An eye-opening experience

Not recommended. Absolutely not recommended! Don't be fooled by the seemingly high salary—the unpaid overtime you give the company makes it less worthwhile than working for a Taiwanese company. At least the workplace culture there is more liberal, and they wouldn't make absurd statements like “personal learning doesn't count as overtime.”

1. New employees spend one or two hours writing journals, but this is not counted as overtime pay because it is said to be “personal learning.” Although the official end of the workday is 4:00 p.m., almost everyone leaves at around 5 or 6.

2. Even though employees are already working unpaid overtime, supervisors still assign “homework” for subordinates to complete at home. If you don't do any “learning” at home, you will be scolded the next day.

3. All of the above is classified as “personal learning.” Several senior employees within the company agree that “personal learning does not count as overtime” because it “cannot bring the company any tangible, quantifiable benefits.”

I can't believe that in Taipei nowadays, there are still companies like this. It is even a consulting company that claims to provide consulting services for Japanese businesses in Taiwan. It has been operating for more than 20 years, yet it has never realized that its company policies are illegal.

Not paying overtime, arbitrarily defining what “doesn't count as overtime”—this is illegal in both Japan and Taiwan, and it also violates basic common sense.

I've only ever seen people specify “what counts as overtime”; I've never seen anyone specify “what doesn't count as overtime.” This company truly opened my eyes.