Please look at this blog if you are considering employment with ENLI School of East West Studies...
If I had seen a story like this I would never had went there! You are welcome to post any of your comments on other schools but we need to get the word out that this "school" that is "foreign owed for foreign teachers" is a HACK!!!
http://dontworkforenlischool.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Monday, March 3, 2008
ESL TEACHERS BEWARE OF ENLI SCHOOL
I am writing this blog for one reason and one reason only....this school is stealing, lying, cheating and abandoning over 90% of the employees they hire from foreign countries. Okay...thats a few reasons but anyway...
I am a former employee of ENLI School of East West Studies. I have lived and taught abroad before and I could not believe how and what this company does...and will continue to do to their employees.
I should have known not to work here because they offered me a job without a serious interview process...it was usually me contacting them. Asking them questions. My main concern was that they were a legal institution that was eligible to hire foreign teachers and assist in the process to maintain the proper Z visa and foreign expert book required to legally work and live in China. After having them scan and email me all of the documents that proved they are legal to do that I still did not feel completely right but figured I was being paranoid. I will say I was lured primarily because of their very "good looking" website and the fact that they are "foreign owned for foreign teachers" as they profess on every page of their site with all of their fake testimonials.
For starters...this is not at all a school. Their website and their contract and their emails suggests that you will be teaching in a formal school or business facility owned and operated by ENLI and that is where you report to. I should have know there was a problem when I consistantly recieved emails from an address registered to Shawn Ottarson but all of the emails were signed Lily Liu. When I asked why that was I was emailed over and over that she worked for ENLI school and was there to assist Shawn with the high volume of applicants. She and he failed to mention that they are not only married but that this was a business ran literally out of their living room in an apartment in Tianjin China that not only they live in but their children and inlaws live in as well.
The main problem is that ENLI School of East West Studies is not a school at all. They are a mom and pop business that runs around town offering foreign teachers to the local schools. Most and I mean most of their teachers go to more than 3 schools a day...the commute can run anywhere from 15 minutes to 45 minutes...and yes you pay for the transportation expenses. This is not exactly legal either because we are contracted with ENLI but are working in various schools. If approached and asked to view your work visa and foreign expert book everything will say ENLI school and you will be standing in a school that does not and will never bare that name. How are they able to do this? Well to make matters worse from extensive research after I realized I was in a bad situation I learned that ENLI School is not even registered in Tianjin China they are registered to work in Harbin China but conduct business in Tianjin because of Lily Liu's uncle who is a high ranking officer with the Tianjin PSB (Public Security Bureau...much like our police). She is able to pass certain documents because of her ties. This is beneficial at first because you will go on a tourist visa (the main red flag for any overseas employer...they should ABSOLUTELY take care of that prior to your arrival) and all the paperwork is processed quickly because of the pull she has in the office.
Where this all becomes a problem is when they decide they don't like you or you realize that you are in constant debt to them. Meaning: the average teacher going abroad is not usually financially stable enough to buy a plane ticket to get there...have one to get home have several hundred dollars to set up and apartment and a few thousand more to pay for the travel expenses and document processing expenses that comes with getting a visa. I had well over $1200.00 and after getting a cheap...very cheap apartment, flying to and from Hong Kong going back and forth to the PSB to exchange documents and eat I was left with negative $200.00. The school told me to borrow from them. Since you don't get paid in advance you are literally always a month behind with them. I would have felt guilty for not planning more accordingly but frankly the contract states a set amount that you are to pay (2000RMB is what mine said) and when it was all over I was closer to 7000RMB. That is a difference of almost $500.00 USD. I began to talk to all of the other teachers about this and found out that almost all of us were in this same "debt pattern" with them.
Now...here is where it gets ugly. I began to talk to them about the amount of taxes they were taking out of each paycheck. It was close to 10%...again...after the debt and the taxes and your living expenses...not much left at all...if any. Because it was coming close to the end of the year I asked for my tax reciepts (something I was told no one had ever asked them for even though my accountant back in the US had emailed them about this months earlier). I started to ask some of the teachers that had been there longer if they had ever recieved any proof that they were even paying taxes since we recieved direct deposit and no pay stub...all of them said no.
Here is the problem with this. Because ENLI is not a real school they take a percentage of what the school is paying for us to be there. One of the schools closed for renovation for a month and continued to pay for the foreign teachers so that we would stay on their roster but ENLI kept the money saying that since we did not teach the classes we are not owed any of the money...although that is what the school allocated it for and our contracts state that we are to remain employed full time. We essentially did not get paid for the entire month for that portion of the salary. Portion you ask? Because each school pays different rates you never know what you are going to be paid...when one school has a class cancel because of something the actual school puts together...you don't get paid...even though ENLI does.
