Job Discussion Forums

[Gordon]

Yeah, he is getting a dose of Japanese work ethic reality alright, except for the corresponding salary and bonuses. You don't get one without the other.

[c-way]

I came to Japan because my girlfriend was working here and I wanted to do all of the above, earn money, see Japan, and learn about the culture. But I don't want to do any of the above to my detriment.

While I do appreciate the fact that I am in another country and agree that i should have to act in accordance with the culture, I don't think that means being a 'yes man' who is at the beckon call to do whatever my boss asks of me, even if that is what a Japanese employee is expected to do. It opens up the door for so many abuses of power that may only benefit my boss's ego and not the company. That part of the culture I don't care to take part in.

Even if my salary were much higher, I still don't think I would want a job that implicitly states "You've been hired to be a teacher, but if we want you to stand on one leg, touch your nose, and belt out Disney tunes, then that's what you'll do". But it isn't, so I'm not really left with a good reason to stay. And I probably won't.

I agree that my boss is probably not unscrupulous and just set in his ways. But that is probably why even though his business has been running for twelve years, of his staff, 3 Japanese/2 Foreign, the other foreign teacher has been there the longest at 7 months. And the guy I replaced seemed all too happy to be leaving (medical reasons).

[craven]

It's not officially set in stone, but immigration almost always gives 3 years on a specialist in humanities visa, even if you have a one year contract.
And in response to malcoml, this is WAY worse than even the WORST NOVA contract...Nova starts at Y250000/month, and your salary is not dependant upon the school's sales. I agree with the poster who said this is a risk the owner should assume.
You can hold onto your visa after you leave this school, but you will become a temporary resident until you are hired by another school. Definately don't rock the boat until you have the visa in hand though. And if he's been withholding salary, unforunately, you will probably have a tough time getting it from him. Sorry about your luck on your first job, but don't worry, there are lots of legitimate and honest employers in Japan.

[kdynamic]

I do think you should leave this job because you can get a better paying one elsewhere. I am no expert on Visa issues, but I know a bunch of people who have quit and none of thier visas were revoked. I don't think yours can be once it comes through.

However, reading this part of your post:

[Zzonkmiles]

This is not going to help the original poster, but I hope someone else out there reading this will find what I have to say to be useful.

DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES WORK FOR ANY EMPLOYER THAT SAYS IT'S OKAY FOR YOU TO WORK EVEN THOUGH YOU DON'T HAVE A PROPER VISA IN HAND.

I hate to throw everyone's candy in the sand, but if this guy's boss was willing to engage in shady business/legal practices by letting this guy work for their school even though he didn't have the proper visa, why is the original poster so surprised that the employer continued to engage in shady business practices by inventing new rules and not really following the contract once the job actually started?!

Without that visa, you don't have a legal leg to stand on. If you were working on a tourist visa, that's illegal and can get you fined and/or deported. You had no rights in that situation, so you would have to be careful with who you complain to. And as bad as your school is, it's still YOUR fault for taking a chance with this, knowing that what you were doing was questionable at best, based on immigration laws regarding employment. ("Tourists" aren't supposed to work.)

So what can you do? Well, I hope you have some savings and I hope you aren't counting on receiving your final paycheck. You need to quit the job PRONTO and start looking through the classifieds, such as the Kansai Flea Market. You can find a new job and even new accommodation there (often without key money). And when you do find that next job, make sure you have the visa FIRST. If your new prospective employer is willing to tell you that this "technicality" is not a problem, you are only setting yourself up to experience the same manipulative and exploitive treatment yet again.

There. Someone had to say it.

[Big John Stud]

[c-way]

Now hold on a second, don't start taking this "you brought this on yourself" tone that is appropriate in so many of these kind of circumstances.

Now first of all, My employer stated at the interview that normally he would not have me start before my visa was processed, but the teacher who I was replacing has a chronic medical ailment (GERD) and needed to leave immediately. The teacher's condition I know for a fact to be real, and whether or not my boss normally engages in illegal practices remains to be seen. But when you are on a 90 day clock to find a company that wants to hire you AND sponsor your visa, and your leaking money earned in China (man it is so much cheaper to live there) like oil from the Exxon Valdez, well you might tend to believe his story as well.

Second, my boss hasn't actually broken or added anything to the contract, and what I said is that new "rules" seemed to pop up everyday. The contract itself is so shottily written that so many things are left unsaid or open to interpretation that I would not actually be breaking anything in the contract by contacting students out of class. My hours are stated, but differently than what he verbally stated. A slight difference that is my fault for not modifying, but the point is not any one rule being stated in my contract, its the amount of rules and the irrationality of them combined with my boss's inability to be reasoned or compromised with that is troubling me. My contract also states that I am required to give two months notice before I leave, and I don't know if that takes precedence over what Big John Stud is saying about 3 weeks notice. I would assume it does, but if not paying me is the only reprisal he has, then I might see it as money well spent.

As for working while on a tourist visa. In Dave's ESL cafe's own FAQ it says that when finding a job from within Japan, once you are offered a job and a visa you are legally not allowed to work until you have the visa, even though many people do. When I got here on my tourist visa, I found that many companies would offer me part time or full time work, but only if I already had a visa, and many companies that sponsor visas, such as ECC, do not recruit from inside Japan.

As for receiving my final paycheck, I think I'll concentrate on receiving my first paycheck and visa first. My company only has two foreign teachers and I have just replaced a teacher that many students were fond of, but in six weeks they will be fond of me and if my boss didn't pay me he would only be cutting his nose to spite his face because he doesn't have another teacher to replace me. That would be half of his students without a teacher and I'm sure many would be none too happy that they would be getting a third teacher in two months time. The company that employs us might take issue with this as well.

When I go to find my next job it will be because I have stuck it out at this job to get my visa that I will have my visa first. So quitting my job PRONTO is probably not the best move. Even if my boss is not going to pay me, though I think that he is, a three year or even one year visa in Japan is worth a whole lot more to me than a month and a half of my salary, because, yes, I do have enough savings to stay afloat.

And where do you think I found This job but in the Kansai Flea Market.

So actually, no, you didn't have to say it.