Job Discussion Forums

[aijiang]

This is a letter written to the head of EF Shanghai by an old teacher.

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN,

This letter is to inform you of the gross misconduct by one of your franchise schools, EF Urumqi Youhao. During my one year of service for Ef Urumqi I have seen the mistreatment of many foreign teachers. Now that I personally have been ill treated, I feel it is time to say something to protect the professionalism of your school. I am aware of EF�s prestigious reputation and I feel EF Urumqi does not uphold your standards of professionalism and service.

I arrived in Urumqi on 3 April 2006. The first couple of months were fine as our centre had a steady group of teachers and class loads upheld those stipulated in the contract. Then, John Doe was fired for reasons pertaining to appearance. EF felt that John was too old though he was only in his early 50�s. He was fired with one days notice and had his visa and apartment immediately revoked. As a teacher who worked closely with John, I can attest to the fact that he was a great teacher and was well liked by his students.

The DoS for EF Urumqi, John Doe2 was fired shortly there after. John Doe2 worked as a liaison between the teachers and management and his dismissal seriously disrupted communication between the two parties. At this time, breaches of contract occurred pertaining to overtime, extra-curricular activities (such as oral placement interviews and the sending of foreign teachers to recruit students intrusively in locations such as KFC and street corners) and the sending of teachers to remote locations without appropriate travel pay. Shortly thereafter, EF Shanghai was informed and appropriate amendments were made to protect the teacher�s interests. However, after pay was allotted for some travel time, the extra hours were not counted toward the max hours per week. Thus, many teachers were forced to work overtime without pay.

EF Urumqi Youhao then became embattled in two racial discrimination cases. The first case was Jane Doe, a female African American teacher. Jane�s first couple days of work were filled by complaints from EF local staff stating that they were afraid of Jane Doe and that she was not a nice person. They stated that Jane did not talk to them enough when she came to and left work everyday. The AdoS, of EF Urumqi then began making claims that Jane was not a native English speaker though she had grown up in Toronto for her entire life. After it was proved that Jane was a native English speaker, the administration changed their line of claims by stating that students and their parents were complaining about Jane�s teaching skills. However, during Jane�s first month of teaching I worked closely with her as she observed many of my classes. I found that all of the students loved Jane and were very interested in her life and background. After blatant acts of racism from a number of local staff members, Jane was forced to leave Urumqi on her on will. The situation had become too difficult for her to deal with.

The next case of racial discrimination occurred between John Doe3 and EF Urumqi Youhao. Many of the same things that happened with Jane during the early part of her contract also happened to John. I was even approached by some staff members who asked me if I thought John smelled bad. There were also trumped up claims made stating that John�s students could not understand him. As someone who worked closely with John, I can attest that his courses were clear and precise. In a last ditch effort to relieve John of his duties; EF Urumqi fired him because of a medical issue that for privacy reasons I am not disclosed to talk about. If you are interested in discussing this issue, please contact Tonya Feng at EF Urumqi China.

The next incident of mistreatment and unlawful firing of an employee occurred in January 2007. Mary Doe came to Urumqi to teach with the assurance that Urumqi was a climate that supported a healthy lifestyle for asthmatics. Obviously, if you have ever been to Urumqi you will know this is not the case. Anyways, when Mary arrived she started suffering from frequent asthma attacks and was forced to go to hospital for treatment. Her first incident coincided with the end of her probationary period and instead of refunding her ticket to return home, EF extended her probationary period and shortly thereafter fired her. After lying to her about environmental conditions in Urumqi, EF left Mary without an apartment, a paycheck or a plane ticket home.

My personal mistreatment from Urumqi EF came after I suffered a major injury after falling into a hole in the street and breaking my left ankle. EF did not assist me in seeking medical care and if it were not for the good grace of my friends here in Urumqi I would have been in a sad state. I had a major reconstructive surgery and spent two weeks in the hospital recovering. I was only visited by EF local staff one time and during that visit they tried to get me to sign another year contract. I was under the influence of pain medication (a low dose of morphine) and as a result, my doctor friend convinced me to discuss the issue when I was more coherent.

I had planned on returning to work following a recovery. EF assured me that this was not a problem. I was asked to come to the school one month after my recovery to discuss work options. When I returned to the school ready for work I was informed by the DoS that my contract was being terminated for too many absences. I understand that this is within contract boundaries so I swallowed my pride and decided that for my partner�s sake (Janet Doe, who was also teaching full-time for EF Urumqi) I would recover in Urumqi while she finished her contract. I also paid out of pocket for all medical costs and when the insurance reimbursement came in from Erika insurance EF intercepted the funds and held them in their bank account. I nearly had to hire a lawyer to help retrieve my funds. Under this threat, EF gave me my reimbursement.

It is now the end of a full year contract, Janet and I have not been given the full amount of return plane tickets, and we have not received any bonuses despite contract stipulation. EF Urumqi has stated that we do not deserve to be given any bonuses. Janet will not receive her�s because she missed one class and I will not receive mine because of my medical issue. This is despite the fact that we were given stellar reviews during peer and student assessment.