When I started to ask Shawn Ottarson and Lily Liu about this and my taxes they ensured that I had been paying taxes and that I would get the reciepts. The next week my mother came to visit for Christmas and New Years. I told them 3 months in advance of her visit. I was asked to show up at 6am Christmas morning at one of my schools...yes...3 hours early on a holiday with no extra pay when I had already told them I was having a visitor. I told them I did not want to teach the class early and I was fired. I found out from one of the other employees that prior to my even calling about saying I did not want to go to the class that they had already given my classes away to one of the other employees that were not "asking so many questions". I am happy to say but also regret to say that my constant push to know exactly where all the money I was going was...and why were they not honoring the contract has left enough stirred up where the other employees are asking more questions.
I was told I was fired on December 28th. I had not recieved a portion of my check for November and none of my pay for December. Because I had caught on to their "debt" scheme I stopped borrowing and owed them nothing. When I called and said I expected to still be paid I was told I was not going to be paid, they were going to cancel my visa and that I had 5 days to leave the country. I asked them how they expected me to do that without getting paid...the foreigner for foreign teachers replied...thats your problem. I was fortunate enough that I had made alot of other expat friends in different industries and in related ones. I had to get a Chinese attorney to schedule a meeting where they showed up with my month's salary and a little extra. They told me they just wanted me OUT.
This is not even the tip of the iceberg. I was told that I would be arrested even if they had to make something up. I was reminded of who her uncle was and I had better just leave and not try to stay and get other employment because they were filing a report on me. I had no idea what that meant so I went to the PSB where her uncle worked myself. Luckily I met a man there that had seen this happen to so many people before me he felt sorry for me...he directly handled the visas for ENLI and worked for Lily's uncle. He told me to take as much time as I needed but that I should make arrangements to leave because they were filing papers on me that had horrific (he would not get into details) allegations against me. He told me because of her uncle he knew he would not be able to keep it from getting cancelled just prolong it.
This is sad for numerous reasons. I had made friends and even met a companion that I could have really spent some significant time with. I had grown attached to the kids I was teaching. I did not get a chance to speak up for myself at the places I poured my heart and soul into teaching at. I was given no materials and no help creating lesson plans yet I engaged my students every day. I would have just put this bad experience (even the things I am not mentioning) behind me but I have recieved more than 3 emails and even some international calls from people stranded in Tianjin that are former employees of ENLI...abandoned and they were not lucky enough to find a way to get their money. They were fired via email...offered the same PSB threats and they are penniless and scared. I am writing this for them. I may not be able to help them but I certainly want to help people that are feeling like they may be able to trust one of the few employers that say they are "foreign owned for foreign teachers".
Most of the teachers that are stranded there were loyal enough to withstand 2 months with no work...January for final exams and February for the New Year holiday. I had no idea how lucky I was getting fired and forced to leave...or I would have been fighting for a lot more.
There are plenty of good ESL programs and schools...even some right there in Tianjin...unfortunately ENLI is not one of them. If you want to save yourself from a nightmare...DO NOT WORK AT ENLI SCHOOL. THEY ARE CROOKS!!!
I am a former employee of ENLI School of East West Studies. I have lived and taught abroad before and I could not believe how and what this company does...and will continue to do to their employees.
I should have known not to work here because they offered me a job without a serious interview process...it was usually me contacting them. Asking them questions. My main concern was that they were a legal institution that was eligible to hire foreign teachers and assist in the process to maintain the proper Z visa and foreign expert book required to legally work and live in China. After having them scan and email me all of the documents that proved they are legal to do that I still did not feel completely right but figured I was being paranoid. I will say I was lured primarily because of their very "good looking" website and the fact that they are "foreign owned for foreign teachers" as they profess on every page of their site with all of their fake testimonials.
For starters...this is not at all a school. Their website and their contract and their emails suggests that you will be teaching in a formal school or business facility owned and operated by ENLI and that is where you report to. I should have know there was a problem when I consistantly recieved emails from an address registered to Shawn Ottarson but all of the emails were signed Lily Liu. When I asked why that was I was emailed over and over that she worked for ENLI school and was there to assist Shawn with the high volume of applicants. She and he failed to mention that they are not only married but that this was a business ran literally out of their living room in an apartment in Tianjin China that not only they live in but their children and inlaws live in as well.
The main problem is that ENLI School of East West Studies is not a school at all. They are a mom and pop business that runs around town offering foreign teachers to the local schools. Most and I mean most of their teachers go to more than 3 schools a day...the commute can run anywhere from 15 minutes to 45 minutes...and yes you pay for the transportation expenses. This is not exactly legal either because we are contracted with ENLI but are working in various schools. If approached and asked to view your work visa and foreign expert book everything will say ENLI school and you will be standing in a school that does not and will never bare that name. How are they able to do this? Well to make matters worse from extensive research after I realized I was in a bad situation I learned that ENLI School is not even registered in Tianjin China they are registered to work in Harbin China but conduct business in Tianjin because of Lily Liu's uncle who is a high ranking officer with the Tianjin PSB (Public Security Bureau...much like our police). She is able to pass certain documents because of her ties. This is beneficial at first because you will go on a tourist visa (the main red flag for any overseas employer...they should ABSOLUTELY take care of that prior to your arrival) and all the paperwork is processed quickly because of the pull she has in the office.
