Hess Educational Organization (何嘉仁文教機構)

There have been so many rantings and negative opinions about Hess Educational Organization (何嘉仁文教機構), that I, a Hess teacher, would like to say I’ve had a positive experience working there. I hope other people who work at Hess can share their positive experiences.

[color=#FF0040]Admin: The website for Hess Educational Organization (何嘉仁文教機構) can be found here:[/color] hess.com.tw/en/

The pay rises at Hess are not based on how good a teacher you are, they are based on ridiculous things such as return rates, how many days you have been sick or on vacation, homework, etc. and many other factors which are simply not an indication of your teaching. In any other professional environment you are not considered a bad employee if you are sick.

As for the “above board” workings of the Hess machine, ever wondered why you can’t get a copy of a pay slip? Ever wondered where your tax paid at Kindergarten goes? It’s not to the tax department because it is illegal to work in a kindy and none of it is declared… so whose pocket is that 20% of your wages lining?

As for the attitude towards foreigners, it sucks. We are away from home and in a strange and pretty dirty environment and it is quite normal for us to be sick. Do you really think that 6 days is going to cover it in a year? If it doesn’t then there goes your 6 month ‘holier than thou’ raise. Ever heard of someone getting a 30NT raise? Apparently we are all average teachers!

If you have ever worked for a legal, decent company you will know that things such as these do not happen and that a holiday isn’t a holiday unless you are paid for it. It might as well be called ‘unpaid grudgingly granted days away’, and not a holiday at all.

Open your eyes and do a little more research. Hess is not a great company, they are a money-making machine that cares as little for you as they do for the students enrolled in their drill team classes, and they will replace you as quickly as it takes to order a coffee at Starbucks.

And no I am not a past employee I am a current employee who has the decency to finish their contract, but who isn’t too blind to see what goes on.

I worked for Hess Educational Organization (何嘉仁文教機構) for three years. It really depends on the branch you work at. The Gongyi branch in Taichung is an excellent and very friendly branch. It’s also beautifully located.

The people really make each individual Hess what it is. I highly recommend Gongyi.

However, about the raises: no one EVER gets the 30NT raise. Even if you get the “teacher of the year” award twice in a row - you won’t get more than 25NT. Why? It’s the director of your individual branch and/or your head NST who decide your raise. So once again: it’s the people who make the branch.

Keelung was a beautiful place - but the chemistry wasn’t there for me. Taichung, however, was really a great experience. The head CT and director of Gongyi and Meiting (Grace) is an excellent and very friendly director. She and the entire staff really give the branch a welcoming and friendly atmosphere. This affects you and you affect the kids that you teach.

So be aware that each Hess school is very different.

Also, be aware that homework takes up a lot of free time - but you can always grade it in a cool tea shop (and Taichung has a lot of cool tea shops!)

The problem with Hess Educational Organization (何嘉仁文教機構) could be that they expanded too fast at the expense of careful management. I wonder why no-one has zeroed in on what appears from these posts to be spotty management, because I would have thought that would be something Hess COULD easily address.

If there are really so many horror stories about individual schools, why not be specific? If you have a problem with a manager, a Chinese Teacher (CT), or a particular school, why not submit particulars here? That way, Hess at the highest level could be provided with a list of these “bad managers/practices/etc.” and if nothing is done, THEN you would have cause to moan. You’ll certainly get nowhere with these posts if you don’t name names, record the times of these allegations, etc.

Hey, I have received the “30NT” pay raise more than once. I don’t know if I am a good teacher or not, all I know is that I always try my best and I will even put in 110% when necessary. Not for the company I am working for or my boss, but for myself. I have in every job I have had in the last 15 years and I would also now if I was working at ELSI, GRAM, Global Village, Joy, Jordans, Jump Start, Kid Castle or the Little Red Dragon Kindy down in my lane that only has 25 students. I guess that is just the way I am. I take pride in my work and take it seriously. I hope all those who have come to Taiwan to teach do too.

I have also had some problems at my branches, but nothing worse than anything I have encountered at home and nothing that couldn’t be solved with something called “communication”. It can work wonders. You should try it.

