Job Discussion Forums

[grapejuice]

I must say when all is considered, working for Interac is not a good deal at all...they don't pay for key money which amounts to about 200 000 yen just to get into an apt for your first month. (deposit, real estate fees and first month) Then you have utilities etc. You may not get your deposit back, and you won't get the fees back. If some of you are offered it, good for you, I wasn't. I am working for Interac now and feel screwed big time.

Interac doesn't pay you your salary the first month until the end of your second month of work. That's allot of good faith, too much, NOVA went down and left many teachers without salaries. However Interac is happy to loan you money and charge you interest for it! They have no regard for their employees in my opinion. So after traveling to Japan, paying your own ticket to get to Japan, setting YOURSELF up in an apt...you are really being paid 10 or 11 months for 12 months work... at an average salary. If you are serious about working in Japan you can find better deals out there...for sure. If you come from a 3rd world country and like living in really poor, at least for 3-4 months, maybe it is worth it, otherwise, the conditions are not what they should be, so don't be loyal to them.

Get ready to work with NO heat in the winter in the classroom. I was teaching in a heavy winter coat and I was still cold. I am an area that is considered to be mild. I then caught a cold because everyone at school is sick and missed a couple of days. It was my first month, so they said it was my probation period, so it is leave with no pay! Thanks for looking out for me Interac. I will have to look into the labour laws because I think they are just playing the system or the fact that we are foreign and may not know better.

I did have medical insurance but I am out of pocket. It hurts when you're broke, and they don't pay you until the end of your second month.

I was placed in two schools, one week on, one week off. This rotation system, plus all the primary schools they send you off to, do not make you feel like part of any team. As a professional teacher, this is not a career move. Interac communicates mostly by email, which makes it cold and inconsiderate most of the time. You are forbidden to talk about work issues with the schools you work at, if you do, and get caught, interact will send you a "letter of concern". Then follow up with an email stating "You did such and such, do you know you were wrong? Do you agree? Tell us why you think so. What should we do about it?" As though you were the Junior High student! This happened to a fellow teacher. To make things even worse, they didn't have their facts right. Over all, the kids are fun, but it�s not enough to want to wake up in the morning when you are being treated unfairly and poorly and when there is no equality across the board. (everyone is paid different, conditions vary greatly etc.)

If you have to go to a meeting in Hiroshima, bring your own tea/coffee because they won't even offer you a cup. They may tell you where the vending machine is but don't expect any courtesies. I spent two and a half days there, (interview, training) not even one beverage offered. ( I paid for the first train ticket too, because it was an interview, I just flew from overseas, wasn't getting myself to Japan enough? Their lack of consideration follows through in the work environment.

Be prepared to walk and trek yourself all over the place. Trains only go so far.

I can go on. Maybe I will another day...

Simply, they are not a good company to work for...the local board of education should be wary of them. In my area, in a 4 month period, I am the third teacher to be put into the two schools. That says something doesn't it? The second day, I had a problem with a teacher, I should say a problem found me, Interac's solution, just try harder to make things right, but don't talk to anyone about the problem or else we'll right you up.

I'll give more details of location etc. once I've left and been paid.

Cheers.

[grapejuice]

Over the weekend, I found out that some of my colleagues are getting their apt. paid for by Interac and they didn't have to pay key money. I was denied this option. In essence, I have to give up 1 months salary just to set up in Japan and work for them! My colleagues contracts are also for less hours per week than mine. They can leave work 2 hours before my contract states I can! Interac does this to avoid paying into social and health insurance plans. They do it in a questionable manner.

Although I get a little more salary, I am not getting a fair shake it seems.

Apparently, some teachers are gearing up to take leagal action against the company and to a further extent possibly the local Board of Education if things are not standardized and improved. On many fronts the contracts don't seem to be leagal to Japan's labour laws. Once again foreign nationals are being taken for a ride and for granted.

[bearcat]

Most companies dont pay you until the second or even third month you are in country and working. Its less to do with trying to cheat someone and more to do with payroll/accounting issues.

Let's say a company has a 10th of the month cut off for payroll/timecards to be turned in for processing by their accounting department.

Then, payslips/deposits are made into back accounts on the 25th of the month for the previous month's work that the payroll ended on the 10th for.


So lets say you, as a new teacher, arrive all bright n shiny for working in Japan on the 9th of February (a monday). You actually dont start your actually training with the company until the 12th(a thursday) and thus you're not able to be added to the payroll for accounting purposes for the period ending the 10th of February(logical since you've not done any work).

So you get through your training and then actually put in some teaching etc and you are green lighted for payroll's turn in on the 10th of March.

You wont get your first paycheck then of course until the end of March... roughly 2 months after you came to Japan.

Very, very normal.

However, I can give you a worse scenario. Some eikaiwa companies may offer you a position contingent on your successful completion of training. Training is 3 weeks (lets say 2 weeks kids 1 week adult teaching instruction). You arrived in Japan on the 14th of February but your training doesnt start until wednesday the 18th. 3 Weeks from that point on the 11ths of March, you successfully complete your training and are offered a position. That starts your teaching/working officially on the 16th(monday) of March.

This means you dont get actually placed on the payroll until the period ending the 10th of April with pay deposited in your bank account at the end of April, or more to the point, you dont get paid for close to 3 months after being in Japan.

This is why some companies give you a loan or a pay advance since they know people may not have the means to last 2-3 months with out their first paycheck, usually they'll spread out the advance/loan over a few months too so that its not one lump sum causing further distress later to a worker.

All in all grape, dont think Interac is unique in what you have encountered, many companies schools do that.

As far as the other issues with them, all I can say is, that you might want to contact the General Union as they've plenty of information on the activities of companies like that with regards to labor practices.

Other than that though, I feel that much of your assessment of your situation is more or less your putting a comparrison to what you experienced from outside of Japan onto a position within the correct context of Japan. Take that for what you will.

[grapejuice]

Hi, thank you for your reply.

I have compared Interac to other positions I've held in Japan. I can say for certain, that so far they are on par with NOVA. For those of you that don't know, that is really bad.

I must also say that I've been treated much better at other places. Large institutions and small eikaiwa alike. As far as places to live, I have often gotten better help. Including key money.

As for salary, I don't recall having to wait two months anywhere else. Maybe I had to for some positions, but I tell you, many places pay that month for that months work! If a boss gave me a loan, they certainly didn't charge me interest for it! Two months of work for free is a concern, who knows, they could fold overnight, Nova did!

I'll get specific after I quit...
I figure they will know who I am as soon as I get too specific. Maybe I already have?