Workplace reviews and discussion: 耀際實業有限公司

The job basically consists of riding a company motorcycle or car to various restaurants or establishments to control cockroaches and rats.

Working hours are 8:30 to 17:00, with a 1.5-hour lunch break. You clock in and out at the company.

You visit approximately 5–8 clients a day. This is not difficult for people with pest-control experience, but because employee turnover is so high,

you often inherit a complete mess (cockroach infestations or severe rodent problems). Since the previous treatment was ineffective, the person taking over

may get chewed out over problems left by the previous worker. Reporting the issue to management often gets you a response that you should figure out how to solve it yourself,

or they may send a team leader or someone else to accompany you (although senior management merely goes through the motions and does not genuinely devote the effort needed to help resolve the issue).

Night work is defined as work after 5 p.m. For example, leaving at 5 p.m. to perform pest control until 8 p.m. counts as overtime.

If you finish work at 5 p.m., rest for 2–3 hours, and return to the company to do pesticide spraying at 10 p.m., that counts as a night shift.

Whether night shifts stay under seven days is also a matter of luck; when there is a staff shortage, plenty of people work more than ten days.

After working at night, you must take compensatory time off the following morning, meaning you only need to start work at noon the next day.

At present, the company generally implements a two-day weekend (public holidays marked in red on the calendar are also days off), with flexible working-hours scheduling.

In other words, you get two or three days off per week (three when there is a public holiday), but three consecutive days off cannot be scheduled.

Overtime is currently calculated in accordance with the Labor Standards Act, but only based on the insured basic salary for labor insurance.

For example, if your insured basic salary is 22,500, the calculation is 22,500/240 × 1.33 or 1.66 (after two hours).

Because the “one fixed day off and one flexible rest day” system and public holidays are shifted, there is essentially no overtime pay for working on days off to claim.

Days off still have to be scheduled according to the workload—in other words, in coordination with clients, coworkers, and company operations.

For example, a supervisor may suddenly instruct you not to take the day off, a client may suddenly ask to change the appointment,

or a team leader or coworker may ask you to switch shifts with them. Often, if you do not show up, the work simply goes uncovered.

Pay consists of the basic salary + meal allowance + unexplained bonuses + overtime pay (if any; I heard they plan to change it to a responsibility-based system).

Some employee-paid labor and health insurance contributions are then deducted. Since the insured salary is low, the deduction is generally just over 1,000.

The actual calculation is 22,500 + 1,500 + 8,000 + 1,236 − 800 = 32,436 (this estimate is for reference only).

Monthly pay is generally between 30,000 and 40,000. Only a few people earn more than 40,000; you only get more money after being promoted or taking on a supervisory role.

There is absolutely no system for promotions, becoming a supervisor, or raises; it depends entirely on the boss’s mood. Of course, outwardly they will always say there is a system.

The year-end bonus is also calculated based on the basic salary, multiplied by a performance ratio (which the boss also determines personally, between 0.5 and 1).

The actual year-end bonus is approximately 11,250–22,500 (based on a basic salary of 22,500). If you have worked for less than a year, it is calculated proportionally by month.

Bonuses for the three major festivals are not guaranteed. It could be just one box of cookies for everyone to share, or cash of 600–1,000; anything is possible.

Employee trips basically do not exist. If it is impossible even to take three consecutive days off, how could there be an employee trip?

Department dinners only happen occasionally. But if people eat too much, the boss may complain again, so some employees do not attend the dinners.

What I find most ridiculous about this company is that it claims on 104 Job Bank to provide comprehensive training.

“Comprehensive training” means that after you are hired, they casually assign you to a senior employee or a coworker who is about to leave,

who trains you for 3–5 days and then leaves you to deal with clients and pest control on your own (because turnover is so fast, no one is available to take over the area).

Then, within the company, they claim and tell people externally that you have three years of experience. Three days equals three years of experience—did you enter a time chamber?

In my view, pest-control work may look easy to enter and get started in, but without one or two years of training, it is difficult to become fully competent.

