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sidjameson
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 629
Location: osaka
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 Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2006 9:20 am Post subject: The Unbearable Vagueness of Being (work contracts) |
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Point 9 on my my contract:
That B(me) is entitled to a retirement allowance according to xxxx university regualations for the Grant of Retirement Allowances for Foreign Teachers, provided that B retires through no fault of his own after more than 3 years in service.
This is on a one year roll over contract where is also states that either party may cancel the contract or renewal of with 30 days notice.
So......anybody have any idea how these 2 points can coexist in the same contract? Also anybody have any idea how much such a "pension" would be?
And talking of pensions, I now pay into the state one I guess from my salary, so whats the retirement age in Japan and what is the basic pension gonna pay out? |
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PAULH
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Posts: 4672
Location: Western Japan
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| Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2006 9:37 am Post subject: Re: The Unbearable Vagueness of Being (work contracts) |
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| sidjameson wrote: |
Point 9 on my my contract:
That B(me) is entitled to a retirement allowance according to xxxx university regualations for the Grant of Retirement Allowances for Foreign Teachers, provided that B retires through no fault of his own after more than 3 years in service.
This is on a one year roll over contract where is also states that either party may cancel the contract or renewal of with 30 days notice.
So......anybody have any idea how these 2 points can coexist in the same contract? Also anybody have any idea how much such a "pension" would be?
And talking of pensions, I now pay into the state one I guess from my salary, so whats the retirement age in Japan and what is the basic pension gonna pay out? |
If its a national university you get a 'taishokin' which is a retirement allowance from the university. its like a golden handshake if you finish three years with them. Amount depends on your salary and is a percentage of total salary. I got about 150,000 yen when I finished at my national university.
If you want to quit your job at any time you give 30 days notice.
To get national pension you have to pay in for 25 years and if you quit or return home before 25 years are up you get 3 months worth of salary back. Say goodbye to the rest of any premiums you pay over 3 years.
Nice of them isnt it? Retirement age now in japan is 65 years. |
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sidjameson
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 629
Location: osaka
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| Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2006 9:49 am Post subject: |
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Is that 3 months salary back not 3 months contributions? If so its actually 3 years of contributions. Oh, just worked that out. Yep, even 3 years of contributions is pretty mean if you have been working for 20.
If say you worked for 10 years here, left then came back again at 65. Would you be entitled to anything?
Ahhh a golden handshake. I though "allowance" meaning a monthly pay out, no matter how small was going to be too good to be true.
Thanks PaulH |
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PAULH
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Posts: 4672
Location: Western Japan
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| Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2006 10:48 am Post subject: |
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| sidjameson wrote: |
Is that 3 months salary back not 3 months contributions? If so its actually 3 years of contributions. Oh, just worked that out. Yep, even 3 years of contributions is pretty mean if you have been working for 20.
If say you worked for 10 years here, left then came back again at 65. Would you be entitled to anything?
Ahhh a golden handshake. I though "allowance" meaning a monthly pay out, no matter how small was going to be too good to be true.
Thanks PaulH |
You pay 36 months of pension premiums (through Kokumin nenkin or a prefectural fund set up by your university but what you get refunded is equivalent to 2.4 months salary.
As this is not pension but taxable income the govt taxes you 20% on it. You can claim a refund of the 20% as well as the pension rebate if you go back to your own country.
You have to pay in for 25 years and then collect your pension. Any gaps you have in payments do not count towards your 25 years. This is called 'karakikan' in Japanese, and Japanese living overseas are exempt from this i.e even if they live overseas for 5 years in australia becuase of their job etc they can still collect their pensions. its an unfair system, totally weighted against foreigners, but then, the japanese pension system is not designed for foreigners as so few qualify.
This is Japan, after all where the cards are stacked against you from day one.
Sid, are you at a national univeristy? Do you know about the 'rinji kikoku teatte'?
At the end of three years the uni will fly you and your family to your home country and cover the cost of air tickets and give you a daily allowance. They won't offer it to you but you have to ask about it.
