Job Discussion Forums

in_asia_bill · Joined: 02 Mar 2006 Posts: 197

Just to warn EF employees out there that you might not be EF employees. Does this sound odd? Well, it happened to us. Me and my girlfriend both thought we were working for that large international organisation called EF English/Education First but we werent - we only worked for a private training center that had bought a franchise from EF. Confused? So were we. The people who run the center and who gave us jobs never told EF head office about us. We were kept off the books so to speak. They did this so that they didnt have to declare any of our classes or students to head office so they could defraud head office and EF out of the 10% commission they should pay as part of the franchise agreement. Because of this we were not insured and had no help from head office when we were dismissed for refusing to teach at a local middle school.They wanted us to teach 28 x 40 minute classes a week at a s_hitty local middle school each.The first class would have been at 7am!!!! The school was an hour away from the EF center and they said we couldnt get a taxi but had to use a bus! We didnt come to China to get up at 5am everyday!When we complained to head office on the phone and in writing they denied knowing anything about us and said that as far as they were concerned we didnt work for EF but for the owners of the EF center on some sort of private deal.This means we now cant get a reference from EF or confirmation of work with EF. This screws us up a little tryng to get our next gigs.

So be careful. Do you know you work for EF or do you just think you work for EF? Perhaps you oughta check with head office! You might not be on the books. Your center might not have decalared you.

James Hetfield · Joined: 24 Feb 2007 Posts: 99 Location: Los Angeles

We have read many posts about EF. Buxiban.com and other websites warn of the dangers of franchises like EF: This franchise can be bought by anyone including really corrupt locals. Just read other EF threads.... It seems EF should be shut the f down and the directors arrested by police swat teams, preferably in midnight raids, and sent to reeducation farms....

In Taipei I worked at a high school and at ELSI, a large franchise chain. That local franchise branch was a very good school.... Good luck fixing this mess. Keep us posted. We all want to know what happens to you over next few months. Razz

Sonnet · Joined: 10 Mar 2004 Posts: 235 Location: South of the river

Uh... everyone at my school's declared. Likewise at the 2 other EF schools I've worked for.

HunanForeignGuy · Joined: 05 Jan 2006 Posts: 989 Location: Shanghai, PRC

I posted a rather lengthy posting about exactly these kind of problems regarding EF, at least here in GZ, and the entire thread "disappeared".

To the OP, your points are very, very valid and should serve as a warning for anyone considering this "institution" (the word is used in the broadest possible sense of the term).

EF Urumqui, EF Shanghai, EF Suzhou, all of these postings are here and should be read by anyone considering even remotely working for them.

Here in GZ, they offered me a job, even though I wasn't interested in them, offered me big money, changed the job to a part-time job, then changed it back to a full-time job, then two days before I was to start, cancelled the job on the grounds they had no money.

BUT that very, very same day they called one of my colleagues, who I had forewarned, and offered him the very job for which they did not have "authorization" at a substantially lower rate.

At least for the PRC, EF should be avoided under all circumtances, whether or not it is a franchise (which is hard to determine) or whether it is directly controlled by the Stockholm Head Office (equally ahd to determine).

And to the OP, I am outraged that you had suffer all of this. It's terrible.

in_asia_bill · Joined: 02 Mar 2006 Posts: 197

Sonnet · Joined: 10 Mar 2004 Posts: 235 Location: South of the river

Um... sorry, I thought the title of the thread was a question.

vikdk · Joined: 25 Jun 2003 Posts: 1676

When thinking franchise - think - of a possible conflict between franchise holder and the head company that involves harvesting maximum profit while attempting to exert the minimum level of responsibility (who are responsible for upholding contract, and how can we most easily increase profit margins - HQ or the individual centers). When thinking in these terms one can better understand how an incompetent HQ management and unscrupulous centers owners can soon come to loggerheads in a profit sharing war - and who are in middle - those poor FT's Idea

englishgibson · Joined: 09 Mar 2005 Posts: 4345

Directors of Studies at the individual centers are the ones to be in the middle first of all..they are/were required to fill in their monthly Director of Studies Reports to the Headless Office in Shanghai's Silver Tower...in those reports there are/were the number of teachers at the center and the number of classes per week the teachers carry out...YOU GUYS SHOULD KNOW THAT EF OWNERS HATE THOSE DOS REPORTS WITH ALL THEIR HEARTS...i was asked by my EF employer not to send it and not to waste my time Confused

Sonnet · Joined: 10 Mar 2004 Posts: 235 Location: South of the river

Some owners might hate the DoS reports & might pressure their DoS not to send accurate reports. But not all of them; I've never come across this in any school I've worked in.

And, really, what kind of DoS would bow to an owner's pressure & lie about their teaching staff, putting the unregistered, unaware teachers in a tricky position?

A weak one. Maybe it's more important to have a strong DoS who's nobody's whipping-boy, rather than complain about the owners?

cj750 · Joined: 27 Apr 2004 Posts: 3081 Location: Beijing

englishgibson · Joined: 09 Mar 2005 Posts: 4345

I am amazed by the current participation on EF related threads. Some post as soon as I log off. Confused

Sometimes, after I post on EF threads, I don't even get a chance to log off, before there are others with their posts/views. Smile

in_asia_bill · Joined: 02 Mar 2006 Posts: 197

Sonnet · Joined: 10 Mar 2004 Posts: 235 Location: South of the river

englishgibson · Joined: 09 Mar 2005 Posts: 4345

So, with your "strong" performance as a Director of Studies how long have you been in that position and where, if you don't mind mie asking?

Peace to secrets
and
cheers and beers to open discussions Very Happy

no_exit · Joined: 12 Oct 2004 Posts: 565 Location: Kunming

China is an extremely corrupt country. Any international franchise trying to do business in China has likely run into the same sorts of problems that the EF franchise has. Nothing is regulated properly and there are no real consequences for embezzlement (and that's basically what we're talking about, right? Fudging the numbers so that someone's wallet gets thicker?). Does EF have these sorts of problems with it's centers in the U.K.? In the U.S.A.? In any countries with strong legal systems that punish corruption?

What happens with these runaway school owners is indicative of the greater problem of corruption in general. The sad thing is, although the situation might be more apparent with regards to EF, since on the outside it looks to be a legitimate franchise, it is in no way limited to EF, or even chain school. There is corruption at every level of education in China, (hell, at every level of everything in China!) and I'd actually go so far as to say that the only difference between "good" schools and "bad" schools (as related on this board) is the extent to which this corruption affects us at FTs. I've experienced it at EF (where my school owner decided to ditch the franchise without telling anyone, at least at first), and I've experienced it at a local university (where the FAO tried to hold my passport hostage until I gave him 1500 RMB) and the EF experience actually had less actual impact on me personally, but that's just my experience. That said, anyone looking to escape corruption completely is probably in the wrong country, period.