Aeon Debate
Jon,
I did an update and a revision of this page.There were a lot of gaps
that may have happened when you posted it--sentences cut off and
joined with unrelated ones for example. Anyway, here it is. I need to
know when you can get it up. I get about one response a month from it
so that means others are reading it and they need updated information.
Thomas L. Simmon
http://seamonkey.ed.asu.edu/~jonb/aeon.html
Jon's Note: (Numbers updated 2/18)
This article has been only sightly updated by Dr. Simmons 2/1/01. Updates
are because the figures on the exchange rates were seriously out of date
and some grammar errors fixed. I have decided to keep this article here
so those considering whether to work in Japan can better understand
the different issues.
If you have a differing opinion on AEON please contact me and if your
article has good information to contribute to this debate I will post it.
This was not placed on my page because, as someone suggested, a "personal
dislike" for the company. I believe that information is valuable, and open
debate healthy, especially for the ESL instructor seeking work in Japan.
It is the opinion of countless people whom I have spoken to here in Japan
that often the smaller language schools pay more and you need work less.
The larger language schools as AEON, GEOS, and NOVA often inflexible, pay
the legal minimum (250000 yen/month which does not include housing) while
working the foreigner 30 to 40 classroom hours a week. At some of the
smaller language schools 15 to 20 hours a week and higher pay is common.
The best advice I have for anyone considering teaching in Japan is once you
get here, see what else is around and see if you can network to a better
job. After all, the best jobs are found while here in Japan.
The following is a thread from the newsgroup TESLJB-L in its discussion
about the AEON Language School located in Japan. Because I felt it would
take up too much space on the newsgroup I placed it here.
Two personal notes: 1. I never worked for any of these large language
schools 2. I have had a few very pleasant e-mailings with the AEON
representative and he requested a few reasonable minor changes to his post
which did not change the content from the original posting on TESLJB-L.
Enjoy the fun!
Jon
------------------------------------------------------------------------
A LOOK AT EMPLOYMENT AT AEON: A CONVERSATION SCHOOL COMPANY IN JAPAN
Dr. Thomas L. Simmons
(Original correspondence in Dec. 1997; REVISED JANUARY, 2000; edited
again in Feb. 2001)
INTRODUCTION A friend of mine, Milan D., passed to me here in Japan a copy
of the original TESLJB-L posting asking about AEON and employment
there. There is an AEON Corp. here that was once part of an
organisation called AMVIC (American Victory or some thing). They
split off and the other half went on to become GEOS, fast becoming
one of the most notorious of the conversation school
businesses.
I have been advising teachers for nearly 10 years here in Japan on
their human rights and labour laws, directing them to labour unions
and attorneys when it seemed appropriate. AEON pops up occasionally
although GEOS has had more than its share of problems as well. In the
beginning the problems AEON had were pretty well hidden. They hire
overseas and the teachers are totally unaware of their legal rights
and are trapped if they find things less than what they expected.
Some people get good local management and the experience is not all
that bad -- enjoyable by some reports. They occasionally weigh in
with their personal anecdotes on these BBs [bulletin boards and
lists] and remind us that good business can mean treating people like
humans with dignity. But others do not have such a wonderful time and
they come to me and others for help -- but rarely take the initiative
and do much for themselves unfortunately so not much happens to
improve the situation. You'll understand why as you read.
The Japanese teachers to whom I have spoken are treated much worst -- which
is why they were speaking to me. Hours, and pay are less. Qualified teachers
with diplomas and degrees who really want to teach English are often reduced
to little more than babysitters and clerk. So I have half a dozen first-hand
reports on which to form the basis of this opinion. I also have the opinions
that others have as employees [at the time of this original post about 4
that I knew were in fact currently employed and perhaps 3 more who had been
employed and more than 10 and 5 respectively as of Dec. 2000]. Since they
watch the conditions from inside their testimony is certainly of value. My
evidence however is sparse [but see comments from General Union in Osaka
below] and the company pretty much keeps to themselves--overseas recruits
have very few resources here and many Japanese employees are just to
intimidated to speak up (A situation that is fast changing). At this time,
December, 1997, I have not had contact with AEON employees for some time. So
I rely on the word of those who have made their way to the union offices in
Tokyo and Osaka. [Note Feb, 2001: Since that time the number of contacts has
increased as noted above. However, given the transience of the teaching
population and the companies tendency to keep to itself other than
advertisments, getting much more information is difficult. My primary source
of information now is Dennis Tesolat at genunion@d4.dion.ne.jp. Dennis has
been very active in his labour dispute with GEOS and knows a great deal
about AEON as well. He told me Feb. 1, 2001 that things had quitened down
since about 1997 or 98]
RETURN FARE HOME
Another question involved the return fare home. If you are hired
outside of Japan, you are to be provided with return fare which you
are supposed to use within two weeks of leaving the company. The law
is vague and is often abused and neglected as it is important to get
this ironed out.
