We will never stop hurting you pathdic company

I am writing this to relate my experience with a certain Buxiban in Taiwan. The recruiter I formerly worked for was ESL4Asia which also operates concurrently with Kao Chi International school in Taoyuan City, as both share the same building and office. The school has a track record of leaving many disgruntled teachers. I am the latest one.

The animus against recruiters in Taiwan is well earned by ESL4Asia. The main recruiter, one Miss Sally Wu (Wu Ching Lin), has a reputation for baiting western teachers into thinking they are getting a good deal in working for her. A teacher is promised a furnished apartment as well as amenities to their liking. Not to mention "rent free" living. The problem with this is that when the teacher arrives in Taiwan, they are treated to a room, not an apartment, that is nothing more than a converted classroom. The only "furnishings" in it are a flimsy wooden bed frame, a chair and a desk. It is at this point that the teacher voices complaint and is told "this is how we think of an apartment in Taiwan" as an excuse. The living area is more like a dorm hall than anything else. Teachers have very little privacy in their converted classrooms, and must share all amenities with the others (bathroom, washer, kitchen). So, this recruiter deceives on the living conditions.

Next is the people she recruits for her business. She brings in foreigners to teach illegally as well as legally, although even the legal teachers are questionable for reasons I will detail later. The illegal teachers, sometimes as young as 18 or 19 years old, get by on a student's visa or multiple entry visa while teaching for her company. They get away with not attending the classes and this allows the "students" to keep working for Sally Wu.

Now, business operations. The focus of her business is to send teachers out to different schools (i.e. subcontracts) that need a foreign teacher but can't afford one of their own. Now, keeping in mind that the legal teachers have her company/school as their sponsor, as far as I'm aware this is an illegal practice since the teachers are supposed to work only within the guidelines of their work permit/ARC. Her client schools include Joy, Kid Castle, Rhy Shin Kindergarten, Hua Ren Kindergarten, and Gau Jie.

The illegal teachers are no different, although she also lies to the client schools and makes them believe they are in fact qualified teachers. So not only is she cheating the schools, but also the students and their parents. And most times, both sides have disagreements as to the quality of teaching for the above mentioned reasons. But Sally Wu has no problem sending out unqualified teachers as long as she gets paid.

[Admin - It is illegal for a teacher to work at any place of employment or for any other company than the one listed on the teachers ARC. The name on the ARC should match the registered business name as stated on the Certificate of Business that should be hanging on a wall in a prominent area of the school. If the names are different then it is highly likely that one is working illegally.]

Working issues. She has all of her "employees" sign a contract. Now, this contract states many things that are not followed through in reality, and one thing in particular that many in Taiwan informed me was illegal. Most of the falsities in the contract are things I touched on above. However, her business has gotten into the practice of withholding a monthly deposit or "trust fund" as they call it. $3000 NT each month and the standard practice beforehand was to penalize the teacher and hold this money from them if they didn't finish the contract. That has changed a bit recently as a side effect of my quarrel with the recruiter that had me leave Taiwan. Now, it is still withheld each month but she claims she will give 6% interest in addition when and if the teacher completes the contract. The sad part is, all of her teachers were unaware of the labor laws for foreigners in Taiwan, so they are blissfully ignorant of the fact that this is illegal.

She has also gotten into a practice of taking away tax money each month from teachers whose ARC hasn't even yet been processed and received. I don't know if that's a standard practice, but it seems to me that since the teacher isn't yet a legal worker that she shouldn't be deducting tax money until they are.

[Admin - It has become illegal for employers to take any form of 'deposit' in order to prevent a teacher from running away. It is not illegal however for a school to have a clause in the employment contract that states a penalty for premature breach of contract. Therefore, withholding money during the term of a contract is illegal, deducting a penalty from the last pay packet on the grounds of breach of contract isn't.]

Finally, the lies and deception. She likes to speak as a politician would. Sally Wu can bend your ear to her side if you let her. She lies to save the best interests of her company and teachers are not exempt.

She sends the teachers out to the schools on motor scooter, yet never mentions that they need a liscense to drive one.

She will deduct money from your paycheck for some unknown reason and then when you ask her about it she will do her best to BS you.

She also arranges private tutoring lessons where she charges an outrageous fee per hour, and ends up pocketing more money than the teacher that is actually performing the labor. An example of this was that another teacher there was giving lessons, and her student made a comment of why her fee was so high. The teacher was surprised to find that the fee that Sally Wu was charging was $1500 NT per hour, while the teacher herself only received her basic $500 NT an hour for it. When confronted about this by myself, Sally tried to worm her way out of it with an elaborate excuse about needing the money to hire more staff.

These are the bulk of my grievances against Sally Wu and her business, ESL4Asia. The majority of teachers during my long time there have left her business disgruntled, angry, and some have taken heavy financial losses due to her unwillingness to pay what was owed. One teacher had net losses amounting to $50,000 NT. Another, $30,000 NT.

The large amount of teacher turnover during a period of 15 months is a testament to that.

I left it up to the teachers who are still there to take some action and fight her practices, but I highly doubt any of them will because they fear for their job security. It is unfortunate. But that is my account of working for Sally Wu and ESL4Asia/Kao Chi.

Her web site www.esl4asia.com More than an agency/agent!!! We only work with good schools in Taiwan. Esl4asia Inc. is committed to providing the finest quality teachers to schools who work with us. With ongoing customer service and friendly-people oriented management, we do what it takes to help our schools succeed in finding the right teacher for them. (Kao Chi International school is our direct own school. We don't put ESL4Asia on the heading is b/c we don't want you to think we are the bad agency from Thailand. Too bad that we have a similar name. Our company has been operating for 8 years in Taiwan.). The truth: But they are just as bad Teachers with a foreign managed teacher recruiting department, Esl4asia Inc. is dedicated to making sure that our teachers are treated fairly and honestly. We understand the feelings of culture shock and unfamiliarity that new teachers feel when coming to Taiwan, and will do all we can to make sure that our teachers feel comfortable with their new schools. The truth is all lies
Our offer:
1. Guarantee 100 teaching hours per month, with NT$50000 (NT$500 per hours). Most our teachers are teaching between 100-120 hours per month. I agree this is the truth
2. Working visa, health insurance, and contract. I agree this is truth Sally wu will promise a complication bonus. However when your time end they will comes they will make an excuse that your attentance was not good or you were sick to much, even in the contract saids gurarntee.
3. Free housing or housing reimbursement, depends on school locations. Just check out on the website what your living conditions are like www.esl4asia.com A teacher is promised a furnished apartment as well as amenities to their liking. Not to mention "rent free" living. The problem with this is that when the teacher arrives in Taiwan, they are treated to a room, not an apartment, that is nothing more than a converted classroom. The only "furnishings" in it are a flimsy wooden bed frame, a chair and a desk. It is at this point that the teacher voices complaint and is told "this is how we think of an apartment in Taiwan" as an excuse. The living area is more like a dorm hall than anything else. Teachers have very little privacy in their converted classrooms, and must share all amenities with the others (bathroom, washer, kitchen). So, this recruiter deceives on the living conditions. Just look here http://www.esl4asia.com/FT/apartmentnow.html http://www.esl4asia.com/FT/apartment.html http://www.esl4asia.com/FT/apartmentnow.html http://www.esl4asia.com/FT/currentteachers.html
4. Airport pick up. I agree this is the Truth.
5. Teaching training after arrival. I agree this is the Truth