羽野企業有限公司

1. My colleagues were all easy to get along with while I worked there.

2. Normal working hours.

However, the accountant occasionally had to work overtime

(they would wait until almost closing time to ask her to mail letters at the main post office).

3. Employee benefits listed on the job-search website:

A. Bonuses for the three major festivals: A fixed NT$1,000, with no gift box.

B. Perfect-attendance bonus: NT$1,500 (included in the base salary).

C. Year-end bonus: The owner decides how much to give based on your job performance. There is no fixed amount, and everyone receives a different amount. It may be less than one month’s salary or more than one month’s salary; whatever she says goes.

D. Salary adjustment: A fixed raise of NT$500 after completing each year of employment.

E. Employee gym: It belongs to the building and requires a voucher to use. The owner never gave employees those vouchers.

F. Year-end banquet: Once a year; the dinner is extremely awkward.

G. Salary matters: The owner handles them; the accountant does not.

There are no salary details for monthly pay or the year-end bonus (no payslips).

If you have questions about your salary, you have to ask the owner yourself.

1. There are surveillance cameras above the office. Even when the owner is not at the company, she monitors you via a mobile-phone connection to see whether you are working.

2. The atmosphere at work is unpleasant and gloomy.

The owner is cold and has that kind of smile that conceals a knife…

The male owner is often out of touch with what is going on.

3. If you look at your phone or answer a personal call during work, you will definitely be called in for a talk.

4. Colleagues are not allowed to chat or laugh together either. Even when a colleague is sitting right beside or across from you, you have to chat privately via LINE on the computer. It is ridiculous.

5. Cleaning is required every Monday

(wiping the windows, wiping desks, sweeping, and mopping; office staff take turns doing it).

6. The air conditioning is not turned on every day. The owner controls it by voice, and it can only be turned on when she says so. The temperature can only be set to 26°C, and quite often the air conditioning is not turned on. Fans are not provided either, so usually you just get natural air. Before long at work, your whole body will become hot and smell sour. You may bring a small personal fan to place under your desk.

7. At the beginning of the year, there is a worship ceremony to mark the start of work, but no red-envelope bonus is provided.

The owner prepares the offerings, but after the ceremony she keeps all but one item for the employees to eat and takes the rest home.

8. Purchasing staff: Duties within the job scope, plus occasional need to move goods.

9. Accounting staff: Duties within the job scope; no need to move goods.

However, there are many miscellaneous tasks (collecting mail from the first-floor management office every day, receiving deliveries at the office, mailing letters and packages at the post office, printing barcodes for shipped products; when imported goods arrive, counting the goods, writing small product notes, photographing products, and editing and uploading product images to the computer—it is very annoying).

10. Annual leave is available, but you must submit a leave form in advance.

The owner will be unhappy if you request leave at the last minute.

Accountants are not allowed to take leave at the beginning or end of the month (because the company is busiest then).

Accountants are especially overwhelmed at the end of the year…

There is an enormous amount of work, so you need to have strong stress tolerance!

11. Basement motorcycle parking spaces: Only field staff and accounting staff have them (provided free of charge); other employees do not.

However, the company does not subsidize motorcycle fuel costs when field staff travel to vendors or accountants travel to the main post office and banks.

12. When the time clock rings at the end of the workday, clock out and leave promptly.

Do not feel embarrassed; quickly pack up and leave. There is no overtime pay anyway, and if you cannot finish something, just do it the next day.

13. Just do the work within your own responsibilities. Do not demonstrate overly strong abilities at work; the boss will not give you a larger raise because of it. Doing a good job will only wear you out.

Unless you cannot find another job or are under financial pressure,

you can take this job temporarily, but once you find another one, leave quickly—do not hesitate.

P.S. My work experience here: one and a half years; I have already left.

1. While I was there, my colleagues were all easy to get along with, but turnover was high, and the reasons are all listed under the cons.

2. No overtime, because no overtime pay is provided (is this really a pro?)

3. The benefits listed on the job-search website are all real: bonuses for the three major holidays, year-end bonuses, and the company year-end party. But don't expect too much from the bonuses. Also, employees need to remind them— the bosses don't have spare cash to give them to you proactively.

The company is run by a married couple who are several years younger than my parents—basically at my parents' level, anyway (?)

After working here for more than a year, I have a few thoughts:

1. Employees are not trusted

There are surveillance cameras installed in the small office, and even when the bosses aren't in the office, they're watching you～～～The pressure is extremely high.

2. The bosses don't care about employees:

This is the most hurtful part. Without employees' hard work, how would the bosses make so much money? No one is asking them to pamper employees; at the very least, they should provide trust and respect. When the two bosses are in a bad mood, the employees are the ones who suffer. When conflicts with vendors escalate, employees are often put on the front line to be berated by the vendors. They ignore employees' grievances and hide away themselves, making employees feel an extreme lack of belonging and responsibility. This was also the main reason I resigned.

When you say you want to resign, they will never try to retain you. They have money, after all; they can just find another fool who doesn't know how terrible exploitative bosses are.

3. They delay salary payments:

It's not that the bosses are facing financial difficulties and need everyone to endure hard times together. Rather, when it comes to employee benefits, the bosses will “accidentally” forget! They have more important things to remember, apparently: you employees should work hard, and I'll give you the money when I think of it. (And the bosses go out to have fun very frequently; they even take a month-long overseas vacation every year.)

4. Whether the air conditioning is turned on depends on the bosses' mood, and employees get scolded for turning it on themselves. But the bosses have their own electric fans, and all their seats are in well-ventilated areas. In a tropical place like Kaohsiung, how are you supposed to work without air conditioning?

Those are my thoughts. I originally intended to settle down in southern Taiwan, so I thank this company for showing me that Taiwanese small and medium-sized businesses really are no good. You work yourself to death, get paid little, and still have your wages delayed.

The average employee turnover in the office is about one year. Raises come very slowly. Don't expect much from the starting salary.

The bosses are very capable and can supposedly make things happen, but perhaps they are still better suited to working on their own rather than employing staff, and they don't know how to take care of employees.

I urge all capable people to think twice before deciding whether to join.