Job Discussion Forums

[crankyjiji]

My friend is finishing up a year at Interac and contemplating signing another contract.

But there is a catch. He has been enrolled in the public health insurance system for years. But Interac says he MUST cancel this policy and then sign up for their health/pension plan which will result in a 30,000 yen deduction a month.

So what`s the deal? Many gaijin have illegally gone years without health insurance, but this is not the case here.

As a former employee, I know to be skeptical of anything that flows from an Interac manager`s lips. Anyone know the angle they are working here?

[Inflames]

[crankyjiji]

It does seem to be another government plan. But are people now required to join the pension plan? Especially as he won`t stick around Japan long enough to receive it?

The thing that raised the red flag is Interac saying if you don`t do this, there will be no new contract. Immediately, I remember Interac`s history of cheating (me) financially. And so I wonder about this.

[Glenski]

Interac's FAQs say:
All Interac ALTs are required to enroll in a Health Insurance plan recognised by the Japanese government. A comprehensive, company subsidized Health Insurance plan is available at a cost of between 2.5 and 3.0% of the monthly salary.

That doesn't mean shakai hoken necessarily. Get them to confirm. I am dubious about whether shakai hoken saves him 30,000 per month. That would mean his shakai hoken would cost 2 times that, and that's just not likely. I suspect it is an insurance plan that Interac skims profits from, much like NOVA did with its JMA insurance.

Once he learns what plan they are talking about, we can help more. If it's the Interac company plan, tell them to take a hike or offer shakai hoken.

Shakai hoken is a combination of insurance and pension.
Kokumin is not. You have to sign up separately.

How long does your friend plan to stay total? He can get back 3 years' worth of pension payments, max.

[cariocas27]

hmmmmm

Looks like its Shakai Hoken. Make sure that your friend has Interac confirm that it is as such and then there should be now problem.

I was enrolled in it for my previous contract and that deduction looks about right as its a combination of health insurance and pension.

As Glenski said you can get the pension back for up to 3 years and in the case of Canadians your pension contribution here actually counts towards your pension back in Canada.

I think it would be better for him to pay into the system because:

1) allows for more flexibility if your friend decides he wants to stay longer, then he'll have pension contributions

2) the plan is actually cheaper in the long run on the health insurance side of things and covers more stuff as an insurance policy

3) if he doesn't plan on being here for that long he can still claim back his contributions.

Yes its more expensive per say than just paying Kokuho but better to be safe than sorry... unless of course this is just another scheme but from my experience the deductions look like shakai hoken.

[Glenski]

[cariocas27]

Well then I would assume that there are other factors involved.

That's around the total all of us in the Kansai area on Shakai Hoken have been getting deducted for insurance.

And I know we were on Shakai Hoken because I had to unenroll myself out of Kokumin and Pension, get my payment slips scrapped and unify my accounts so that I wasn't enrolled in the system twice because I wasn't sure if I was going to be enrolled in the proper insurance.

However low and behold they did it and I got my health insurance card in October.

Perhaps the SIA site is not including some information OR we're getting doubled taxed OR we are in fact paying more than we should be ... which would then really suck.

Again, there are rules and then there are RULES unfortunately.

[kevin.sev7n]