This article represents John McLaughlin's final effort as editor of our Working Papers column. He writes: "With this paper, I officially step down from my position as editor of this occasional column on employment-related matters over the past two years. I am pleased finally to see an article on the private language school sector and am sure that the new editor, Debito Arudou (né David Aldwinckle) will continue to expand the range of issues addressed in this column."