Is the Blacklist real?

[ichbinjenny]

Forgot to add that your employer has to have good reason and say how entirely awful you are to be blacklisted.

Contract issues are common enough and just need to be settled.

[bumclouds]

Is the blacklist a permanent lifetime ban from working? Or does it have a certain duration (for example, one year?).

[marksman23]

Yeah there is one.

I have read many posts on here and they go back and forth regarding a teacher or just a "foreign worker" for that matter, getting "blacklisted" from ever working in Taiwan again.

I am facing an issue currently with a job placement agency and a school and the agency is mediating between myself and the school. The agency is saying the school can or might "report me to the government" and it "will affect my ability to work in Taiwan".

I thought I would open a thread and hopefully we can get to the bottom of this real or fake blacklisting.

Is it real? Can a school report you to the government and put you on a blacklist and prevent you from working in Taiwan ever again?
(Example would be breaching a contract)

Or are these just scare tactics to get you to keep your contract or to pay the "illegal" fine of breaching your contract?

[housecat]

Is it Dewey?

You need to get someone other than the agent to help you work this out.

[dasaint]

Dunno if there's really a blacklist. I strongly suspect not. However, the school CAN report you to the authorities for certain things -- breach of contract being one of them.
I'd STRONGLY recommend that you find someone to meditate for you other than the school's employee (which is basically what your agent is.)
The agent doesn't give a toss about what happens to you. He most CERTAINLY DOES give a toss about retaining the school as his client!

I'm sure asking someone to MEDITATE for him will not do the OP any good. However, it's been said that faith can move mountains. So you might be on to something there.

[ShenKeng]

From my understanding, the schools don't really blacklist a person using a blog. They get on the phone and call every school around that's remotely advertisiing. They then tell the school
not to hire you, but they don't give a reason. This way, it cannot be considered slander. This method is very effective. It won't stop you completely, but it will ruin your good prospects.

[timmyjames]

From my understanding, the schools don't really blacklist a person using a blog. They get on the phone and call every school around that's remotely advertisiing. They then tell the school
not to hire you, but they don't give a reason. This way, it cannot be considered slander. This method is very effective. It won't stop you completely, but it will ruin your good prospects.

That's quite odd, considering if you left said school in a jam, they would assume you would do that to others too...which would be good (for said school to have you put their competition in a jam).

[2Enigma]

From my understanding, the schools don't really blacklist a person using a blog. They get on the phone and call every school around that's remotely advertisiing. They then tell the school
not to hire you, but they don't give a reason. This way, it cannot be considered slander. This method is very effective. It won't stop you completely, but it will ruin your good prospects.

There is NO real blacklist. Mostly it's agents with informal weekly communications with each other, probably at the local VIP pub or "Special" KTV room. No reputable school is going to have those kind of communications. They have too much liability and they know it. Mostly this is being generated from mom and pop bottom of the pool schools. Real school managers, nor owners, have the time nor inclination for that kind of gossip mongering from the non-reputable schools that are causing the good schools more harm and mostly illicit competition.

[SilverLining]

What does one do if one believes oneself to be blacklisted? Are there any legal or even practical measures to take, other than leaving Taiwan?

When I was reading the list of blacklisted schools here on Forumosa, the thought occurred to me, well, what if I were an employer and wanted such a list going the other way? Where would I find such a list? Looks like I'd have to frequent KTVs to find one, or find an agent or something.

Then another thought - how would you defend yourself against inaccurate info? Restraining order...against whom, or what? How do you even prove slander, anyway....and even if a person said something that was not completely true, it would probably be correct, provable, and reasonable from their viewpoint that they do not like you. And that knowledge is enough for some future employers. Or does successfully suing a past employer for slander get you onto a turbo-blacklist?

The originial question seems a red herring. Even if the blacklist is not real, it does not have to be. There are all sorts of things former employers, former coworkers, former partners (spouse or girl/boyfriend), or even people related to them can do to make your life difficult. With so many other choices of whom to employ, why would a company, reputable or otherwise, bother to hire someone they have been warned about formally or informally? Do you think they need to see your picture on the front page to not hire you? I think not.

My answers - find a different line of work, open a business, or leave this country. The last is looking to be the most appealing now. So the blacklist IS real, even if in my mind....

Can someone help me see the upside here?

[funkymonkey]

Can someone help me see the upside here?

The blacklist is a myth. Also, most schools do not talk to each other.