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I was a tutor with Winshire Education Centre for the past year and it was a total disappointment and disgust to me that somebody who made his wealth through education can actually owe his tutor salary. We are paid every 15th of the month, but the payday is always late. The owner of Winshire Education who goes by the name James and his wife (known as Ms Yeo) are totally smart people. They hire part timers under a freelance contract but in the contract should we terminate, we need to give a 6 months notice! Have you heard of part timers needing to fulfil a 6 months contract given that pathetic pay? Also, if the school refused to pay up, there is totally no protection for the part time tutors like me. Why? MOM does not protect freelancers, Small claims tribunal do not handle employment related claims. I gave my 6 months resignation notice last December and my supposed last day was in June. However, since last November, my pay has been late. The ultimate was in March where the pay was more than 7 days late. Ms Yeo came up with excuses like the girl in charge of doing the cheque was in hospital, James was sick so unable to sign the cheque. I was fed up and said since my pay is so late, I need not fulfil my notice period and I demanded they pay up all lessons. Guess what? they only pay up partial of my lessons as they were trying to get me to continue with the classes. Ms Yeo had the cheek to ask me to think of the students and not be affected by the delay. She said I was not the only affected person, all the other staff also had not gotten their pay. Yes, I love to teach but is it ok to exploit teachers like that? They are not running a charity organization, they charged my students for every lesson I conducted and yet they owe me my salary. And this couple can spend millions on rebuilding their landed property but owe me few hundred dollars and always late in their payment. This is just ridiculous And yes, till now I have not gotten the remaining of my salary despite me sending them email. They are going to avoid paying me as they know too well they are well protected by the Singapore laws. I want to flag this Winshire Education Centre so that no more ignorant tutors are cheated of their labor.
Hi Ms Wong Sai Kuan
I did not do any wrongful action. I chose to withdraw my case not because I was wrong but because it was a waste of time going through the entire process knowing it will still lead to nothing. Especially when you heard what the mediator said durin the preliminary session: the amount is too small to Carry through and if both parties still do not agree then you have to proceed to another 2 hearings . And should you further disagree with the outcome pls engage a private lawyer. Did the filing said I was wrong? So what kind of wrongdoing do you mean? And Ms Wong if you are the PR dept of this centre then I really question your ability in this field with the kind of comments you wrote. My post is written to warn all potential teachers based on my own experiences. If you want to teach at a centre teach at your own risk. Make sure you check your contract thoroughly. Get yourself protected. I was supposed to be paid on 15th of every next month. I was not paid promptly and payment was not even paid to me on 23 April . Check out the attachments that Ms Yeo wrote to me. It's plain for all to see . Individuals pls make your own opinion. I have no intention to say anything anymore to this as this saga has already ended in my life. No point wasting time and effort to clarify myself. It's just people who are making noises to cover up their doings that made me want to add on to my previous post
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer's satisfaction.
Dear Xuan11
I do not know what could have happened between you and Winshire Education Centre.
I have been a part-time teachers with Winshire Education Centre since 1999. It has been a great experience working with both bosses Ms Yeo and Mr James Tan. They are both very responsible teachers living up to their founding principle : PASSION & PATIENCE.
I understand that both of them is strongly against unethical practises from learning centres or teachers or even landlords.
I hope I don't sound rude. Did you turn up punctually for lessons? Did you change the lesson timings and dates to suit your personal schedule? Did you marked and returned the homework and class worksheets punctually?
I understand that both bosses does not condone such behaviours. Just my 2 cents worth of advise. If you think your case is a strong case, you could have approach small claim court or even Ministry Of Manpower. Otherwise it will be dangerous to post your case here as this couple sued their landlord at Blk 59 New Upper Changi Road to the High Court through their Corporate Lawyers Rajah and Tann in 2013. They are being represented by Mr Harish Kumar and Mr Jonathan Toh. They won the case in 2014 and compensated substantially for reputation damage.
it is true that Winshire Education boss can be unethical
Dear Dinocentury
Attached are 2 pdf files that clearly shows that you have filed a claim against Winshire Education Centre with Small Claims Tribunal Court but withdrew subsequently on your own accord for your wrongful action.
Warmest regards,
Ms Wong Sai Kuan
PR Department
Winshire Education Centre
I can totally empathise with the contributor here who was not paid for her work with Winshire Education Centre as I was also not paid for my teaching services there. Like her, I was unfortunately a tutor with Winshire Education Centre from December 2014 to October 2015 and it was my by far my worst working experience ever. This educational centre that purported ethics and morals as its guiding principles in its promotions cannot be further away from the truth when it came to paying my pay. The employers James Tan and Lindy Yeo refused to pay for my teaching services when I was working for them by coming up with mutliple excuses. I am totally appallled by James Tan and Lindy Yeo, who amassed there wealth and millions paying for their landed property through providing educational services actually knowingly exploited an employee who has worked for them and refused to pay me my salary according to the terms of my contract.
