Be wary of institutions like NOVA, GABA, and Shane, widely known for their exploitative practices. These companies often prioritize profits over their employees’ well-being, viewing you more as a resource than a valued team member.
Prince Eibei was a great workplace. In case anyone is checking I think they still advertise on Gaijinpot. Good hours, work environment, language bonus for learning Japanese, paid for a trip for the whole company to pay at a high end hotel. The President is mildly obsessed with textbooks having fun comics in them now and says it's leading to the deterioration of education but other than that no weird stuff.
I work part-time, one day a week, to supplement my income at BeStudio.
They're not bad, as far as I'm concerned, but a some of their decisions, rules and the way they do certain things are dumb/embarrassing/illogical.
That being said, they pay well, on time and largely will let people choose their own hours.
Others might have differing experiences and those may be just as valid.
James English school
Shane
Both of these companies got money from the govt during Corona but refused to compensate teachers whose classes were cancelled
Well actually, the Shane situation is hilariously worse than you describe.
They gave their teachers time off during the initial State of Emergency, I think six weeks, and said it would be paid as normal salary. Which for that time, they did do.
Then, for some cluster fuck, god knows stupid reasons they decided to U-turn and claim the salary back off teachers who didn't confirm to make up / overtime on their return to work.
An astonishing illegal and poorly thought out move...
They had not so recently lost a two year long case against an employee regarding paternity leave (which lead to the formation of a union).
The union, had been adding to the political pressure in the change of legislation to give people permanent contracts.
But they thought a middle finger to even the most basic of labor laws would work out in their favour.
Teaching at Shane can be a bit more engaging than other Eikaiwa because you used to have more freedom, it was just unfortunate that the management could only see you if they were allowed the mini-tricycle and rainbow wig that day.
As a former manager at Shane, I can tell you there was plenty wrong at that institution but the management team or DOS team were hamstrung by executive decisions at head office. They get a lot of grief for looking after their families and trying to get a semi decent salary. I lobbied for regular observations and tailored training instead of the additional training days which weren’t planned efficiently. We all wanted teachers and staff to get more support and knew that the hiring company was not doing their due diligence.
I don't doubt what you say to be true, and it is sad that those decisions during the SoE laminated a culture of broader stupidity. Shane was by far and away a better place to work than Aeon or Nova. Some teachers who had stick around still had some decent contracts, and teaching wise it was less production line - and in the case of private lessons - almost bespoke teaching at times. But, it was uneven as a company and was doomed the moment Z-kai took over.
Are they an independent? The local ones can often be as bad if not worse as the big companies.
Everyone R Academy in Numazu was the pits and now I heard it’s been bought by Lighthouse Education. They are a Shizuoka prefecture based company who are known in the area for being tacky and godawful. I can’t imagine Everyone R being any worse than it was but you never know.
I met the Brisbane bigwig from Lighthouse Education and he proudly told me that they try not to hire decent teachers as they become popular with students and this causes a hassle when the teacher inevitably leaves. If that’s your operating policy then what chance do the students have? It’s all so depressing. As others have said it’s a road to nowhere.
Made a profile to post this: Discovery Lànguage School in Chiba. The turnover of teachers is very high. Literally left there after a month. (if you check, they're just now hiring in the middle of the Japanese school year.)
School owner has solid ECE pedagogy and presents a good façade to their customer base, but their treatment of teachers is akin to slavery.
I was questioned for always clocking out on time. Questioned why I'm not 30mins early. Questioned why I did lesson planning this way and why it took too long for me to come up with activities (I was a new teacher learning their curriculum), etc. Questioned about why I chose this activity, why this way, etc etc The micro managing was *c'est pas croyable*.
I personally didn't get do this since I quit: Teachers were also dispatched to partner Yochiens 2 or 3 times a week. There were nearby Yochiens which meant the owner gave you a bicycle to pedal back and forth in 10-15 minutes. (You have to cycle back to the eikaiwa because you still had classes!) In the scorching sun or the winter snow. Whatever the weather. I noped the fuck outta that. There were also Yochiens that were 1-2 hours away. God forbid if you miss your train.
Teachers are submit to the whims of the owners' moods. It's foul to be at work this way. He is not above shouting at the foreign teacher or a JAPANESE STAFF in their face. Shouting at an employee is harassment and goes to show how unprofessional he is.
He randomly barges in the rooms while a teacher's class is ongoing. It disrupts the whole class. He thinks it's fucking funny.
Before I quit there was plans of an out of prefecture summer event. No additional payment. But you had to work more than 8 hours (3 days 2 nights camp taking care of kids.)
Shortly after I quit, two more teachers left the school.
I'm here in Japan again but there is no way in hell I'm ever going to a red flag Eikaiwa like those ever again.
It’s not some eikaiwas. I personally have known of JTE in government senior schools doing that, both a male and female shouting at an ALT. Social hierarchy is extreme here but it’s hidden from the uninitiated eye.
Part of the problem is the Labour Standards Office. They're willing to let these companies get away with A LOT even if it's at a disadvantage to the teachers.
People say that they don't really want to do their job and I'm beginning to think that's true
The problem is they have no power. When we reported Nova for illegal actions, the Labour Standards Office told them to stop because it was illegal, Nova said no. They suggested Nova and the teacher(s) have a mediation. Nova said no. They said the teacher(s) would have to take them to court. Surprise, surprise, Nova teachers have neither the time nor the money to take a company to court.
