Job Discussion Forums

[radish]

I'm wondering how standard this contract is...I don't have a TESL certificate, though I do have some experience teaching ESL in the U.S.

Also, if anyone has any information about the school --Jade Eikaiwa on Shikoku Island, I'd be eager to hear about it as the Google results are rather sparse.

Apparently, it is a conversation school.

Thanks!

Contract:

The Jade Eikaiwa Contract


The following are the terms and conditions of employment agreed upon by ___ and ___ representing Jade Eikaiwa and

______________________________ on ____________________________.

1)Position & Term

______________________________will be employed as a teacher responsible for pre-school, elementary, junior high school and senior high school classes plus adult conversation classes. The schools are located in the cities of Niihama, Imabari, Saijo and Iyomishima, in Ehime prefecture, Shikoku, Japan. The term of the teaching contract will

be from __________________________ to ___________________________.

2)Working Hours

The minimum working hours are 100 hours per month. This is to be worked either Monday to Friday or Tuesday to Saturday or an alternative arrangement mutually agreeable to both parties. Working hours are between 11AM to 11PM on any given day of the agreed working week.

3)Additional Working Hours

In the event of increased student demand working hours will be extended to facilitate more classes. If additional working hours are available, teachers are required to teach up to a maximum of 120 hours per month, anything above 120 hours per month is negotiable.

4)Non-teaching Responsibilities

Lesson preparation, attendance of teachers� meetings, �school� organized extra-curricula activities (such as Christmas party, picnics, etc.) and paper work* are the teacher�s responsibility and not included within the minimum 100 working hours.

*All teachers are required to keep attendance and lesson plan summaries and fill in monthly reports which detail any problems with classes. The summaries are to be kept in your files and copies given to Jade whenever required. Please hand the monthly reports to the manager at the end of every month. Jade also requires teachers to fill out student assessments forms every four months for each student in their children�s classes.

In addition teachers are required to hand out and collect student payment envelopes each month and may be asked to deliver materials to branch schools in the course of their regular teaching duties.

5)Outside Employment Prohibited

Teaching for any other company, Juku, school, or individual is not permitted unless authorized by Jade Eikaiwa.

6)Salary & Bonus

(i)New teachers will be paid 1,000 yen hourly* during their initial training period until they take full responsibility for classes. In the case of additional training, during which they observe other teachers� classes or are supervised by more experienced teachers they will also be paid 1,000 yen hourly. Once training has been completed the remainder of the salary month will be paid at an hourly rate of 2,750 yen per hour.

Jade pays experienced teachers full salary for supervising and training new teachers. Usually new teachers are not experienced in the specifics of teaching Japanese students. Therefore, experienced teachers are required to be helpful and conscientious during the training period not only for the benefit of Jade�s business but also for the benefit of their newly arrived colleague.

(ii)Salary calculation for the remainder of the contracted year with the exception of August will be as follows.

For the minimum working hours of 100 hours per month, a base salary of 275,000 yen per month will be paid. Any additional teaching hours will be paid at the hourly rate of 3,000 yen. If in any one month combined holidays prevent the attaining of the 100 hour minimum the full base salary will still be paid. However, every effort to reschedule make-up classes to ensure the students receive their contracted monthly lesson hours must be made.

(iii)The exception being August (July 29th - August 31st) when salary will be calculated on a three week working month (75 hours per month) for a base salary of 206,250 yen, because Jade has a two-week summer holiday in August. Any additional teaching hours will be paid accordingly.

(iv)The final month�s salary will be calculated on an hourly rate of 2,750 yen per hour if less than 20 days have been worked.

(v)The salary payment will be monthly on the 10th of the following month or the next business day. An advance of salary may be made if deemed necessary.

(vi)End of Contract Bonus

At the �successful� completion of the one year contract a bonus of 150,000 yen will be paid. If employment is terminated in the middle of the contract, no bonus will be paid.

