For people without experience, the pastry department offers opportunities to learn some dessert decoration skills and plenty of practice.

Days off are still arranged in accordance with the Labor Standards Act: 8–10 or 11 days, scheduled through shift planning. If you cannot use all your days off that month, the unused time will be converted into hours for you.

However, whether you have the opportunity to take those compensatory days off later depends on the branch manager and whether there is sufficient staffing.

During the probationary period, the actual take-home pay is only NT$25,000. It increases to NT$27,000 only after completing three months, including perfect-attendance and meal allowances.

Some branches may shortchange you on your hours, fail to report overtime, or report only two hours of overtime even when you work more than two additional hours. If you do not raise the issue with your supervisor, the extra hours may simply go uncompensated. Even when they are returned, it may only be through unscheduled break time.

These breaks are entirely subject to the supervisor’s discretion; it is quite common, for example, to be told to take a break at 12:00 even if your shift starts at 10:00.

To put it nicely, each of the two daily meal breaks is supposed to be one hour, but in practice the meal time is only about 15–20 minutes. After a busy day, the actual working time is usually around 10–11 hours, and the monthly deep-cleaning shift may even last 14–15 hours. You may not necessarily be able to report it as overtime.

The company does not place much importance on the pastry side of the business, making promotion more difficult. Some people have remained third cooks for seven or eight years and are still third cooks.