Workplace reviews and discussion: 亞太聯合實業有限公司

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Violations of the Labor Standards Act: unpaid overtime, continuous overtime without days off for two consecutive weeks, failure to enroll five or more employees in labor and health insurance, and delayed wages.

Interview (there were two rounds)—During the second interview, the mainland Chinese boss, speaking with a mainland accent, asked many questions about the interviewee’s family members and romantic relationships. They then asked you to work overtime on Saturdays and Sundays for events, saying that events occurred approximately once a month and that everything would comply with the Labor Standards Act and all benefits would be provided according to law. At the time, I thought it was a forward-looking mainland Chinese company, and there were also opportunities for overseas assignments. Because it was located in Taipei 101, ordinary people would assume it was a forward-looking, internationalized company, but unfortunately the facts were the opposite. Many people only found this out after joining.

After joining—I discovered that the company asked me for my information but did not enroll me in labor and health insurance (already illegal). In terms of work, the boss and supervisors lacked company management, time management, and a clear business direction. Sometimes the boss was nowhere to be seen. The supervisor had no real authority and could not make decisions; they would not reply even when asked via messaging apps. When the boss returned to Taiwan and came to the office on Fridays, he would often question whether my workload was too light and require me to work overtime the next day, Saturday or Sunday, to catch up on progress, while “helping out” with serving tea and receiving government officials and artists (effectively forcing overtime, not because there was actually an event), sometimes until very late. On Saturdays and Sundays, you might also have to be on call at any time. Regardless of gender, everyone had to move things and do manual labor. For actual events, the preparation period was approximately two weeks from scratch, so the schedule was very tight and overtime was common before events. Before an event, everything had to be reported through multiple layers, and asking the boss for decisions would take a very long time. He would then question why I or the team were moving so slowly. The supervisor was extremely evasive, often assigning public-area cleaning and miscellaneous chores, and would not discuss how the company operated. New employees had no clear understanding of the company’s policies or direction (perhaps there were none). They might also notify a new colleague on the same day that they did not need to come in the next day. Of course, employees had to pursue their rights to severance pay and overtime pay themselves. The supervisor and boss would save money wherever possible and pretend not to know the Labor Standards Act, while repeatedly emphasizing in meetings that everything would follow the Act, yet employees were still expected to work overtime on Saturdays and Sundays (how is that legal?). For overtime work, under the Labor Standards Act, working on statutory days off requires not only compensatory leave but also overtime pay. However, the supervisor said that because the industry was special and the matter had been reported to the city government, there was no need to separately pay overtime for statutory days off. Yet no such report could be found on the government’s public website. The supervisor would urge you to use up your compensatory leave as soon as possible, while rarely taking compensatory leave himself—a double standard (he could probably claim overtime pay himself, right?).

The boss was emotionally unstable, and decisions regarding projects would constantly change. He spoke loudly and made exaggerated physical gestures, and would make physical contact with me and my colleagues. This became increasingly frequent, and colleagues had discussed this issue because it felt very uncomfortable (sexual harassment). When this was reported to the supervisor, he would turn a blind eye and give evasive excuses such as: the boss was very busy, projects in mainland China were large, and he was under a lot of pressure. The boss would often curse at new colleagues behind their backs in front of senior colleagues. The senior colleagues did not dare talk back and could only obediently nod. The actual job duties differed from what had initially been described. When the supervisor summoned you for a meeting, it was to test you, followed by saying that the boss had not seen your efforts or results and that you had to work harder to win the boss’s favor. Salary payments were often delayed by several days compared with the agreed payday, and the company did not provide advance notice. The boss wanted employees to accompany him for drinking and social engagements, so colleagues who cooperated would win his favor. This is a very complete example of the system surrounding Taiwan’s traditional exploitative bosses. If the boss was unhappy with or disliked a particular colleague, he would constantly nitpick and look for faults, openly or indirectly suggesting in meetings that a certain person was performing poorly.

For the reasons above, I suffered physical and mental distress and am no longer with this company. I recommend not spending time interviewing here. The company has very high employee turnover: people are either dismissed without warning or are capable employees who cannot tolerate staying. The only people who remain are those few long-term employees, who are naturally beneficiaries of the arrangement and will not help convey employees’ opinions to the boss. Regardless of their abilities, they all hold the power to control you.

Related companies of Asia-Pacific United Industrial—China Arts Museum and China International Auction (they are actually the same company. Pay attention to job postings on employment websites, which change frequently; they all belong to the same boss and the same team).

Honestly, this is not a long-term company where you can be treated sincerely. Please do not waste your valuable time coming here.