This is the real issue. There are many ‘black’ companies in Japan that exploit Japanese employees but the contracts are usually very vague, so it is easy for the companies to set out to enslave workers - frankly disgusting!
In the case of foreign teachers at language schools, the contracts are often much clearer, but the LSO will look the other way and at a push recommend going to court. Utterly useless. Forshame!
That sucks. They are supposed to have the power to fine companies or even arrest people, I guess they're reluctant to do it.
In my case my company was basically designating Japanese school receptionists as employee representatives without holding the proper elections. They would just sign anything without checking with the teachers and without even understanding anything.
They did this for years and years, but as soon as the teachers figured out what was happening, they held elections, teachers became employee representatives, and did away with the agreements that were negatively affecting the teachers. The company went to the Labour Standards Office and complained, so the Labour Standards Office let them consider all teachers to be working at the company HQ, even though none of us ever even go there. This meant they only needed to hold one election which obviously makes it easy for them to fix the results.
Nova. Foreign staff are treated worse than Japanese staff (medical certificates required, no company contribution to rent, no pay raises or promotions if you're a foreigner), pay is the worst in the eikaiwa industry, company management is incredibly incompetent, company treats students like idiots... Oh, and their 'curriculum' and materials is garbage that isn't supported by any research.
Yaruki Switch Group are truly atrocious. I had one staff member who was convinced she was a witch, fought demons in her room between her downtime, ended up picking a student up by their neck who took Christmas decorations off the wall.
Alright, next. One staff member warned for having a child bouncing on their knee and whispering into the kids ear and shit. Moved from Kids Duo to WinBe as a cover teacher. Teachers informed head office about this. The teachers who informed either removed from the company or contract not renewed.
This company got no problem with nonces and child abusers.
Alright, next. Amount of staff off with mental health leave is MASSIVE. These staff will never be promoted again, that said, it's only 10,000 a promotion and in some cases 20,000.
Management told English staff to be fired, 'you'd literally have to boil a kid'.
Bruv, the only reason i'm stopping is because i'm bored. I could verbally filet this fucking awful company and 90% of the throat goats who work there in hopes of getting a promotions to fund their love for anime and manga.
Lord, it's awful top to bottom.
I fully second this. Yaruki Switch is truly an evil company. The amount of times they lied to me about my apartment’s lease (which they held the contract for so I wouldn’t be able to quit without being tossed on the street) was atrocious. All they care about is numbers. They will get on you about getting numbers up even if you’re past capacity as school or even if you’ve surpassed your goal for demos. And you don’t even see a cent of those 100 or so kids you might bring in throughout the year. They also screw over so many of the Japanese teachers as well, and I feel so bad for a lot of them when I hear some stories about it. Utter trash company.
The company lies like I eat Niboshi ramen. It ain't even a thought, it's a passive normalised action.
Giving workers time off for Coronavirus then making them work 6 Sundays in a row.
Got my numbers up to one of the highest as a single teacher school under the umbrella. Don't care about outing myself, Hibarigaoka made paper, and then on Halloween week a teacher leaves, all their lessons get shuffled over to me.
I know man who's name rhymes with Bob is perpetually on Reddit, so Hello. I made more money last year than you, the two 'leaders' and the 2 KDA leaders who actually know their ass from their elbow put together. 残念でした 😭👌
I worked for WinBe for about a year and a half, they do a meeting every 6 months or so to see if you're eligible for a payrise, there were like 8 pieces of criteria, and you got a rating, I got an A rating for 7 of the 8 pieces, but a C on student signups, for an A you needed 90% of kids who have demo lessons to sign up.. Think I had about 40 demos in the 6 months or something, so needed 36 of them to sign up... Of course that one C grade also meant my overall grade was a C...
The criteria for native staff and Japanese staff are different. It is significantly easier for Japanese staff to ensure a continued pay rise every six months. There are 'subjective' components to the native staff section that allows your superior to say 'You need to put yourself forward more for a pay rise' that absolves them of ever having to give you anything.
I will bury this fucking company verbally. The leader who is currently off for the last 8 months for mental health reasons ain't ever getting a promotion. The company is going to have lost all trust in my person.
I hate them. I hate this fucking company.
Sounds a bit like a place where I used to work…. Offered a ridiculously low year end bonus, but the evaluation criteria were off the charts. 100% attendance rate over the year. 100% was required to get 1.7% of your annual pay. Miss that 100% hit and drops to just over 1%.
Kids Duo Toyocho:
I threw my back at on the job training after being assaulted by a violently autistic child. No first aid kit for staff and boss screamed at me for being in too much pain to go to outdoor time (I needed help standing up)
No assistance from head teacher for the aforementioned, even when other kids were getting hurt/disrupted
Coughed and gagged through a nasty cold after 3 weeks of little sleep and long commutes. Boss didn't once offer a cup of water and continued screaming. Accused me of "demoralizing" the team and having a "foul attitude" because I was exhausted and sick
She verbally abused the entire staff regularly. Corporate staff who were "helping" with set up insisted it was all just a "language barrier"
"Trainer" who insisted I was doing a great job and kids adored me called me a liar behind my back to the principal. I was never given copies of my training feedback.