If you think HESS work practices are bad, well you do need to remember that it is a Taiwanese company in Taiwan. My girlfriend (who is Taiwanese) has had three jobs in the time that I have been in Taiwan and some of the stories she tells me are just outright illegal at home. All the women in her department had to arrive to work 20 minutes early to prepare tea for the men for when they arrive. The reasoning behind this being, the boss is old and has many Japanese customs. Also despite the four girls performing the same duties as the men they were paid NT$20000 a month less than the nine men and the girls had to type the men’s reports each day. All four girls were recently released from their five contracts after only two years, being told they were redundant. They had to fight for a redundancy pay out and finally received two months severence pay. If my girlfriend had broken her contract at that stage of her contract she would have been liable to pay a NT$200000 fine. The company has recently re-advertised for those positions in the newspaper. I could go on with the other two companies but this isn’t the site. I would bet that HESS doesn’t do anything worse than any other school in Taiwan does or any other business in Taiwan does. You have to remember that this is Taiwan and just by reading the newspapers you can see how much corruption is part of the Taiwanese culture.

I have and still do work with some great, dedicated teachers at the branches I have taught at (5 in the Taipei area). I am glad to know these people. I have also worked with and still do work with some people who do nothing but complain about Taiwan and HESS. One of these guys had re-signed two contracts at my branch but still whined about how the school was ripping her off and every decision made at the branch was made to inconvenience her. But still, she re-signed two times. I have also worked with people like this at home. I don’t have much time for them. I don’t wish to be infected by such negative attitudes.

I am happy were I work and I know plenty others who are also happy where they work. We all know how our own experiences in Taiwan have been and how we accept things and cope in situations during our time here, so no matter what I read in these amusing message boards, I am doing fine where I am and will continue to do so. It’s all up to me.

Could you shed some light on the topic for me?

I’m very sorry, but if there such a great organization, why do they need a NT$20,000 bond on all their teachers? and why are they one of the lowest paying cram schools on the island? If there so great, why do they need all the financial negatives in the contract? and why all the complaints from so many people? why do like managers in Hellizabeth’s post just get transferred when that manager made life unreasonably difficult for their staff?

If you could answer these questions sufficiently, then I might understand a bit better. I can’t believe its fair to brush all the moaners with same brush by saying that all the detractors are people who wouldn’t be happy at teaching any other buxiban. Its kind of impossible that all these “moaners” just happened to end up in Taiwan and all at Hess at nearly the same times, isn’t it?

To me so far, it sounds like the “pros” of this argument are white washing, but if you could explain the above questions, then I could be persuaded to reconsider.

Sorry, but I thought I took care not to paint all moaners with the same brush. I have no doubt that some of their grievances are completely valid. But I also have no doubt that as I said, many of the people moaning here will find gripes wherever they work.

In addition, if you look at the number of people posting here, you will see that there are only a handful of people sufficiently p***ed off to send a message.

Whitewash? Perhaps, but without verifiable evidence, we’re trying to judge Hess on the unsubstantiated postings of no more than a dozen people.

As for me, aliens ate my Buick and I have the word of my best drinking buddy to prove it.

I take these stories as representative. STML, you know very well its pretty near impossible that there will be some kind of statistical survey of people who worked at Hess to see if they’re more disgruntled than other may be at their companies.

But what you’re saying is like arguing with another if the doo doo smells like doo doo, and you’re saying it smells like flowers, until two more ppl arrive on the scene, you’ll hold to your opinion. Really, if it smells like…, then it…, well, you get the idea, and that’s perception of their repuation.

It seems to me that these people posting really had bad experiences at Hess, and its not the first I’ve heard of these stories. If I was looking for a job I would stay clear of Hess based on my perception of their established reputation (low pay, a very significant penalty in their contract coupled with a reputation for immature management, but that it seems is if you get lucky by landing in a good branch).

I think and you can correct me if I’m wrong here, but when I hear complaints about bushibans, Hess’ name comes up too often (i started hearing the stories right when i hit country) for conicidence sakes, and that begs the question “why?”. Therefore the conclusions set forth by the posters you’ve already read in this site. Can you really think that this is just a matter of chance? I think not.

Sure ppl always can find something to gripe about, but this loud and for so long? (i’ve been here for nearly 10 yrs and it hasn’t stopped yet.) There’s something rotten in that kindergarten and I don’t think its little Johnny having toilet problems again.

