Job Discussion Forums

[rickman]

I've read many posts complaining about this rule at NOVA. Is this a rule that should not be broken? Is it grounds for termination? What are some creative ways around it? Do others really "rat" you out?

[tjpnz2000]

As with many rules such as this the crime is not doing it, it is being caught.

I never socialized with my students when I was a NOVA teacher. Mostly because we lived in different areas and had different work scheduals. After I left I did some socializing.

I have known Nova teachers to be very nervous about, mostly, students `ratting` them out. The usual situation is a student of the oposite sex becomes a casual friend then want more which the teacher doesn't. This puts the teacher in a very vulnerable position. I have never hear of a teacher loosing a job over it but it is, in theory, possible.

If you do it, keep it quite, be careful and don't complain if you get caught and there are consequences.

T

[homersimpson]

I do know of a (former) NOVA teacher who was fired for dating one of his students. However, he announced his engagement to said student and actually wanted to get fired. He did, and conveniently ended up working at a rather prestigious high school a month later. So, he has a wife and a better job.

[PAULH]

There was also a case of a teacher who was fired because his fiancee, who was an ex-NOVA student, started studying at NOVA again. She did not study at the same school as he was working but the school got wind of their relationship and he was summarily fired. He went to the the union who threatened to sue NOVA for unfair dismissal.

they eventually had to give him his job back, with back pay. If the school threatens to fire you I would call their bluff. There are better jobs out there anyway, and associating with students may be against company policy, but it is not against the law and you are not doing anything illegal. I dont think you want to work for someone that treats you like a 5 year old anyway, rather than a professional adult.

[PAULH]

March 2003
Nova's ban on dating violates rights
OSAKA (Kyodo) A teacher and former teacher of Nova Corp. filed a complaint Friday with the Osaka Bar Association claiming their human rights have been violated by the company's policy of banning dating between foreign teachers and students.

The complaint was filed by American Robert Bisom, 59, and a 46-year-old Australian who used to work at a Nova school.

The English-language school operator has a clause in its labor contract that says foreign teachers "should not have a relationship with customers outside the workplace," according to the complaint.

In the past, there have been two cases in which teachers were fired because they got engaged to their students.

The complainants are calling for the clause to be scrapped, arguing it is racial discrimination because it only applies to foreigners.

Bisom also filed a complaint with the Osaka Prefecture Regional Labor Relations Commission saying Nova did not grant him a pay raise because he was active in the union.

The Japan Times: March 1, 2003
(C) All rights reserved


NOVA teachers fight ban on associating with students

OSAKA -- Teachers at major English conversation school NOVA asked lawyers on Friday for help in fighting school rules banning them from associating with students.

Under company rules, the Osaka-based NOVA requires foreign lecturers not to keep private company with students or to date them.

In following this policy, NOVA has dismissed six teachers without making detailed investigations, according to documents submitted by lecturers to the Osaka Bar Association.

American teacher Robert Bisom, 59, who belongs to a private labor union that helps foreign workers, says the rules infringe upon the nation's Constitution.

NOVA insists that the dismissal of the teachers was justified because every foreign lecturer pledged to abide by the company's rules when signing an employment contract.

"Teachers joined us after accepting the rules," a NOVA official said. "Their claim that we fire all teachers if they violate the rules is not correct."

One of the six fired teachers filed a suit in December, asking the Osaka District Court to nullify NOVA's decision to sack him. (Compiled from Mainichi and wire stories, Feb. 28, 2003)


Teachers oppose Nova ban on interaction with students

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Sunday, March 2, 2003 at 06:30 JST
OSAKA ・A teacher and a former teacher at the Osaka-based Nova foreign-language school have sought the Osaka Bar Association's help in protecting their human rights, saying that Nova Co's ban on personal interaction between teachers and students is discriminatory.

Robert Bisom, 59, a U.S. citizen, filed the plea together with a 46-year-old male Australian teacher who was fired by Nova, apparently for having a relationship with a student.

The former teacher filed a suit with the Osaka District Court last December seeking to nullify his dismissal.

According to the plea submitted to the Osaka Bar Association, Nova prohibits personal ties between students and teachers in its employment contract, and in the past has dismissed teachers for breaking the ban, including a teacher who became engaged to a student.

Bisom and the Australian say that the provision in the contract amounts to racial discrimination since it applies only to foreigners.

The same day, Bisom also asked for help from the Osaka Prefectural Labor Relations Commission, saying that Nova had treated him unfairly by failing to give him a pay hike because of his union activities.

Yukitomo Ishimatsu, a Nova director, said Thursday that the provision in the contract banning interaction between students and teachers is "necessary to prevent trouble between foreign teachers and Japanese students who have different cultures."

He said that it is a "distortion of facts" to say that all teachers who break the ban are dismissed.

"I cannot believe that they are saying there is racial discrimination, when it is our policy only to employ foreigners as teachers," he said.

The provision in the contract says, "The employee shall treat the clients of the employer in a professional manner at all times. Further, the employee shall not initiate, agree to or participate in any interaction with the clients of the employer outside the place of employment."

Ishimatsu said that Nova will not allow personal interaction even if it takes place inside the school.

"We operate schools, and our schools are no different from other schools. We cannot allow kissing or improper conduct," he said. (Kyodo News)

[kamome]

I used to work for the Evil Empire.

A lot of teachers socialised with students. I only ever heard of one getting sacked ( ant that was after he dumped her-she called Head Office to complain!) though the idiots in suits ( "management" ) often pulled people up and warned them about this stupid rule. Yes there are sneaks at NOVA who'll rat on you..........but usually commonsense prevails. I dated a student for nearly my whole time at NOVA and ended up marrying her. The staff knew but like I said commonsense prevailed.

NOVA is good for a visa and a few month's salary. Don't make the mistake I made and stay a couple of years.

[johanne]

Yes, it's a rule that can be broken. I met my husband at NOVA where he was a student and I was the teacher. Everyone on staff knew, since this was a fairly small city (Kanazawa), and also we weren't into hiding things. As others have said it all depends on whether common sense prevails at your school office.

[Canuck2112]

What does NOVA have to say about teachers dating/associating with other teachers?

[PAULH]

You have fully grown adults of 25 or 30 years of age needing to ask permission if you can date someone? Do you really need to feel that you need a chaperone or ask their permission who you can and can't see?


Dating or going out with other teachers in your private life is really none of their business. Teachers go out after work and socialise with each other anyway- Japan is a free country and no one can really tell you who you meet with inside or outside of work.

[tjpnz2000]

NOVA also used to have clauses in the contract saying what kind of food you can eat at home, the bars you are allowed to go to after work, what colour your pajamas needed to be and the places you can go on holiday... yeah, right

Good luck to any employer who tries to enforce an employment contract trying do dictate what I do after work.

Good luck also to any NOVA employee who tries to convince NOVA that they are `human` and therefore have `human rights`. As the article said the rules were applied to them as `teachers`, everybody knows that teachers have no rights.

T

[Mosley]

Nova's no-socialization rule,along w/ the lack of proper vacation time, proves that NOVA management is akin to Puritanism. And as H.L. Mencken said of Puritanism:"The nagging fear that someone,somewhere, is enjoying himself." Don't knuckle under to the Puritans: do what you feel is best in your private time.