Last edited by PAULH on Wed Jul 05, 2006 11:31 am; edited 1 time in total |
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sidjameson
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 629
Location: osaka
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| Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2006 11:23 am Post subject: |
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Yes Paul I am at a national university. Actually they did tell me about the flight home after 3 years thing. A pleasant surprise:)
The pension thing certainly doesnt sound fair, but I wonder how it is in other countries? I guess it may well be the same. The world hasnt caught on to the migrant worker I suspect. At least not the middle class one.
I have to say that my university is wonderful. They told me many things. It's just that they dont explain them fully. |
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PAULH
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Posts: 4672
Location: Western Japan
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| Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2006 11:29 am Post subject: |
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| sidjameson wrote: |
| I have to say that my university is wonderful. They told me many things. It's just that they dont explain them fully. |
Ah the joys of working for government corporations. Just equate information to being like nuggets of gold you have to ferret out.
I suppose you have a health kenkyu-hi (research grant?) |
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Gordon
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Posts: 5309
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2006 12:32 pm Post subject: |
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| PAULH wrote: |
| sidjameson wrote: |
| I have to say that my university is wonderful. They told me many things. It's just that they dont explain them fully. |
Ah the joys of working for government corporations. Just equate information to being like nuggets of gold you have to ferret out.
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Yes, after 4 years, I still am finding out about new perks at my uni. They don't let on about anything when you first start. |
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gaijinalways
Joined: 29 Nov 2005
Posts: 2279
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| Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2006 3:22 pm Post subject: |
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Sid,
If you're American, you can now transfer your Japanese payments into the US social security system (and vice versa). I probably plan to do this as my wife and I are considering retiring stateside eventually. |
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kdynamic
Joined: 05 Nov 2005
Posts: 562
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2006 3:37 pm Post subject: |
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Nice Milan Kundera reference! 
Unfortunately I have nothing helpful to add to answer your question... good luck with that |
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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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| Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2006 9:51 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| If you're American, you can now transfer your Japanese payments into the US social security system |
How can one do this? Doesn't sound kosher to me. |
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Andru
Joined: 23 Apr 2006
Posts: 22
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| Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 11:53 am Post subject: |
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| Glenski wrote: |
| Quote: |
| If you're American, you can now transfer your Japanese payments into the US social security system |
How can one do this? Doesn't sound kosher to me. |
Actually, with the US-Japan Social Security Totalization Agreement (which became effective 10/1/05), no funds are moved between the two systems. It only allows for the work history "credits" to be shared in order to determine eligibility for benefits.
In the US system, only "40 quarters" of work history credits (with a certain minimum amount of earnings per quarter) is required to qualify for benefits (note that 40 quarters equals 10 years). Then, of course, for the retirement pension one must be at least 62 years of age to qualify for reduced benefits (65-67 for "full" benefits, depending on when you were born, then age 70 for "maximum" benefits). In the Japanese system though, 25 years of work history credits is required, and the minimum age (I think) is 65.
An example I gave in an earlier thread was like this: a US citizen works in US for 8 years, then moves to Japan and works there for 17 years. Before the agreement, if he stopped working (or stopped paying into either system) at that point, he would not have qualified for any benefits, since the minimums (10 years US, 25 years Japan) would not have been met. But, after the agreement, since the work credits are now shared, he would meet the minimum work requirement for both systems (both combined equals 25 years).
When it comes time to collect the retirement benefits, separate claims must be made with each system and separate checks are issued from each system (since no funds are exchanged, only the work history). The amount of benefits, though, depend mostly on how much was actually contributed to each system. Also note that, while I know the US system will pay retirees who are not living within the boundaries of the country, I don't know whether the Japanese system will.
BTW, most of this information is on the US Social Security Administration website. I was not able to find very much information about the Japanese social security system in English, however. I also don't know how much of this is retroactive, or whether only the work history after 10/1/05 will be shared. |
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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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| Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 1:04 pm Post subject: |
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Thank you for the enlightenment. I for one will look into this further.
| Quote: |
| I also don't know how much of this is retroactive, or whether only the work history after 10/1/05 will be shared. |
I suspect that it is NOT retroactive, certainly earlier than 2005. |
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