TAXES
-national taxes: If you are not registered as a resident you will pay
at a rate of about 20%
After you register as a resident that national tax (at the usual wage
scale for conversation schools) will be about 10-12% but you will in
fact be liable for local taxes so you do not really save much if
anything by being registered except possibly the first year (150,000
yen on 3,000,000 yen --more the first year)
- ward tax: 0 yen the first year -- they will levy 10% in the following
year.
- ward tax: 10% or more for ward tax after first year based on
previous year's wages. (150,000 yen/yr)
- sales tax 5% on anything you buy (conservative estimate is 50% of
your income for about 75,000 yen/year)
- monthly rent 30,000 to 60,000 monthly rent (360,-720,000 yen/year.
More if you have to pay damage deposit-possibly refundable--and key
money--not refundable)
- 480,000 (an extremely conservative 40,000 yen per month for food and
entertainment)
- 52,000 (conservative personal travel for a year)
____________________
1,267,000 to 1,627,000
Leaving you with a net of about 1,373,000 to 1,733,00 that you will
have to save and pay off school loans or whatever. If you came to see
the country, that does not leave much time or money.
At today's rate (Jan, 2001) that will be about 114 Yen to the dollar (your
cost--not what the bank gets) or 1,975 to 1,565.00 US$ Oh, by the way, it
was 105 yen to the dollar when this was revised in January, 2000, about 129
when this was revised in December 1997 and 110 yen to the dollar a year
before that. So things can alter drastically in a short period of time. And
all my figures for expenses above were very conservative. And did not take
into account such things as toiletries, emergencies, phone, books, health
insurance etc.
YOUR MONTHLY EARNINGS ABOVE BARE ESSENTIALS WILL BE ABOUT 105,583-
135,583 YEN /MONTH -- 926-1,189.00 U$ at 114 YEN /$.
At about 55 to 25% its value in Boston & Austin, or Paola & Paduka, that
will leave you with anywhere from 422 to 654 dollars in comparative spending
power each month depending on where you come from. You will have to send it
back to the States to make it worth your while. The Post Office will give
the best exchange rates. Citibank will sell you travelar's cheques at a
resonable price as well. Avoid the other Japanese banks.
If the teacher did very little here and sent it all home it might not
be a bad idea but at the end of the tour there might be enough to pay
for a semester at school. If the teacher is paying student loans in
the States, there is very little to spend here or there. AEON and
conversation school companies for that matter, do not offer much in
my opinion. The benefit would be a visa and a chance to look around
if you are thinking of staying a longer term.
Some teachers do pick up other work but employers like Aeon discourage it
and may even get you to sign some agreement that you will not do
private lessons or work for another company. If you do take them up
on a job, I would not take that clause seriously. Nor would I tell
them anything about my time outside of the company. They can be very
intrusive, as many employers in Japan can be, and some managers have
shown a marked proclivity for butting into and trying to control
their employees' personal lives. They may insist that since this is
Japan, you are expected to behave as you would in a 'typical'
Japanese company but the comparison is patently false. They do not
employ you full time, nor do they employ you permanently--it is not a
career job and they are not some one large and secure like Mitsubishi
so they can not argue the comparison cogently.
Your time outside the job is your own. One way companies like Aeon
enforce this control of your working time is by altering your work
schedule. One week you may have a work schedule of 8-10 and then a
three hour break and come back for 4 hours. The next week you may be
given nothing but afternoons and evenings. Beware of the schedule
changes. They will interfere with other things you may have planned
and basically make you life style rather like a yo-yo.
By the way, local tax is not levied until the second year (but that does not
keep many of these companies from deducting this and pocketing it anyway).
Do not let AEON or anyone else take this out since the government does not
until the second year. If you live in a ward other than the one in which you
are employed, you should expect to have to deal with this
yourself--be proactive. Do not be passive in these matters. Make
sure you talk to the ward office you live in. Do not take your
employer's word for it. And make sure that every deduction is named
and check on its validity with outside sources like the ward office
or a labour union. There have been a lot of abuses of this tax.
