Workplace reviews and discussion: 禾拓規劃設計顧問有限公司

【Benefits】

● Year-end bonus: During my employment, the year-end bonus was always a six-figure amount. However, after dividing it by twelve months, it could roughly be regarded as around NT$10,000 in overtime pay per month, with the year-end bonus effectively reduced to zero.

● Employee travel: Basically, there is one domestic and one overseas trip each year. Domestic travel is fully subsidized by the company. Overseas travel receives partial subsidies depending on the position, seniority, and performance of current employees. The company provides leave during the trips, and the days are not deducted from annual leave. Still, it must be said that not everyone wants to travel with their colleagues from the company…

● Overtime taxi and meal subsidies: For overtime past 23:00, a taxi fare subsidy of up to NT$350 is provided. For overtime exceeding three hours (excluding mealtime), there is a NT$100 meal subsidy. Still, it must be said that I would rather leave work on time than work more than three hours of overtime just to receive that NT$100 subsidy…

● Birthday leave and birthday celebrations: Employees receive birthday leave on their birthday. If the birthday falls on a holiday or there is an important work meeting that day, leave may be taken earlier or later with the supervisor’s approval. Whenever someone has a birthday that month, a birthday celebration is held. All I can say is, thank you for your hard work, welfare committee members…

【Illegal practices】

● Underreporting salaries for insurance: The company’s practice of underreporting high salaries was quite serious during my employment. For example, when my salary was in the NT$30,000–40,000 range, the company enrolled me in insurance based on a salary of only NT$24,000–26,000. According to people familiar with the company, only the insured salary levels of personnel stationed at county and city government offices matched their actual salaries, because government agencies conduct inspections.

● No overtime pay: The company has a large volume of projects, so overtime is routine. Overtime on weekdays is treated as accumulating good karma, while overtime on holidays is exchanged for compensatory leave. Whether there is time to take compensatory leave or annual leave depends on one’s own work arrangements—but remember, “the workload is heavy.” Sometimes the boss requires compensatory leave accumulated during a certain period to be used up. Unused compensatory leave is not paid out. Annual leave is more flexible about postponement, but I still have not heard of unused required leave being converted into wages.

● Early termination of labor insurance: Before leaving, I had accumulated a great deal of annual leave and compensatory leave and, with approval, took more than a month off all at once. One month before my departure, the boss asked whether my labor insurance should remain in effect through the end of that month or until my leave ended. I explained that I might still return to the office to handle work during my leave, so I decided to remain insured until the end of my leave (OS: Even while on leave, I was still an employee, so of course labor insurance should remain in effect. What kind of question is that?). During my leave, the boss also asked me to return to the company to assist with the execution of other projects. However, after starting my next job, I received a bill from the National Health Insurance Administration for an outstanding mid-period payment and discovered that the boss had actually terminated my labor insurance one month early without informing me. When I asked about it, I learned that only six days separated the termination date from the inquiry—so what was the point of asking me in the first place?

【Other】

● The company has approximately thirty employees. I was not employed there for very long, yet during that period, the number of people who joined and left the company each exceeded half of the total workforce, including senior managers who had worked there for quite a long time. Approximately 5–10 people who joined after me left before I did.

● As for the supervisors and senior colleagues who rely on their seniority, I would rather not say too much here. In any case, they were not particularly pleasant to work with.

【Summary】

● Still, I have to thank the company for giving me such an intense workload. During my relatively short employment, I learned various work skills and successfully found my next job. After starting work, I realized that 【a healthy body and mind】, 【contributions and rewards being proportional】, and 【achieving a balance between work and life】 are the most important things. However, during my employment, I could not confidently say that even the most basic requirements of all three had been met.

● As for the Labor Standards Act, I can only say: isn’t it supposed to guarantee workers’ most basic rights? Choosing this company at the time was probably a case of being blinded by something. I hope the current company has improved by now…

※Stop workplace sexual harassment! Stop workplace sexual harassment! Stop workplace sexual harassment!※

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