Where this all becomes a problem is when they decide they don't like you or you realize that you are in constant debt to them. Meaning: the average teacher going abroad is not usually financially stable enough to buy a plane ticket to get there...have one to get home have several hundred dollars to set up and apartment and a few thousand more to pay for the travel expenses and document processing expenses that comes with getting a visa. I had well over $1200.00 and after getting a cheap...very cheap apartment, flying to and from Hong Kong going back and forth to the PSB to exchange documents and eat I was left with negative $200.00. The school told me to borrow from them. Since you don't get paid in advance you are literally always a month behind with them. I would have felt guilty for not planning more accordingly but frankly the contract states a set amount that you are to pay (2000RMB is what mine said) and when it was all over I was closer to 7000RMB. That is a difference of almost $500.00 USD. I began to talk to all of the other teachers about this and found out that almost all of us were in this same "debt pattern" with them.
Now...here is where it gets ugly. I began to talk to them about the amount of taxes they were taking out of each paycheck. It was close to 10%...again...after the debt and the taxes and your living expenses...not much left at all...if any. Because it was coming close to the end of the year I asked for my tax reciepts (something I was told no one had ever asked them for even though my accountant back in the US had emailed them about this months earlier). I started to ask some of the teachers that had been there longer if they had ever recieved any proof that they were even paying taxes since we recieved direct deposit and no pay stub...all of them said no.
Here is the problem with this. Because ENLI is not a real school they take a percentage of what the school is paying for us to be there. One of the schools closed for renovation for a month and continued to pay for the foreign teachers so that we would stay on their roster but ENLI kept the money saying that since we did not teach the classes we are not owed any of the money...although that is what the school allocated it for and our contracts state that we are to remain employed full time. We essentially did not get paid for the entire month for that portion of the salary. Portion you ask? Because each school pays different rates you never know what you are going to be paid...when one school has a class cancel because of something the actual school puts together...you don't get paid...even though ENLI does.
When I started to ask Shawn Ottarson and Lily Liu about this and my taxes they ensured that I had been paying taxes and that I would get the reciepts. The next week my mother came to visit for Christmas and New Years. I told them 3 months in advance of her visit. I was asked to show up at 6am Christmas morning at one of my schools...yes...3 hours early on a holiday with no extra pay when I had already told them I was having a visitor. I told them I did not want to teach the class early and I was fired. I found out from one of the other employees that prior to my even calling about saying I did not want to go to the class that they had already given my classes away to one of the other employees that were not "asking so many questions". I am happy to say but also regret to say that my constant push to know exactly where all the money I was going was...and why were they not honoring the contract has left enough stirred up where the other employees are asking more questions.
I was told I was fired on December 28th. I had not recieved a portion of my check for November and none of my pay for December. Because I had caught on to their "debt" scheme I stopped borrowing and owed them nothing. When I called and said I expected to still be paid I was told I was not going to be paid, they were going to cancel my visa and that I had 5 days to leave the country. I asked them how they expected me to do that without getting paid...the foreigner for foreign teachers replied...thats your problem. I was fortunate enough that I had made alot of other expat friends in different industries and in related ones. I had to get a Chinese attorney to schedule a meeting where they showed up with my month's salary and a little extra. They told me they just wanted me OUT.
This is not even the tip of the iceberg. I was told that I would be arrested even if they had to make something up. I was reminded of who her uncle was and I had better just leave and not try to stay and get other employment because they were filing a report on me. I had no idea what that meant so I went to the PSB where her uncle worked myself. Luckily I met a man there that had seen this happen to so many people before me he felt sorry for me...he directly handled the visas for ENLI and worked for Lily's uncle. He told me to take as much time as I needed but that I should make arrangements to leave because they were filing papers on me that had horrific (he would not get into details) allegations against me. He told me because of her uncle he knew he would not be able to keep it from getting cancelled just prolong it.
This is sad for numerous reasons. I had made friends and even met a companion that I could have really spent some significant time with. I had grown attached to the kids I was teaching. I did not get a chance to speak up for myself at the places I poured my heart and soul into teaching at. I was given no materials and no help creating lesson plans yet I engaged my students every day. I would have just put this bad experience (even the things I am not mentioning) behind me but I have recieved more than 3 emails and even some international calls from people stranded in Tianjin that are former employees of ENLI...abandoned and they were not lucky enough to find a way to get their money. They were fired via email...offered the same PSB threats and they are penniless and scared. I am writing this for them. I may not be able to help them but I certainly want to help people that are feeling like they may be able to trust one of the few employers that say they are "foreign owned for foreign teachers".
Most of the teachers that are stranded there were loyal enough to withstand 2 months with no work...January for final exams and February for the New Year holiday. I had no idea how lucky I was getting fired and forced to leave...or I would have been fighting for a lot more.
There are plenty of good ESL programs and schools...even some right there in Tianjin...unfortunately ENLI is not one of them. If you want to save yourself from a nightmare...DO NOT WORK AT ENLI SCHOOL. THEY ARE CROOKS!!!
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