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markle
Joined: 17 Jan 2003
Posts: 1316
Location: Out of Japan
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 Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2006 5:07 pm Post subject: I'll run this up the flagpole.. |
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.. and see who salutes.
For a variety of reasons that aren't relevant here, I'm going to have at least 8-9 months time to kill at the end of my contract in a year's time. Now the best scenario (well the best is winning the lottery and never working ever again) would be to extend my contract for that long and then head back home but I'm not sure that the school will be too keen on doing that. So I was wondering if it would be worth getting an eikawa gig to bide my time and then take off.
Will eikawa go for short term contracts? Do they hire locally? |
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justuspost
Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 16
Location: Berkeley CA
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| Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2006 6:10 pm Post subject: |
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Also, if I may add, I wonder how the visa status works during that time. Must the company be actively sponsoring you or do you have some float time?
Justus |
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womblingfree
Joined: 04 Mar 2006
Posts: 826
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| Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2006 6:10 pm Post subject: Re: I'll run this up the flagpole.. |
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| markle wrote: |
| Will eikawa go for short term contracts? Do they hire locally? |
They certainly go for part-time, short term contracts on their terms. They usually make you work longer hours for less cash and don't have to provide you with any of the annoying stuff like health insurance.
If you just need some extra cash then it's fine. Actually there are plenty of decent part time contracts out there also, particularly teaching 'business English,' whatever the hell that is  |
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womblingfree
Joined: 04 Mar 2006
Posts: 826
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| Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2006 6:14 pm Post subject: |
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| justuspost wrote: |
Also, if I may add, I wonder how the visa status works during that time. Must the company be actively sponsoring you or do you have some float time?
Justus |
Your visa is valid until the expiry date, you can work wherever you like.
A working visa is not linked to the company that initially sponsored you. |
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justuspost
Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 16
Location: Berkeley CA
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| Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2006 6:23 pm Post subject: |
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I see. thanks for the info, that makes me feel better about being tied to one company for the visa reasons.
Justus |
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markle
Joined: 17 Jan 2003
Posts: 1316
Location: Out of Japan
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| Posted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 12:46 am Post subject: Re: I'll run this up the flagpole.. |
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| womblingfree wrote: |
They certainly go for part-time, short term contracts on their terms. They usually make you work longer hours for less cash and don't have to provide you with any of the annoying stuff like health insurance.
If you just need some extra cash then it's fine. Actually there are plenty of decent part time contracts out there also, particularly teaching 'business English,' whatever the hell that is |
Thanks, it's mainly a matter of treading water as well as maintaining an income. Any way there a number of factors to consider but it sounds like a option worth investigating.
Any glitches I should be aware of? |
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PAULH
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Posts: 4672
Location: Western Japan
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| Posted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 1:12 am Post subject: Re: I'll run this up the flagpole.. |
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| markle wrote: |
| womblingfree wrote: |
| If you just need some extra cash then it's fine. Actually there are plenty of decent part time contracts out there also, particularly teaching 'business English,' whatever the hell that is |
Thanks, it's mainly a matter of treading water as well as maintaining an income. Any way there a number of factors to consider but it sounds like a option worth investigating.
Any glitches I should be aware of? |
If you contract is longer than your visa dont tell a new employer that you will only work 8 or 9 months and then quit.
Accept a year long contract, say you will renew visa in 8-9 months and then hand in notice when visa is about to run out. You can promise to work for a year when getting hired but no one will hold you to it as oral contracts mean nothing in Japan. Say you want to work 9 months and they may not hire you in the beginning.
Be careful they dont try and take out more tax deductions because you only work a partial year. Watch your pay slips and what they take out each month.
Visa belongs to you and no one except immigration can take it away. |
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gaijinalways
Joined: 29 Nov 2005
Posts: 2279
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| Posted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 3:55 pm Post subject: |
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Yes, the business classes are better as they may run from 2-6 months and you can squeeze them around 'your vacation'. Also you can take privates, but at least have the decency to introduce them to someone at Dave's that is staying longer, like me  ! |
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D.O.S.
Joined: 02 Apr 2003
Posts: 108
Location: TOKYO (now)/ LONDON
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| Posted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 6:22 pm Post subject: |
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| dont tell a new employer that you will only work 8 or 9 months and then quit. |
Good advice: Lie and take off leaving your new employee in a difficult position. It creates a wonderful image of all gaijin teachers in Japan.
Perhaps several decades of this type of thing has helped create the wonderful bond of trust between Japanese employers and gaijin teachers that now exists in Japan.  |
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stillnosheep
Joined: 01 Mar 2004
Posts: 2068
Location: eslcafe
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| Posted: Sun Mar 12, 2006 4:44 am Post subject: |
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| D.O.S. wrote: |
| Quote: |
| dont tell a new employer that you will only work 8 or 9 months and then quit. |
Good advice: Lie and take off leaving your new employee in a difficult position. It creates a wonderful image of all gaijin teachers in Japan.
Perhaps several decades of this type of thing has helped create the wonderful bond of trust between Japanese employers and gaijin teachers that now exists in Japan. |
What have a bad reputation in Japan are the eikaiwa, and rightly so. Whether they are not paying health or unemployment insurance, or attempting to blackmail employees with lies about their visa being tied to continued employment by the sponsoring company their behaviour is often atrocious.
The OP intands to remain at his job for 9 months. That is longer than most new Nova teachers manage. Once he has the job he can give his employers two or three months notice of when he intends to leave. That is much longer notice than he is legally required to give and gives them plenty of time to line up a replacement. Many people believe they will stay a year, and then quit earlier, for many reasons.
Eikaiwa offering better pay and conditions would be able to recruit, and hold on to, better staff but many/most eikaiwa treat their employees with nothing but contempt. They refuse to accept that their teachers are proper full time employees. They cheat their employees out of their rightful health and pension contributions. And then you want to pontificate about the causes of mistrust. Look first at the sodding great Oak Tree in your own eye.
When employers get rid of the illegal clauses, start paying proper employers health and pensions contributions, stop lying about how employes must vacate company supplied property if their employment finishes and stop attempting to blackmail employees by insinuating that their visa status is linked to their continued employment with their visa sponsor then they might have a right to expect all interviewees to be totally up front with them. Until then the need to protect oneself from the stupid cheating lying scumbags takes precedence over airyfairy nonsense about full disclosure at interview. |
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Sour Grape
Joined: 10 May 2005
Posts: 241
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| Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 6:00 am Post subject: |
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| stillnosheep wrote: |
The OP intands to remain at his job for 9 months. That is longer than most new Nova teachers manage. |
Just curious - could you give a source for this piece of information. |
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stillnosheep
Joined: 01 Mar 2004
Posts: 2068
Location: eslcafe
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| Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 11:11 am Post subject: |
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| While Nova don't give out this info (surprise!), estimates of their staff posted here and on gaijinpot over the last couple of years consistently come up with a figure of around 6 months for the length of time, on average, a new Nova teacher remains with the company. |
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