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Pitarou
Joined: 16 Nov 2009
Posts: 1116
Location: Narita, Japan
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 Posted: Mon May 20, 2013 8:58 pm Post subject: |
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| qwertyu2 wrote: |
| ssjup81 wrote: |
| I bet that $8.50/hr job didn't offer health insurance.... |
Do most dispatch jobs offer health insurance? |
You're comparing apples and oranges. The health insurance systems in the US and Japan are completely different. |
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kah5217
Joined: 29 Sep 2012
Posts: 270
Location: Ibaraki
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| Posted: Tue May 21, 2013 8:43 am Post subject: |
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Compared to the town I was living in before, it's not that much more expensive. Rural Pennsylvania demands a car and gasoline to even go to the convenience store, and household bills are never below 50 dollars. Gasoline here is much more expensive but it's offset by more fuel efficient kei cars, plus you can usually walk/bike to the grocery stores. The rent is crazy for what I'm getting but on par with efficiencies in the US.
No my current job doesn't pay for the health insurance but at least I HAVE it through the city. You have to be practically homeless to get medicaid back home. |
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timmytopee
Joined: 18 Nov 2012
Posts: 23
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| Posted: Tue May 21, 2013 9:20 am Post subject: In a market economy |
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| Business owners will pay the LEAST amount they can... so as long as people are willing to work for such horrible contracts/salaries, it'll bring the whole field down with all employers racing to the bottom for salary offers. Imagine if the Japanese government pulled a UAE/Qatar regulation make-over requiring everyone to have (in-class not distance) MA in TESOL degrees or NO visa. Then there would be a mad scramble to KEEP teachers and salaries would rise. |
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HungryteacherY
Joined: 11 May 2013
Posts: 9
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| Posted: Tue May 21, 2013 6:24 pm Post subject: |
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| Rooster. wrote: |
| HungryteacherY wrote: |
| Haven't cracked 210k for 3 months in a row at NOVA. |
If you don't mind:
What's the most you have earned in a month and how long had you been there, when was it, and how many hours did you work?
What's the least you have earned in a month and how long had you been there, when was it, and how many hours did you work?
How much do you pay a month in housing costs?
How much do you normally save?
What city do you work in?
Do they treat you well? |
I work at NOVA but I'm not prepared to out myself. So yeah I'm not going to comment on what city I work in or details that would instantly give me away to NOVA henchmen on the net.
I spend about 40000 yen/month for rent. I have other costs that I have to fuel and I'm not even talking about student loans back home that I've permanently defaulted on. I consider my current job a transitional one which I will abandon much like my student loans. While I am talking negatively about NOVA I don't bear any grudge on them. It is a reflection of the Japan's ESL market's supply and demand. From what I hear other eikaiwa's are not much better.
Not cracking 210k in 3 months is understandable when many of my classes are cancelled every week and all the front desk worker tells me is "I'm so sorry hungryteachery sensei! I promise to add the lost classes soon!"
This ignominy is further aggravated when the same front desk worker says "Hungryteachery sensei.....we forgot to pay your transportation fees LOL. We promise to pay you next month."
If you complain, you are deemed not obedient and dealt with (like my veteran friend). This is another story in itself. In short, when working for NOVA you must say yes to everything, smile, and pretend that everything is acceptable. Oh and don't forget that NOVA is always right. |
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rxk22
Joined: 19 May 2010
Posts: 1629
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| Posted: Tue May 21, 2013 11:18 pm Post subject: Re: In a market economy |
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| timmytopee wrote: |
| Business owners will pay the LEAST amount they can... so as long as people are willing to work for such horrible contracts/salaries, it'll bring the whole field down with all employers racing to the bottom for salary offers. Imagine if the Japanese government pulled a UAE/Qatar regulation make-over requiring everyone to have (in-class not distance) MA in TESOL degrees or NO visa. Then there would be a mad scramble to KEEP teachers and salaries would rise. |
That would wipe out like 99% of all eikaiwa and ALTs. |
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qwertyu2
Joined: 13 Mar 2012
Posts: 93
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| Posted: Wed May 22, 2013 2:08 am Post subject: |
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| kah5217 wrote: |
| No my current job doesn't pay for the health insurance but at least I HAVE it through the city. You have to be practically homeless to get medicaid back home. |
Does the city give it to you for free? |
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Pitarou
Joined: 16 Nov 2009
Posts: 1116
Location: Narita, Japan
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| Posted: Wed May 22, 2013 2:27 am Post subject: |
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| qwertyu2 wrote: |
| kah5217 wrote: |
| No my current job doesn't pay for the health insurance but at least I HAVE it through the city. You have to be practically homeless to get medicaid back home. |
Does the city give it to you for free? |
No, it doesn't.