The questions still remain: “…why do they need a NT$20,000 bond on all their teachers? and why are they one of the lowest paying cram schools on the island? If there so great, why do they need all the financial negatives in the contract? and why all the complaints from so many people? why do like managers in Hellizabeth’s post just get transferred when that manager made life unreasonably difficult for their staff?” (sorry for the long quote)

By the way, the aliens picked me up in your car last night and they said they’d have it back to you soon.

I keep on reading about “managers” that I mentioned. Let me remind you of the story.

HESS seems like a highly centralized corporation with the main office operating as the center of authority. But, in my experience, the branches have proven to have more authority than the main office. The branch directors have the power.

My Head Native Speaking Teacher in Keelung officially “quit” but was actually harassed to the point of quitting. After she was gone, the Head Chinese Teacher held a meeting with us to explain to us why our boss was “fired”. So, in other words, she was actually indirectly fired by the Branch Director. Why was she fired? They told us it was because she:

  1. Sat on the desk while she taught.
  2. Sometimes she entered the classroom after the bell rang.
  3. She didn’t help clean up the branch on “clean up day”.
  4. something stupid that I forgot - like, she didn’t set a good example for other Native Speaking Teachers
  5. (she didn’t actually say this one) They just didn’t like my boss.
    My boss tried her best to get the main office to help her. The person in the main office who most tried to help my boss was Dexter, who had worked with Hess for years and was very “up there” in its structure. Despite Dexter’s influence, the main office was unable to help my boss. The result was a big scandal. Dexter was fired by one of the Chinese staff in the midst of it all. Dexter was a very valuable Hesser in the main office. The boss, Joseph Chu, returning from his vacation, was deeply aggravated that Dexter had been fired. He was unable to fire the person who fired Dexter, though, so he simply had that person transferred to another position. He then put a foreigner in charge of foreign employees.
    So this scandal with my former boss changed the structure of HESS. When my boss called me in the middle of the night to tell me what was going on, I didn’t realize how big of a deal it was. There was truly a corporate civil war going on at the buxiban.

Hmm… Finishing your contact is honorable - I would agree with this. However, there are times when it is more honorable not to let someone screw you. I bailed after 6 months because I felt that HESS was in violation of the contact. BUT, when do you ever think that a NST successfully proved that HESS broke the contact? There’s the perception here that only NSTs can break the contact, but if I remember correctly, HESS is also bound by the same financial clause. I’d really like to know if HESS ever admitted to breaking the contract. I mean, please! HESS is in total control and can always claim the NST is at fault.

Oh, excuse me. I’m a disgruntled ex-Hess employee. Look at me! Look at me! They even have me trained to write “Hess” in all-caps. I’m scarred for life! :aiyo:

It seems as if there are cases here where people have actual grievances…I must say however that it has come along way from the last posting where people were making wild accusations and generalizing.

I worked for a Taiwanese company and they as a standard poilicy put a clause in the contract whereby the employee pays out money on terminating the contract before the time. I think it was $40000. It took me ages to negotiate out of that clause.

In Taiwan, I think, there are grey areas in labor laws and employee rights, so companies are not bound, but the employee is. In Taiwan no job is perfect, remember you are dealing with a different culture. I rememeber in another job I had to sign I think about 20 times to get a pencil.

Ok…, other companies in other lines of business put penalties in their contracts for some employees. But do other schools in the bushiban business, have large (nt$20000 or greater) for their employees? And is it reasonable to have this kind of penalty in the contract in the first place (for instance, a large training investment in the employee)?

About the 15%, from what I’ve seen and heard from others, the complaints about Hess are very, very disproportionate to that (est.) 15% in their scope and vindication, so even though it does sound true on the service, its not likely given the variance in the size of the complaints.

And no one has addressed the lower than most (all but one school) pay that teachers make at Hess. If they were a quality organization, wouldn’t they pay their trained teachers a fair rate compared to other market prices to keep them around instead of relying on a large financial penalty in the contract? (which makes employees feel humilitated by the way)

I would agree with what Buttercup said in the thread regarding double pricing for foreigners!!

