|
Job Discussion Forums
"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Students and Teachers from Around the World!"
|
| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
Osiyo
Joined: 20 Mar 2010
Posts: 34
Location: NC
|
 Posted: Sun May 30, 2010 2:59 pm Post subject: Kansai Gaigo Gakuin (Kansai Foreign Language Institute) |
 |
|
Greetings all,
Does anyone know anything about the Kansai Foreign Language Institute in Wakayama City? I may have a chance to work for them as an English teacher, but I know next to nothing about the company, and there is almost no information online.. I don't like jumping into something blind. Any insight would be greatly appreciated. |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
seklarwia
Joined: 20 Jan 2009
Posts: 1546
Location: Monkey onsen, Nagano
|
| Posted: Sun May 30, 2010 9:57 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Haven't seen much posted about the school either but that contract is quite horrendous: http://www.kgg-60.com/t/
I especially don't like the way they say 200 or more classes per week. And your work hours are not bound by the hours of the school... basically this contract says they can order you to slave 6 days/per week, teaching as many lessons as the director wants with no maximum limit and that you could be doing additional assignments in the mornings and still expected to be avaliable for work during school hours.
So working crazy hours, for crappy pay, next to no time off and they still tell you upfront that you will not be getting Shakai hoken... classy!
And even the questions on the application form... weight, height, ancestor's origins... something tells me that they are one of those schools that will choose based on physical appearence. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Osiyo
Joined: 20 Mar 2010
Posts: 34
Location: NC
|
| Posted: Sun May 30, 2010 11:29 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Thank you for the reply.
At least there is overtime pay, right? And as far as I can tell most of these eikaiwa/dispatch companies don't offer shakai hoken anyway.
But yeah...I see those red flags too. The school has supposedly been around since the 60's and if this Director is a nice guy then maybe it isn't so bad. I'm trying to get into contact with some people who used to work there to get their opinion on the matter, but it's moving very slow. I was just hoping maybe someone who frequents these forums knew about it.
It's looking like I will have to decide between this and an ALTIA Central ALT position, assuming I get an offer from them as well (the interview went pretty well). |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
|
| Posted: Mon May 31, 2010 2:32 am Post subject: |
|
|
Give this place a wide berth. Too many illegal clauses in that contract! Plus they don't even state a specific salary or rent.
And why do they need to know your parents' occupation and ancestry?
I don't know why anyone would even consider this place! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Osiyo
Joined: 20 Mar 2010
Posts: 34
Location: NC
|
| Posted: Mon May 31, 2010 2:33 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Alright, thanks for the advice guys. I guess the only responsible thing to do is refuse the job...sigh. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
seklarwia
Joined: 20 Jan 2009
Posts: 1546
Location: Monkey onsen, Nagano
|
| Posted: Mon May 31, 2010 9:00 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Osiyo wrote: |
At least there is overtime pay, right? And as far as I can tell most of these eikaiwa/dispatch companies don't offer shakai hoken anyway.
|
That is true. But they keep your class hours below 29.5hrs/week, so they are not obligated to enrol you into SH (a very dodgey but kind of legal loophole). This contract has you in the classroom way more than 29.5 hrs/week, in school more than 40 hrs/week, potentially could have you working even more than that with added off campus assignments yet have actually written in the contract that they will not offer you SH.
And dispatch/eikawa companies pretty much all give you two days off per week plus a few paid personal days to use if you are sick (love the way this contract actually says don't be expecting any other time off apart from the minute holidays they offer). And if you are going to be working extra hours/days normally offer additional pay or compensatory time off.
The conditions outlined in this contract are a joke; and not the  kind either. It might be painful to turn down any offer, but do it. With a contract like this, there is no way that the director is going to be a decent guy. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
|
| Posted: Mon May 31, 2010 12:05 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| seklarwia wrote: |
| Osiyo wrote: |
At least there is overtime pay, right? And as far as I can tell most of these eikaiwa/dispatch companies don't offer shakai hoken anyway.
|
That is true. But they keep your class hours below 29.5hrs/week, so they are not obligated to enrol you into SH (a very dodgey but kind of legal loophole). |
No. Stop right here. That has been a fallacy that even I have perpetuated until recently. There is no law which states a person making less than 29.5 hours/week is exempt from health insurance. Any employer can opt for it. The number of hours per week don't enter into the equation. http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=2314587118&topic=11597
That doesn't mean employers won't try to use this guideline, so beware.
| Quote: |
And dispatch/eikawa companies pretty much all give you two days off per week plus a few paid personal days to use if you are sick
|
Uh, no again. Labor laws simply state that:
(Working Hours)
Article 32. An employer shall not have a worker work
more than 40 hours per week, excluding rest periods.