When I was working for them, I was told and as stated in the contract that I have signed for that I would be paid my salary for the previous month on the 15th on the following month. However, for the 10 months that I have worked for them, I was never paid on time. The salary was always late for up to one week or even longer. Initially, when I was working for the first few months and as I was only taking on two classes and thought that the situation would improved after I have worked longer, I didn't think too much into it and accepted the late pay without raising the issue up. Nevertheless, the situation did not improve over time and the pay issues were not resolved and in fact I got my pay later and later. When I brought up the issue to one of the employers, Miss Lindy Yeo (who had reassured me prior to me signing the contract that pay will be on time), she simply "pushed" me to her administrative staff who could not give me a reply as to why the pay was late and when I would receive it. This happened over and over again like a bad nightmare as Winshire and its employers have the habit of "disappearing" when my pay issues are concerned and pushing me to the administrative staff when they cannot make the decisions as to when my pay would be received. At times, Lindy Yeo would come up with the excuse that the administrative staff in charge of doing the payroll is on leave, in hospital etc. From my understanding, Winshire collects fees from the students as early as the previous month before lessons commence and my students had to pay for the lessons regardless of their attendance and yet they never once pay me on time. Despite all the excuses, I continued teaching the students to the best of my ability and taught all the lessons.
I even went the extra mile to provide the students with worksheets and notes I have prepared because the centre materials were largely outdated, not aligned with the latest MOE syllabus and fraught with printing errors. My students have on numerous occasions complained to me that the materials were pretty much useless and they did not benefit or learn much from doing them. It was sometimes embarrassing to actually teach using the centre's obsolete materials and often I have to improvise and provide materials with them at my own expense so that the students can learn more productively instead of doing the centre's worksheets that were practically useless as attested by the majority of the students. When I brought up the matter to Miss Lindy Yeo, she didn't give me a good solution and eventually asked me to help revamp the materials when I did not have the time to do so. And honestly, "once bitter, twice shy". I did help out with producing curriculum for them before my stint as a teacher and I was surprised by how much work I was given. Not only did I as a curriculum planner had to find and use my own resources to make changes to their outdated materials, I had to vet their current materials and reconceptualised and retyped the majority of them so that they are aligned with current MOE materials for a very low hourly fee, I also have to do all these under very limited time. Eventually, I decided not to work as a curriculum planner there because I felt the meagre pay they gave me did not justify the workload. I gave them materials out of my own expenses because I really wanted my students to benefit from learning using relevant materials and not outdated ones that were usually error-ridden or unsuitable to their learning needs.
However, instead of appreciating my efforts, they came up with excuse after excuse not to pay as I have earlier expressed my intention not to teach anymore due to constant delays in pay issues and inadequate materials. Imagine them collecting fees from the students way before paying my salary and then refusing to pay me for the work I have committed. They came up with most preposterous ways not to pay me. Two most glaring excuses they came up with was instead of deducting the amount they should pay me for 1 lesson when I could not make it due to school commitment, they ludicrously deducted thrice the amount. Imagine not being paid for your wage for that day and even having to compensate the organisation for. Even when the student was late for the lessons through no fault of mine, they deducted my pay arbitrarily. Nothing was ever mentioned or stated in the contract about something like this.
When I contacted and went to their office to ask for my pay Lindy Yeo and James Tan went missing in action. They both are teachers and educators in the centre teaching Science and Mathematics to the students as well and what examples they set to students with not to pay part-time employees like me who helped them with teaching the students. They made me sign a contract which I need to serve and give a 6-month notice in the event I wished to leave for such a pathetic amount of salary and yet after I have committed the hours teaching, they came with a slew of excuses not to pay knowing I am still studying and need the income due to my current financial situation. Lindy Yeo pleaded with me relentlessly to help take over two classes after I have initially told her I was too busy with school, reassuring me that the schedules for the classes can be discussed and I would be paid fairly and on time but it was not the case. They lined their pockets with the money they were supposed to pay part time staff like me. It is disgusting how they drive luxurious cars and build up their private properties and yet refused to even pay me my month's salary. Lindy Yeo even asked me to "plead" with James Tan for my salary. I was so mad! This is my salary and I deserved it. I am not asking for charity but my salary- the salary I have worked for and why should I beg for it? My constant calls and texts to request to meet James Tan and Lindy Yeo to meet me up to resolve the pay issues did not happen as they avoided my calls and texts.
This organisation has failed to pay me and the other employee who has posted in this website of her salary in a rightful manner. I agreed with the other contributor in the website that they made use of the loopholes of the law to cheat teachers like me and her of our hard-earned salaries. I would like to exhort all unknowing teachers or staff of Winshire education centre that has their branches in Bedok North and Bedok South and office in Tampines not to join Winshire Education Centre and I wish to flag down this organisation so that no ignorant or innocent teachers would be exploited and cheated of their hard-earned salaries! I also cautioned all parents about enrolling their children in an organisation like Winshire Education Centre.
