台灣再生能源推動聯盟

I worked as a part-time employee at this nonprofit organization. There were few internal employees, with only 4–6 full-time and part-time employees in total. The following evaluation is provided from a part-time employee’s perspective.

1. The hourly wage for part-time employees is relatively high, currently $180 per hour.

2. The benefits are fairly good. Part-time employees also receive year-end and three-festival bonuses. There is a celebration banquet when projects are completed, and part-time employees can also participate in employee trips and year-end banquets.

3. The working hours are flexible; working about three days a week is generally sufficient. This is an advantage when the workload is not heavy and there are many outside commitments.

1. The supervisor frequently changes decisions. Many documents may be rejected even when prepared according to formats that were stamped and signed off the previous year. Employees may even be blamed and asked, “How could you do it this way? Didn’t they teach you this at school?”

2. The flexible working hours mentioned among the advantages become a major disadvantage when the workload is heavy, because the supervisor is unwilling to schedule additional hours, with a maximum of three days per week. If assigned work is not completed at the pace the supervisor imagines, the employee is considered to have an unmotivated attitude toward work. To give an example from my own experience, my original duties consisted only of simply recording income and expenses, organizing petty cash, sorting invoices, and providing flexible administrative support to full-time staff. After the administrative employee left, the workload increased substantially. However, after the replacement full-time employee started, my workload did not decrease. Initially, I proposed increasing my working hours to my supervisor without attempting to shirk any duties. The supervisor said I should coordinate my office hours with the other part-time employees. However, when I later confirmed my working hours with the supervisor, I was blamed for not asking for approval first and told that I should have obtained the supervisor’s consent instead of making the decision myself. In the end, my weekly working hours were reduced from 21 to 18, and 3.5 of those hours were fixed times during which I could not work on my own duties. The excessive reduction in working hours and unequal distribution of work caused my progress to fall short of the supervisor’s expectations. In addition to being blamed for having an unmotivated work attitude, I was even told that if I could not meet the supervisor’s expectations, I should resign at the end of November.

3. Unequal pay for equal work. As a part-time employee, I earned less than NT$16,000 per month, yet was required to perform all kinds of work, including cashiering, administration, and general affairs. The workload was nearly equivalent to that of full-time employees, while my working hours were constantly reduced. I was also labeled as having an unmotivated work attitude. In the end, the supervisor even wanted employees to finish handling all major events and then resign before the year-end bonus was paid. The supervisor euphemistically described these duties as challenges and accumulated work experience, assuming that having two years of experience meant I should be proficient at handling them.

4. A lack of respect for professional expertise. When preparing reports to be disclosed at the members’ meeting, the supervisor would propose many impractical ideas. When I suggested consulting the accountant who specialized in handling the organization’s accounts, I was scolded and told, “These are our own accounts. We are the ones paying someone to help us handle the bookkeeping. Of course, we get to decide what goes in the reports—why would we ask the accountant?” Although I ultimately persuaded the supervisor to handle the matter appropriately based on the accountant’s advice, this clearly demonstrated the supervisor’s attitude of disrespect toward professional expertise.