Throwaway as they constantly try to cover their dirty tracks.
Some pros:
\- Great schools
\- Lovely teachers
\- Even Lovelier kids
\- Nice furnished apartment they are charging you 2x they pay in rent (move in, cleaning, and utility costs included), and think you cant look up the prices on google 😉
​
Negatives:
I’d like to being by pointing out that the owner of this company regularly posts false reviews of the company with 4-5 stars trying to come off as non-biased and red flag reviews to boost the raitings. He also actively tries to take down negative reviews, as evident of my review I made years ago being removed.
It is a SCAM – 100% what he is doing with glass door is fraudulent.
I’ve met 6 other teachers from this school both at the time, ZERO have had a pleasant experience there, and ALL of them have the same complaints as below.
Now to the review:
\- President has no regard for labor laws, as I dont think he’s that ignorant he must be actively ignoring them
\- Unpaid training declared Mandatory, and threatening with docked pay if you dont show up.
\- Unpaid travel time between school (up to 2hrs in my case)
\- Very unfair pay rates – 6 different teachers told me they were paid a wide range of at least 12man between them. (Lowest paid was a minority)
\- Incessant emails about trivial things and complaints they have. Going as far as to critique your atire at the school. I wear a polo and a suit jacket in front of CEOs of fortune 500 companies. A TIE is not necessary in front of 5 year olds, and the teachers didnt even wear one. I was threatened docked pay.
\- Was forced to attend “outings” with the staff at random camps with kids conveniently during the holidays. Summer vacation was 60% pay and they tried to make it off as gods gift of free money when its mandated by law to pay this..
\- The president is an outright sadist and psychopath. Actively tries to bully you and treats you like a subpar being after being so nice during interviews, and the other management acts the same way. Acts like a Prison Warden, almost like someone who taught english his whole career and never moved on was somehow better than every other foreigner in Japan because he did his time. Do not expect to be treated as a human being.
\- The fact that the reviews of the past 3 years have not changed one single bit is very telling.
This is during COVID pandemic fyi:
At first it was a closed door meeting at my school with the “ceo” demanding my resignation, saying I was harrasing the teachers, and that one came to him anonymously. When I went and asked those I worked with, everyone said they loved me. And they did. I got drinks with them every weekend (which was discouraged). He just fabricated some bs to get me to resign. Thing is, teachers dont go to the contracting company, they got to the BEO. Who I also contacted and said there was nothing.
After this he started clamping down and finding problems with every single email interaction to look for reasons to fire me – making every interaction tremendously stressful. When that didnt work, they put up impossible to meet rules and goals and tried to cut me on that. When nothing worked, they just tried to fire me. Went and got legal council who sent a firm letter asking for my severance and I would be suing if they didnt. They rehired me with a strongly worded apology that looked written by his wife.
After this they tried one more time to fire me, but I eventually found a new job and moved back to Tokyo. Wasnt worth the stress, and I have not put it on my CV since. Will remain a dark area of my history forever labled as “sabbatical.”
Since then multiple fake reviews were made to glassdoor about their positive “company.” All written by the president and other staff at the company he forced to write. He does this every time someone leaves and complains.
17 comments
I like the bit where you say “I went to each and every teacher and asked if they had any problems with me. None did.” Uh, if these are Japanese teachers… you have no clue.
(Not that this school can’t be shit, just that you come off as clueless here)
other points aside, wearing a tie at eikaiwa is not strange, even if you are teaching kids. some bosses just like to maintain a professional atmosphere for those kids’ parents who might care about it. especially in Japan, suits are the norm for many businesses, not just CEO meetings
You just described every eikaiwa. All of them are like this now.
​
Another thing you should be aware of is harassing employees to get them to quit is normal in Japan. This is not unique to your situation, it happens in every industry. You are supposed to get the idea early and find another job. Sticking around is only going to make them intensify the harassment. You don’t make enough money to hire a lawyer and the settlement would be too small for a lawyer to take the case. They know this. Most lawyers won’t touch a harassment case unless you make more than 12 million yen a year or if the harassment results in your death. This is part of living in Japan and it isn’t going to change until the government makes it easier to fire people.
> (Lowest paid was a minority)
“Minority”. What/Who do you mean by that?
I second this. Just quit from that company and the upper management were terrible, had no regard for your mental state, basically stole my money, and humiliated me in front of others in an email, where a spy spread a false rumour. From my experience, they are delusional and count on you not knowing labor laws to take advantage of you. And I think I had it better than others not living in Kyushu. A lot of workers in the company are poor, stuck foreigners who can’t escape. Makes me so sad. I made another post about this before, where they tried to charge me for a “missing” blue box, but ended up “stealing” back the money they gave me for a forced virus test I didn’t even NEED to take. They are more immature than the children we teach.
