It's an easy scenario to imagine. A fresh-faced individual from the West, determined to move to Japan, browses English-teaching job listings on a site such as GaijinPot or O-Hayo Sensei. They apply to a few, and get a response from a promising private school. The job is basically locked down, and our hypothetical instructor-to-be is geeked — so geeked they don't really look around online to see what has been written about the place.
They come to Japan and everything seems golden at first. The company sets them up with housing and practically takes care of everything. The country is so new, the teacher doesn't ever stop to think if the company might be taking advantage of them in some way. Do they really need to work all those unpaid hours, and why doesn't the company help pay for health insurance? Although some teachers find they have few complaints, for others, things can turn sour fast.
"They treat me like family, which is nice until Dad takes his belt off," says Dennis Tesolat, chair of the General Union, a Japan-based trade union that works closely with those employed in the private English education industry.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.