(vii)Taxation

All income including bonus is subject to the appropriate Japanese National income tax rates (about 5%) and a separate City and Prefecture Tax (about 3%). When teachers leave Jade, we will show the detailed calculations of both taxes and a refund will be made if it is due.

(viii) In situations where teachers forget or miss classes, the lessons will be rescheduled at the students� convenience. However, if the class cannot be rescheduled and Jade looses income the lost teaching hours will be deducted from the teacher�s base salary.

7)Accommodation

(i)An apartment will be provided for the use of the teacher. The bond will be already paid and the apartment will be semi-furnished. * The rent, 55,000 yen, and utilities costs of the apartment will be paid by the teacher via salary deductions made by Jade.

* The contents of the apartment will include Futons, a refrigerator, a micro-wave, a kitchen table and chairs, a cupboard, cutlery and crockery, a rice cooker, a stove, pans , a kettle, a TV and video deck, a washing machine, a vacuum cleaner, an electric fan, and a kerosene heater. Air-conditioners are not regarded as apartment necessities. Some apartments may have them but their operation is not Jade�s responsibility. Any other items are regarded as personal effects and should be provided by the resident.

(ii)All furniture and any other items in the apartment which were there before the teacher arrived belong to Jade and are to remain in the apartment at all times.

(iii)When teachers complete their contracts, their apartments will be checked and if there is any obvious damage that has occurred during their tenancy (caused by either themselves or their guests), it must be repaired by the resident or the cost of repairs will be deducted from their salary. In situations where teachers or their guests cause damage to other apartments in their buildings the cost of the repairs will be deducted from the teacher�s next salary payment.

(iv) Apartments cannot be shared with people who are not Jade staff. Visitors may stay for up to two weeks and the teacher is always responsible for their behaviour and any damage they may cause.

(v) Should Jade�s rental agreement be cancelled due to difficulties caused by teachers, they will be asked to re-imburse Jade for the resulting loss of deposit money (3 month�s rent) and agent�s fees (1 month�s rent).

(vi) As most apartment buildings have a �No Pets� policy teachers will refrain from acquiring pets during their stay in Japan.



8)Holidays

Teachers are to teach four weeks a month. Should there be a shortfall of teaching days in any given month, days will be added from either the prior or following months. This will require statutory Japanese holidays to be worked, however extended holidays will be scheduled during the three traditional Japanese holiday periods and Niihama�s harvest festival.

April 26th to May 5th Golden Week

August 8th to 21st (two weeks) Obon (Summer) holiday

October 14th to 18th Niihama Festival

December 29th to January 3rd Shogatsu holiday

9)Travel Cost & Car Use

(i)Travel expenses to and from Japan and to and from Niihama (where Jade�s main office is located) are the teacher�s responsibility.

(ii)Work related travel within the Toyo area (which stretches from Imabari to Iyomishima) will be aided by the use of a car provided by Jade.

(iii)In the event of a car accident (even minor ones) immediately contact the manager and take the other person�s name, contact number and license plate details.

(iv)Whenever using a Jade vehicle, it is always the driver�s responsibility to obey Japanese road rules and any tickets / fines must be paid by the driver.

(v)Cars are available for private use (i.e. local area everyday use) but private use will be restricted if Jade requires the cars for use by other teachers or staff. Business use always has priority over private use.

(vi)Car use for round trips of more than 150 km (which is farther than Matsuyama or Takamatsu) requires Jade�s permission. The milage is checked regularly for maintenance purposes and if it is excessive, the driver will be asked to reimburse Jade for expenses.

(vii)Any costs and additional expenses (including accident repairs) incurred during private use will be the driver�s responsibility. Jade car insurance is good only when the car is used for business. If teachers wish, additional insurance to cover personal use can be arranged at the teacher�s expense.

(viii)A petrol allowance will be paid at the beginning of each month based on the milage covered going to and from outside classes. This allowance is calculated at 10 yen per kilometre. It does not cover commuting between apartments and a teacher�s base school.

