How can they get away with it? Easy. For the same reason one will have problems in other countries with this sort of thing: teachers go in without being armed with the information they need.

If a teacher knows about the minefield that is teaching in Indonesia, he won't go there. At least this is my take. I could be wrong and those who know better may enjoy sticking needles in their eyes.

Your post will definitely help us avoid the minefields that are (unfortunately) all too common in TESOL. I know someone who is heading to Indonesia this spring. I'll direct him to your post.

My advice to anyone going to Indonesia is "make sure you can get out clean (and cheap) if you have to run." If you can't, stay the hell out of there. And if you have to run, by all means run. You won't become someone worse than Stalin and Hitler morphed together if you do a runner, regardless of what the interested types will tell you.

How does EF Indonesia always get away with violating
No .39, 2003 MANPOWER employment codes in regards to the Native teachers within' their franchised systems? How can they change signed contracts mid-stream in the term of a contract without providing legal representation for the 2nd party of the contract? How can they lower a teachers salary per month without written agreement between the 1st and 2nd party of a already signed and agreed upon contract?

How are they able to provide KITAS work permits for full time teachers who are not from the five stipulated countries of Australia, USA, New Zealand, Canada and England?

Is EF Indonesia exempt from employment codes of Indonesia? If they are than please tell me how.

How can they convince teachers to come 1,000's of miles from home and then not provide them with a legal KITAS work permit until the teacher is already 6 months into their contract with EF?

Why are they able to force teachers to pay back $1000usd to $1500usd for a KITAS that only costs 400,000 rupiah if a teacher leaves their contract early?

How can they deny payment of airline reimbursement when it is signed and stipulated in their own contracts? And for that matter, how can they get away with firing a teacher after probation without providing a written 30 day notice and the severance payments required by Indonesian law?

The questions of EF Indonesia are never ending and teachers worldwide want some answers. EF consistently recruits teachers but does not honor the same contracts that they require teachers to sign.

DONT SIGN EF CONTRACTS UNTIL THE CONTRACT IS CLEAR AND ABIDES BY INDONESIAN EMPLOYMENT LAWS FOR EXPATRIATES.