“Their behavious is not excusable, but neither is ours. We live beyond our right and then gripe when others covet what we have. And I understand why “bubbles” brings up the Hess=Mess posting. I also cannot believe that people with little to no skills or experience in teaching have the audacity to complain about making NT$400-500 (US$13-16)an hour (unless I have misread the forum - I believe the predominant rant of that board is that Hess underpays its teachers.) Are you going to tell me, Jer, that these “teachers” are not fleecing the Taiwanese? (I am not including the small group of experienced and good teachers in Taiwan. I have no doubt they are worth their price - teaching is a noble profession and real teachers deserve the price they command in Taiwan.)”

"And no one has addressed the lower than most (all but one school) pay that teachers make at Hess. If they were a quality organization, wouldn’t they pay their trained teachers a fair rate compared to other market prices to keep them around instead of relying on a large financial penalty in the contract? (which makes employees feel humilitated by the way) "

I am unsure what you are pissed off with…it seems not to be the pay from the school…it is more like the fact that other people in other schools get paid more.

Could I not argue then that other schools are paying to high…and that is the problem.
Maybe the taiwanese government should put a cap on the pay of foreign teachers

Regards the clause in the contract of NTD20,000…if a person is going to quit they are going to quit…its as simple as that…the NTD20,000 makes them think more seriuosly about what they are doing. And I think most people don’t think of this clause except the moaners and complainers who are always talking about how they would quit if the clause wasn’t there.
Well in that case they should do themelves a favor, go crazy, pay the 20000 and quit, that way they will be happy, although I guess in another couple of months they might again be complaining about the next school or the traffic or the pollution or the weather. Most people’s complaints seem to stem from these things and are vented some other way.

Sorry, it wouldn’t really make sense to argue that if most schools are paying more than they’re the ones who are out of sync with the market. After all, its the Chinese who are in charge of 99% of those schools, they’re the ones who set the wage, which is according to what their perceived value is.

Yeah, let the Taiwanese government put a cap on the pay of all foreign teachers, so Hess can compete better, and watch teachers make a great exodus out of the bushibans for better paying privates and jobs overseas in other countries. You don’t really sound like a native english speaking teacher when you say this. You’re not, are you?, because it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to want to cap your own salary.

No, the NT$20,000 penalty doesn’t make teachers stop to think about their quitting Hess. It stops them period, because you need it because the majority of teachers at Hess would quit when they figure out how you take them for a ride. Think about it:

80 hrs a month * NT$500 = NT$40,000 -20% for taxes = NT$32,000

and then minus NT$20,000 penalty means not enough money for the rest of the month, unless the teacher has really planned for it, can get Hess to fire him/her (and have a job in waiting) or just not pay it (as said before, nobody would force you too, its not profitable to sue in Taiwan for this amount of money).

As for buttercup’s statement, no the predominant rant isn’t about money, its just that money is easily measured. No, the teachers are not fleecing the Taiwanese. They’re not responsible for setting the wages they make, its the Taiwanese who set the demand in the market. You’re both ignoring some of the horror stories that have been posted on this site to suit your own positions.

And that’s really unfair for both of you to infer that most teachers fall below par. If that’s what you think of your colleagues, I can really understand why there are so many negative comments about the place where you work, and its the owners of the school that are ultimately responsible for teaching and teacher quality.

Sounds like you all lose this round again.

Sorry, it wouldn’t really make sense to argue that if most schools are paying more than they’re the ones who are out of sync with the market. After all, its the Chinese who are in charge of 99% of those schools, they’re the ones who set the wage, which is according to what their perceived value is.
Yeah, let the Taiwanese government put a cap on the pay of all foreign teachers, so Hess can compete better, and watch teachers make a great exodus out of the bushibans for better paying privates and jobs overseas in other countries. You don’t really sound like a native english speaking teacher when you say this. You’re not, are you?, because it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to want to cap your own salary.

No, What I am actually saying is that there are so many english teachers in Taiwan that teachers can’t expect too much for their wages. Wages are based on the demand and supply of teachers. Therefore if there are more teachers it is logical to say the pay will be less.
Of course I would love to be getting payed 1000NTD per hour, but you can’t expect big pay when there are loads of teachers here.
The maximum you can get, with the exception of a couple of schools ins 600NTD per hour.
That’s a fact. And usually to get these jobs you need to know somebody.
I haven’t looked for a job like this, cause I am quite content where I am.
I am a native english speaker, I have been in taiwan for quite a while, I am explaining the way things are, and not the way I would like them to be.
So you are only in Taiwan for the money ???

