Job Discussion Forums

[fluffyhamster]

Quick question: are the Labour Laws enforced, and I mean enforced swiftly? (You know, quicker than going to a solicitor with things much less cut and dried than clear violations of the LL).

Things are going badly with my employer (I've tried to be constructive and suggest where they might improve things for their teachers in general, and not just me), and I want to know if a taking a day off "sick" (unpaid leave, of course - I work for an ALT dispatch company) to go visit the Labour Standards people (with a fair bit of hard evidence showing violations of a number of LL articles) will be a wasted journey in at least the short-term (I'm sure I've read somewhere that you can be met with a response along the lines of, 'Oh yes, we know all about that company, because more than a few people have complained before, over the years. Anyway, thanks for informing us, and we'll see what we can do...oh, and please close the door on your way out.').

The main grievances I have are (apart from the whole "intermediate exploitation by illegal dispatcher/indirect hire by BOE" thing), 1) not being paid EACH month (the pay lags a month behind, which really bit from April-May, and then again from Sept-Oct, after the unpaid summer break), 2) Not getting any paid leave (not that I could enjoy it much on the pay I finally get - see 3) even after having worked FT for them for 6 months and 3) having the advances that I (and I suspect the majority of the other AETs in my city) HAD TO borrow deducted in amounts according to the employer's whim (e.g. my pay for Sept, which I received at the end of Oct, was deducted down to 100,000 yen. I had to "act up" to get an extra 50,000 yen out of them. The salary stated in the contract is 235,000 a month LOL).

My employer did finally draw up a "fair" repayment schedule, but my pay will never top 200,000 yen (and has averaged out at about 160,000 for months now - leaving me with only 15,000 yen/week if I'm lucky after rent, bills and transport), but then threw a wobbly when I let slip I might see the Labour guys about unpaid leave (I was trying to tell them that I didn't have enough money to get to my schools so was requesting unpaid leave - and I objected to having no PAID leave etc) - they threatened to deduct the WHOLE amount owing and leave me with no pay at all if I did not go to my schools (even though they have now stopped advancing any money at all to ALL AETs that they employ). Seems they're scared I might use that unapdi leave to go to the Labour people, eh. (Sorry if this para reads unclearly, typing at speed here).

Oh, and if anyone knows the Saitama Labour Standards Office(s) address(es) and telephone numbers, I'd appreciate them posting them here (I've tried to find out with Google, but have drawn a blank e.g. the Saitama local government webpages that I found seem to have a lot of defunct pages, right where one would expect to find the necessary contact details).

[JimDunlop2]

I think that for the non-payment of your wages you can probably get reasonably quick action -- as for the other issues -- it's hard to say. I would definitely go to the Labour Board, whether you get satisfaction or not -- because it's important, even if for no other reason but for the sake of the principle of it, to make sure they know not only WHO the offenders are, but WHAT they are doing, WHEN and to WHOM...

But I think there are others more qualified than I to answer this a bit more fully. Have you had a chance to talk to the union about this yet?

[fluffyhamster]

Thanks Jim, and I hear ya (I'll definitely go to the Labour people at some point about these guys, because I'm fed up with being treated this way by them - all of them!). I wonder if a crackdown whenever on the company would have repurcussions re. the hiring practises of the BOE, though. I guess (hope) so, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

[yamanote senbei]

On "1) not being paid EACH month", does your contract specify that you will be paid on the 20th day of the month, the month after you work? If so, there's not much you can do about it besides going after the intermediate exploitation angle. You're probably losing more because of the illegal dispatch/intermediate exploitation than you probably want to think about.

Unless your Japanese is perfect, I'd suggest you get union representation before going to the Labour Standards Office.

[fluffyhamster]

Hi Senbei. The payday is actually the very last working day of each month - convenient for the employer - and the money paid is, in reply to your question, indeed for the previous month's work (convenient for the BOE beancounters). Quite why the accountants that both employ can't process timesheets a little quicker i.e. have them submitted EARLIER (within the month that is to be paid for) is beyond me, because it really does inconvenience the AETs and must surely affect their performance (who likes "living" - barely scraping by - on what amounts to little more 15,000 yen a week? The only full paycheck we'll potentially see is our last, paid a month after we've stopped working).

I'm pretty sure that when the LL says one should be paid each and every month, they don't mean 'for each month (though at a later date)', and the late payment just throws into relief that whole indirect employment/exploitation thing (another LL violation) anyway. But I'll need to check back to those websites that quote the actual LL itself to see what it exactly says on this point.