2. An employer shall not have a worker work more
than 8 hours per day for each day of the week, excluding
rest periods.
and
Article 35. An employer shall provide workers at least
one rest day per week.
As for "sick days", there are no such thing in Japan. Even Japanese workers must use paid vacation days for sick time, and paid vacation days aren't obligated until after a FT worker has been with the company for 6 months.
(Annual Paid Leave)
Article 39. An employer shall grant annual paid leave
of 10 working days, either consecutive or divided into
portions, to workers who have been employed continuously
for 6 months calculated from the day of their being hired
and who have reported for work on at least 80 percent of the
total working days.
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/laborinfo/library/documents/llj_law1-rev.pdf
We do agree that this contract is worthless and not worth honoring. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Osiyo
Joined: 20 Mar 2010
Posts: 34
Location: NC
|
| Posted: Mon May 31, 2010 1:00 pm Post subject: |
|
|
A former employer from years ago got back to me and said that the director is a nice guy and that she had a very nice experience working for him. However, it seems like her contract was quite different from the one posted now. Luckily, I am now in contact with a current employee so I can get down to the bottom of this once and for all.
UPDATE: The current employee has gotten back to me, and seems to only have positive things to say about the company. According to her I would almost never be teaching 200 lessons a month, more like ~30 hours a week at most. Doesn't sound so bad now. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Shimokitazawa
Joined: 16 Aug 2009
Posts: 458
Location: Saigon, Vietnam
|
| Posted: Mon May 31, 2010 5:40 pm Post subject: |
|
|
30 hours a week in the classroom is BRUTAL. No more than 25 hours per week classroom time is what you should be looking at.
The people / person running the school digs appearances, and they state on their website:
| Quote: |
| P.S. To be considered for selection, we need your resume，two letters of recommendation, personal history and some different recent pictures of yourself. Pictures are most important to see what kind of personality the applicant has. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Osiyo
Joined: 20 Mar 2010
Posts: 34
Location: NC
|
| Posted: Mon May 31, 2010 6:22 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Actually if I do the math, the schedule the employee quoted to me is about 26 hours a week.
The whole appearance thing...yeah I'm not a huge fan of that, but...it's not a deal breaker either. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
|
| Posted: Mon May 31, 2010 9:28 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: |
| Working hours per week ranges between 25 and 35, but it could be more or less. |
So, the employer cannot even say how many hours a week (classes a week) you would have. That's illegal for contracts.
| Quote: |
| Director arranges the classes and make-up lessons. |
So, you have no say at all. With potentially 200 classes, that's a lot of stuff to do, and if you cram in more during make-up weeks, that's even more.
| Quote: |
| If the number of lessons does not reach this figure due to Director�s scheduling or lack of students, those hours are compensated for, and consequently the minimum salary of 300,000 yen is guaranteed. |
but
| Quote: |
| There is a possibility that Director may decide to reduce school days to five days a week, in which case, 250,000 yen will be paid monthly. |
What is this "there is a possibility" stuff? Your salary is guaranteed, then it's not. That's illegal.
| Quote: |
| Instructor will be asked to take on tasks relating to English language, such as proof-reading during the school hours, but the time engaged in these tasks will be counted towards working hours. |
It's nice that you'll be paid for this, but have you been told how much proofreading will be done, what it entails, and what sort of deadlines will be imposed? And, if it replaces work hours one week, that means you cram missed classes in during the next. Not fun.
| Quote: |
| Instructor may be asked to visit other institutions or companies upon their requests. |
They can't even guarantee your place of work!
| Quote: |
**The schedule for these visits will be arranged between Director and institutions /companies.
Therefore, the teaching time will be not bound by the school hours. |
So, you might have to work very early in the day or late at night, or days when you normally didn't. Don't you just love this arrangement?