Winshire Education Centre's Bosses Refused To Pay Salaries
I can totally empathise with the contributor here who was not paid for her work with Winshire Education Centre as I was also not paid for my teaching services in Winshire Education Centre. Like her, I was unfortunately a tutor with Winshire Education Centre from December 2014 to October 2015 and it was my by far my worst working experience ever. The employers James Tan and Lindy Yeo refused to pay for my teaching services when I was working for them by coming up with multiple excuses or simply going "missing in action". I am totally appalled by James Tan and Lindy Yeo, who live in a private property and drive luxurious cars but actually refused to pay my salary which amounted to less than a thousand.
When I was working for them, I was told and as stated in the contract that I have signed for that I would be paid my salary for the previous month on the 15th on the following month. However, for the 10 months that I have worked for them, I was never paid on time. The salary was always late for up to one week or even longer. Initially, when I was working for the first few months and as I was only taking on two classes and thought that the situation would improved after I have worked longer, I didn't think too much into it and accepted the late pay without raising the issue up. Nevertheless, the situation did not improve over time and the pay issues were not resolved and in fact I got my pay later and later. When I brought up the issue to one of the employers, Miss Lindy Yeo (who had reassured me prior to me signing the contract that pay will be on time), she simply "pushed" me to her administrative staff who could not give me a reply as to why the pay was late and when I would receive it. This happened over and over again like a bad nightmare as Winshire and its employers have the habit of "disappearing" when my pay issues are concerned and pushing me to the administrative staff when they cannot make the decisions as to when my pay would be received. At times, Lindy Yeo would come up with the excuse that the administrative staff in charge of doing the payroll is on leave, in hospital etc. From my understanding, Winshire collects fees from the students as early as the previous month before lessons commence or at the start of the month and my students had to pay for the lessons regardless of their attendance and yet they never once pay me on time. Despite all the excuses, I continued teaching the students to the best of my ability and taught all the lessons.
I even went the extra mile to provide the students with worksheets and notes I have prepared because often, the centre materials were largely outdated, not aligned with the latest MOE syllabus and fraught with printing errors. My students have on numerous occasions complained to me that the materials were pretty much useless and they did not benefit or learn much from doing them. It was sometimes embarrassing to actually teach using the centre's obsolete materials and often I have to improvise and provide materials with them at my own expense so that the students can learn more productively instead of doing the centre's worksheets, many which were practically unhelpful as attested by the majority of the students. When I brought up the matter to Miss Lindy Yeo, she didn't give me a good solution and eventually asked me to help revamp the materials when I did not have the time to do so and even if I had time, I did not want to. And honestly, "once bitter, twice shy". I did help out with producing curriculum for them before my stint as a teacher and I was surprised by how much work I was given. Not only did I as a curriculum planner had to find and use my own resources to make changes to their outdated materials, I had to vet their current material, conceptualized and retyped the majority of them so that they are aligned with current MOE materials for a very low hourly fee, I also have to do all these under very limited time. Eventually, I decided not to work as a curriculum planner there because I felt the measly pay they gave me did not justify the workload. I gave my students materials on my own expense because I really wanted my students to benefit from learning using relevant materials and not outdated ones that were usually error-ridden or unsuitable to their learning needs. As a teacher, I am only paid for my teaching services and not in charge of producing the materials but out of good intentions for my students, I wanted them to learn productively. Is it wrong for me as a teacher to give my students materials that will benefit them and meet their learning needs when the tuition centre was unable to do so? I had my students best interests at heart when the centre did not take more proactive action to meet the students learning needs where the materials were concerned.
However, instead of appreciating my efforts, they came up with excuse after excuse not to pay as I have earlier expressed my intention not to teach anymore due to constant delays in pay issues and inadequate materials. Imagine them collecting fees from the students way before paying my salary and then refusing to pay me for the work I have committed. They came up with most preposterous ways not to pay me. Two most glaring excuses they came up with was instead of deducting the amount they should pay me for 1 lesson when I could not make it due to school commitment, they ludicrously deducted thrice the amount. Imagine not being paid for your wage for that day and even having to compensate the organisation for. Even when the student was late for the lessons through no fault of mine, they deducted my pay arbitrarily. Nothing was ever mentioned or stated in the contract about something like this.