The job basically consists of riding a company motorcycle or car to various restaurants or establishments to control cockroaches and rats.

Working hours are 8:30 to 17:00, with a 1.5-hour lunch break. You clock in and out at the company.

You visit approximately 5–8 clients a day. This is not difficult for people with pest-control experience, but because employee turnover is so high,

you often inherit a complete mess (cockroach infestations or severe rodent problems). Since the previous treatment was ineffective, the person taking over

may get chewed out over problems left by the previous worker. Reporting the issue to management often gets you a response that you should figure out how to solve it yourself,

or they may send a team leader or someone else to accompany you (although senior management merely goes through the motions and does not genuinely devote the effort needed to help resolve the issue).

Night work is defined as work after 5 p.m. For example, leaving at 5 p.m. to perform pest control until 8 p.m. counts as overtime.

If you finish work at 5 p.m., rest for 2–3 hours, and return to the company to do pesticide spraying at 10 p.m., that counts as a night shift.

Whether night shifts stay under seven days is also a matter of luck; when there is a staff shortage, plenty of people work more than ten days.

After working at night, you must take compensatory time off the following morning, meaning you only need to start work at noon the next day.

At present, the company generally implements a two-day weekend (public holidays marked in red on the calendar are also days off), with flexible working-hours scheduling.

In other words, you get two or three days off per week (three when there is a public holiday), but three consecutive days off cannot be scheduled.

Overtime is currently calculated in accordance with the Labor Standards Act, but only based on the insured basic salary for labor insurance.

For example, if your insured basic salary is 22,500, the calculation is 22,500/240 × 1.33 or 1.66 (after two hours).

Because the “one fixed day off and one flexible rest day” system and public holidays are shifted, there is essentially no overtime pay for working on days off to claim.

Days off still have to be scheduled according to the workload—in other words, in coordination with clients, coworkers, and company operations.

For example, a supervisor may suddenly instruct you not to take the day off, a client may suddenly ask to change the appointment,

or a team leader or coworker may ask you to switch shifts with them. Often, if you do not show up, the work simply goes uncovered.

Pay consists of the basic salary + meal allowance + unexplained bonuses + overtime pay (if any; I heard they plan to change it to a responsibility-based system).

Some employee-paid labor and health insurance contributions are then deducted. Since the insured salary is low, the deduction is generally just over 1,000.

The actual calculation is 22,500 + 1,500 + 8,000 + 1,236 − 800 = 32,436 (this estimate is for reference only).

Monthly pay is generally between 30,000 and 40,000. Only a few people earn more than 40,000; you only get more money after being promoted or taking on a supervisory role.

There is absolutely no system for promotions, becoming a supervisor, or raises; it depends entirely on the boss’s mood. Of course, outwardly they will always say there is a system.

The year-end bonus is also calculated based on the basic salary, multiplied by a performance ratio (which the boss also determines personally, between 0.5 and 1).

The actual year-end bonus is approximately 11,250–22,500 (based on a basic salary of 22,500). If you have worked for less than a year, it is calculated proportionally by month.

Bonuses for the three major festivals are not guaranteed. It could be just one box of cookies for everyone to share, or cash of 600–1,000; anything is possible.

Employee trips basically do not exist. If it is impossible even to take three consecutive days off, how could there be an employee trip?

Department dinners only happen occasionally. But if people eat too much, the boss may complain again, so some employees do not attend the dinners.

What I find most ridiculous about this company is that it claims on 104 Job Bank to provide comprehensive training.

“Comprehensive training” means that after you are hired, they casually assign you to a senior employee or a coworker who is about to leave,

who trains you for 3–5 days and then leaves you to deal with clients and pest control on your own (because turnover is so fast, no one is available to take over the area).

Then, within the company, they claim and tell people externally that you have three years of experience. Three days equals three years of experience—did you enter a time chamber?

In my view, pest-control work may look easy to enter and get started in, but without one or two years of training, it is difficult to become fully competent.