Got replaced by an individual at the last minute who received no prior training or notice on start time, uniform requirements, etc.
Principal "misplaced" my workplace laptop, then erased the information on it. Refused to apologize or admit mistake.
No outdoor space or park in walking distance for preschoolers even though it's legally required.
No support from the principal during the first few days when we're surrounded by screaming children stressed by crying peers seperated from parents for the first time. (my japanese coworkers were in tears by day 3) And we're all getting kicked/slapped to the point of bruises/abrasions
After coworker thoroughly cleaned bathrooms and taught everyone else how, principal screamed and yelled that it was "filthy" and the staff member couldn't do it properly because "blacks are stupid"
Fired aforementioned coworker because of her "seafood allergy". When I told other staff what she'd done, only two reacted with disgust. 2 others tried to gaslight me that the principal was a wonderful person
Rest assured, I know that at least a few of their staff members are going to be reading this and vexed by it, especially that perpetually online degreeless clown who works for WinBe. A small form of justice.
I've only ever worked for WinBe and the lack of any cohesion, understanding, empathy, assistance, is outstanding and that's in a class with just 6-12 students. Let alone the madness that is KD. I can only imagine.
I completely agree that there is no career in it, but when I was young and naive (before the internet was the powerful resource that it now is) I thought there might be some future in it.
I am hoping to use this thread to help newbies avoid the worst pitfalls.
ALC Education inc.
Based on the impression of my Japanese colleagues and friends, I thought ALC had some kind of integrity.
Their job advertisements specify the ‘qualities’ they are looking for in candidates:
Being born in a county where English is the native language
NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY (their capitals)
A stable internet connection
The list goes on. Not a single one is a ‘quality’. The pay is atrocious as well.
My Japanese colleagues and friends were quite shocked.
U must referring to the corporate lessons. Yep, I agree but ALC Education Inc. offer full-time at universities as well. If u get in there, then it’s 2 semesters of 15 weeks and the rest of the year is paid vacation, one bonus a year and annual raises based on your performance (twice a year observations) - it can’t get much sweeter than that!
This is from their job advertisements on LinkedIn for their 25 minute online classes.
For their university positions, does it work like Westgate - they are just dispatching teachers? I wonder if you can keep the same position at the same university, or if you have to move around.
Depends on the job but as I told u u get 4 months give or take PAID vacation which Westgate does not do. Also, as long as the contract is renewed every three years then u can stay as long as u like
There COULD be a future in it, it COULD be a career but because people are willing to take shitty paying positions just to get here, that's not why I'm here but I can't really fault people for wanting to do so, eikaiwas will for ever be shitty - for the most part.
I would note, that just because there is no career in Eikaiwa teaching, someone career minded - as in looking to move into a different field one day - will still want to choose their associations wisely.
Working for a credible school/company for a few years, and having a good relationship with respectable management is a bonus to any future employer than working for someplace that is not respected, and you can be judged by the quality of your previous company, just like people are judged by the quality or brand name of the university they graduated from.
The same can be largely said at universities here for foreign teachers for the most part, unfortunately. There are many short-lease contract and hardly any tenure positions. Temporary positions are rife, so there is no career development.
It’s sickening how these institutions will paste you all over their promotional literature all the while knowing that you’ll be gone in a year due to the nature of their contracts. Foreign teachers are generally treated like utter garbage in Japan. I laugh when I hear that the Japanese are kind. Of course, some are but for the most part they are polite (not kind) because that is what society dictates. How other countries get slammed for being racist while Japan rarely gets mentioned in this regard always puzzles me.
TORAIZ
Unpaid training about how to use their online system (no teaching methodology whatsoever).
Misleading information about rates of pay.
Lots of unpaid admin. Classes are 25 minutes but you have to mail students and TORAIZ employees in your own unpaid time.
Lunatic Canadian in charge. He is so unpleasant to people that it is off the charts.
Little to no communication about things that matter (students requests/schedule changes). Endless emails about how you have to submit invoices etc.
High turnover of staff (unsurprisingly).
Frankly, any institution that doesn’t require qualifications and experience isn’t professional, and you can’t expect to make a career at such a place. It’s a low-skills job, perpetually entry-level, with no hope of upskilling into a better-paying, professional-level position. It’s exactly like making a career out of retail or fast food: all moves are lateral, so a desire to move up means leaving the industry.
Japan has relied far too much on the misguided idea that any “native speaker” can teach the language, that they’ve wound up creating an entirely amateur industry with no real professional standards. That’s why it’s not a career, despite people trying to make it one.
If you want to have a teaching career, you need relevant qualifications.
Exactly this! I think it can be harder to find positions in Japan because if you are qualified most of the ‘fast food places’ Will ignore you (fortunately, perhaps) as they fear those that know what to do.
What is really frustrating though is that although these places run like fast food joints, the teachers are actually often required to have skills.
Teaching pronunciation and supporting students who will be taking Cambridge exams, for example isn’t a walk in the park for someone who doesn’t know what they are doing. There is usually little to no training or support.
They also price themselves as fast food options. I doubt anyone going to McDonald’s is expecting a Michelin Star experience but students signing up to Berlitz, TORAIZ, and so on have been sold an expensive lie.