When I contacted and went to their office to ask for my pay Lindy Yeo and James Tan went missing in action. They both are teachers and educators in the centre teaching Science and Mathematics to the students as well and what examples they set to students with not to pay part-time employees like me who helped them with teaching the students and they earning their profits from them. They made me sign a contract which I need to serve and give a 6-month notice in the event I wished to leave for such a pathetic amount of salary and yet after I have committed the hours teaching, they came with a slew of excuses not to pay knowing I am still studying and need the income due to my current financial situation. Lindy Yeo pleaded with me relentlessly to help take over two classes after I have initially told her I was too busy with school, reassuring me that the schedules for the classes can be discussed and I would be paid fairly and on time but it was not the case. They held on to the money they were supposed to pay part time staff like me. Lindy Yeo even asked me to "plead" with James Tan for my salary. This is my salary and I deserved it. I am not asking for charity but my salary- the salary I have worked for and why should I beg for it? My constant calls and texts to request to meet James Tan and Lindy Yeo to meet me up to resolve the pay issues did not happen as they avoided all my calls and texts to do so and it was just like a vicious cycle with no end to it- I get nothing resolved at the end of the day and wasted so much time and energy. Attached are the pictures to show that I have informed Lindy Yeo that the materials need revamping because of its numerous errors and with many parts being outdated, the centre having paid late and how Lindy Yeo is aware and admitted that her husband James Tan shortchanged me in terms of paying me my salary. I need the salary but I have enough self respect not to plead with something that is rightfully mine.
This organisation has failed to pay me and the other employee who has posted in this website of her salary in a rightful manner. I agreed with the other contributor in the website that they made use of the loopholes of the law not to pay me and her of our hard earned salaries. I would like to caution potential teachers and staff about Winshire education centre that has their branches in Bedok North and Bedok South and office in Tampines not to join Winshire Education Centre and I wish to flag down this organisation so that no ignorant or innocent teachers would be exploited and cheated of their hard-earned salaries! I also hope all parents think twice about enrolling their children in an organisation like Winshire Education Centre.
Responding to Winshire's PR department and the ex teachers'/part time teachers comments (whoever they are), I did not go to make my claims with CASE or the small tribunal claims because it would be a waste of time to go through the hassle just to get back that amount of money and waste money and effort just sitting through mediation after mediation if the employer simply refused to pay right. Also, under the freelancer law in Singapore, MOM does not take my case. Sadly yes, the contract I signed is under "contract for service" which means the centre need not pay me CPF and MOM cannot take my case as they classify "contract for service" as a freelancer contract. I am sure that many people would agree with me that they do not wish to expend the time and energy and go down the place where the mediation is held again and again and relive the "trauma" of seeing the employers who had refused to pay and still adamant on doing so. I have left the organisation which I am glad for and I really do not want to have anything to do with Winshire Education Centre again. To me, it was a nightmare to work for Winshire and its employers. Furthermore, I seriously question the professionalism and competence of Winshire's PR department and their PR representative, Ms Wong Sai Kuan who has the time and effort to comment on this website to defend Winshire Education Centre but not be able to meet me or the other ex employee who posted here on our many requests to address and resolve our paying issues or give any replies at all. So far, I have gotten zero phone calls or emails by Winshire or its PR department on replies and resolutions to constructively address my pay issues and even though I have a written and signed agreement by one of their staff attesting that Mr James Tan would pay be back another 200 plus, this again, predictably, did not happen and materialize. And if James Tan and Lindy Yeo are indeed "fair and compassionate" employers according to the staff who posted here, would they knowingly deducted my salary with absurd excuses after I have completed all my lessons for the academic term and went "missing in action", refusing to face me to discuss the payment issues but just shunned away all requests to meet. It seems to me they have cleverly exploited my teaching services and trying to get away with not paying me my right amount of salary. For your information, Lindy Yeo has personally asked me to continue teaching next year but I declined as seen in the attached pictures. If my services were not up to standard, would the centre have asked to continue my services for next year and wouldn't the centre terminate my services during my tenure? The students whom I have taught can testify for my commitment and dedication in teaching them as they are the ones who were directly receiving my teaching. From my own experiences, whenever I asked for my pay when it was paid late, they would say look for Miss Yeo, Rose or James Tan has not released my cheque. I would like to reiterate that I have never received my pay on time in all the months I have worked there and often been "pushed" from one staff to staff when pay issues are concerned. As for the "ex-teachers" who purported that Mr James Tan and Lindy Yeo are "fair and good" employers, all I can say is that you are entitled to your own opinions and I am entitled to mine. Readers out there who are deliberating whether to work there or not, you really have to literally work there to experience it for yourself and the working environment there at your own risk. The purpose of my post here is to give my "two cents worth" on and share my working experiences with readers and potential staff. Whether whose opinions are right or wrong, I shall leave it to discerning readers to decide for themselves. I have no wish to speak about or reply regarding this matter anymore as I would like to put an end to this saga and nightmare entitled Winshire Education Centre and live my life without any inferences from anyone associated with Winshire Education Centre.
GDPR training is important so that they do not make one silly mistake that snowballs into a hefty fine not only this but you also must have a cookie consent banner on your website.