I think 350,000 yen/month is the minimum for life here and that is not much
at all. Adjunct college work is about 6,000 to 10,000 yen per hour ($46.51
to 77.52 per hour). At 24 working weeks per year and teaching 15 to 25
90-minute classes each week (Full-time faculty teach 6-9 classes a week),
part-timers can gross 3,240,000 per year for 540 hours per year. AEON pays
3,000,000 yen per year and works the teacher about 1728 hours per year
(according to the original post) for about 1736 yen per hour ($15.22 per
hour) in a country that cost three to four times as much for a lot of
things. So that 15 bucks or 10 punts or what ever is about half or
less what it would be in Seattle or Dublin.
Hereon follows the comments by the AEON Rep in the original
correspondence to TESLJB-L in 1997 and Dr. Thos. Simmons's updated
and edited responses as of Feb. 1, 2001
[AEON Representative]
>. . . I work for AEON in the United States recruiting individuals to work
for our company in Japan. As many of you may know, AEON Corporation owns
and operates over 225 branch schools in Japan. There are over 2000 Japanese
staff members and over 450 foreign English teachers working for AEON in
Japan. We've been in business since 1973. At that time our company name was
AMVIC (the acronym had absolutely nothing to do with AMerica or VICtory)
[Thom Simmons]
Since I was actually in several student interviews in Kofu, Yamanashi and
Tokyo, I will go with the 'American Victory' story since that is what
several of my friends were told by the Japanese Staff--as I sat there
listening. As an eye witness this places the information I have given on a
'primary source' basis. Much better data. However, it would be a trivial
point except that Eric is also beginning to construct the framework to
discredit me and any others who may have commented in a negative light. He
has picked a trivial point himself.
[AEON]
>Last month a TESLJB-L regular posted a query about AEON for a friend. I
contacted this person myself to make sure she received as much factual
information as possible concerning our recruitment process.
[Thom Simmons]
Factual information need not be terribly important to the issue or even
relevant. His litany of facts is probably common knowledge--he did
not present it on the list. Besides attempting to garner social
acceptance for this 'well-known' company, he has provided us with yet
another example of the credibility framework that is apparently an
attempt to convince us the company is reputable. However, this does
not tells how the employees can expect to be treated.
[AEON]
>She [the women who had asked for information earlier] forwarded private
responses she received (all identifying data deleted) to me so I could see
what type of responses she was receiving. What struck me the most was not
that the responses were positive, negative or neutral- but that many
responses were based on completely inaccurate information.
[Thom Simmons]
The AEON Representative is in California. I have been in Japan working in
labor and human rights for teachers since 1988 and have more than second
hand information. His information may very well be second hand but he has
not told us of his experience in Japan nor why his information is
qualitatively better except that he is an employee. He has made a sweeping
statement to brush all replies with the same paint. This is not factual for
he has hardly provided us with a truth test either logically or
pragmatically. He has made an assertion. Let us see if he offers sufficient
data to test his statement.
[AEON]
>Not one person had worked at AEON, everyone had merely heard from someone
bit and pieces.
[Thom Simmons]
This is ad hominem (against the speaker) and as such, since it does not
address the actual content of the replies, it is an informal fallacy.
Additionally, whether or not someone actually works at AEON is
irrelevant. In fact is backfires on him since his information is not
gleaned in Japan. Thus he is even further removed from the source
that someone in Japan who knows an employee here in Japan.
At any rate, most research and media and reports are done by third
parties. If [AEON's]
criterion were the case, all historical records removed from the events and
not written by participants would be trashed. Most accounts are written many
centuries after the events. He is not making much sense.
[AEON]
>there is a deposit of US$200.00. We have been using this deposit system for
well over 10 years. This deposit is to ensure that the teacher is absolutely
committed to going to Japan. This deposit is returned to the new teacher in
Yen within 5 days of arrival in Japan. We always use an exchange rate that
is more beneficial to our new teacher than the actual rate.