| Quote: |
| Instructor is not permitted to have any other teaching job other than with the Kansai Foreign Language Institute, even if it is free of charge. |
Illegal clause. You can work PT anywhere as long as it doesn't interfere with your main job.
| Quote: |
| Instructor agrees not to take other similar employment in Wakayama city for the period of one year after the completion of this contract or termination. |
Totally bogus! You are not some high ranking biotech executive with corporate secrets that jeopardize the current employer. You can work anywhere and anytime you like.
| Quote: |
| This employment contract is in effect for three years. After one year, if Instructor should decide to terminate this contract before its completion for a justifiable reason, the notification period is three months in advance. |
I won't get into the legalities of a 3-year contract, but to require more than 2 weeks notice is against labor laws. Besides, they only have to give you 30 days or pay in lieu thereof.
| Quote: |
| Instructors may be dismissed for variety of reasons such as not meeting the institute�s expectations or standards. |
How nice that they don't have to say what those standards are beyond wearing a tie. I believe this is also illegal.
| Quote: |
| The institute will provide a bicycle for instruction related purposes free of charge. |
So, traveling to those other institutions might require a bike? How about rain or other forms of inclement weather? Isn't there public transportation around (that they should pay for)?
| Quote: |
| Instructor is expected to have their own health and life insurances before they leave their countries. The institute will not be responsible for any health-related expenditures. |
Like hell they aren't! If they have more than 5 FT employees, you are required by law to have national health insurance, which they copay for, regardless of number of hours.
You decide how ethical it is, let alone relevant to any job application, to know your height, weight, parents' jobs, and whether you have siblings.
Take this job at extreme risk. You've been warned. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
seklarwia
Joined: 20 Jan 2009
Posts: 1546
Location: Monkey onsen, Nagano
|
| Posted: Mon May 31, 2010 9:30 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Glenski, I think you should re-read what I said.
I didn't say that you are exempt from from SH if you work under 29.5 hrs. I said that they were not obligated to enrol you, which means they can enrol you if they want to, but they don't have to.
And I didn't say anything about it being law that an employer had to give you personal days to use as sick days (I didn't actually say they gave you sick days, which is important) or that they had to give you two days offf per week. I just said that eikawa/dispatch jobs normally do whilst this job doesn't making it worse than other entry level jobs. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Ryu Hayabusa
Joined: 08 Jan 2008
Posts: 182
|
| Posted: Mon May 31, 2010 9:38 pm Post subject: |
|
|
OP, you should definitely take the Altia position. Get your post count up ASAP and PM me. I have lots of info about Altia and how well I've been treated in the past year with them.
That other job listed seems so much worse compared to even the worst positions with Altia Central. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
TokyoLiz
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Posts: 1548
Location: Tokyo, Japan
|
| Posted: Mon May 31, 2010 9:42 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: |
| Instructor is expected to have their own health and life insurances before they leave their countries. The institute will not be responsible for any health-related expenditures. |
This is one amongst various illegal clauses in the contract. If you are on salary with a business, and working the amount of hours they claim in this contract, the company is required by law to put you on the national health insurance.
This business is doing unfair and illegal labour practices, like many others, but they have they unlike others have put their illegal contract on the webpage. They are disregarding the laws that protect employees and spreading disinformation about labour conditions in Japan by doing so.
About the hiring practices indicated by their application - while it is true that "haragei", gut feeling, plays a role for many Japanese in business, and getting a sense of who you are is important, this hiring process that asks for photos "to see your personality" and asks about your ancestry appears more like a screening system.
If they really want "haragei" time, they would ask you to do a phone interview to get to know you, and have you write a short personal statement in easy English.
I'm with Glenski on this one. Stay away from this business. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
razorhideki
Joined: 19 Jan 2010
Posts: 78
|
| Posted: Mon May 31, 2010 9:51 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I thought I was a hard-line critic of non-JET contracts/employers and had heard it all but...
...this is one for the books. "Pictures for personalities" indeed! I was gobsmacked.
I think I'd rather work at an average Korean hagwan! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
This page is maintained by the one and only Dave Sperling.
Contact Dave's ESL Cafe
Copyright © 2018 Dave Sperling. All Rights Reserved.
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