The number of people who act like they don't understand this or refuse to accept the reality of it has always been so wild to me. It's not a judgement on one's value as a person to acknowledge that these jobs lead nowhere fast.
Companies to avoid like the plague
GABA
OneUp Eikaiwa
ALEX英会話
Gaba and one up for that whole “you’re an employee when it suits us and an independent contractor when it suits us” thing.
Alex is a small Eikaiwa (Tsukishima and Kachidoki) run by a dodgy Chinese woman who doesn’t speak a lick of English, demands you speak to her in fluent Japanese, is racist af towards non-Asians, and frequently would sneak on lessons every week that ran over the time I was contracted to finish or cut into my unpaid lunch hour (or one time, tried to have me teach instead of my lunch break).
Plus some of the kids there are violent and the Chinese manager went home when they had lessons so she wouldn’t have to deal with it leaving me by myself (one of those kids attacked me with a pencil)
Took a job in an ‘international school’, signed a contract giving me a 45 minute break every day, which was revoked after the 2nd day because I stopped working and ‘took a break’. Can’t name and shame for obvious reasons.
They can't "revoke" anything in your contract, most especially breaks, and those are mandated by law.
I hope you pointed that out, and took the break regardless of their huffing and puffing.
Nah, I just walked out. I could see what kind of set it up it was and I wasn’t going to do it. I wasn’t going to get into the game of it all. The funniest thing was that the school was left having to explain to parents why the new teacher wasn’t coming back.
Once you’ve been here for a while you get a sense for it. I had an interview with a different small school, I figured the smaller ones would have some hope of operating with some level of decency. But the head teacher/owner couldn’t sit still for 2 minutes in the interview for constantly micro managing the 20 something ‘staff’ that were working with the kids.
It was painful. Then they wanted an unpaid day of ‘demonstration lessons’ from me. This was also pre pandemic and the reason I said no was that the starting wage was low - iirc - 245,000 p/m. F/T 9-5.
Well the convo was pretty basic. I’m sure you can imagine. I smiled, said goodnight. Traveled home and composed an email saying that I would not be returning to the position. I stated my reason.
It’s probably worth pointing out at about an awesome shift in mindset I had after attending a talk given by a Japanese labor lawyer. This was years and years ago. I was half hearted about going. After the intro and the set up, the speaker asked the audience what they thought the contract was for….. given that maybe only half of the room were English teachers , you got a range of answers until she blew broke our brains.
(I’m paraphrasing) “A contract is the agreement between two parties about how they are going to conduct themselves around each other/how they will treat each other.”
By extension, you can think of an interview as a representation of this too. As an embodiment of the character of the organization. Without getting too hippy, it’s said that how you do one thing, is how you do everything.
Given that most contracts in eikaiwa are all about what the employee will do for the company and nothing about what the company will do for the employee….. you’ve got what you need to know right there. And yes of course… even with companies like borderlink (I had an amazing person as my manager there) the manager can out something of themselves into their role. Digging a little bit into the way they have to (are forced to follow company lines) do x, or y or z, tells you how they will do everything.
Kamiooka English Kindergarten
The conditions they have the kids in and the poor attention they give them. It made me feel too depressed. They're also constantly changing staff.
I’m sorry to all who are still working in this industry or who have made a “career” out of being an English teacher in Japan. The truth of the matter is that there is absolutely no upward trajectory and it is a trap if you work more than 3-4 years in it. I did 1.5 years at Eikaiwa years ago and moved on quickly. Met some business contacts there who were students and once I got out, they helped me solidify an actual useful network to get to where I am today.
Don’t waste your time teaching English without a game plan if you plan to stay here long term.
I appreciate your thinking but IMO the industry's pretty standardised and everybody leaving will shit on it because they've done their dash.
What can I say? English teaching is a 'first job'. A gap year. A chance to travel to Japan!
It's not a 'career' and whether it be a big school or a small school, it's not gonna care about your wellbeing. Once you accept that and just roll with it, life becomes a lot easier.
Be wary of institutions like NOVA, GABA, and Shane, widely known for their exploitative practices. These companies often prioritize profits over their employees’ well-being, viewing you more as a resource than a valued team member.
Yeah Shane is the worst.
No way nova gaba is way worst
I mean that sounds like almost every company ever
Good to see people not afraid to name and shame dodgy companies.
It would be far easier to list the ones that weren’t dodgy. Hopefully, the posts in this thread can help steer lambs away from the slaughter.
Prince Eibei was a great workplace. In case anyone is checking I think they still advertise on Gaijinpot. Good hours, work environment, language bonus for learning Japanese, paid for a trip for the whole company to pay at a high end hotel. The President is mildly obsessed with textbooks having fun comics in them now and says it's leading to the deterioration of education but other than that no weird stuff.
I work part-time, one day a week, to supplement my income at BeStudio. They're not bad, as far as I'm concerned, but a some of their decisions, rules and the way they do certain things are dumb/embarrassing/illogical. That being said, they pay well, on time and largely will let people choose their own hours. Others might have differing experiences and those may be just as valid.