[Thom Simmons] His generous exchange rates are irrelevant. He does charge a
fee. If there is a death in the family and you can not go, do you want to
hassle with these people to get your money back? If you have said you will
do a thing, how do you feel being told that the test of your honesty is a
200 dollar indemnity? What does this say about their experiences in the
past? By the way, they do not require a deposit of the Japanese Staff nor do
reputable employers do this here in Japan. AEON has in essence said you are
not dependable. By the time you get to Japan, what ever happens, you are
much more at risk or compromised than you were while in the States. This
deposit is one more abuse of your civil rights. You sign an agreement, you
have a right to break it under extenuating circumstances. In fact, in Japan
you have a right to break it for any personal reason. In essence he is
engaged in an illegal act. However, not many people will ever pursue this in
court because the sum, large to many in the States, is inconsequential in
Japan and the process is very expensive.
[AEON]
Our teachers get a clean, fully furnished apartment usually within a 15 . .
. . . The teacher only pays 39,000 Yen a month regardless of where they
live.
[Thom Simmons]
This looked good when I got to Japan. However, there are a number of things
to consider. By renting from the school, this places the teacher in a whole
new legal area dealing with property and land. We already have laws in two
countries--Japan and the USA, civil and labour--now we have yet more. Can
you keep track of this--in a foreign language-- in the event there is a
disagreement? The fact is, this makes the employee much more vulnerable to
the ethics of the employer. At every turn, your professional autonomy is
co-opted.
Furthermore, the company has the rights to the apartment. If you are not
happy with the arrangement, they are in a position to throw you out unless
you get an attorney or a union to intercede. The apartment is not
necessarily a measure of generosity. By keeping these apartments filled they
enhance the profitability of the property. If they own it, even better, they
realise profit--they don't give this away and they have another hold on the
employee. If they do not own it they enter into a business arrangement with
the owners and get, at the very least, a grateful and tractable workforce
that will not have to go thorough the hassle of finding an apartment which
would interfere with their job and make the employer's logistical concerns
more complicated. A profitable business need not be generous in motivation.
[AEON rep] has not produced any evidence that belies the overtly
exploitative nature of this company or any like it.
[AEON]
>The salary we offer our teachers is 250,000 Yen per month. . . . . The
average our teachers save is between US$ 5,000-12,000. A month of expenses
might include the following: 25,000 Yen (10% income tax in Japan); 60,000
Yen (food); 39,000 (rent); 15,000 (utilities) = 139,000 Yen 250,000 -
139,000= 111,000 Yen a month after expense.
[Thom Simmons]
He has not given us an accurate picture here. While the figure of
105,000 to 135,000 would be conservative, the initial rate is 20% tax
until registration. Then there is the ward tax you will pay after
registration in the following year which can raise your overall taxes
above that 20% rate in combination with the national taxes. Nor has
he provided information on the legally mandated health insurance that
AEON must share with the employees (but see below). If this is
deducted, the net sum drops. If there is a pension deduction, it
drops again. That full pension deduction will not be returned to you
in the same amount unless you leave after the first year or
thereabouts. It is a write-off. But in all the years I have
interviewed AEON employees, I have never heard of a foreign
employee's health insurance being subsidised in accordance with the
law (they may simply not know about it which means they are poorly
informed. Dennis Tesolat at Osaka General Union will have up to date
information here). The AEON Rep may have put his foot in it again.
Either they don't pay and break the law, or they do pay--and there is
a matching deduction from the employee--and he has lied about the
earning potential here.
Nor do we know what AEON expects for this salary. There is a lot of
commuting time in some places. There are unannounced activities--got
Japanese lessons or a date?--Tough. Nor does the [AEON representative] tell
you that the average wage outside of this type of business is much higher.
Vocational schools pay 4,000 to 6,000 per hour. This would equal 62.5 hours
a month or 15-16 hours per weeks open.
It is imperative that you save money before you come to Japan and
save it while you are here. Do not live hand to mouth. You need at
least 6 months living expenses in the bank. That way, if we meet, you
will not be broke and coming to us for help with an unreasonable
employer who has threatened to lock you out of your apartment and
refused to pay your way back to the States.
Regards,
Dr. Thomas L. Simmons
Kanto Teachers' Unions' Federation
2-28-10-303 Morigaoka, Isogoku,
Yokohama 235 JAPAN
e-mail: malang@gol.com
For further information, contact Dennis Tesolat at
[end]
--
Cheers,
Thom Simmons
2-28-10-303 Morigaoka, Isogo-ku, Yokohama-shi 235-0024 JAPAN
Phone: 81 45 845 8242; Email: malang@gol.com