ARC Transfer & Release Letters

Trying to change jobs can break two ways.  You and your old school come to an amicable agreement.   You're still on good terms.  And, as such, they are willing to let you take the ARC they have gotten for you and transfer it over to your new school.  This is really the ideal situation in terms of changing jobs.  It is, sadly, rare.  More often, even if the school likes you, they will go by the mantra of "help no other school".  This means you have to leave Taiwan, return, and apply again for a new ARC.  That's when you need a release letter.  More about that situation further on.  For now, let's focus on the happier circumstance of your old school allowing you to transfer your ARC.

Transferring Your ARC

Again, they are rare, but ARC transfers do happen.  Most commonly within large chains: from Green Balloon School in Kaohsiung to Green Balloon School in Taichung.  Less common between different schools.  But, if your school is willing to let you transfer, sometimes it's helpful to have the necessary documents to start the process in hand to help them along, and here they are.  

Fist up is: an Agreement to Transfer Letter  (or click here if you can't display Chinese characters) ( jwan ping tong eee shu ).  This is what your old, friendly school will need to fill out and send to the Education Ministry.  It says that they agree to the transfer of your ARC.  

After that is the Application to Hire a Transferred Teacher  (for English Windows) ( jwan ping why shu shen chin han ).  Your new school will send this.  

If your schools are willing to let you do a transfer, giving them these documents should enable them to get the process started without delay.  The paperwork takes about a month to complete, so expect to be still listed as working at your old school during that time.  

The Release Letter

More often then not, however, for "competitive" reasons (schools not wanting to give a teacher to the competition), teachers often find themselves unable to get permission from their old schools to transfer their ARCs.  In such a case, they quit their jobs.  This requires that they leave Taiwan, apply for a new visitor visa, return to Taiwan, and reapply for an ARC with their new school.  Intentionally blocking ARC transfers just to win an incremental delay against your working for any another school strikes us as being against the most basic rights of workers.  "Sure, another school will hire you, but, we don't care.  We're going to make it hard on them, and you.  Have a nice flight."  That's at least NT$10,000.  We are working on addressing that: enabling teacher to transfer jobs at will, the same rights local people have.    

Within the community of teachers there has been ample debate about this point.  Conversations with officials in the Ministry of Education offices in Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung, city and county, have confirmed that if you leave and return to Taiwan, as long as your old work permit and ARC have been canceled by your previous employer, you can get another ARC upon your return.  That said, in Taiwan, NOTHING is ever for sure, but, it would seem that, as long as you get your old ARC/Work Permit cancelled, you can return.

If you tried to get an  ARC transfer but couldn't and then have to leave, when you return to apply for a new ARC through your new school, your old employer could block you further still.  How?  By not signing a release letter.  When this occurs, your new school can't hire you.  Until the Ministry of Education has been informed in writing that you are not working for your old school ,they won't issue another ARC.  You should try to get your school to agree that they will release you.  In most cases, though, your old school will follow through.  Keeping you on their rolls rolls will complicate their further hiring.  

In some cases, however, teachers have returned, started the process anew and found that their school has intentionally NOT sent release letters, just to keep them from working again.  If you find yourself in this situation, how can you get your old school  to do the right thing? You can go to your local office of the Education Ministry, but most teachers have found their branch of the Education Ministry to be more interested in protecting schools' rights than in looking out for teachers. Discussions with the Education Ministry have revealed this bias. Their attitude is that there are two sides to every story.  How this can be true in the case of not getting a release letter is beyond even the most basic intellect: "I need a release letter to start my new job. The school I am NOT now working at, hasn't and won't send it. I don't work there anymore.  To whom can I go?" The bias is more than a bias, it is a virtual policy. The Ministry of Education sees their focus as the schools, not the foreign teacher.

The government has established a nationwide office to protect the rights of foreign workers. Having revealed this situation to them, they have told us that they are more than willing to call the school and press for your rights.  Click here to see their phone numbers and addresses if your computer can display Chinese characters, or here if you are using English Windows.  Each office has English speaking staff. Remember, they are a government agency.  You can ask them questions and they will help, but you should go to them with some kind of valid visa.  

Attached is a document  written in Chinese and English clearly outlining the situation with blanks for your name, the school's name and the phone numbers of the school so that they can have a clear picture of what has happened to you and who they need to call and put the heat on to get your release letter. You should print it out and fax it to them after you call.  English Windows, Chinese Windows.  

Also, the responsibility for issuing ARCs to teachers is being transferred from the Ministry of Education to the Department of Labor.  That should translate into greater employment rights for all teachers.