Job Discussion Forums

[ilikerice]

Hi, I have a few related questions on commuting between school for an employer (particularly ECC). hoping someone of or formerly from ECC OR someone who knows Japan cities well enough can give me some insight into how far the ECC schools are from each other? NAMBA, TENNOJI, SAKAI, those 3 cities are in or near Osaka. like are these neighboring communities 1-3 stops apart on a subway, or totally different trains?

Additionally, if anyone can comment on rail fees to reach these cities, that'd be super. There are good things to commuting as well, such as a great time to read, but I'd like to get an idea of worst case scenario for commuting, since ECC say themselves that it's a techer can commute to 5 schools in one week, that doesn't sound too efficient....so I'm just trying to minimize the surprises as this could be quite unpleasing trying to find housing centered between 5 locations, and since ECC says your schedule stays for the year.

Last, any comments on how easy/hard it is to change schedules at ECC? And if I should worry more about where I live (where I have to commute every day regardless of which school I pick) and not where the schools are? What's the worst commute story ever experienced by a teacher?

thx for reading and/or posting. wow this post turned out to be much longer than I thought, sorry!

[ilikerice]

per ECC website, "All work-related transport expenses are reimbursed with your salary payment." anyone comment or confirm commute expenes are separate from your salary?

[canuck]

They pay for your transportation from your home to work and back. Actually, you're insured on your way to work and home. All companies in Japan pay for their worker's transportation costs, up to a limit of 30,000 yen etc..maybe a little more with some companies.

Namba to Tennoji isn't far. It's only 10 to 15 minutes on the subway. Sakai is a little further, but you'll take a different train from Namba. It's easier to work at one location. Some people like going to different places. Those three locations are not unreasonable to commute between.

[Brooks]

getting from Tennoji to Sakai is easy. From Tennoji, take JR.
It takes about 25 minutes on a local train.

To go from Namba to Tennoji, take the Midosuji Line, which is a subway.
The Midosuji has a reputation of having the most gropers in Osaka.
It has women`s only carriages during certain times of the day.

All these places are in Osaka fu. Sakai is a southern suburb of Osaka.
Namba and Tennoji are in Osaka shi.

look at www.jorudan.co.jp

to get fare information for trains and how long it takes to get from one destination to another.

[bearcat]

ECC pays your commuting costs. You pay for it yourself then you get it back in your next bank deposit the following month. On your pay slip its listed seperately because it isn't taxable.

The up to 30,000 yen a month deal someone above mentioned is for the birds. Most if not all companies with even half a clue here pay well above that if you have to commute like that. I can easily get that much in commutes in less than a month.

As for changing schedules with ECC... you're set in stone for the duration of your contract(year) except for a few instances:

1. You have one or more days that you are designated as a floater(substitution) teacher. In which case you would have a base school and then be farmed out to other branches when someone else calls in or cant make it. This means you do a ton of traveling. BUT it is VERY possible some later time in the year, you are designated to take over in a school as on that day permanently. In which case your schedule changes with that regard.

2. If you are not teaching kids lessons on a certain day(meaning you have all free time lessons) there is a chance you can be moved to a different school in cases of a teacher having left or a new branch being opened.

3. A branch closes(not often and usually they try to close them at the end of the season to not offset scheduling).

4. You or staff at your school has serious issues with you and requests you be switched with someone else. This is also rare as in alot of the cases it turns into a situation of you being cut loose.

So the above can happen but the chances are slim.... this is mainly due to kids classes. They anchor a teacher more than anything. Priority to consideration of things goes to kids as its their bread and butter that pretty much keeps them afloat.