Why are they asking me to do this?

[CraigTPE]

I'd love to settle this in house and not get CLA involved but if they're going to hold out on giving me the documentation I need by LAW, what choice do I have?

I really don't understand the problem. I did this transaction myself. I didn't need anything from my then sponsoring employer to add another job to my ARC, nor did I need anything from the old employer when the new employer signed on as my sponsoring employer. After my new employer was signed on as my ARC sponsoring employer, I signed the cancel contract agreement with the old employer.

[tomthorne]

If the buxiban aren't going to pull a "You owe us two weeks pay for early termination of contract" then I'll eat my underpants. If I'm wrong then I'll eat yours.

Hang on a minute . I think the Sunday afternoon beers are dulling my senses. This may explain why I never win at gambling.

[superking]

I think that time and distance from Taiwan has dulled your senses, SK .

If the buxiban aren't going to pull a "You owe us two weeks pay for early termination of contract" then I'll eat my underpants. If I'm wrong then I'll eat yours.

I suspect you are right TT old chap. Plus, the thought of you having to eat your underpants is more than enough for me to leave all this alone! You having to eat mine would be a treat for you, what with them smelling of roses. I've never had that two weeks thing pulled on me. Is it a new tactic in these austere times?

And to Ovechkin, I hope everything works out well for you. Pity your replacement. You do not need the cancel contract form, as Craig has told you.

[superking]

You just want to eat some pants. Admit it.

WHY CANT I FUGGING USE THE EDIT BUTTON?????

[tomthorne]

I've never had that two weeks thing pulled on me. Is it a new tactic in these austere times?

It's been SOP in kindys for a while. It may well be spreading. It isn't technically illegal to have a financial penalty in a contract, but the employer isn't allowed to deduct the money from the employee's final salary check. If they do that then a visit to the CLA will sort things out pronto (plus the threat of a visit to the FAP if a kindy is involved ). It is then within the employer's rights to take legal proceedings against the employee to regain the money - which they would win. But of course none of them are going to bother over 30k or so unless the employee has made them lose face so badly they're doing it out of spite.

[superking]

I've never had that two weeks thing pulled on me. Is it a new tactic in these austere times?

It's been SOP in kindys for a while. It may well be spreading. It isn't technically illegal to have a financial penalty in a contract, but the employer isn't allowed to deduct the money from the employee's final salary check. If they do that then a visit to the CLA will sort things out pronto (plus the threat of a visit to the FAP if a kindy is involved ). It is then within the employer's rights to take legal proceedings against the employee to regain the money - which they would win. But of course none of them are going to bother over 30k or so unless the employee has made them lose face so badly they're doing it out of spite.

So they can penalise you for two weeks salary but can't take it out of your final wages without a massive struggle? Seems in common with most of the worlds stupid ass employment laws!

[tomthorne]

So they can penalise you for two weeks salary but can't take it out of your final wages without a massive struggle? Seems in common with most of the worlds stupid ass employment laws!

AFAIK they are breaking the CLA regulations which were introduced to try to stop the exploitation of foreign labourers. If the penalty is in the contract it's still breach of contract, though, and the teacher isn't within his rights not to pay it. It kind of makes sense when you think about the way the foreign labourers were being exploited and the measures that were taken to try to stop that. The proportionately irrelevant group of teachers simply got thrown into the same bucket.

[archylgp]

In Taiwan, to cancel a contract, you need to sign the Cancel Contract Agreement, nothing more.

This doesn't connect with my experience. I walked out on a job once that 'cancelled' my vacation time and didn't sign anything after/when I left...

There is a working hours limit on ARCs, right? Maybe this has something to do with getting a new ARC instead of just adding another school.

@Superking -- I see where you're coming from, but the boss is asking for it and the parents should know that the buxiban doesn't really care about the children's education as long as they're getting paid. If they did, they would treat teachers well and there wouldn't be a problem. It's obvious the school in question is shit: they are acting like babies when there is no problem - the OP is just skipping out on the summer term and there already is a replacement...

And, I don't think you should sign anything that says you are taking responsibility for anything - that is not standard resignation paperwork.. Perhaps you can go to the proper government department and get their official contract cancellation form (if there is one) read it over to make sure it won't put you in a bad situation and tell the school that this is what the government requires...

[steelersman]

What I can't understand is why so many posters (superking here) are against breaking contracts.

For me it is not exactly the breaking of the contract that is the issue, it is the stuff that goes along with it. I do not see Ovechkin providing an, 'unavoidable or unexpected reason," for this contract break. From there I fail to see why they won't be compliant in a small matter, and why they are angry that the boss is engaging in tit for tat behaviour?

Changing a teacher in the middle of a term is not good for the children, the parents will complain and the boss will get it in the neck. All the teacher wants to do is skip merrily from one job to the next with no hassles. I have seen it many times. Imagine the shitcake that would be produced if the boss said, "I have found someone better, you have one month to find a new job." Would that be ok? But that is what the OP is doing. Fair enough, they provide a new teacher, but what confidence can the boss place in this new person? 4 weeks from now they too might want to dance merrily into the night.

In non-teaching job then fine, contract break all you want and smear the words, "I quit," on a rizzla paper using the yoke of a duck egg. But if you are going to leave a class of kids (or more than one class) in the lurch then you can expect the boss to be pissed off and for there to not be a smooth exit for you. I don't see what harm adding a few extra words to your resignation letter can do to you? If it helps the boss and they in turn help you out a bit more then where is the harm?

I see things too much from my own perspective. It is a failing of mine. Feel free to rip into my post.

It is the summer. The poster would be changing before the fall semester. I don't see a problem with this.

[CraigTPE]

In Taiwan, to cancel a contract, you need to sign the Cancel Contract Agreement, nothing more.

This doesn't connect with my experience. I walked out on a job once that 'cancelled' my vacation time and didn't sign anything after/when I left...

There is a working hours limit on ARCs, right? Maybe this has something to do with getting a new ARC instead of just adding another school.

Fair enough.

It would have been better to have written, 'the most you need to sign is the Cancel Contract Agreement', not the nonsense that the OP's current employer is demanding.

The working hour limit may be an issue, but not likely. Employers generally put the minimum hours required on the work permit application to avoid higher tax liabilities. It doesn't mean that it doesn't exist, but I've never heard of a single case of adding a second job being rejected due to the work-hour limitation.

Getting the second job added to the ARC prior to dropping the first job is the way to go. If the OP drops the first job before adding the second job, and the second job can't get all the paperwork processed in the 2-week window, the OP will have to leave the country. (AFAIK) Absolutely no paperwork is required from the first employer to add the second, nor to have the second take over as the ARC sponsor. (At least from my own personal experience doing the same thing.)