SHOULD I PAY MY TEACHERS VACATION ENTITLEMENTS?

[TROLL_UNDER_BRIDGE]

Some things have become readily apparent through monkey's responses, both here and on forumease. 1-He doesn't "own" the school at all. Rather, he's like many other expats who've gotten married and opened a little cram school in the sticks. His wife is the real owner. He just works there. He can't own it, regardless. A local person, by law, needs to be the fuzhe ren in a cram school business. 2- His much-trumpeted "high pay" for "his teachers" is the result of two things: First, he doesn't have many classes, so cannot offer block hours, nor a full-time schedule. Second, he's not licensed to sponsor foreign teachers. He's a small operation in the sticks that cannot offer ARC, laobao, jianbao, nianjia nor a livable number of hours (to say nothing of accident insurance or year-end bonuses). He has to rely on APRC/JFRV holders who have gaps in their schedules for his staffing needs. So, yeah, he pays 1000nt per hour to freelancers for those few hours he has on offer. He has to, or no one would take the hours. Monkey could have saved himself a lot of grief in this debate if he'd just admitted: I don't pay yearly leave because I'm really only offering a half dozen or so under-the-table hours per week to guys who have other jobs or sources of income elsewhere. I'm not big enough to offer real employment and, thus, the regulations for REAL jobs do not apply to my situation. Oh yeah, and I don't run the school, nor really have a clue about the regulations governing the buxiban industry. My wife is the one who actually owns and operates the place. I just show up with my sticky balls.

[SPAM]

Congratulations! So you pay your teachers a living wage. Well done!

In funky monkeys defence, I would say he offers a much higher than average salary. I would not call that barbaric at all.

The above are falling prey to the expat teacher fallacy that high hourly pay equals a "living wage." Most often, schools that offer these NT1k per hour salaries are only doing so because they can only offer a few hours, something even big duke and funky monkey concede is true in both their cases.

When figuring this "living wage" concept, we have to look at the total package that a school provides. 1000nt per hour for only 4 hours per week cash isn't that great on its own. However, a school that offers 700-750 per hour with a stable 100-120 hours per month is offering considerably more, even if their hourly pay isn't as sexy at first glance. Then we have the other things: ARC sponsorship? National Health? Labour insurance? Classes that are closed get replaced? Local staff for discipline? The list goes on.

Yes, 1000nt per hour looks attractive on the surface, but it's only really an impressive "living wage" if it comes with real hours and benefits.

[channamasala]

I don't see it changing either which makes me upset and sad, because English teaching, like any other teaching, has the potential to be a real and actual profession with qualification, training, talent, experience etc. all counting for something and earning you increasingly better pay and benefits as you move up. Instead it's a bullshit industry full of corrupt money-grubbers, idiot managers (who might know how to basically run a business but don't know jack squat about dealing with foreigners or education, who tend to be racist and sexist) middle-aged perverts and 22-year-old know-nothings* willing to work for piss&giggles.

[GUYINTAIWAN]

I don't see it changing either which makes me upset and sad, because English teaching, like any other teaching, has the potential to be a real and actual profession with qualification, training, talent, experience etc. all counting for something and earning you increasingly better pay and benefits as you move up. Instead it's a bullshit industry full of corrupt money-grubbers, idiot managers (who might know how to basically run a business but don't know jack squat about dealing with foreigners or education, who tend to be racist and sexist) middle-aged perverts and 22-year-old know-nothings* willing to work for piss&giggles.

Whilst I do think that the average worker gets treated like shit, they also don't bring anything of real value to the company. They are easily replaced because it's easy to replace a zombie who screws around on Facebook all day. They're regarded as worth little because they are worth little, and they're worth little because they're regarded as worth little. It's a bit of a chicken and the egg thing. Regardless, I wouldn't want the average Taiwanese person working for me. I wouldn't try to treat them like shit, but I could see how my patience would wear very thin, very quickly and I'd probably start treating them like shit because they wouldn't care enough to make me want to value them. Life is a two way street. If the average worker here doesn't give a shit, why should the boss give a shit? Frankly, if I had carte blanche at the school where I work, I'd fire half of the teachers here within the first hour, though the problem would be that the next wave of replacements, and the wave after that, and the one after that ad infinitum, would be just as bad. The incompetence, lack of initiative and sheer laziness here is astounding, and I don't think reworking the incentives to provide more carrot and less stick would necessarily make any difference. The only thing many of them do understand is a bigger stick. So, fuck 'em.

[chewycorns]

Taiwan's education services expat arena is full of poseurs, drug addicts, failed academics, mental problem people, faux communication artistes, and many expats that would live below the poverty line within their home countries (many have all of these qualities ).

So yes, when I see people commenting on other people's grammar repeatedly, I often wonder what ego-driven motivation has caused them to preach at the circus. Don't get me wrong--the circus has some truly wonderful acts and some great talent, but you also have majorities of sub-par carnies, manic depressive clowns, and washed-up bearded ladies. That some people like to preach about punctuation, control free speech, or moderate such an environment illustrates a total lapse with reality and often illusions of grandeur.

It's also one of the best shows to watch exactly because of peoples' inflated sense of self worth.

[tainancowboy]

It's also one of the best shows to watch exactly because of peoples' inflated sense of self worth.

Such as posts like this?

Given Xinhai that you have never made an accurate post in the past, I am hesitant to believe you are making one now. However, it is fairly well reasoned and possibly correct. Good for you little grasshopper.

This has been heavily edited (by the forum mods) to remove about 90% of the insults and condescending, pretentious comments. This guys friends are looking after his ass.

Its good that he has found a refuge on the internet to spew such drivel and smarm;in real life - this would be worth a well-deserved ass-kicking.

By the way, this Hsinhai78 quoted chapter and verse of Taiwan law to back-up his comment.
He continues to kick "progressive" foreigner ass in the thread...