No, the NT$20,000 penalty doesn’t make teachers stop to think about their quitting Hess. It stops them period, because you need it because the majority of teachers at Hess would quit when they figure out how you take them for a ride. Think about it:

80 hrs a month * NT$500 = NT$40,000 -20% for taxes = NT$32,000

20% tax for the first 183 days in the tax year, after that it is 10%
Now lets see

80hrs*500 = 40000
Tax@10% = 4000
= NTD 36000

Go to another school where you might get 600 per hour

80*600 = 48000
Tax@10% = 4800
= NTD 43200

Surely you must realise that most teachers teach kindergarten also or have privates, and this is where the money comes from.

and then minus NT$20,000 penalty means not enough money for the rest of the month,

If you are living hand to mouth in Taiwan, maybe you should get some privates or something, to boost your income. I know some teachers who teach in schools who are making a lot of money outside the school. As I said before this is where the big bucks come from private students etc… I know teachers adding 50000NTD to their wages every month this way…

unless the teacher has really planned for it, can get Hess to fire him/her (and have a job in waiting) or just not pay it (as said before, nobody would force you too, its not profitable to sue in Taiwan for this amount of money).

If you really want to quit you will quit…regardless of the money…

As for buttercup’s statement, no the predominant rant isn’t about money, its just that money is easily measured. No, the teachers are not fleecing the Taiwanese. They’re not responsible for setting the wages they make, its the Taiwanese who set the demand in the market. You’re both ignoring some of the horror stories that have been posted on this site to suit your own positions.

And how much money would you get for teaching somewhere else in some other country?
And its about money, isn’t it always?? give people enough and they have nothing to complain about.
I am not ignoring the horror stories, there are horror stories out there. Its just people have got to get things in prospective.
If you are working in a school and you feel like you are not getting what you deserve, it serves no purpose to attack all around you. And it is also unfair for a couple of people to attempt to paint a picture of somewhere or some school based solely on their experiences.

And that’s really unfair for both of you to infer that most teachers fall below par. If that’s what you think of your colleagues, I can really understand why there are so many negative comments about the place where you work, and its the owners of the school that are ultimately responsible for teaching and teacher quality.

I will just say this about teachers in taiwan. My friend who has been teaching here for 12 years told me that english teachers have gained a reputation over the time he has been here. They have improved alot from the time they would go AWOL and jump ship for better money or to travel around Asia.
And this use to happen with teachers from alot of different schools.
I am not saying my colleagues fall below par. I am saying, you cannot ask for alot of pay for a job you never have done before.

Sounds like you all lose this round again.

Why, do you think this is some sort of competition or something ?
Oh!! you win this one and I win this one.
I am just explaining the way things are.

P.S. This is how you spell “loose”

Well, people.

I saw Dexter’s picture on the Oriented advertisement at the top of the page! She was smiling really big with these goofy blue eyes that were about to pop out and it said something like “now my friends can find me on the directory!”

Anyway, I’m not in Taiwan for the money. That’s probably why I was content at HESS - the big Hippo Boat that stays afloat and gives me the chance to stay in Taiwan and learn Chinese in my spare time. Learning Chinese has its frustrations - but that’s the true reason I came to Taiwan. HESS is not big money… Hey, have I been brainwashed? If I have been brainwashed, please inform me because I might go work for HESS again.

One time I met this girl at a dinner prepared by her mother and some other friends(her mother was American). The girl sat down, looked at me dead in the eyes like she didn’t care, and said in this super-nonchalant voice “so what do you do here - teach English - study Chinese?” like she had me all figured out already from one glance. I thought to myself: ‘you are such a snoot.’
So…
I looked at her back straight dead in the eyes and I said, “actually, I study English” and I taught her the Greek root words of the word “hippopotamus”. In case you folks don’t know, “hippo” means “horse” and “potamus” means “river”. “Hippopotamus” is the shortened form of the original Greek “Horse of the River”. And if you don’t know - the Chinese word for “Hippopotamus” is also “river-horse”. What a coincidence. Anyway, I had fun watching her face figuratively fall off. That shut her smart mouth up for the rest of the evening. And her mother added,“you never stop learning, do you?” I bet she never taught her daughter Greek.

HEIL HENRY HIPPO!

