Hess wants me to teach children under 6. Is that illegal?

The Discolord works in mysterious ways.

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I signed all the things they sent me overseas, then quit on the third day of training. Didn’t get any penalties for it, just some unimpressed looks.

May you have a better experience, whatever you decide to do :stuck_out_tongue:

Yeah, I read those threads, and am still confused.

Is it illegal to teach English to kids of kindergarden age but who are at a buxiban, NOT a kindergarden??

If so, where is the law stating this? Is there a link somewhere?

What’s your opinion on Hess then, vs. Kojen and Shane?

I see, thank you.

If Shane and/or Kojen is offering you a job in which you teach older children then you should take that offer over Hess trying to pass a kindy teaching job off to you. I find it hard to believe a huge chain like Hess would be offering illegal positions though. Read the links above and then contact their office directly for clarification on this matter. If they get defensive about you asking instead of giving a straight answer, then I wouldn’t proceed with them.

Kindy is their bread and butter. “ADE” aka All Day Kindy charges around 600k ntd a year per student. Crazy numbers.

HESS will pile on a lot of classes. They never turn down new students or making a new class. They never cancel classes. They will instead work their teachers harder and harder until they quit or just stick out the contract and don’t sign another one.
You are the “newbie” who is filling the spot for a teacher who quit or who won’t re-sign.

Kojan I have no idea about. Shane has no kindy and just evening classes. British curriculum and a pretty good reputation. I know a lot of people who worked there for many years.

What is your nationality?

HESS definitely has a lot of Kindy positions in Taiwan. In fact, one of the contracts they offer is for an all day Kindy position. It is illegal, but people rarely have issues, especially at a large chain such as HESS (they always pay off the authorities to not have issues).

As far as working at HESS, it really depends on the branch/area where you end up (which you won’t know until near the end of your initial training). Some branches have good managers/working culture, while others do not. That part is a little like any large company. It is true that they will give you lots of classes, but personally, I don’t really think that’s a bad thing.

I wouldn’t worry about signing the initial paperwork they send you. Your employment at HESS is contingent on you passing their initial training. As a result, either you or the company could “end” the relationship prior to the initial training’s completion with no penalty.

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Hess is so well-connected they could open a class for kids in the womb and no one would say anything.

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Two of my friends recently had to work 19:00 to 20:50 and 18:40 to 20:30 four times a week.

This is a real problem when you have kindy at 09:00 everyday too. You are putting in 12 hour work days and getting paid 6-8 hours. You get breaks sure, but you use it to eat and prep/grade homework so it’s not really a break.
If you don’t live near your apartment, you stay at school.
It’s a raw deal most of the time. When you are new they often give you the worst classes and a lot of classes or classes to sub when others take vacation.

I used to do that when I was younger. It was awesome because I made lots of cash. Also, yes, you are working late at night and early in the morning, but to classify it as a 12 hour working day is misleading. If you teach a kindy class at 9AM, you are done by 11-11:30. If you teach a second kindy class at HESS, it starts at either 1:30 or 2:00 in the afternoon. Just use your break wisely.

It is true that they will give you the worst schedule when you start, but that’s part of having a new job at any company. Generally speaking, perks are reserved for more senior staff. That’s how the world works. As for living close to or far from the branch, that’s a personal choice that doesn’t really apply to this conversation. HESS makes clear in training when the potential hours you may work will be. If a person still chooses to live far from their branch, that’s an issue of their own doing.

I don’t mean to sound unsympathetic. I do know people who have gotten raw deals at HESS, but the raw deals I recall had more to do with managers that gave them a hard time simply because they didn’t like their looks/personality. I am very sympathetic to those situations. I just have trouble feeling sympathy for someone who takes an hourly job at a company whose hours of operation are publicly known and then complains about having to work a lot of hours. If this was a concern for such person, then they shouldn’t have taken an hourly job or only signed a contract with a company that writes a maximum number of hours into the contract (which HESS does not; they only write a minimum number of hours into their contracts).

This thread was a lot better when the whole first post was in the title.

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When I worked at HESS my last class was 4.40-6.30 for most of the time. I did weeks of 6.40-8.30 when we had teachers go on vacation or leave and we were waiting for replacements. I could deal with it but if my schedule was always like that I would be depressed. I did 2 years at HESS then moved on. Working 7pm-9pm shouldn’t even exist.

9-11:30 , 1.30-3.30 or 2-4, 4.40 to 6.30 then 6.30 to 8.30
From 11.30 to 2 you are eating, grading homework, prepping for your next lessons or writing kindy comments/reports etc. The 40 mins from 4-4.40 are much the same or you just sit on your ass wondering when this hellish experience will ever end. After 8.30 you need to eat dinner and then grade hw or leave it for the next day.

8.5 hours pay, at school for 12 hours. It is shit. Why do so many teachers quit? Because it’s the worst business model for the teachers and the best for the owner to put more money in his bank account.

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I’ve looked into the legality of teaching English to kids under 6. It seems that many years ago this law was passed and many local governments adhere to this law. New Taipei City does not however and this lack of enforcement is common all over the island. I do believe it is a moot point anyway because, like they say, HESS knows how to protect themselves and their employees from legal trouble.

for clarification, what is this law?

It is illegal that foreigners on work based ARC teach in kindergarten, regardless of what they teach.

Some local governments prohibit to teach English to kids under 6.

MOE (central government) has been discussing to prohibit to teach English to kids under 6 at buxiban for more than 10 years.

It depends on their schools charter or if they are a buxiban. International schools are exempted from the English prohibition. To attend an these schools the student needs an international passport which can be obtained for a price. It’s likely they combined a buxiban with a kindergarten and just shoo the English teachers upstairs or out the back when the moe shows up. I can’t help with finding laws though.

you said this law was passed and many local governments adhere to this law, but don’t know what is this law? :confused:

For clarification, the central government(MOE) does not prohibit to teach English to kids under 6 at buxiban, at this moment.

If the above is wrong, please correct me with a source.

They do prohibit teaching English in kindergartens though. So it really depends how the school is classified.