10)Sickness

(i)In the event of mild illness Jade must be notified at the earliest so that students can be informed of class cancellation.

(ii)When the manager cannot inform the students of the cancellation because of the teacher�s delayed decision, Jade will require the teacher to go and teach the class in order to avoid unprofessional situations such as children being left unattended at the school or students left waiting unaware of events.

(iii)When teachers cancel their classes because of sickness, make-up classes will be scheduled. When it is impossible to fit all of the make-up classes into the teacher�s working week, the teacher will be asked to teach them on his/ her days off (either Saturday or Monday). For salary calculation, these hours will be treated as if they were ordinary working hours.

(iv) Serious illness or injury will be dealt with according to mutually agreeable terms.



11)Insurance

The full cost of Kokumin Kenko Hoken will be paid by Jade Eikaiwa. This medical insurance covers 70% of all costs with the remaining 30% paid by the insured party at the end of the hospital consultation or visit to the dental clinic.

12)Grounds for Dismissal

(i)Any breach of the contract conditions that cannot be resolved by discussion.

(ii)Conduct unbecoming of a teacher, namely behavior that causes embarrassment or material loss to Jade Eikaiwa, which includes too frequent no-shows.

(iii)Negligence of teaching duties.

(iv)Teaching of unauthorized classes outside of Jade Eikaiwa.

13)Cancellation of Contract

This contract can be canceled three months after the mutual agreement of both parties to terminate the said contract.

14)Emergency Situations

If in the event of the death of a close family member or similar situations compassionate leave would be granted or treated as grounds for the early termination of the contract, if so desired.


Signed on behalf of Jade Eikaiwa by:


_________________________________



_________________________________



and ______________________________( )



Dated ____________________________________.

[canuck]

It's a sh*t job.

[furiousmilksheikali]

This seems suspicious:

[radish]

Thank you both for your responses, both of you have excellent points. I'm still shopping around, and this was one of my options that pursued me most vigorously.

[Glenski]

Looks like a typical dispatch agency. Avoid them　or negotiate better terms. The way they word things is carefully done to skirt the law.

Example: Overtime pay is 1.25 to 1.5 times regular pay. So, if you are truly getting paid 275,000 for 100 hours a month, that's 2750 yen/hour, and the bare minimum for OT should be more than 3000 yen/hour, HOWEVER they may claim overtime is something more than 40 hours per week, and you won't be getting that.

[Quibby84]

I looks like you will be working your butt off, but you make more than I do...much more....and if you worked those 20 overtime hours and got 3,000 yen for each hour...you will be loaded...
Looks better than my job....much better....but this job has flaws...imagine mine...lol

[esglumac]

i got that contract too and i was wondering, but it sounds ok to me.

[flyingkiwi]

Quibby, what school do you work for?

[Nagoyaguy]

Horrible horrible contract. It sounds like something written for a hagwan in Korea, not a school in Japan.

Are the "100 hours" counted by the minute, or is "one hour" considered to be "one class" of 45-50 minutes? If the former, you will have more than 30 classes a week.

If the travel time is not included in yoru working hours, you may be getting seriously screwed.

Are you required to be on-site at the school when you are not teaching?


You can do much better. Taking an ALT job through a dispatcher would have a little lower monthly salary, but much more free time and a far easier schedule. Plus, your evenings would be free to pursue other employment. Most of the time, you can fill your hours with private lessons at 4000 yen an hour.

I am surprised the school in the OP didnt require your first child as a hostage to ensure contract compliance

[Quibby84]

this contract isnt as bad as that....the only real problem I see is the amount of work because that is how much I work now and I feel tired alot, but the rest seems normal and the pay seems really good...unless the average pay has gone up in the last 5 months, this job offers more than average...

[canuck]

[bearcat]

1. The working hours essentially are 120 and made to seem like 100 initially. That's dodgy to write it that way. Nothing mentioned about overtime pay.

2. Hours of work essentially are vague by definition but seem to imply teaching "hours" clarification on this should be made.

