Job Discussion Forums

[Mosley]

Before I begin my tale of woe & warning, I think it's only fair to give my background lest anyone thinks it was a neophyte who got into this mess. Here goes: in the last decade I've taught ESL for seven years in E. Asia-two in S. Korea & five in Japan. That's seven individual one-year contracts spread amongst three employers. Despite some scrapes along the way, I fulfilled every one of those contracts.

Earlier this year, I ran into some financial difficulties & decided that going back to Japan was a way out. In the latter part of March I started a job w/a smallish eikaiwa called Language House(LH). It turned out that some of the usual BS w/such outfits was the case w/LH. I won't go into all the details-they've been documented before. However, one problem has to be related here. With the encouragement of management, I started the job without a work visa. This was partly my fault-as a veteran I should've known better. Suffice it to say that when I was forced to leave this position after seven weeks, I was still about two weeks away from getting my visa. And folks, living/working abroad without the proper visa is no fun at all. No bank account, telephone, health insurance. Hell, you can't even rent a video.

Here's the heart of the mater though. In mid-April I started getting disturbing e-mails telling me that my father's health was failing rapidly. I should have bolted for home then but didn't. At the start of Golden Week it became clear that my father was deathly ill. I still hung on for a few days, hoping against hope that his health would improve. Finally, I made the decision to go home on May 4th. I informed my immediate supervisor the next day that I had no choice but to pull the plug and go home. He seemed sympathetic and Ileft all my contact information with him. On the 6th I left for home and as it turned out my father died on the 10th. I sent e-mails to my supervisor and a letter to the owner with proof of my father's passing. In turn, I received.... nothing. Not even condolences. Nice and considerate eh?

As time went on, it became apparent that noone from L. H. had any interest in paying me outstanding salary. I had been paid once, three days late, and received the princely sum of Y11,000 (!). At the end of June I sent a letter to the owner saying that I had no choice but to go public with L.H's conduct if I wasn't going to be paid. Lo and behold he sent me an e-mail in early July saying that he would've done the same as me but on the other hand I "stiffed" him by abandoning the contract!! He said if I would just give him the details of my home bank account, the matter would be settled. Foolishly, I believed him and replied with the required info. I waited and...nada. I sent another e-mail in late July and...nada. Not a nickel. I tried again on Aug 9th and my message was blocked. Two weeks ago I sent a "last chance" letter and... nada. Hence my posting here.

All in all, considering my airfare, money borrowed, the cost of setting up my apartment and unpaid salary, I'm out about Y306,000. And yet if L.H. would've offered me a lousy $1000 US to put the whole matter to rest, I would've accepted.

So here are two warnings. 1) Don't take a job in Japan or elsewhere without a proper visa. It ain't worth it. 2) Avoid the turkeys at Language House at all costs.

BTW, I'm not looking for sympathy-I know it's in the dictionary between s*** and syphilis. Nor am I looking for management apologists to chime in-keep your comments to yourselves. I'm only seeking to warn. However, if anyone has had a similar royal screwing around, I'd like to hear about it.

[PAULH]

Mosley

for what its worth I worked at Language house for a year in the 80's and know G.P. he can blow hot and cold and with money he can be as tight as an Irish nun. I remember one guy was there about 6 weeks got involved in a traffic accident and wound up in hospital with two broken legs. Graham fired the guy while he is still laid up in hospital. Thats the kind of guy he is.


I'm sorry to hear about your predicament and your father (despite the fact you were working illegally and strictly speaking don't have a legal leg to stand on to claim compensation- did you have a visa application stamp in your passport?) I will put this up as a stickie for you.

Language House advertises on this site so there is a risk of negative posts disappearing if he decides to complain.

[Mosley]

Thanks PAUL. I got the visa application stamp only a week before I had to leave. I'm painfully aware that I have to accept partial blame for taking a job w/o the visa first. PS I'm very aware that LH advertises on this site.

[ajarn]

[PAULH]

Just curious, how late did you leave it to tell G.P that you were leaving the country, or did you just tell the supervisor? He could have been been compromised by suddenly finding he has no teacher to cover a class and some explaining to do to clients and customers who have paid for lessons.

One of the pitfalls of working on no visa or during a visa application is that you really have no legal safety net if something like this happens, and Im sure its not the first time he has had teachers suddenly bail out on him at the last minute. You may be safe with immigration re visa but your work status is still in a kind of limbo and Im not sure he would be covered by insurance, for example to cover any out of pocket costs.

Its also times like this that a union comes in handy to negotiate for you but most people new in the country dont do anything until after the s--t hits the fan.

[Mosley]

ajarn, you're obviously such a class act that it would be pointless to reply to someone of your intuitive knowledge, grace and compassion....

PAUL: GP knew in April that my father was not well. My supervisor told me that he would inform GP of the situation on the day I left. Keep in mind that this was during Golden Week-not an ideal time to get a hold of people. Considering the urgency & stress of the situation, I thought I handled it quite well and kept my wits about me and did everything in my power to keep everyone relevant informed.

[Akula the shark]

It was fairly common when I was at L.H that teachers would arrive without visas, start work and then get their visas when the certificate came through, and it looks like it is still going on.

In fairness, if this wasn't done, they would probably have patches where they would have to cancel a lot of classes.

G.P is by nature a businessman, and a relatively successful one at that, and we got along pretty well, but if you are a complainer, or a non-performer, he will get rid of you, something I saw on more than a few occasions. Perhaps the OP did something to get G.P's back up.

Money? Well, G.P is not the most free-spending guy in the world, but his business has been barely profitable for some time.

I could go on about the pros and cons of this school, and there are some of both, but what happened to the OP didn't surprise me.

[nomadder]

I recently heard of a school that wants a teacher to come on a tourist visa and it will be changed to a work visa 6 weeks later. Sounds like it would be best to only go with a proper work visa. I wonder how common this is. Seems a bit too risky(shady?).

I thought you couldn't teach legally on a tourist visa and had to leave the country to change it. Maybe this has changed.

[PAULH]

[Mosley]

Just to clarify: I had no major issues with GP until I left under unavoidable circumstances. Breaking a contract is something I take VERY seriously & this was the first time I had ever done so. Good Lord, it's not as if I suddenly decided, after 5 previous years in Japan, that I couldn't take NHK & sushi anymore & pulled a midnight run....

[J.]

I have never worked for Language House but I believe everything you said. I interviewed with the owner, who flipflopped at least three times during the interview as to whether I should work there, going on nothing more than the latest thought passing through his mind, I think. My assessment of the man was that he was very erratic and disorganized, especially in his mind, didn't really seem to be completely aware of how his business was being run and the procedures of the office, which I think he delegated to others, and almost seemed to have some kind of personality disorder. A big ego too. Anyway, about 30 minutes was all it took for me to get out of there and never go back.

[PAULH]

[Stosskraft]

Quote:

. You should be glad you didn't meet his wife.

Please do tell, Paul.

[Akula the shark]

[Doglover]