Eikaiwa are generally terrible. The majority of them are either run by a Japanese business person who’s first goal is making money, and an English school sounded convenient. Either that, or a former eikaiwa teacher who decided they know better than the place they just worked for, so they start their own school only to learn that it costs a lot to pay employees. In both cases, they try to play the system to pay their employees as little as possible. I should know. I’ve worked in both kinds of companies, and none of them had the teachers’ or students’ best interest at heart.
After eight years, it’s best to try to get out of this terrible industry.
OP if you’ve been here for eight years, why the heck did you even settle on this kind of dogshit job in the first place?
Something is missing from this story.
I can’t be the only one here who thinks OP has just described the majority of Eikaiwas in Japan.
– As for the tie thing, that isn’t abnormal.
-As for the “being treated as sub-human”, that also isn’t abnormal
– A lot of companies post fake reviews. Yeah, might be misleading but let’s face it, ppl aren’t gonna apply to a company with a low rating
– No teachers are going to say to your face they don’t like you ESPECIALLY if they are Japanese.
Tbh I’m baffled by the complaints here. Sure they may be valid but it goes for sooooo many of the companies in Japan.
Want a company with good pay, benefits etc etc? Move away from Japan!
I’m guessing you’re going to have the same problem at any school because a) they’re all like this and b) you seem like a real pain in the ass and I’m guessing there’s a reason everybody has a problem with you. Like they say, if you walk around all day smelling dogshit…
Sounds like Nova (and probably every other Eikaiwa). Ha.
Hang in there buddy. I know your situation must seem uniquely bad but if I’m honest (and this totally isn’t an attack), it’s pretty common to:
– Have a dress-code (ties are common – find a fun one for kids, nobody’s saying it’s a black tie gig. Plenty of people wear ties in situations that don’t involve meeting with a fortune-500 CEO).
– Organise accommodation for short-term staff so that it’s easy for them.
– Pay staff different wages based on performance/experience/qualifications (hey, maybe some of the people getting paid more than you aren’t using anon accounts to sledge their employer).
– Flag salty reviews from people who they’ve just sacked. I mean in your case they could validly say ‘we asked the guy to leave because in our opinion he was the wrong fit… he then had an angry rant… surprise surprise’.
Not taking their side, but how do we know you didn’t harass people and simply ‘not fit’? Your complaints are largely about not wanting to comply with their dress-code and not wanting to use their apartment (like it or not, you chose them knowing that was the deal).
Times are tough during COVID and I’m glad you found another gig. Do forget this experience but also, I suggest you have a look in the mirror. You’re sounding tired of eikaiwa (they want genki people!!!) and may be best off looking for alternatives.
[removed]
California Language Institute is a garbage school. Fake reviews on glassdoor.
​
I would rather stick a broken broomstick up me bum than work there again.
Used to work for them.
Don’t know OP, but everything about the director is bang on. I’ve said this a few times on here about this company, avoid like the Black Plague
I’m glad there is someone out there who is looking out for others. Usually the mods in these forums will ban you or delete your postings. People should be aware of crooks, cheapos, and scammers. Good job in warning all of us. You all should do the same.
God I would love to talk to you as a fellow CLI survivor. In one of the meetings I was in he joked about how a depressed coworker should just off them selves. It was genuinely devastating to watch
Piping up us lot got absolutely demoslished with hundreds of surprise observations from Bald Boss and Kokura Lackey
Management are sleazy and have no boundaries. They will ring you late at night for non-urgent chats, they show up at your apartment, they show up unannounced to your kindergarten and berate you in front of everyone if they think you have done something wrong. They don’t respect personal space, or free time, so you have to be really assertive with them. Man seemed to be treated better than women. The whole operation is carried out in an unprofessional way, it’s badly coordinated and technologically inept. No thought will be given as to where you are posted in relation to where you live and your commute isn’t on the clock. Every day you will receive a deluge of emails about things that have zero relevance to you but they send it to everyone out of laziness. The training you receive is a joke and there is nothing about classroom management, how to deal with behavioural issues, kids with additional needs, child safety etc. They expect a lot from you without any consideration for staff wellbeing or the kids’ actual education. From what I’ve heard there are worse out there (eek!), there’s also better. On the plus, it’s easy to get a job with them with zero experience or credentials, and they sort out your visa and living situation. Use it as a spring board onto something else and jump ship as soon as you can. Many jobs will only hire from within Japan, so use the job to get you into the country. Oh and join the Tozen Union. They’ll stop you getting robbed from your last paycheck and will also support you with any labour violations. I joined the union and they were worth every penny.