Modern slavery - Head Teacher Monkey Tree English Learning Center Employee Review

Hi there, Thank you for taking the time to leave this review and provide feedback on your time spent with Monkey Tree. We are sorry to hear that your experience with us was less than positive, however referring to employment with us as modern slavery is disingenuous and quite insensitive to those around the world who may find themselves in such a situation. Slavery comments aside, I did want to take a moment to address some of your concerns and provide clarifications on our working conditions, as your descriptions are simply untrue and not reflective of the reality of the situation in any way. When it comes to work hours, our standard day is from 9:30-6:30, which is also inclusive of a 1.5-hour lunch break. This brings the average time spent working each day at our centers to 7.5 hours. For a week, this is 37.5 hours. Now there are a few times when teachers might have to stay a bit late, but there are also a few times when teachers can leave early. Even when these situations are factored in, our average work week is less than 40 hours per week. If you look into this further, you’ll see that this tends to be about average for most of the world, and actually a bit less than what the average Hong Kong citizen works (50 hours). As can be confirmed from our Glassdoor salary reviews, our average compensation tends to be around $26,500. I’d say that this is fairly accurate, and also doesn’t factor in the pay increases and bonuses we’ve recently implemented for all of our teachers. If you compare this to other learning centers across Hong Kong, you’ll find that the compensation packages we provided are higher than average and exceed what most other centers are able to offer. In terms of our benefits, we provide paid holidays, term breaks, annual leave, allowances for unpaid leave, sick leave, and even optional accommodation packages. There is no fine print to be wary of, as this information is neatly outlined and explained in our contracts. We do actually request that all potential teachers read their contracts before signing them, as we’re more than happy to answer any and all questions beforehand. We pride ourselves on offering a comprehensive training program to fully equip new teachers for their roles. All of our training is carried out by members of our Teacher Development team. These are people who have been with the company for several years, first as teachers, then Head Teachers, and finally joining our management team due to the exceptional quality of their own teaching, and the high standards they set for everyone else at their own center. Our training team has been consistent for quite some time, so if you are referring to the performance of an ex-member, it must be somebody that left the organization several years ago. I’m not sure as to your reason for bringing this up now, but we are always keen on improving our training program, whether as an organization or for a particular individual, and would appreciate any feedback that can be provided at employeerelations@monkeytree.com.hk. We provide all of the teaching material and resources that are in use at our centers. This includes workbooks, textbooks, laptops, folders, paper, pens, pencils, craft supplies, and anything else teachers or students might need while engaging in classes. Our teachers are not required to buy any of their own supplies/materials, nor are they expected to. All we do require is that our teachers engage with and educate our students, which may mean that they need to explain different grammatical components time and time again, but that’s simply the job of being a teacher. I know that this response has been quite lengthy and may not cover everything, but it is important to provide an accurate representation of working conditions at Monkey Tree, especially when they're being described as modern slavery. If there is anything further that you or anyone else needs to discuss, either positive or negative, then please do not hesitate in reaching out to our Center Liaisons, as they are here to assist and provide support. You can also reach out to us directly at employeerelations@monkeytree.com.hk. Again, thank you for taking the time to provide feedback on your time spent at Monkey Tree.