IS English - I had an interview with them (Christine)for a corporate english teacher and I did a client demo for them.
I was told the demo would be for 20 minutes,it took an hour and a half because the school rep (I believe was called Lark) could'nt organise the client.
The teaching area was a small room and no projector for the ppt,then they told me that the group english level was basic when it was upper intermediate so the ppt was useless anyway.
I did'nt get paid for the demo or the ppt so I told them rather impolitely where they could insert their contract

Aceleader - Guomao and Zhongguancun - I signed with them as a part-time teacher back in august last year and for the first month I was inundated with hours.After a while the hours started to get sporradic and I was told that they had no students,even though they employ full time cc's who seem to spend most of their time asleep.
They did try once to dock my wages because every teacher in every lesson gets a student assessment done on them and I had a not-so-good one.It turned out that the said student only wanted to be taught by an American teacher and because I am english he marked me down,we overlooked the fact he did'nt even engage in the class - his loss!
And then zero hours,and a cursory call to the director of studies (Li Han) and I got reminded that they kept calling me to do classes but I turned them down.Then I had to retort that they were usually at three hours notice before the class and my classes used to be allocated a week in advance coupled with the fact that I work full-time,and the reply that came was......

well that's how it is,you need to complain to the staff not me... if you don't like it leave!

So just remind me once again exactly what does a DOS do?If they are not there to resolve disputes amicably!

Center managers seem to exercise a lot of latitude as to fines. Also, if you've been there a while, they cut you slack. So, in theory, it could still be draconian. In practice, it can be bearable. I mean let's face it: unless you're a real f***-up, being late should not happen more than once every few years.

Scheduling now is always a week in advance. Changes are usually due to 1) other teacher absences; 2) someone being new and being worked into the schedule. I've turned down classes with no adverse results. (On the other hand, when a teacher is missing, I do try to fill in if feasible.)

If you give thirty days notice, leave is counted as one day off. It used to be two, which was an overreaction to some flighty bitch taking her vacation with no notice.

If you've got an excuse, you can generally get out of "mandatory" meetings.

The bottom line is, a lot of policies that seem set are flexible. Which can both work for you or work against you.

I imagine that a lot of the draconian measures we are seeing stem from situations like this.

Nice thread.

Bannoy, this topic is a great idea. I have a feeling that many English Schools could end up on this list...hehe.

I can add something about ABC, since I am also working for them at the present moment. The salary is significantly lower than the industry standard for part-timers (PT). It is not quite as bad for full-timers (FT), as their salary is fixed at or just slightly below the industry standard for Beijing (if that standard is 10,000 rmb per month). However, the first month is a big shock when 40% of your salary is diverted to pay a deposit and a training fee. ABC claims these first month deductions are returned to you when you complete your contract. Stay tuned.

I think it is important to point out that the salary is low at ABC, but the trade off for FT teachers at ABC is that they only have to teach 25 hours a week and there are no office hours. This means that when a FT teacher is finished teaching, they can go home or do whatever else they want. Since a full-time teacher works most of his 25 hours on the weekends, this leaves the weekdays free for the most part including two days off. This allows time to supplement your income if you need to.

PT teachers can teach as many hours as they want. I am sure that the PT teachers at ABC are not happy with their hourly salary being significantly below the industry standard for Beijing. However, my guess is that since the bulk of ABC teachers that I have met are not native speakers, they may not have many options about where they work.

JavaJoe was right on the money with the scheduling and the fines. It really depends on which branch you work at and the degree to which that respective manager chooses to enforce the rules. Actually, in my FT contract, there are statements that indicate that the teacher will compensate the school for being late, but no specific money amounts are given. To my knowledge, no one has been fined for being late at the branch where I work.

A FT teacher on a one-year contract is offered one week paid vacation during the Spring Festival and one additional week of paid vacation after completing 6 months of his contract. However, the bad part is that the teacher is not given his so- called bonus and housing allowance...translation your salary is cut in half when you are on a "paid" vacation.

When it comes to personal days beyond the paid vacation, I must admit that I do not completely understand the policy yet. I can say this much however, it is very costly if you do not apply for your PD one month in advance. On the other hand, 3 sick days are available each month and you can resort to using them without penalties as long as you have a note from a doctor.

Actually, one of the main reasons that I like the ABC is because they have a lot of branches in Beijing (17 I think). This means convenience. The branch that I work at is only one bus stop from my home and that is worth something.

Like every English school in Beijing, ABC has its good points and bad points. If you can find a place that has more good points for your personal situation, then that can make up a little for the bad points. Am I being too optimistic?????

Hope this helps.

Why do you even contact these companies?

I mean, if you look at their homepages or spend less than 2 minutes talking to them, you just know that they're not good employers.

I just wonder how you guys end up teaching for them. Are you blind or something?

Those terms sound like a good enough reason to avoid unless you're an FOB and you badly need hours. What I think would be great is to have a more concise list of schools in chart form with indications as to known pay range, terms, conditions etc...maybe even list the good schools as well. Make school earn the ranking with good reviews.

This would be a lot of work but maybe more reliable and less biased sounding. None the less this is a good thread and a great topic.

And I say that if any doubt or questions are ever raised about a school or agent then one needs to look at the quality of the poster. And I'd say you (Bannoy) sound qualified (and educated enough) to be believable in your reviews of one school or another.

I also understand what TheIncredibleegg is trying to say and if we were to follow that line of reasoning which I do, I would say that 99% of the schools and more specifically EFL 'training schools' should be avoided if one is truly looking for a foolproof, legitimate EFL teaching employment scenario.

Quite frankly I don't think that exists in China and therefore by following that underlying logic, no one should teach here. Unfortunately, that's a little unrealistic as demand is still the governing factor.

The reality however is that where good teachers try to avoid these conditions a 'wannabee native speaker' or FOB will happily take anything offered under any scenario offered and hence the ugly vicious cycle of hyperbole continues....unless enough truth gets out there that allows qualified teachers to be able to choose with with enough insight to be able to avoid the schools and entities deserving to be on a blacklist like this.

Carry on Bannoy....