A job advertisement posted by National Chung Hsing University, which is looking for people with at least six years of experience for a part-time teaching position without offering “hourly wages due to the class’ mandatory nature,” might be creating an unhealthy precedent in academia that could follow the practice of forced unpaid leave implemented by corporations, critics said.
To see a national university post such an advertisement was “chilling,” lawyer Lu Chiu-yuan (呂秋遠) said on Facebook, adding that he thinks Taiwanese work environments should not turn into a setting where employers with high incomes implement “ruthless” cost-cutting measures to achieve zero overhead, or “free,” services.
National universities are in no shortage of funds, Taiwan Higher Education Union spokesperson Lin Por-yee (林柏儀) said, adding that the university was opening a can of worms by setting a precedent for not paying its part-time instructors.
While there are people who are willing to teach classes for free, many are waiting for full-time career opportunities at national universities, Lin said, adding that the union is against hiring instructors without paying them.
The university’s College of Agricultural and Natural Resources dean Chen Shu-chun (陳樹群) said the job advertisement was aimed at hiring instructors with practical experience to help students have a better understanding of the course.
The instructors would be given job contracts, Chen said, adding that a regulation stops them from paying hourly wages, as it states that instructors who do not exceed three hours of class time per week cannot be paid hourly wages and cannot be considered members of the staff.
The college is paying the instructors by allocating funds under travel expenses, Chen added.
“We wanted to state that fact in the advertisement, but the language is apparently not clear enough,” Chen said, adding that it should have said the people who would be hired for this job would not be considered actual staff.
University secretary-general Tsai Ching-piao (蔡清標) said that the college was asked to rephrase the advertisement.
The college posted the advertisement in October, looking for instructors with at least six years of experience or with an international bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture and recreation management.
The advertisement said that the course was “voluntary and will not be paid on an hourly basis.”
Universities are allowed to hire independently, but they must adhere to certain procedures, Ministry of Education Department of Higher Education Director Nicole Lee (李彥儀) said.
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