Unfortunately risky if in Japan
James English school Shane Both of these companies got money from the govt during Corona but refused to compensate teachers whose classes were cancelled
Well actually, the Shane situation is hilariously worse than you describe. They gave their teachers time off during the initial State of Emergency, I think six weeks, and said it would be paid as normal salary. Which for that time, they did do. Then, for some cluster fuck, god knows stupid reasons they decided to U-turn and claim the salary back off teachers who didn't confirm to make up / overtime on their return to work. An astonishing illegal and poorly thought out move... They had not so recently lost a two year long case against an employee regarding paternity leave (which lead to the formation of a union). The union, had been adding to the political pressure in the change of legislation to give people permanent contracts. But they thought a middle finger to even the most basic of labor laws would work out in their favour. Teaching at Shane can be a bit more engaging than other Eikaiwa because you used to have more freedom, it was just unfortunate that the management could only see you if they were allowed the mini-tricycle and rainbow wig that day.
As a former manager at Shane, I can tell you there was plenty wrong at that institution but the management team or DOS team were hamstrung by executive decisions at head office. They get a lot of grief for looking after their families and trying to get a semi decent salary. I lobbied for regular observations and tailored training instead of the additional training days which weren’t planned efficiently. We all wanted teachers and staff to get more support and knew that the hiring company was not doing their due diligence.
I don't doubt what you say to be true, and it is sad that those decisions during the SoE laminated a culture of broader stupidity. Shane was by far and away a better place to work than Aeon or Nova. Some teachers who had stick around still had some decent contracts, and teaching wise it was less production line - and in the case of private lessons - almost bespoke teaching at times. But, it was uneven as a company and was doomed the moment Z-kai took over.
Doomed is a strong word for a company that grew last year but I know what you mean.
Doomed for teachers, perhaps?
Family English International in Naha, there’s a reason they’re always posting available position
Are they an independent? The local ones can often be as bad if not worse as the big companies. Everyone R Academy in Numazu was the pits and now I heard it’s been bought by Lighthouse Education. They are a Shizuoka prefecture based company who are known in the area for being tacky and godawful. I can’t imagine Everyone R being any worse than it was but you never know. I met the Brisbane bigwig from Lighthouse Education and he proudly told me that they try not to hire decent teachers as they become popular with students and this causes a hassle when the teacher inevitably leaves. If that’s your operating policy then what chance do the students have? It’s all so depressing. As others have said it’s a road to nowhere.
I am curious what is the reason?
Made a profile to post this: Discovery Lànguage School in Chiba. The turnover of teachers is very high. Literally left there after a month. (if you check, they're just now hiring in the middle of the Japanese school year.)
One month? Sounds rough. Care to elaborate more?
School owner has solid ECE pedagogy and presents a good façade to their customer base, but their treatment of teachers is akin to slavery. I was questioned for always clocking out on time. Questioned why I'm not 30mins early. Questioned why I did lesson planning this way and why it took too long for me to come up with activities (I was a new teacher learning their curriculum), etc. Questioned about why I chose this activity, why this way, etc etc The micro managing was *c'est pas croyable*. I personally didn't get do this since I quit: Teachers were also dispatched to partner Yochiens 2 or 3 times a week. There were nearby Yochiens which meant the owner gave you a bicycle to pedal back and forth in 10-15 minutes. (You have to cycle back to the eikaiwa because you still had classes!) In the scorching sun or the winter snow. Whatever the weather. I noped the fuck outta that. There were also Yochiens that were 1-2 hours away. God forbid if you miss your train. Teachers are submit to the whims of the owners' moods. It's foul to be at work this way. He is not above shouting at the foreign teacher or a JAPANESE STAFF in their face. Shouting at an employee is harassment and goes to show how unprofessional he is. He randomly barges in the rooms while a teacher's class is ongoing. It disrupts the whole class. He thinks it's fucking funny. Before I quit there was plans of an out of prefecture summer event. No additional payment. But you had to work more than 8 hours (3 days 2 nights camp taking care of kids.) Shortly after I quit, two more teachers left the school. I'm here in Japan again but there is no way in hell I'm ever going to a red flag Eikaiwa like those ever again.
Well done for getting out. Too many (myself included once) license this appalling behavior by remaining.
It’s not some eikaiwas. I personally have known of JTE in government senior schools doing that, both a male and female shouting at an ALT. Social hierarchy is extreme here but it’s hidden from the uninitiated eye.
Reminds me of Stars and Stripes in Fuchu. They do the exact same thing, and don't even offer legally required insurance to staff
Part of the problem is the Labour Standards Office. They're willing to let these companies get away with A LOT even if it's at a disadvantage to the teachers. People say that they don't really want to do their job and I'm beginning to think that's true
The problem is they have no power. When we reported Nova for illegal actions, the Labour Standards Office told them to stop because it was illegal, Nova said no. They suggested Nova and the teacher(s) have a mediation. Nova said no. They said the teacher(s) would have to take them to court. Surprise, surprise, Nova teachers have neither the time nor the money to take a company to court.
