Workplace reviews and discussion: 英語和華語老師

●Four days off are consistently scheduled for the Lunar New Year.

●The teaching environment is straightforward and stress-free. It is fine if your Japanese is not good.

●Basically, teachers at each branch only see the owner once a month.

●Because social insurance is not provided, the amount received each month is relatively higher.

●The company rents teachers a place near the station and provides necessary furniture. You do not have to worry about accommodation.

●A bonus is paid once a year. However, you must continue working the following year to receive it. (The bonus is less than one month’s salary)

●Although the owner is Japanese, he is a stereotypical exploitative employer, and the family business has no system in place.

He often suddenly decides that someone should do something, without thinking things through or making plans.

●The salary is ¥180,000 plus a ¥20,000 housing allowance, which at first glance meets the typical ¥200,000 monthly salary for a fresh university graduate.

However, you only receive the ¥20,000 after working for a full year. Also, many teachers already have experience or have graduated with a master’s degree.

●The company does not enroll employees in social insurance, so you must pay the full health insurance premium yourself.

(At companies with social insurance, the employer generally pays half of your health insurance and pension contributions.)

●There are 115 days off per year, including 10 days of your own paid leave. These are scheduled around national holidays and the Lunar New Year.

There are 104 days of weekends off plus 16 Japanese national holidays, for a total of 120 days, but only 115 days can be taken off, so you cannot take some national holidays.

Paid leave is included among the national holidays; taking additional leave to return to Taiwan means a salary deduction of nearly ¥10,000 per day.

●Taking leave is prohibited during the busy season from February to August. (If the Lunar New Year happens to fall in February, you cannot take a few extra days off before or afterward to go home.)

●Rent is always charged at ¥50,000, with utilities, gas, and internet charged separately. (However, the company-rented accommodation may cost less than ¥50,000.)

●You have dinner with the owner once a month, usually after work. It amounts to overtime in disguise.

●In principle, overtime is not required, but you must start work 30 minutes early.

●Company transfers are irregular and depend on the turnover rate. If you are unlucky, you may have to move three times within a year.

If moving costs exceed the subsidy limit, you must pay the difference yourself. (The amount covers 10 of the largest boxes available at the post office.)

●Once a year, you must use a weekend or holiday to travel back to the Kanto region for a meeting. The airfare reimbursement is limited to low-cost airlines, and train fare reimbursement covers only the cheapest route with the most transfers.

(The travel time for the meeting does not count toward compensatory leave hours.)

●You cannot advise students on which university to choose; you have to watch helplessly as they are recommended to universities whose names you have never heard of. It makes you feel like an accomplice.

●During the busy season, you often have to teach eight hours a day. You are also often required to do administrative work or prepare teaching materials during free periods, leaving no time to prepare lessons.

●Interns have it even worse: they are used like full-time employees, but their pay is ridiculously low.