3. Requiring you to pay for your own travel expenses to and from their home office is ridiculous. That's work related and should be reimbursed by the company.

4. The length of time that you are on the "training pay" isn't specified. 1000 yen an hour is just as equally ridiculous. They could string you along for 3 months on that pay saying "oh you need more training".

5. Having you teach across 4 different cities in that area and a range of from 3-senior citizen seems pretty strenuous. Lesson planning effectively and properly will be so time consuming.

6. In addition to that, I get the impression that you would have to lug around all of your teaching and lesson materials to those locations every day (because you are a guest to those facilities you would be teaching in). That can be a pain if you are the type of teacher that uses lots of materials, realia, props of other sorts etc in your lessons.

7. They state that you are to be available to work between the hours of 11am to 11pm. That's a nice way of saying they will make you work split shifts in which you teach a few hours at a kinder in the morn, some classes in a different location for elementary kids in the afternoon, and then a different location for a few hours in the evening to adults potentially.

8. And if you're driving inbetween those facilities for those purposes, they dont count that as work related hours. So you essentially could be looking at potential 12 hour work days that they classify only as 6-8 hours of work. SO exploitive.

Prohibiting you from working at other places is impossible and illegal.

9. One thing about the driving. If you don't have a Japanese driver's license and you're coming to work for them and in Japan for the first time (thus first year in Japan), then of course you can get an international driver's license to drive the car.

However, after the year is up, Japan doesn't allow you to drive on that license nor will it accept a renewal NOR will it accept you getting an international driver's license for the first time if you have already been in Japan for a year.

In otherwords, employment with this company would most likely not extend past that first year unless you opted to get a japanese driver's license.

10. Another thing they don't specify but Im willing to bet is true: they say that if there are holiday periods or other such that require you to "make up" those days. To do so then means you could run into 6 or even 7 day work weeks to make them up in the following month.

11. Also, they state that you have to attend various school's activities that are not teaching responsibilities YET do not consider them working hours and thus do not compensate you. Yes, I would say that you shouldn't be paid to attend a christmas party of course, but if for example they required you to attend a kindergarten's sports day or pagent event and you were required to help set up, "perform" or do other work/participation therein, you're getting fleeced.

12. Notice they put the word successful in quotation with regard to the completion of the contract for the bonus. The do not in writing specify what the requirements are for said "successful" completion. I am willing to bet they have all sorts of conditions on that to where it then is not able to be attained.

13. And they consider an airconditioner to not be an apartment necessity... sadists.

All in all, I'd say you could seriously do better even as an entry level position. The pay they state at the initial onset looks like its above standard but given that they don't compensate you for various hours of work related things, certain parts of the travel involved for work, and more, the pay actually would come out less than the semi standard 250,000 a month. Then when you factor the split shift working, the potential for 6-7 day work weeks and they loss of what seems to be most national holidays (either you work on them or make the hours up later), its really a crappy job.

[ironopolis]

To be honest, I'd say a lot of the things in this are not that unusual in Japan, particularly for a smaller school, who, unlike the big 4 with teachers coming and going all the time, would probably be really screwed by a teacher quitting early or letting them down in some other way. A lot of the conditions they mention could be just them trying to cover all the angles and perhaps reflect problems they've had before.

But I'd still agree with others that there are a few too many points which are too unclear and that an entry level job with one of the big 4 would probably be less risky. If you can get it, some feedback from current or previous teachers would be more useful than analysing the contract. Just like some laws are mostly symbolic and not applied to the letter, so are sometimes some contract clauses. What you need to know is what actually happens there in practice - if you can't get any reliable info about that, then I'd say look elsewhere.

[Khyron]

[flyingkiwi]

How they can get anyone desperate enough to work for them is pretty sad.

Whatever you do, don't fall into the trap of thinking that 'maybe this will be the only job offered to me so I had better take it'. You definitely will get offered another job with much better conditions if you do your homework.