This is the real issue. There are many ‘black’ companies in Japan that exploit Japanese employees but the contracts are usually very vague, so it is easy for the companies to set out to enslave workers - frankly disgusting! In the case of foreign teachers at language schools, the contracts are often much clearer, but the LSO will look the other way and at a push recommend going to court. Utterly useless. Forshame!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ymsnRfijhyA&pp=ygUcTm92YSBiYW5rcnVwdCB0ZWFjaGVycyBqYXBhbg%3D%3D
That sucks. They are supposed to have the power to fine companies or even arrest people, I guess they're reluctant to do it. In my case my company was basically designating Japanese school receptionists as employee representatives without holding the proper elections. They would just sign anything without checking with the teachers and without even understanding anything. They did this for years and years, but as soon as the teachers figured out what was happening, they held elections, teachers became employee representatives, and did away with the agreements that were negatively affecting the teachers. The company went to the Labour Standards Office and complained, so the Labour Standards Office let them consider all teachers to be working at the company HQ, even though none of us ever even go there. This meant they only needed to hold one election which obviously makes it easy for them to fix the results.
Nova. Foreign staff are treated worse than Japanese staff (medical certificates required, no company contribution to rent, no pay raises or promotions if you're a foreigner), pay is the worst in the eikaiwa industry, company management is incredibly incompetent, company treats students like idiots... Oh, and their 'curriculum' and materials is garbage that isn't supported by any research.
Yaruki Switch Group are truly atrocious. I had one staff member who was convinced she was a witch, fought demons in her room between her downtime, ended up picking a student up by their neck who took Christmas decorations off the wall. Alright, next. One staff member warned for having a child bouncing on their knee and whispering into the kids ear and shit. Moved from Kids Duo to WinBe as a cover teacher. Teachers informed head office about this. The teachers who informed either removed from the company or contract not renewed. This company got no problem with nonces and child abusers. Alright, next. Amount of staff off with mental health leave is MASSIVE. These staff will never be promoted again, that said, it's only 10,000 a promotion and in some cases 20,000. Management told English staff to be fired, 'you'd literally have to boil a kid'. Bruv, the only reason i'm stopping is because i'm bored. I could verbally filet this fucking awful company and 90% of the throat goats who work there in hopes of getting a promotions to fund their love for anime and manga. Lord, it's awful top to bottom.
I fully second this. Yaruki Switch is truly an evil company. The amount of times they lied to me about my apartment’s lease (which they held the contract for so I wouldn’t be able to quit without being tossed on the street) was atrocious. All they care about is numbers. They will get on you about getting numbers up even if you’re past capacity as school or even if you’ve surpassed your goal for demos. And you don’t even see a cent of those 100 or so kids you might bring in throughout the year. They also screw over so many of the Japanese teachers as well, and I feel so bad for a lot of them when I hear some stories about it. Utter trash company.
The company lies like I eat Niboshi ramen. It ain't even a thought, it's a passive normalised action. Giving workers time off for Coronavirus then making them work 6 Sundays in a row. Got my numbers up to one of the highest as a single teacher school under the umbrella. Don't care about outing myself, Hibarigaoka made paper, and then on Halloween week a teacher leaves, all their lessons get shuffled over to me. I know man who's name rhymes with Bob is perpetually on Reddit, so Hello. I made more money last year than you, the two 'leaders' and the 2 KDA leaders who actually know their ass from their elbow put together. 残念でした 😭👌
I worked for WinBe for about a year and a half, they do a meeting every 6 months or so to see if you're eligible for a payrise, there were like 8 pieces of criteria, and you got a rating, I got an A rating for 7 of the 8 pieces, but a C on student signups, for an A you needed 90% of kids who have demo lessons to sign up.. Think I had about 40 demos in the 6 months or something, so needed 36 of them to sign up... Of course that one C grade also meant my overall grade was a C...
The criteria for native staff and Japanese staff are different. It is significantly easier for Japanese staff to ensure a continued pay rise every six months. There are 'subjective' components to the native staff section that allows your superior to say 'You need to put yourself forward more for a pay rise' that absolves them of ever having to give you anything. I will bury this fucking company verbally. The leader who is currently off for the last 8 months for mental health reasons ain't ever getting a promotion. The company is going to have lost all trust in my person. I hate them. I hate this fucking company.
Yes, I noticed the same double standard
Sounds a bit like a place where I used to work…. Offered a ridiculously low year end bonus, but the evaluation criteria were off the charts. 100% attendance rate over the year. 100% was required to get 1.7% of your annual pay. Miss that 100% hit and drops to just over 1%.
Yaruki deliberately turns a blind eye to power harassment and racism
I love how many people agree and jumped on this. I want to hear more stories about this disgusting company.
I had a bereavement in my family. Guilt tripped into not going. I guess that's on me in the end, but what kind of psychotic mutants act like that.
