Workplace reviews and discussion: 瓦諾數位創意股份有限公司

I was very lucky to happen to work with a great group of colleagues; everything else was just average.

The work of an online magazine editor includes photography, interviews, photo editing, writing, proofreading, managing Facebook pages (now posting is handled by AI, since there are more than 20 pages 🫠), posting in LINE communities, uploading content to various news platforms, handling audits, and taking on the duties of employees who have left.

The department’s daily KPI is officially set at either “two sponsored articles” or “four resource articles” per day. This does not include any other miscellaneous tasks～ And if you are “naughty” enough not to quietly accept every unreasonable demand, the company will also arbitrarily change the KPI calculation method, like children playing house, making you go from “meeting the target” to “not meeting the target.” You will never be able to meet the target, and your team leader, under pressure from upper management, will make up a bunch of illogical explanations. In the end, there will still be no conclusion, and the company will dislike you even more.

The most outrageous change to the calculation method I heard about happened because the boss urgently asked everyone to work overtime on the afternoon before an audit. It was too last-minute, and some people genuinely had other matters that made it impossible to cooperate with the overtime request. In a fit of anger, the company changed the calculation method so that we could not meet the target, simply because it did not want to issue the NT$1,000 gift vouchers.

Then they used our failure to meet the target as a way to pressure us. Even taking annual leave required reading the room～

The company’s internal systems are chaotic, and the office culture is extremely problematic. If you want to stay there comfortably, remember to keep your mouth shut (even though during the interview they may say things like, “If you have any problems or are having difficulty communicating with your supervisor, you can come to me～” Just take comments like that with a grain of salt.)

Finally, when you resign, they will also ask you to sign a “Confirmation of Receipt of Resignation Salary.” If you do not sign it for the company before receiving the wages you are owed, the company will ask you to return to the office on payday to collect cash (I asked the Labor Bureau about this, and they said it was unreasonable).

In addition, that contract contains many provisions unrelated to confirming receipt of salary, such as waiving the right to make civil claims, the right to file criminal complaints, and the right to make administrative appeals. Everything about it is extremely strange. The company said the contract had been drafted together with lawyers and consultants, yet it apparently did not even know that the “right to file a criminal complaint” cannot be waived in advance.

After going back and forth for some time, the company ultimately allowed me not to sign the contract, but still threatened me by saying, “If the company later discovers any major deficiencies in the handover of your work or any problems with the work you were previously responsible for, we will initiate legal proceedings for compensation in accordance with the law, primarily through the Taichung District Court.”

If an employee commits a serious mistake, the company already has the right to file a lawsuit. I really do not understand the purpose of saying it again～

In short, if you are lucky, you may be able to stay there just fine. But if you care about things being reasonable and legal, do not come! (They do not even calculate overtime pay according to the proportions required by the Labor Standards Act～)