Japan has a semi-socialised health insurance system. In general, you are obliged to buy basic health insurance from a state-controlled body. Your premiums are calculated according to your income, rather than how much the actuaries think you'll cost.
Full-time employees' insurance is administered via their employer. In principal, half of the insurance premium comes from their salary and the employer pays the other half. Part-timers, the unemployed, and so on generally have to buy health insurance from City Hall.
As you can imagine, there is some contention about the definition of part-timer. English conversation schools have had some success in having full-time teachers classified as part-timers by claiming that, for instance, a teacher who has 25 hours of lessons a week is only working for 25 hours a week.
One interesting quirk of the system is that newcomers to Japan often pay extremely low insurance premiums - I paid 1100 yen per month in my first year. This is because City Hall has no record of your previous earnings, so it treats you as if you were unemployed. |
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kah5217
Joined: 29 Sep 2012
Posts: 270
Location: Ibaraki
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| Posted: Wed May 22, 2013 9:32 am Post subject: |
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| No it's not free but it's a hell of a lot more affordable than American health insurance, even when it jumps in the second year. |
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qwertyu2
Joined: 13 Mar 2012
Posts: 93
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| Posted: Wed May 22, 2013 10:43 am Post subject: |
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| kah5217 wrote: |
| No it's not free but it's a hell of a lot more affordable than American health insurance, even when it jumps in the second year. |
I'm not so sure. I pay roughly the same amount in taxes for national health insurance in Japan as I did for my private coverage in the U.S. In my experience, quality of care was better in the States.
Regardless, we've determined the $15/hr. job in Japan does not come with free health insurance. So, given the higher cost of living, I remained unconvinced $8.50/hr. in the U.S. is all that different from $15/hr. in Japan. Especially when one considers quality of life issues such as the size/cost of housing example noted above. |
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kah5217
Joined: 29 Sep 2012
Posts: 270
Location: Ibaraki
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| Posted: Wed May 22, 2013 1:04 pm Post subject: |
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| What part of the country were you in, though? Healthcare in my part of the US is not that impressive. That 8.50 job has no dental or eye care, a very limited range of doctors (anything besides the town hospital is out of network), a high deductible, and they still do things like reject pre-existing conditions or certain medicine. |
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Rooster.
Joined: 13 Mar 2012
Posts: 247
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| Posted: Wed May 22, 2013 2:42 pm Post subject: |
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| HungryteacherY wrote: |
| Rooster. wrote: |
| HungryteacherY wrote: |
| Haven't cracked 210k for 3 months in a row at NOVA. |
If you don't mind:
What's the most you have earned in a month and how long had you been there, when was it, and how many hours did you work?
What's the least you have earned in a month and how long had you been there, when was it, and how many hours did you work?
How much do you pay a month in housing costs?
How much do you normally save?
What city do you work in?
Do they treat you well? |
I work at NOVA but I'm not prepared to out myself. So yeah I'm not going to comment on what city I work in or details that would instantly give me away to NOVA henchmen on the net.
I spend about 40000 yen/month for rent. I have other costs that I have to fuel and I'm not even talking about student loans back home that I've permanently defaulted on. I consider my current job a transitional one which I will abandon much like my student loans. While I am talking negatively about NOVA I don't bear any grudge on them. It is a reflection of the Japan's ESL market's supply and demand. From what I hear other eikaiwa's are not much better.
Not cracking 210k in 3 months is understandable when many of my classes are cancelled every week and all the front desk worker tells me is "I'm so sorry hungryteachery sensei! I promise to add the lost classes soon!"