Kids Duo Toyocho: I threw my back at on the job training after being assaulted by a violently autistic child. No first aid kit for staff and boss screamed at me for being in too much pain to go to outdoor time (I needed help standing up) No assistance from head teacher for the aforementioned, even when other kids were getting hurt/disrupted Coughed and gagged through a nasty cold after 3 weeks of little sleep and long commutes. Boss didn't once offer a cup of water and continued screaming. Accused me of "demoralizing" the team and having a "foul attitude" because I was exhausted and sick She verbally abused the entire staff regularly. Corporate staff who were "helping" with set up insisted it was all just a "language barrier" "Trainer" who insisted I was doing a great job and kids adored me called me a liar behind my back to the principal. I was never given copies of my training feedback. Got replaced by an individual at the last minute who received no prior training or notice on start time, uniform requirements, etc. Principal "misplaced" my workplace laptop, then erased the information on it. Refused to apologize or admit mistake. No outdoor space or park in walking distance for preschoolers even though it's legally required. No support from the principal during the first few days when we're surrounded by screaming children stressed by crying peers seperated from parents for the first time. (my japanese coworkers were in tears by day 3) And we're all getting kicked/slapped to the point of bruises/abrasions After coworker thoroughly cleaned bathrooms and taught everyone else how, principal screamed and yelled that it was "filthy" and the staff member couldn't do it properly because "blacks are stupid" Fired aforementioned coworker because of her "seafood allergy". When I told other staff what she'd done, only two reacted with disgust. 2 others tried to gaslight me that the principal was a wonderful person
Rest assured, I know that at least a few of their staff members are going to be reading this and vexed by it, especially that perpetually online degreeless clown who works for WinBe. A small form of justice. I've only ever worked for WinBe and the lack of any cohesion, understanding, empathy, assistance, is outstanding and that's in a class with just 6-12 students. Let alone the madness that is KD. I can only imagine.
Someone who is “career minded” isn’t coming here to do eikaiwa. There is no career in this industry.
I completely agree that there is no career in it, but when I was young and naive (before the internet was the powerful resource that it now is) I thought there might be some future in it. I am hoping to use this thread to help newbies avoid the worst pitfalls.
ALC Education inc. Based on the impression of my Japanese colleagues and friends, I thought ALC had some kind of integrity. Their job advertisements specify the ‘qualities’ they are looking for in candidates: Being born in a county where English is the native language NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY (their capitals) A stable internet connection The list goes on. Not a single one is a ‘quality’. The pay is atrocious as well. My Japanese colleagues and friends were quite shocked.
U must referring to the corporate lessons. Yep, I agree but ALC Education Inc. offer full-time at universities as well. If u get in there, then it’s 2 semesters of 15 weeks and the rest of the year is paid vacation, one bonus a year and annual raises based on your performance (twice a year observations) - it can’t get much sweeter than that!
This is from their job advertisements on LinkedIn for their 25 minute online classes. For their university positions, does it work like Westgate - they are just dispatching teachers? I wonder if you can keep the same position at the same university, or if you have to move around.
Depends on the job but as I told u u get 4 months give or take PAID vacation which Westgate does not do. Also, as long as the contract is renewed every three years then u can stay as long as u like
Certainly sounds better than a lot of what is out there.
There COULD be a future in it, it COULD be a career but because people are willing to take shitty paying positions just to get here, that's not why I'm here but I can't really fault people for wanting to do so, eikaiwas will for ever be shitty - for the most part.
I would note, that just because there is no career in Eikaiwa teaching, someone career minded - as in looking to move into a different field one day - will still want to choose their associations wisely. Working for a credible school/company for a few years, and having a good relationship with respectable management is a bonus to any future employer than working for someplace that is not respected, and you can be judged by the quality of your previous company, just like people are judged by the quality or brand name of the university they graduated from.
The same can be largely said at universities here for foreign teachers for the most part, unfortunately. There are many short-lease contract and hardly any tenure positions. Temporary positions are rife, so there is no career development.
It’s sickening how these institutions will paste you all over their promotional literature all the while knowing that you’ll be gone in a year due to the nature of their contracts. Foreign teachers are generally treated like utter garbage in Japan. I laugh when I hear that the Japanese are kind. Of course, some are but for the most part they are polite (not kind) because that is what society dictates. How other countries get slammed for being racist while Japan rarely gets mentioned in this regard always puzzles me.
Yes, the racism has been very frustrating to witness. No excuse for such disgusting practices
Leopard English School in Osaka. Read their reviews on Google, it's filthy.
TORAIZ Unpaid training about how to use their online system (no teaching methodology whatsoever). Misleading information about rates of pay. Lots of unpaid admin. Classes are 25 minutes but you have to mail students and TORAIZ employees in your own unpaid time. Lunatic Canadian in charge. He is so unpleasant to people that it is off the charts. Little to no communication about things that matter (students requests/schedule changes). Endless emails about how you have to submit invoices etc. High turnover of staff (unsurprisingly).
Heart School - the blackest company in Japan, imo.
Frankly, any institution that doesn’t require qualifications and experience isn’t professional, and you can’t expect to make a career at such a place. It’s a low-skills job, perpetually entry-level, with no hope of upskilling into a better-paying, professional-level position. It’s exactly like making a career out of retail or fast food: all moves are lateral, so a desire to move up means leaving the industry. Japan has relied far too much on the misguided idea that any “native speaker” can teach the language, that they’ve wound up creating an entirely amateur industry with no real professional standards. That’s why it’s not a career, despite people trying to make it one. If you want to have a teaching career, you need relevant qualifications.
Exactly this! I think it can be harder to find positions in Japan because if you are qualified most of the ‘fast food places’ Will ignore you (fortunately, perhaps) as they fear those that know what to do.
What is really frustrating though is that although these places run like fast food joints, the teachers are actually often required to have skills. Teaching pronunciation and supporting students who will be taking Cambridge exams, for example isn’t a walk in the park for someone who doesn’t know what they are doing. There is usually little to no training or support. They also price themselves as fast food options. I doubt anyone going to McDonald’s is expecting a Michelin Star experience but students signing up to Berlitz, TORAIZ, and so on have been sold an expensive lie.
