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

The work basically consists of riding a company motorcycle or car to various restaurants or establishments to carry out cockroach and rodent control.

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

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

you often end up taking over a complete mess (a severe cockroach infestation or serious rodent problem). Since the previous pest-control work was ineffective, the person taking over

may get severely chewed out for problems left by their predecessor. Reporting the issue to management often gets you a response like, “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 often just makes a superficial visit and does not genuinely devote time or effort to helping resolve the problem).

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

After finishing at 5 p.m., you may rest for 2–3 hours and then return to the company to carry out spraying work at 10 p.m.; that counts as a night shift.

Whether night shifts are limited to 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 leave the following morning, meaning you only need to start work at noon the next day.

At present, the company generally operates on a two-day weekly rest system (public holidays in the same month are also off) with flexible working-hour scheduling.

In other words, you may be given two or three days off in a week (three when there happens to be a public holiday), but three consecutive days off cannot be scheduled.

Overtime is currently calculated according to the Labor Standards Act, but only the insured base salary for labor insurance is used in the calculation.

For example, if your insured base 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 that you can claim.

Days off still have to be scheduled according to the work at hand—in other words, in coordination with clients, coworkers, and the company’s 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 simply goes uncovered.

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

minus employee-paid portions of labor and health insurance. Since the insured salary is low, this generally amounts to a little over 1,000.

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

Monthly pay is generally around 30,000 to 40,000, with only a few people earning more than 40,000. You only get more money after being promoted or taking on a supervisory position.

There is absolutely no system governing promotions, appointments to supervisory positions, or salary increases; it all depends on the boss’s mood. Of course, on the surface, they will say there is a system.

The year-end bonus is also calculated based on the basic salary, multiplied by a performance ratio (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 traditional festivals are not guaranteed. They may consist merely of a box of pastries for everyone to share, or cash of 600–1,000.

Employee trips basically do not exist. If this is a job where even taking three consecutive days off is impossible, how could there be an employee trip?

Departmental dinners also happen only occasionally, but if the boss thinks people eat too much, they may complain, so some employees do not attend the dinners either.

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

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

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

Then, internally, the company claims—and tells outsiders—that you have three years of experience. Does three days equal three years of experience? Did you enter a time chamber?

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

The work basically consists of riding a company motorcycle or car to various restaurants or establishments to carry out cockroach and rodent control.

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

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

you often end up taking over a complete mess (a severe cockroach infestation or serious rodent problem). Since the previous pest-control work was ineffective, the person taking over

may get severely chewed out for problems left by their predecessor. Reporting the issue to management often gets you a response like, “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 often just makes a superficial visit and does not genuinely devote time or effort to helping resolve the problem).

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

After finishing at 5 p.m., you may rest for 2–3 hours and then return to the company to carry out spraying work at 10 p.m.; that counts as a night shift.

Whether night shifts are limited to 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 leave the following morning, meaning you only need to start work at noon the next day.

At present, the company generally operates on a two-day weekly rest system (public holidays in the same month are also off) with flexible working-hour scheduling.

In other words, you may be given two or three days off in a week (three when there happens to be a public holiday), but three consecutive days off cannot be scheduled.

Overtime is currently calculated according to the Labor Standards Act, but only the insured base salary for labor insurance is used in the calculation.

For example, if your insured base 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 that you can claim.

Days off still have to be scheduled according to the work at hand—in other words, in coordination with clients, coworkers, and the company’s 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 simply goes uncovered.

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

minus employee-paid portions of labor and health insurance. Since the insured salary is low, this generally amounts to a little over 1,000.

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

Monthly pay is generally around 30,000 to 40,000, with only a few people earning more than 40,000. You only get more money after being promoted or taking on a supervisory position.

There is absolutely no system governing promotions, appointments to supervisory positions, or salary increases; it all depends on the boss’s mood. Of course, on the surface, they will say there is a system.

The year-end bonus is also calculated based on the basic salary, multiplied by a performance ratio (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 traditional festivals are not guaranteed. They may consist merely of a box of pastries for everyone to share, or cash of 600–1,000.

Employee trips basically do not exist. If this is a job where even taking three consecutive days off is impossible, how could there be an employee trip?

Departmental dinners also happen only occasionally, but if the boss thinks people eat too much, they may complain, so some employees do not attend the dinners either.

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

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

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

Then, internally, the company claims—and tells outsiders—that you have three years of experience. Does three days equal three years of experience? Did you enter a time chamber?

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