Well, these guys may be logging in for the first time BECAUSE of this thread Truant… Durin’s Bane called the OP and the guy is legit enough for him. That’s good enough for me…for now.
I’m a bit skeptical too. This school should be reported by these teachers. Then there will be no doubt in my mind.
Well, these guys may be logging in for the first time BECAUSE of this thread Truant… Durin’s Bane called the OP and the guy is legit enough for him. That’s good enough for me…for now.
I’m a bit skeptical too. This school should be reported by these teachers. Then there will be no doubt in my mind.[/quote]
yeah I agree, and that is more my point. Reporting these guys more or less anonymously isn’t going to do shit really.
although people logging on here will know and (probably) not sign on …
Well, I’ve been reading the posts on forumosa for a year now, without ever feeling the need to register as a user. A post like this one comes along and… but you’re right truant, why should you believe someone with 1, now 2 posts.
As to why teachers don’t go to the CLA: how many people actually do that? I think most of us just leave and try to find a better school. Certainly not the best option but the road most traveled.
well good for you posting, grootkrokodil, hope to see more from you.
[quote=“grootkrokodil”]Well, I’ve been reading the posts on forumosa for a year now, without ever feeling the need to register as a user. A post like this one comes along and… but you’re right truant, why should you believe someone with 1, now 2 posts.
As to why teachers don’t go to the CLA: how many people actually do that? I think most of us just leave and try to find a better school. Certainly not the best option but the road most traveled.[/quote]
Well, the more schools like this that are brought before the law the fewer schools will try to feed this kind of BS to teachers.
Think outside that one school. The issue is crooked schools dicking over teachers. We visitors have no trouble complaining about getting shafted in Taiwan…but in this case, CLA could actually force these buttmonkeys to obey the damn law and stop ROBBING teachers.
Right? 
Well done warning! I can confirm everything warning has said, I have also worked at this school and everybody there has told me the same stories and I have also experienced a lot of them. Sorry I don’t have that many posts yet, hope it wont rule me out as a good witness! The thing is, most people who ran away from there all went home and vowed never to return to taiwan again. So people just dont care about reporting them. Also the school always told us how well connected they are, mosthly people think there’s no point in reporting them. The owner of the school is apparently quite rich and well connected.
They also made a point of introducing us to their lawyer , and when a chinese teacher wants to quit (that happens a lot!) , then they tell us the school will sue her for 50 000 dollars.So many people are scared of taking any action.
Mostly the school gets people that are new in taiwan and who dont realy know what the ins and outs are.I know I was here two years before I came upon Forumosa.
And if you want to quit you will lose your 20 000 which they take upfront .But we’re all just chatting here on this website trying to help each other out. I think warning’s best advice was to first talk to the other teachers (b.t.w. they usually keep the new teachers far away from the the current teachers until they have signed the contract!).
I believe everything that has been said. Why? Because this is TAIWAN!
Hallo to everyone! Sorry for taking so long to reply, but I’m a bit busy. Also I didn’t expect people to reply, thought I would just get my friendly advice out there so people would be careful.
But anyway, yes, I worked there. Sorry, I should have made it clear from the start. I thought a long time before writing the post. You know it’s strange, you think what’s the point of sitting down at a computer and telling people about the problems you and your friends had. Nobody wants to hear about your problems. But I thought I’d just give people some advice.
Cant remember all the questions from people, but here goes: The 20 000 is taken upfront, and is then used to threaten you if you want to leave. A lot of people who have started to work there were new in taiwan or just desperate for a job, so they sign the contract, because even though the contract is terrible, you think it will be ok because the school looks very impressive from the outside and they are very nice to you at the beginnning. They make a lot of promises (now I know to get everything in writing!).
Why didn’t I report them? Well, they keep telling you how many contacts they have in the government and how rich and powerful the owner is in taoyuan, I didn’t think there would be any point. But I guess I should have.
Anyway , I guess it all sounds like criticism, but think of it more as friendly advice.
OK,so you are looking for the people with all the posts on forumosa to tell you about HELL AMERICAN SCHOOL!!!
I taught with “warning” and “grootkrokodil” for 3years.I worked at HELL american school for 3 and a half years.
Warning already told all your formosans about the school and grootkrokodil confirmed everything.
I also thought of getting a new name just to cover myself,but what the hell…
I’m in my home country now and won’t be returning to Taiwan.
YES—They deduct 6% tax from my girlfriend’s salary for 3 and a half years.
So that equals about 140 000nt that the school stole from her,excluding 6000nt for asking a student to go out of the classroom for 5 minutes.
I’m a little stupid with computers and don’t have time to use the internet every day,so I wanna ask the moderator of this subject(Hell american school)to please copy and paste these posts on all the other websites like Tealit etc,etc,etc…
I have alot of posts on this website and found alot of information on this website—Thank you all.
Now it’s my turn to return the favor and tell you all!!!
DON"T GO TO HELL AMERICAN SCHOOL----THEY SUCK!!!
I’m putting this on the site to warn all you formosans and as I said,I won’t be returning to Taiwan.