1 Like

JMO,

It looks like people are paying attention and watching you backtrack your way out of your original posts. I suggest that you start to be a bit more careful, otherwise, you’ll look…, well, you know.

I was looking at the language exchange board. On it, one foreigner posted for a language exchange and 6 people instantly replied. He’s lucky he didn’t leave a phone number or an e-mail address.

There are plenty of students for teachers in Taiwan. If you leave Hess (I’m assuming that you work there currently, because it seems that you’re trying to push their side of this discussion for them), there will always be a job waiting for you at the next school down the street. There are no shortage of teaching jobs in Taiwan. The papers are filled with them. There are also schools that pay more than NT$600. If you just check the paper, you’ll find this out. I saw this week jobs advertised for NT$800 an hour and I regularly see ads just like that in the paper. Privates can be even more. I’ve seen teachers at NT$1,500 an hour at their privates. Privates through companies like Lato can be NT$700 an hour or more.

Sure, people will quit if they really want to quit. But the financial penalty that Hess charges is much too high and no other school carries such a high penalty. What warrants that Hess needs such a penalty to retain teachers? Are they so bad that without it their teachers would leave in mass? Why should their teachers have to work so many privates to pay such a high bond in the first place? and its too bad that teachers who pay it watch their hard earned dollars go down the drain. Oh well, one more way for Hess to make its money.

It doesn’t seem like just a couple of people either. I’ve run into so many people over the years that also complain about Hess that its unbelieveable. There also has been more than just a couple that have posted to this board. Go read the posts about Kid Castle and Elsie. It won’t take much of your time because there haven’t been any posts for the two days its been up. Wonder why? No news is good news.

No, its not all about money. Its just that its so easy to pick on Hess for this part of their business, because they do pay low and that contract is too lop-sided (don’t you get it?, no one else in that business has such practices), and like I said before, money is easily measurable. But why shouldn’t it also be about money anyway? If I was still teaching English, I would want to be with an employer takes care of me.

Your attitude seems really defeatist when you talk about how its not possible to make more than you’re making now, not to say, at least find a better place to work. I can’t understand why you would take a position where you won’t be able to get a gain from it (and no, i’m not just talking about money either).

AV8D Else,

Ya, I’m find this entertaining too. Very amusing.

Big Dork,

You post too much! You must have had over 12 different posts today, and that kept me really busy at work just to keep up the reading. You’re addicted, buddy, you really are! (but i find your posts the most amusing, so plz keep it up)

And, yes, if you’re thinking about going back to Hess, you must be brainwashed.

Hess = Just Say No.

I also have strong doubts about the truth of this incident.

However, it does prove a point that I have been making at my school for a number of months. It is potentially dangerous to be alone with a student, be it for oral tests or private tutoring.

I agree with the previous poster about the danger of Taiwan mothers and students, and the grudges they can hold. All it would take is for a teacher to scold a student and this student could then make up the most blatant lies to get revenge.

For this reason I do not allow myself to be alone in a room with a student. If that means I have to do my tests in the reception area, then so be it.

In New Zealand, where I received my teacher training, this was hammered into our heads from year 1. It is vital that teachers protect themselves.

In fact, in New Zealand the occurence of false sexual abuse accusations has increased at about the same rate as the dwindling numbers of male teachers in the New Zealand education system.

Continuing on with the actual accusation made about the Hess Teacher.

The girl said that she saw his hand come out covered with something sticky, like snot.

I am sorry, but it does not make sense to me.

  1. If one was to wank in one’s pants, and then removed one’s hand from said pants, would the semen then not be left behind inside the pants?

  2. How did she know it was sticky? Did she touch it?

  3. Is sperm sticky like snot? Snot is very thick, and semen is very fluid, although it does tend to get sticky when in contact with water.

  4. What did she do after this incident? Stay in the room, or leave?

  5. Had there been any previous communications about this teacher from the mother/student to the school. i.e was there any bad blood between them. Or, have there been any recent incidents between the teacher and the students which could have led the teacher to tell the student off?

Strange questions I know, but this is a serious accusation, and part of any sexual abuse accusation (and in my opinion wanking in front of children is sexual abuse) is an in-depth interview by a trained child shrink ( forgot how to spell phsycologist:-)

I somehow doubt that this process has been followed in this case.