Job Discussion Forums

[Yona Yona]

Long time lurker, first time poster.
I've been working at a private Junior/Senior High School
for the past couple of years and am curious to compare
and contrast working conditions with other folks.
Here are mine :

Area : Kansai
Working Hours : Technically 8:20 to 4:20, 5 days a week but most of the year it ends up being untill 5:30 or 6:00.Technically 2 half Saturdays a week, but this usually ends up being more.
Salary : Base salary is around 250,000 a month.On top of that we get automatic overtime and other bonuses/allowances.After deductions though it's back down to 250,000.Summer bonus is 2 months salary, winter bonus 3 months.
Holidays : 1 week in spring. 4 to 6 weeks in summer.2 weeks at xmas/new year.
Responsibilities : 16 classes a week teaching solo.
E.S.S/International Committee/Making and grading internal exams.
Making entrance exams. Teaching TOEIC classes.Other stuff like morning and after school patrol.Taking part in all school events (often at weekends).
Coaching students for speech contests. Organizing school speech contest
...etc etc.

So,how does this sound ?
Enquiring minds want to know.

[Glenski]

You might want to do a search on this. I asked a similar question a couple of years ago and conducted an informal survey here and on another site.

If you want the raw results, PM me, and I'll send you a Word copy. Too long to post here, but I can tell you (and anyone else reading this) that the number of respondents was about 20.

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

That's not dissimilar to my conditions. I had no idea people got overtime, though.

Oh, and I don't teach solo, in that there is a Japanese English teacher in the room, so that helps a bit.

[chinagirl]

We get overtime at my school, as well. Anything outside of contract hours is considered extra and we keep a log of it, which makes a nice little bonus paid twice a year.

Your base salary is low, but the bonuses seem to bring it to a more reasonable level. (We don't get bonuses at my school but our base salaries are higher) I'd say that for the amount of resonsibility you have your salary seems a bit on the low side to me. How old are you and how mucyh experience do you have, however? This would be an important factor in the salary question.

[Glenski]

At my HS we didn't get overtime, and everyone worked more than 8 hours a day.

Your base salary is very low in comparison. I'd say that even WITH a bonus, you should be getting another 100,000.

At my HS, non-tenured staff didn't get bonuses, but we got a 5-10% pay raise each year over the 3-year contract, while tenured staff got bonuses, and even part-timers got bonuses.

The work load you described is pretty much the same as what I had. Maybe even a little less than mine. And, I was full-time staff, so unless there were occasional courses that required team-teaching (whether with a Japanese or fellow foreigner), we taught alone.

[Yona Yona]

I should add that the "overtime" I mentioned is actually fixed,
in the sense that if you work 1 hour past 4:20 three times a week,
or if you stayed untill 10 pm every night, that figure would not change.
Also included in the extra allowances is an amount to help with rent etc.
You would also get allowances if you were married, had kids etc.

I asked this here because things have sort of come to a head at
my school with confusion over types of contracts etc.

Some other people might be in this situation, but technically
you are not allowed to teach solo if you do not have a teaching license valid in Japan.The school, however will lie to the authorities and explain that all classes by the A.E.T (yes, they call me an A.E.T despite the fact I teach alone) are taught together with a Japanese teacher.
This sort of works for and against me, as whilst I am happy to be teaching alone and gaining the experience doing so, I feel I should be compensated more for what I am doing.
Have any of you seen the huge, rather complex salary scale pamphlet
that the private school system has ?
In a couple of recent meetings with the Principal they will always point
to this and explain that I am on the same scale as all the other staff there.
I am not tenured but my contract is kind of automatically renewed every year. They could of course just not keep me on if they were unhappy with my work, but that is not the case.
I have been told that I will never be able to be a "sennin" (fully tenured teacher.) Sorry, I forget what they call my type of position at the moment. Johkin, perhaps ?
I should also note, that my school has "financial problems" and is proposing salary and bonus cuts. That is another story, although it does relate to my original post.
F.Y.I :
40 years old.
About 7 years teaching experience in Japan.

[Glenski]

In case anyone is interested in more online surveys, you might want to check out this thread in another forum.
http://www.eltnews.com/community/?board=jobs;action=display;num=1163688534;start=

[chinagirl]

so are you getting a housing allowance as well?

In any case, for your age and experience I think you're being underpaid compared to other teachers in similar situations.

[Glenski]

yes, sennin means tenured teacher. You essentially cannot be fired.
Jokin is full-time, but not permanent. You have a renewable contract. Note that I think you cannot stay longer than 3 years, though, or they will have to hire you permanently. Check with your union rep on that one.

AETs. Sigh. Yes, they are assistants, as the A implies. So, legally they cannot work alone. In my private HS, getting a license was a snap for jokin and sennin, though. You provide a translated copy of your college transcripts and degree and resume, and this goes to the licensing board (BOE?), who promptly give you a nice 3-year license which allows you to work only at that school or only within a certain district! AETs? I don't think they can get them, because the purpose is for people who are teaching solo.

[Yona Yona]

China Girl, yes I get some kind of housing allowance.
It's a small percentage of my total rent.
I believe every teacher receives this.

Glenski, yes the "overtime" thing is fixed.
I think they throw in like an extra 10 to 15,000 a month
to cover any work you do after 4:20.
It is a very rare thing for any Japanese member of staff to leave at 4:20 of course.
They have used the "but we are already paying you extra for working late " card against me a couple of times lately when I have queried the ever increasing work load. Things came to a head in June with the principal suddenly deciding to cut some of my duties (stuff like morning patrol,helping out with ball game day, teaching a parents class etc) until she had determined what a "fair work load for an AET" was (her words). During all this my co-worker (there are only 2 foreign staff) was fired for essentially refusing to teach some Saturday classes that they suddenly introduced in the middle of the school year.
A couple of weeks ago the principal called me in to her office and said she would like me to work at the school again next year but that I would have to"work the same as the Japanese teachers do" whilst at the same time mentioning there would be no salary raise and I was indeed still an assistant teacher.
There is a union at the school, but they don't seem to have a huge amount of power.
By the way, I was introduced to the job by a friend, in classic Japanese fashion.
I am not at school now but I am fairly sure my position is not even "jokin", but some other term.

[chirp]

I thought that the "you can't teach alone unless you have a license" rule only applied to public schools. I teach 10 of 19 classes alone, and the other 9 I team teach (but only every other week) at a private JHS/SHS in Tokyo. No one has ever mentioned the need for a license to me.

[Yona Yona]

I am 95 % sure you are supposed to have a teachers license to teach alone in a private school too.
My school certainly tells the authorities (B.O E ?) that I team teach all of my classes to get around this problem.
They do not, however, have a problem with putting huge glossy pictures of me in their promotional literature with captions making the point that "all our students have lessons taught solely by a professional English teacher.Lessons conducted entirely in ENGLISH !!!! " etc, etc...

[Glenski]

To change work conditions (like they did for your friend) is essentially changing the contract. It is illegal to do that without the consent of both parties. Obviously, your employer doesn't care about that because he knows you won't do anything about it. Did your friend get a month's salary when he was fired, because that is also the law?

Who actually hired you?
Why are you still there?

[taikibansei]

An interesting thread. My two yen are added below....

[markle]

I'll second the suggestion to upgrade your quals and start looking for a new job, the writing is on the wall as it were.