Immigration tactics = intimidation tactics

I aplogilize for the other errors; I am on mobile.

I've never worked for UNITAS but have heard terrible things about them! Anyone finding a job there please be careful and check everything before signing a contract.

I worked for Unitas for 13 months and had very few good experiences with the management.

The teaching staff, for the most part, were great and always helpful but the company is very poorly managed and also very deceiptful. The only other positive I can come up with is that since the school is so unprofessional and poorly managed, very little is expected of the staff. The dress code and other rules were very casual with no enforcement.

Here are some examples of lies I was told.

Lie #1: We will be your guarantor for a non-Unitas apartment (eventually they changed their minds but only after I had gotten another job and told them I was leaving).

Lie #2: We get 2 weeks holidays at Christmas and 2 weeks at Obon. We worked on Christmas Day and only got 5 days off plus one weekend, total of 7 days (a bit short of the 16 I was promised). For Obon we got 5 days off plus two weekends so a total of 9 days. Still short of 16 but not as bad.

Lie #3: Maybe Deception #3 is a better title for this one. I arrived in Kofu at 9:30pm on a Wednesday after 4 flights and two days of travelling. I was picked up from the station (about half an hour later) and taken to my apartment. I was to report for work at 12pm Thursday. At this time, still tired and not really with it, I was given a contract that I was told was for the duration of 12 months and asked to sign. I asked to review it first and was told it was exactly the same as the contract that had been emailed to me previously and that we needed to get it signed and straightened away as soon as possible so they could begin applying for my visa. It is my fault that I didn't demand to review it. However, after signing it I noticed that the contract end was Sept 28, 13 months after I began work. As a side note, I didn't end up obtaining my sponsored work visa until Feb 27 because of their neglect and laziness in getting around to preparing the paperwork.

Lie #4: You will be given one week training before teaching any classes. I have absolutely no experience teaching. I was given 2 days to observe classes before I started on my own.

Lie #5: Unitas had me sign a false contract to submit to Immigration with a false start day, in order to make it look like I had not already been working for Unitas without a proper visa. This is standard practice for them. I had a Working Holiday Visa which allowed me to do short term jobs that I found within Japan. Most people work for Unitas for up to 60 days with no working visa, just on tourist permits.

Lie #6: I was told that I could change my schedule to have easier Monday classes if I continued working for Unitas part time after my full contract ended. I was told that I would keep all the same classes and be paid at an hourly rate. The only real change would be that I would not have to be there outside teaching hours. I agreed to this and my schedule was changed. I thought this was a done deal and often talked about it in an absolute manner. Almost four months later I was told that no decision had ever been made and they were still considering "my request". I was then told that the only classes of my own I could keep were the 8 am company classes that every other employee in the company had summarily refused. I was not guaranteed any hours and would just pick up classes they didn't have anyone for. That is, if "my request" was even approved at all. According to the contract, I do not have to be informed of Unitas' intentions until one month before the end of my contract, no matter how far in advance the decision has been made. I officially withdrew "my request" to remain part time.

Today I went in to get my pay from Unitas and they had taken off 2 days pay (around $160) for the month of September because my contract ended on Sept. 28 and, therefore, I was not a Unitas employee on Saturday and Sunday. I don't work Saturdays and Sundays anyway and I worked every working day of September but I still don't get paid for the whole month because of this.

These lies and deceptions are no small matter to a foreigner who does not the speak the language and has no support system who has just arrived in Japan. In addition to the outright lies, I was given absolutely no support in settling into my new life. I wasn't shown where the grocery store was or how to use the trains. I wasn't even told that I had to register with city hall within 60 days or I could be deported! No one told me that I had to keep my passport (and then my gaijin card, once I received it) on me at all times. If I were stopped by the police for any reason, including a routine traffic stop, I could be detained by the police indefinitely until I could produce one of these.

Kofu City Hall produces a Kofu City Living Guide (in English) for foreigners. The Kofu international Centre produces Yamanashi Living Guides (in English) for foreigners. The Kofu City Tourist Information Centre provides English maps of Kofu which include attractions. The least a company could do to support a forienger who doesn't speak the language who has come 11,000 km just to teach English at your school, would be to provide these FREE resources to new staff when they arrive. I didn't even know Kofu had an International Centre for months.

I know I am supposed to be objective in this review. But my conclusion is that I would NOT recommend this company to any prospective teachers looking for work.