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

The job basically involves 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 end up taking over a complete mess (a cockroach infestation or severe rodent problem). Since the previous treatment was ineffective, the person taking over

may get chewed out because of problems left by the predecessor. Reporting the issue to management often results in being told that you should figure out how to solve it yourself,

or that a team leader or someone else will be assigned to accompany you (although senior management is also just going through the motions and does not genuinely devote effort to helping solve the problem).

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

After finishing work at 5 p.m., resting for 2–3 hours, and returning to the company to carry out pesticide spraying at 10 p.m. 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 workweek (public holidays marked in red on the calendar are also days off), using flexible-hours scheduling.

In other words, you get two or three days off per week (three when a public holiday happens to fall in that week), but three consecutive days off cannot be scheduled.

Overtime is currently calculated according to the Labor Standards Act, but only based on the insured salary used for labor insurance contributions.

For example, if your insured salary is 22,500: 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 work at hand—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 you to change the appointment time,

or a team leader or coworker may ask you to swap shifts with them. Often, if you do not show up, the work is left uncovered.

Salary consists of the basic salary + meal allowance + unexplained bonuses + overtime pay (if any; I heard they may change to a responsibility-based system),

minus some employee-paid labor and health insurance contributions. 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 calculation is for reference only).

Monthly earnings are generally between 30,000 and 40,000, with only a few people earning over 40,000. You only get more money after receiving a promotion or taking on a management position.

There is absolutely no system for promotions, taking on management roles, or pay raises; it all depends on the boss's mood. Of course, outwardly, the boss will say that there is a system.

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

The actual year-end bonus received 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 holidays are not guaranteed. They might consist merely of a box of pastries for everyone to share, or cash of 600–1,000.

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. However, if people eat too much, the boss may complain again, so some employees do not attend the dinners.

What I find most laughable about this company is that it claims on 104 that it provides comprehensive training.

“Comprehensive training” means applying to the company and being casually handed over to a senior employee or a colleague who is about to leave,

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

Then the company tells people outside that you have three years of experience. Three days equals three years of experience—is this some kind of time chamber?

In my view, pest-control work may look easy to enter, but without 1–2 years of training, it is difficult to become fully competent.

The job basically involves 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 end up taking over a complete mess (a cockroach infestation or severe rodent problem). Since the previous treatment was ineffective, the person taking over

may get chewed out because of problems left by the predecessor. Reporting the issue to management often results in being told that you should figure out how to solve it yourself,

or that a team leader or someone else will be assigned to accompany you (although senior management is also just going through the motions and does not genuinely devote effort to helping solve the problem).

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

After finishing work at 5 p.m., resting for 2–3 hours, and returning to the company to carry out pesticide spraying at 10 p.m. 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 workweek (public holidays marked in red on the calendar are also days off), using flexible-hours scheduling.

In other words, you get two or three days off per week (three when a public holiday happens to fall in that week), but three consecutive days off cannot be scheduled.

Overtime is currently calculated according to the Labor Standards Act, but only based on the insured salary used for labor insurance contributions.

For example, if your insured salary is 22,500: 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 work at hand—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 you to change the appointment time,

or a team leader or coworker may ask you to swap shifts with them. Often, if you do not show up, the work is left uncovered.

Salary consists of the basic salary + meal allowance + unexplained bonuses + overtime pay (if any; I heard they may change to a responsibility-based system),

minus some employee-paid labor and health insurance contributions. 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 calculation is for reference only).

Monthly earnings are generally between 30,000 and 40,000, with only a few people earning over 40,000. You only get more money after receiving a promotion or taking on a management position.

There is absolutely no system for promotions, taking on management roles, or pay raises; it all depends on the boss's mood. Of course, outwardly, the boss will say that there is a system.

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

The actual year-end bonus received 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 holidays are not guaranteed. They might consist merely of a box of pastries for everyone to share, or cash of 600–1,000.

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. However, if people eat too much, the boss may complain again, so some employees do not attend the dinners.

What I find most laughable about this company is that it claims on 104 that it provides comprehensive training.

“Comprehensive training” means applying to the company and being casually handed over to a senior employee or a colleague who is about to leave,

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

Then the company tells people outside that you have three years of experience. Three days equals three years of experience—is this some kind of time chamber?

In my view, pest-control work may look easy to enter, but without 1–2 years of training, it is difficult to become fully competent.