I should also add that during my one year of service with EF more than 75 percent of the teachers I worked with suffered major injuries, some of them life threatening. In all of the cases EF Urumqi offered minimal medical assistance or help with visa extensions or return to home country for medical care. EF Urumqi has all but stopped the bonus program that they use for recruiting and continued excellence in teaching. Even the most adept teachers have only received 1000 of the 6000 yuan promised at the beginning of the year for contract completion. Others have received absolutely nothing. I have seen many teachers suffer at the mercy of the shameless EF local management.

EF begins its contracts with teachers on good faith. It is therefore EF�s responsibility to take care of its foreign teachers when problems arise. My year in Urumqi has shown me that this is not the case. The examples of foreign teacher mistreatment listed above are only the most severe cases of what I have observed over the past year. There have been many other incidents that have negatively influenced the reputation of your school and over time I�m sure you will find letters on the internet that discourage teachers from working at Urumqi EF. I write this letter not to criticize all EF schools but only to bring to your attention the misconduct of one school in Urumqi. I hope for the sake of EF�s integrity and its reputation as one of the best private language schools in China you will look into the matter and take steps to improve conditions for foreign teachers at EF Urumqi Youhao.

Sincerely,


A former EF Urumqi teacher

[Shan-Shan]

Why, I wonder, why do people still work at EF centers? Go to Korea for a year: two months of savings will be enough for that Chinese Oriental Adventure you've always wanted.

EF offers crap packages and a bonus of maltreatment in many cases. Again, why do people bother?

[englishgibson]

Yet another CHfranchisee and example of the EF Headless Office

I hope that this thread doesn't get to the names of the ones that are responsible for all that mess that EF is enjoying in China, 'cause it could disappear from the boards the same way as some other threads have. Recent EF Guangzhou thread seems to be gone with the wind, but there was too much of a "name calling"...although a lovely thread of an example that contradicts the EF (english town) president in China.

peace to our discussions
and
cheers and beers to the EF Headless Office in Silver Tower of beautiful Shanghai

[jammish]

I am also baffled why people choose EF. Work for a normal Chinese public school (as I did in Wuhan) and get averageish pay but good hols and little hassle, or work for a good private and get high pay. EF are like the worst of both worlds. They sound like complete and utter cu nts.

[cj750]

[shuize]

[clark.w.griswald]

As someone who believes that schools like EF are good places to start out in China, this complaint really gives cause for concern.

One of the reasons that I believe EF is a good place to start out is that generally speaking placements there are more secure and there is more support given then many government or private schools. Sure their work load requirements are reasonably high and for a moderate wage, but there are other benefits that come with this downside.

However this particular complaint shows clearly that those other advantages I mention are not present at this particular school in the chain which suggests that it, or any others like it, should certainly be avoided.

Thanks to the OP for posting a very credible and coherent complaint about this school. I would recommend that your advice is worth heading.

Three legitimate complaints about three seperate EF schools in a period of a week. The good schools in the network should really start raising these concerns or perhaps more will jump the boat if they feel that being under the EF name is more of a disadvantage than an advantage!

[Steppenwolf]

[aijiang]

An African American is someone who is of African descent and resides in North or South America. American is not limited to United States of America.

[brsmith15]

OK, what if we formed a new red guard. We'll go from one EF city to the other driving the EF bourgoise into the streets only to put dunce caps on them and have them admit their sins against all education. Someone's got to find a way to shut these m/f's down before they taint any more fresh, young faces.

[tw]

[Shan-Shan]

Were people (those people who enjoy some respect) only to do a quick internet sweep before applying for an EF job, much undo misery could be avoided.

It is bewildering when so many opportunities abound that EF still manages to fill vacancies. Those people who willfully choose EF and don the EF yoke only help buttress my belief that many who come to China do so for a type of masochistic thrill they are unable to enjoy while working in a Western country. Agree to stinky wages, potential mistreatment, and a direction which leads virtually nowhere: welcome to EF. But there are some out there looking for such conditions.

brsmith 15, don't call any red guards out of retirement just yet. EF satisfies the unusual needs of some foreigners who seek abuse and degradation. Without EF, there would be one less place in the world for the kareer kinky to lick boots and kiss whips.

[clark.w.griswald]

[aijiang]

shan shan, I could not agree with you more. As the letter written to EF Shanghai states, I am only talking about EF Urumqi and specifically the Youhao branch. I think that all EF branches should be given a chance and judged on an individual basis. Based on my experience the most important thing to look out for is the DoS. I was recruited by a great DoS who looked out for the interests of his teachers. After he was fired, local management had free reign over foreign teachers. The DoS that replaced him was ineffective at his job and ended up doing whatever Chinese management wanted him to do. Communications were effectively cut and as a result teachers became discouraged and standards for recruiting fell. Of the 14 teachers that I worked with over the past year, 5 off them were fired, 3 quit and 9 had medical issues. Maybe the effects of losing a reliable DoS coupled with the pollution and general unhealthy atmosphere in Urumqi makes Urumqi EF a special case in the EF world.

[cj750]

if there is a chance than any EF schools are like this then avoiding the whole chain is the surest way of avoid problems associated with the EF chain...after all the failure to require schools to abide by the franchise charter would be an indictment not to patronize any workplace governed by EF...
however..many I have known like working at EFs...and although I do not think that anyone should work for this employer..as they just do not pay enough for the work product required....this post leaves a lot of questions...such as 9 FT sick in one contract period....being laid off just after being ask to extend a year...