This ignominy is further aggravated when the same front desk worker says "Hungryteachery sensei.....we forgot to pay your transportation fees LOL. We promise to pay you next month."
If you complain, you are deemed not obedient and dealt with (like my veteran friend). This is another story in itself. In short, when working for NOVA you must say yes to everything, smile, and pretend that everything is acceptable. Oh and don't forget that NOVA is always right. |
Thanks! I asked because I accepted a job with them.
Is there anything I can do to ensure that I get placed in a location I want? |
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qwertyu2
Joined: 13 Mar 2012
Posts: 93
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| Posted: Wed May 22, 2013 5:28 pm Post subject: |
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| kah5217 wrote: |
| What part of the country were you in, though? Healthcare in my part of the US is not that impressive. That 8.50 job has no dental or eye care, a very limited range of doctors (anything besides the town hospital is out of network), a high deductible, and they still do things like reject pre-existing conditions or certain medicine. |
I should have said I found quality of care almost always better in the U.S. For minor things, Japan was fine. For medium to serious health issues, the quality of care was better in the States. Particularly in terms of pain management. Japanese doctors are notorious for their unwillingness to prescribe pain medication.
To answer your question, my last insurance coverage in the U.S. was in a large Midwestern city. I understand you're in a rural area and the quality of care may vary. But, in my experience, rural medicine is just as bad in Japan. I've had a few, but my personal worst experience for a serious medical issue in Japan was in a rural area. The Japanese "doctor" basically shrugged and sent me home untreated with what I've since been told was a potentially life-threatening issue. Unfortunately, I don't think that was an isolated event. Right around the same time, an ALT in the same area died from undiagnosed diabetes despite visiting the doctor several times, the most recent visit taking place the day before she died.
My Japanese wife had an appendectomy in a rural area when she was younger. Apparently they messed up the anesthesia because she woke as they were finishing the operation. When she cried out in pain, the "doctor" told her to "Shut up." Similarly, when my wife gave birth, the Japanese "doctor" (a man) explained that the pain of childbirth was necessary to ensure proper bonding between mother and child. My wife also told me about an endoscopy administered with only a local anesthetic.
I don't know what sort of crappy care you received in rural PA, but I have a hard time believing a U.S. doctor would do any of the things I've described above. |
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rxk22
Joined: 19 May 2010
Posts: 1629
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| Posted: Wed May 22, 2013 9:05 pm Post subject: |
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Oh yeah, for real issues Japan's HC is pretty awful. I messed up my rhomboid, and the doc just told me to quit all physical activities.
Had a sinus infection, and had a terrible allergic reaction, was met with 'hmm that's odd'
But yes, both systems have their own flaws, and need some serious overhauls. |
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Inflames
Joined: 02 Apr 2006
Posts: 486
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| Posted: Thu May 23, 2013 5:35 am Post subject: |
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| HungryteacherY wrote: |
| I have other costs that I have to fuel and I'm not even talking about student loans back home that I've permanently defaulted on. I consider my current job a transitional one which I will abandon much like my student loans. |
I'm not sure where you're from, but if you're from the US you should know there's no way to abandon your student loans. There's no statute of limitations and the government can rather simply just go and garnish your wages or clean out your bank account (and send you a letter after the fact).
| HungryteacherY wrote: |
| This ignominy is further aggravated when the same front desk worker says "Hungryteachery sensei.....we forgot to pay your transportation fees LOL. We promise to pay you next month." |
Why haven't you gone and reported this to the labor standards bureau? Technically if your company pays you an incorrect amount 2 months in a row you can quit and get unemployment right away. |
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HungryteacherY
Joined: 11 May 2013
Posts: 9
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| Posted: Thu May 23, 2013 10:28 am Post subject: |
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^
Not from 'merica but I could do the same there. Some states like Illinois might go further than simply garnish your wages. If you don't work there and get paid in a bank account there you can't get garnished or taxed on anything. Can't get blood from a stone. In addition I have citizenship in 2 other western countries I can easily work in with a clean slate.
You can collect unemployment that easily? I gotta tell my friends at nova about this thanks. |
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