You can drink your favorite beverages and have store meals during work hours.

I previously worked at a franchised store in New Taipei City. There was no labor or health insurance and no labor pension; the owner required us to enroll in an outside workers’ union ourselves.

On weekdays, the working hours were 10.5 hours. There were no staff meals or designated meal breaks, and we often could not eat until after 2 p.m. The pay was about the same as that of a part-time worker.

There was no overtime pay for arriving early or leaving late. Even after working for two full years, the year-end bonus was less than half a month’s salary. When dealing with unreasonable customers, the owner would not support you.

When the new Labor Standards Act regulations took effect, they said they would discuss them with the managers of the other stores. The discussion went on for an entire year, with no news at all.

For deliveries, we had to use our own motorcycles and our own phones to contact customers. There was no reimbursement for fuel or phone expenses. If we did not ride to work because something came up, we would still be yelled at and asked, “How are you supposed to make deliveries like this?”