A quick count of TEFL Recruiting companies offering services on popular web sites totals in excess of over 86 companies, many in Korea, some situate in the U.S.A, Canada, The U.K., Australia and New Zealand. There are many other recruiting companies who advertise and operate behind an e-mail address only. (It appears there are another 50 Recruiters to add to the list as of September 1st)

Some web sites provide excellent comprehensive data, (those we list) and some provide information or even sample contracts that breach Korean Labor laws and some Recruiters openly advise teachers to break the Korean law for they say the teacher won't get caught! We can tell you here and now that many teachers are arrested monthly by Police and Immigration for violating Korean laws.

Any Recruiters who wish to have their business listed in EFL-Law.org (commencing July 1st) as a Reputable Recruiter should contact us for more information. Recruiters should be aware that lack of transparency or wrong or false and misleading information on their site will be noted by this site. Similarly, Recruiters whose site provides clear and useful information will also be noted.

Thus there is no doubt that anyone entering the TEFL profession for the first time will be overwhelmed by the offers, the conflicting information, and probably harbor fears of uncertainty despite the information. Since this site began in February 2003, we have become aware of some highly reputable recruiters who do promote the welfare and well being of the clients (teachers) they serve, and some who clearly are out to make a fast dollar and nothing else.

The law pertaining to recruiters is quite complex. This is exacerbated because maybe you are in one country, they in another, or where you both meet in the one country (same legal jurisdiction) you then have the perplexing problem of what is the legal relationship between your recruiter and your future employer? It is worth noting that whilst there are some stories of recruiters who promise the world to future EFL teachers, and that inevitably turns out to be heartbreakingly untrue, there are many reputable recruiters. Ultimately, few if any EFL teachers will want to get involved in the expense of suing the recruiter.

Overview of the Law
(note we have numerous jurisdictions/ USA, UK, N.Z. Canada, Australia, where differing legislation and common law principles exist.) Thus, generally speaking, in this situation, the 'principal' (business owner) authorizes another, his agent, to act on his behalf, and the other agrees to do so. The agent must intend to act on behalf of his principal. This distinguishes this particular relationship from other analogous relationship. Thus it is arguable that recruiters are, whilst in the commercial sense, agents, in the legal sense they are not. Given that the contract between the Korean employer and foreign employee makes no reference to the agent/ recruiter, the common law rule is that an agent is neither liable under nor entitled to enforce a contract he makes on behalf of his principal. There are exceptions depending upon the facts of each case, namely where the agent recruiter intends to undertake personal liability.

Some recruiters we have become aware of are sending teachers to work in Korea / China with a contract prepared by the Recruiter (not in Korea or China) which purports to be a binding Contract between the teacher and his future unseen Korean/Chinese employer. Unless there is clear authority from the Korean/Chinese school/ university/ institution/ that permits this, the document has no validity except to the extent clauses will be subject to the overriding Laws of Korea/China.

Other Recruiters advertise for and collect resumes from EFL teachers around the world, then attempt (hope) to place as many as possible in any vacancy they can find. Commissions to recruiters can be substantial, ranging from a one off commission of 30-100% of the monthly salary, to collecting ongoing commissions that are up to 2 times greater than the teacher's salary per month from that position; (this often applies to advertised part time positions, which in Korea, pursuant to Korean Immigration law, can be a breach of the teacher's {E1-E2 visa} conditions of residence in Korea.)

Korean Recruiters on the Internet. Black Lists - White Lists.
Maybe your only contact with your recruiter has been via the Internet. Information pertaining to some recruiters may be found on Internet 'Black-lists,' 'Grey-lists,' and 'White-lists.' However we have uncovered a practice that tends to suggest the information available on at least one site is totally unreliable and clearly designed to deceive the TEFL practitioner as to who is a good recruiter and who is not. Whilst we do list some firms herein that are clearly professionally run, not all are considered for listing.

Korean recruiting agents must be registered with the Korean Labor Board, however, if you are not in Korea, it will be hard to confirm this fact. In theory you have remedies at Law against your recruiter in certain circumstances. If you choose to use a Korean recruiter or Korean Recruiting company to find you a position, ask them to forward to you a copy of their Business Registration License. Ask them to answer the following questions:-

1. Are you registered with the Korean Labor Board? What is your license number?
2. Have you personally visited the Employer and ascertained the working conditions?
3. Have you personally seen the proposed premises and accommodation?
4. Do you have authority to negotiate contractual changes, or merely convey them to the Employer?
5. Most importantly, ask if the recruiter/company is actually part of an education Franchise, and are you being recruited for a school within their own franchise system, thus their independent objectivity may be biased.
6. Some recruiters have comprehensive web sites, though some of the information is somewhat different to reality, however, these recruiters are to be preferred over those who hide behind mere e-mail address

Out of Korea Recruiters
You may however, be dealing with a recruiting company in your own country. This too can have many advantages, especially if the said recruiter has made or makes regular trips to Korea to examine the schools he/she recruits for, and thus can give you reliable information about what to expect. Carefully examine their website to determine their first hand knowledge and ask the questions that you find written elsewhere herein. The better companies are those with comprehensive data pertaining to your future employer, your future accommodation, and your likely contractual duties.

Information on Chinese and Japanese Recruiters will be posted to those pages in the near future. Much of the information on this page is, nevertheless, relevant in principle to China and Japan.

Guiding Principles

1. Is the recruiter your agent or the Employer's agent?
2. What written authority from the Employer does the recruiter have to enter/negotiate/ contractual negotiations with you?
3. Is the recruiter charging you, your future Employer, or both? Does your countries law allow this?
4. Does the law of your country have specific provisions pertaining to recruiters?
5. Has the recruiter promised you something that is not readily apparent in the contract? Ask the recruiter to include it in writing in the contract. If he says he cannot, ask him to have the Employer include in the contract, and confirm same.
6. Have you confirmed with your future employer what the recruiter has promised that is not apparent in your contract?
7. Do you know the recruiter's full name, business address and business registration details? Ask for it.
8. Have you searched the web for any information concerning your recruiter? Does that firm offer a web site?
9. Why not post a question to www.hogwan.com to see if any other's have dealt with this recruiter?
10. If you are not in Korea, and your recruiter is, and you have determined that they are a registered company, they are more likely to be in business for a longer period of time than a sole operator out to make a fast dollar.
11. Remember overall, anything spoken remains unconfirmed till committed to writing in an official document..

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