As for teacher"warning" and “grootkrokodil”???
They will teach in Taiwan for a few more years and we don’t want the whole Taiwan government to know who they are!!!
Enjoy your typhoon holiday tomorrow and as warning said::::
Don’t say===WE DIDN’T WARN YOU!!!
196 Taoying road
Taoyuan city
R.O.C
330.
Next time I will tell you about the KOREAN foreign teacher at our wonderfull little place called HELL AMERICAN SCHOOL!!!
Good to hear from you Rassie! We all miss you on this side.
To which the correct response is a sweet smile and “Well in that case, you won’t have anything to worry about, will you? How about Apple Daily? Do you have friends there too? Because I certainly have.”
[quote=“jdsmith”][quote=“grootkrokodil”]Well, I’ve been reading the posts on forumosa for a year now, without ever feeling the need to register as a user. A post like this one comes along and… but you’re right truant, why should you believe someone with 1, now 2 posts.
As to why teachers don’t go to the CLA: how many people actually do that? I think most of us just leave and try to find a better school. Certainly not the best option but the road most traveled.[/quote]
Well, the more schools like this that are brought before the law the fewer schools will try to feed this kind of BS to teachers.
Think outside that one school. The issue is crooked schools dicking over teachers. We visitors have no trouble complaining about getting shafted in Taiwan…but in this case, CLA could actually force these buttmonkeys to obey the damn law and stop ROBBING teachers.
Right? [/quote]
The question is who’s going to do that? You need someone to is willing to stand up and utilize a system s/he is totally unfamiliar with in a language that is equally unfamiliar to them. It seems obvious there is absolutely no incentive for an individual to “do the right thing”. The path of least resistance would be to look for other employment.
The only way that these types of schools are punished is through independent sites (like buxiban.com), word of mouth, forum posting to inform folks about it. The local authorities won’t/can’t do a thing, sadly. The regulatory power of government authorities is rather laughable.
Guys, it really is up to you to file a complaint with CLA. I hope you do actually. I pass this school all the time and have students from there in our school now. It profoundly pisses me off that they are treating their foreign staff so poorly via threats and intimidation, not to mention taking their money.
What goes around comes around.
Anyone out there who has the contact numbers for CLA, a contact person to talk to, knows the kind of form they would have to file? I’d like to see the process unveiled a bit.
Or a link on Forumosa to someone who has actually gone the distance in filing a complaint against a school with CLA.
Peace
jds
brian has mentioned dealings with the CLA …
but odds are that it’d be a big waste of time. hard to convince me that anything would really get done. can it be proved that they took $$$ away for removing a kid from class? and unless there are tax slips, there is no way to prove that claim either. (i’m not doubting that it is true, just that proof exists.)
most people are here to work. if you gotta spend time running into taipei to do this and that, you’re not making any $$$.
not saying that i think this place should just be free to carry on either. maybe if the process become clearer, and doesn’t require repeated trips to taipei, and involves people in the CLA who can speak/understand english …
:raspberry:
This thread was brought to my attention by one of the regulars here at forumosa.
In my experience the CLA are actually quite understanding, and I believe that they will be able to help you. Additionally, it seems that you may need to talk to the tax authorities as well. I have had dealings with them as well, and although they were a tougher nut to crack, once I cracked it they were more than helpful.
The first matter is the requirement of an upfront deposit. This is something that is clearly illegal, and there is also a precedent to follow where a foreign teacher received a judgement in her favor against one of the big chain schools. This will be the easiest matter to take uo with the CLA.
The CLA could likely mediate for a premature release from your contract, if you are able to prove your case, and the only way to prove that would likely be with documentation, or if there were a number of foreign teachers there who are willing to go to bat against the school.
The tax situation is going to be a more difficult one. Should you pursue that with the authorities then you would likely face a catch 22 where you would likely win your case against the school, but may be required to pay any outstanding taxes that may be due. You should also probably avoid the tax office unless your tax affairs are squeaky clean as they will check this. If you have been working off the books at this or other jobs then I would probably leave the tax situation alone if I were you.
Have a read of my thread about [url=http://tw.forumosa.com/t/paying-taxes-in-taiwan/7288/1 claim against a previous employer[/url]. I won that case and my employer was not only obliged to pay the taxes that they had withheld from me to the tax office, but they were given a penalty of four times the outstanding taxes. There were four other foreign teachers at the school in exactly the same position as me, and I assume that the school got caught for them as well.
I would recommend that you phone the CLA rather than email them as many people in Taiwan tend to disregard emails. They do have English speaking staff, and after doing telephone volley you will be put in touch with one of them. I would recommend that you guys all get together and make one combined claim. If want help preparing this then please let me know. I am not a professional but have a bit of experience with doing it. I would expect that you follow through though if I become involved. If you want to call them then please PM for the number of the person I dealt with.
Thanks Brian!
:bravo:
Cool brian, hope a lot of folks reach out to you! 
If there’s anything my office can do to support you, you know how to reach me
BR