to change the name for a week or two. Apparently, every branch of all school franchises has a different name. They are all technically a separate business so you can’t use the same name on the outside, officially. Whether this is done for tax purposes or some other law, I couldn’t tell you.
The thing about claiming that your hourly pay is lower than it is, works in the teacher’s favour – you pay less tax.
I make it sound like Hess is a bit dodgy but they’re no less dodgy than any other school in the land. In fact, they try to play by the rules as much as they can. In general Hess does not screw over its foreign teachers. You only get to hear about the whiners who probably got fired for incompetency and who have never worked for other smaller schools where you are far more likely to get shafted.
Naruwan, while I agree with most of what you are saying there are some things I still just don’t get. Why would the school claim you are making less money an hour and you are still being taxed at 20% of what you are actually making? I haven’t personally seen this, but I know someone who saw on the payroll that their pay was being reported was less than what they were actually being paid, but still that person is being taxed 20% of their wages but on the payroll it would look different than on government paper. So in fact they are reporting less taxes. I think that it works in the school’s favour, not yours. And I’m sure not only Hess does this. In fact I pretty much guarantee that every other cram school does this! I won’t deny that. Again, we can’t know everything, but I think a lot of people don’t know this about Taiwan and they should know about it!
Yeah I wouldn’t say that Hess is less dodgy than other schools. They aren’t dodgy at all in comparison, in a legal sense. I obviously haven’t worked for other schools, so I don’t know. But what I do know is that my boyfriend and several of my friends work at more regional schools which give you weekends off and hire from within Taiwan without deceiving you while you are in your home country, saying you will get this and you will get that when really it depends on the branch you go to. In the end, it’s not about legality but about how the company actually treats its employees. It’s about morality. Is it illegal to tell person one thing before they come and then give them another? No, of course not. But immoral and deceitful, yes. That’s why a lot of people leave, frustrated.
Again, I will say that my actual school branch is awesome, and my coworkers are awesome. But people in Taipei have NO clue what goes on in Kaohsiung, and don’t get that things are different here and everyone works weekends. But everyone’s experience is different. I think in Kaohsiung there are a lot of schools that pay better, give more time off (if wanted) and treat their employees with a bit more respect in the way that they give them what they say they will give them. But for coming here for the first year, I’ll also say that Hess did give me a loan, a lot of support, and some good friends!
[...] Global Stories writes about the legalities of teaching in Taiwan. [...]
Links 26 May 2008 - David on Formosa said this on May 25, 2008 at 7:52 pm |
I must say that everyone on this site has been very insightful.
I recently moved to Taiwan to teach for Hess and after being apart of the company for a little less than 2 months I have been very disheartned by the company. Being a previous teacher in the states I find myself taking on more of a role of BABYSITTER than teacher. And, this may be my own lack of knowledge but, I had not idea it was ILLEGAL to teach Kindergarten in Taiwan. The funny thing was, in training they stated it was rare to be raided, but in actuality my branch has been raided twice. I feel I have placed myeslf in a very sketchy situation and want to find employment elsewhere- LEGAL EMPLOYMENT! Is this even a possiblity? One person I spoke with had said the only option I have is to fly to Hong Kong and register my visa there. Is it that difficult to have your ARC transferred? I don’t mind giving Hess a decent 2wks notice to find a replacement, and I’m just very confused as to why they wouldn’t release my ARC?
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!
Also, I must say Hess is branch specific, because like the previous people who commented, I too have friends that work for Hess and are having a blast! Tare working legally due to the fact that they only teach HLS!!
The kindergartens are given pre-warnings because while it’s illegal, everyone knows it happens. The face-saver is having the law in place (“Look, we care about this” says the government) but really they don’t. Nobody actually wants to shut those places down because they’re profitable. So yes, it’s illegal to work at a kindy, but only illegal in the most marginal of ways.
This is WONDERFUL! SO frank and insightful and legitimate– this is EXACTLY the kind of information I’ve been seeking!! Especially about Hess. When you inquire about Hess you usually get either “Hess sucks” with no reasoning or “sure its hard, but that’s the way it is” with no explanation. Here you give reasoning and explanation backed by real experience but none of the harpy attitude. Thank you!!
Hello!
I’ve run into your blog a couple of times during google searches (both before and after I came to Taiwan) and I really enjoy your writing! You also seem incredibly level-headed and write professionally about things most people would be really emotional about!
Anyways I’ve been at Hess for a while now and am getting ready to make my break. I know some people have a wonderful time at Hess and it is branch specific, but just about every person from my training group is looking for another job. I myself have had a heck of a ride and am very excited to start work at a different school.
For anyone looking to come to Taiwan, my advice is to save up about $2000 US and look for a job when you come here. That way you have a little say in things such as location, schedule and the curriculum you teach. Hess has it’s good points and the curriculum is pretty decent for the kids in that it progresses in a logical and organized manner- but working there can be a real nightmare, especially considering that it is one of the most expensive schools in Taiwan (at least the kindy is) yet the teachers, who get all the stress of high expectations, get paid less than other schools that are more flexible. It seems that every person I talk to who works at a different school has a better situation than myself and my co-workers at Hess.