I'd have reservations about trying to present my case (let alone understand the possible responses) without somebody who could speak much better Japanese than myself, so yes, it would probably be best if a union rep or somebody went along with me, but the thing is, I am not a union member (I sinply have not had much spare cash for quite a while now. Oh, yes, I know I should get more accustomed to bread and water EVERY DAY (speaking to my employer here), but I don't actually like it, even after living off it for a fair percentage of the days approaching any of my paydays).

[Big John Stud]

fluffyhamster wrote:

Thanks Jim, and I hear ya (I'll definitely go to the Labour people at some point about these guys, because I'm fed up with being treated this way by them - all of them!). I wonder if a crackdown whenever on the company would have repurcussions re. the hiring practises of the BOE, though. I guess (hope) so, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

I've never seen people who make all kinds of claims to get out of work than the people at the labour board, specially the one in Saitama. I have a lawyer now suing a company for unpaid rages. I finally have a court date this Decemember. The unpaid rages were from October and half of November of 2003! That is right of 2003.
I had gone to the labour board in Saitama with documented proof of how the company lied to me. Yet they sided with the company. I think companies pay the labour board salary.

If you still need the Satama Labour board phone number, post a request or send me a message. I have it at home. I believe on Tuesday the English speaker lady is there. I even know her name.

This sounds like the same company I am suing this December.

[fluffyhamster]

Hi BJS, I did a little more creative bilingual Googling, and finally managed to find a working link:
http://www.pref.saitama.lg.jp/A02/BQ00/counseling.htm#employment

Wow, sounds like you're getting into the habit of suing a**(es). I'm trying to resist, but it's hard ne!

The wages aren't as yet unpaid, but I'm a bit angry at them for even threatening to not pay me what I'm owed.

Part of me is telling me that it might be better to just get on with things than hang around in Japan expecting things to go my way (especially since I don't have any overwhelming desire to remain in Japan); that being said, if I have a free afternoon before I leave, I certainly will try to at least inform the Labour people about what my employer's been up to.

[fluffyhamster]

[Glenski]

fluffy,
You don't have much of a leg to stand on regarding that monthly payment of wages, IMO.

Yes, you are required by law to be paid on a certain day once a month, and to have this written into your contract. However, I don't think you can interpret your quote as meaning you have to be paid in the same month for the month you worked. You get a paycheck once a month, right? That meets the law. The check just happens to be for the previous month's work.

Don't ever let an employer threaten you, though. It's usually hot air. Talk to the union, as already recommended, not just the labor board.

[fluffyhamster]

Sure, Glenski, I'm not on a crusade about it just yet, but the Labour Laws do seem to indicate that direct employment with pay at least once a month is the ideal, no? And even if they didn't, it boggles my mind just everso that an employer would suddenly 'crack down' on teachers and stop providing the necessary advances - I mean, I wasn't the one not recommending to the BOE that the pay system be sped up when the jobs were first up for grabs, but I'm certainly the one making the company its profit, and suffering for it (when I sometimes am looking at a choice between eating "well" and paying transport costs to work in a final week).

Hmm, I just thought, even if they did not pay me/call in the whole advance (200,000 yen - believe me, I was living frugally during the months it accumulated, and there are other AETs who got assistance in setting up apartments etc. God knows what they owe), they'd still owe me about 270,000 yen (35, plus 235 for the month owing).

I generally just find it hard to believe that these companies do not have the assets to pay any of that first month pronto, and I think that, in principle, if a company does not have assets, it should not be allowed to "employ" people (still, I "accepted" the job, didn't I).

[yamanote senbei]

Sounds like RCS.

[fluffyhamster]

Could well be, couldn't it, but then, the dispatch companies are all looking so alike nowadays that mine could be a cautionary tale for somebody applying to any of them.

[furiousmilksheikali]

[fluffyhamster]

[furiousmilksheikali]

Well, it wasn't my intention to get at you: I myself have worked for a dispatch company and my experience was as miserable as yours (no pay during vacations but the vague promise of other work, paid by the day instead of a flat monthly) and I swore never to work for one again.

But, and I could be mistaken, this is not your first job with a dispatch company and I believe after your first contract with one of these you were making the interview rounds with as many other dispatch companies as you could despite the warnings of wangtesol and yamanote senbei (among others), but you were of the opinion that it was not worth making a statement about by boycotting these agencies (if I am mixing you up with another poster then please correct me and I will apologize).

I hope, as you say, that your story could be a cautionary tale for others to avoid dispatch companies as they only get away with such practices while there are enough people to fill the positions.

I also hope you get a better postition with a more reputable company as the place you were at sounds like subsistence living and not much else.