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

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

may get severely blamed for problems left by the previous employee. 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 usually just 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.

Finishing at 5 p.m., resting for 2–3 hours, and returning to the company to do pesticide spraying at 10 p.m. counts as a night shift.

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

After working at night, you must take compensatory leave the following morning, meaning you can start work at noon the next day.

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

In other words, you may get two or three days off in a week (three when a public holiday happens to fall 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.

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

Because the “one regular day off and one rest day” system and public holidays are shifted, there is essentially no holiday overtime pay to claim.

Days off still have to be scheduled around the work on hand—in other words, coordinated with clients, coworkers, and the company’s operations.

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

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 may change to a responsibility-based system),

minus various employee-paid labor and health insurance contributions. Since the insured salary is low, the deductions are generally just over 1,000.

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

Monthly income is generally between 30,000 and 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 role.

There is absolutely no system for promotions, becoming a supervisor, or pay raises; it depends entirely 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 ratio (also determined by the boss, ranging from 0.5 to 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 holidays are not guaranteed. They may consist of just one box of pastries for everyone to share, or cash ranging from 600 to 1,000.

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

Department dinners only happen occasionally, and 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.

The “comprehensive training” consists of 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, after which you are left to deal with clients and pest control on your own (because turnover is so high that no one is available to take over the assigned areas).

Then the company tells people externally that you have three years of experience. Three days equal three years of experience—did you enter a time chamber?

In my view, pest-control work may seem 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 locations 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 have to visit approximately 5–8 clients per day. This is not difficult for people with pest-control experience, but because employee turnover is so high,

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

may get severely blamed for problems left by the previous employee. 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 usually just 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.

Finishing at 5 p.m., resting for 2–3 hours, and returning to the company to do pesticide spraying at 10 p.m. counts as a night shift.

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

After working at night, you must take compensatory leave the following morning, meaning you can start work at noon the next day.

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

In other words, you may get two or three days off in a week (three when a public holiday happens to fall 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.

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

Because the “one regular day off and one rest day” system and public holidays are shifted, there is essentially no holiday overtime pay to claim.

Days off still have to be scheduled around the work on hand—in other words, coordinated with clients, coworkers, and the company’s operations.

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

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 may change to a responsibility-based system),

minus various employee-paid labor and health insurance contributions. Since the insured salary is low, the deductions are generally just over 1,000.

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

Monthly income is generally between 30,000 and 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 role.

There is absolutely no system for promotions, becoming a supervisor, or pay raises; it depends entirely 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 ratio (also determined by the boss, ranging from 0.5 to 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 holidays are not guaranteed. They may consist of just one box of pastries for everyone to share, or cash ranging from 600 to 1,000.

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

Department dinners only happen occasionally, and 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.

The “comprehensive training” consists of 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, after which you are left to deal with clients and pest control on your own (because turnover is so high that no one is available to take over the assigned areas).

Then the company tells people externally that you have three years of experience. Three days equal three years of experience—did you enter a time chamber?

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