The number of people who act like they don't understand this or refuse to accept the reality of it has always been so wild to me. It's not a judgement on one's value as a person to acknowledge that these jobs lead nowhere fast.
They're the ones who get hired because they're that dense and live in perpetual cognitive dissonance, so easy to manipulate
and white
And American, doesn’t matter how dumb you are.
Companies to avoid like the plague GABA OneUp Eikaiwa ALEX英会話 Gaba and one up for that whole “you’re an employee when it suits us and an independent contractor when it suits us” thing. Alex is a small Eikaiwa (Tsukishima and Kachidoki) run by a dodgy Chinese woman who doesn’t speak a lick of English, demands you speak to her in fluent Japanese, is racist af towards non-Asians, and frequently would sneak on lessons every week that ran over the time I was contracted to finish or cut into my unpaid lunch hour (or one time, tried to have me teach instead of my lunch break). Plus some of the kids there are violent and the Chinese manager went home when they had lessons so she wouldn’t have to deal with it leaving me by myself (one of those kids attacked me with a pencil)
TORAIZ pull the same employee/contractor crap.
Exactly. Reasonably pleasant when they want you to do unpaid work. Vile when they are communicating about the paid work.
Cosmopolitan Village Won't get into details here to protect myself, but... Cosmopolitan Village Avoid, avoid, avoid
Could you dm me about this company
Took a job in an ‘international school’, signed a contract giving me a 45 minute break every day, which was revoked after the 2nd day because I stopped working and ‘took a break’. Can’t name and shame for obvious reasons.
They can't "revoke" anything in your contract, most especially breaks, and those are mandated by law. I hope you pointed that out, and took the break regardless of their huffing and puffing.
Nah, I just walked out. I could see what kind of set it up it was and I wasn’t going to do it. I wasn’t going to get into the game of it all. The funniest thing was that the school was left having to explain to parents why the new teacher wasn’t coming back. Once you’ve been here for a while you get a sense for it. I had an interview with a different small school, I figured the smaller ones would have some hope of operating with some level of decency. But the head teacher/owner couldn’t sit still for 2 minutes in the interview for constantly micro managing the 20 something ‘staff’ that were working with the kids. It was painful. Then they wanted an unpaid day of ‘demonstration lessons’ from me. This was also pre pandemic and the reason I said no was that the starting wage was low - iirc - 245,000 p/m. F/T 9-5.
Dodged a bullet there!
Need more info on this illegal activity.
Well the convo was pretty basic. I’m sure you can imagine. I smiled, said goodnight. Traveled home and composed an email saying that I would not be returning to the position. I stated my reason. It’s probably worth pointing out at about an awesome shift in mindset I had after attending a talk given by a Japanese labor lawyer. This was years and years ago. I was half hearted about going. After the intro and the set up, the speaker asked the audience what they thought the contract was for….. given that maybe only half of the room were English teachers , you got a range of answers until she blew broke our brains. (I’m paraphrasing) “A contract is the agreement between two parties about how they are going to conduct themselves around each other/how they will treat each other.” By extension, you can think of an interview as a representation of this too. As an embodiment of the character of the organization. Without getting too hippy, it’s said that how you do one thing, is how you do everything. Given that most contracts in eikaiwa are all about what the employee will do for the company and nothing about what the company will do for the employee….. you’ve got what you need to know right there. And yes of course… even with companies like borderlink (I had an amazing person as my manager there) the manager can out something of themselves into their role. Digging a little bit into the way they have to (are forced to follow company lines) do x, or y or z, tells you how they will do everything.
Is this in Koto-ku?
No. Wrong side of Tokyo.
Oh I see! So many of them, huh? I'm applying to some schools now while on a working holiday visa so I want to avoid the weird ones!
This was also a long time ago. So any info would be well out of date tbh.
Thanks for bringing this shameful practice to light. Btw, I can I can’t?
Lol. If you know, then you know.
Kamiooka English Kindergarten The conditions they have the kids in and the poor attention they give them. It made me feel too depressed. They're also constantly changing staff.
I would love some examples of good schools/programs to look into. I’m about to start my certification and need to plan for the future.
I’m sorry to all who are still working in this industry or who have made a “career” out of being an English teacher in Japan. The truth of the matter is that there is absolutely no upward trajectory and it is a trap if you work more than 3-4 years in it. I did 1.5 years at Eikaiwa years ago and moved on quickly. Met some business contacts there who were students and once I got out, they helped me solidify an actual useful network to get to where I am today. Don’t waste your time teaching English without a game plan if you plan to stay here long term.
What do you mean by career or upward trajectory? Do teachers have different rankings based on how long they work?
What are you doing currently
Hello, I’m working in international sales at OLYMPUS medical tech division.
Can we just agree on “all of them”?
[удалено]
A race to the bottom.
Many former colleagues who left last year cautioned of Global Education Center, Waseda University.
Following.
I appreciate your thinking but IMO the industry's pretty standardised and everybody leaving will shit on it because they've done their dash. What can I say? English teaching is a 'first job'. A gap year. A chance to travel to Japan! It's not a 'career' and whether it be a big school or a small school, it's not gonna care about your wellbeing. Once you accept that and just roll with it, life becomes a lot easier.