Job Discussion Forums

[zues]

In a never ending trend of squeezing every bit of profit, disregard for employees is taking new form.

Here are the latest concerns for this employer:

1. Nicking your pay for "Work days": these are on-call days, (usually during vacation blocks) that you are paid for but which you are not required to go in to the office, unless called upon. Employer Tactic: to call you and ask if you are available that very day. Usually you are not (because you were not given advance notice). So you lose that days pay if you cannot make it in, suddenly.

You may be called for any reason during your work days and asked if you can come in for an unspecified reason (regardless of if there is an actual work assignment for you that day), then later, be informed that your pay will be deducted if you say anything that may be construed as being unavailable.

but now...

2. The Bait and Switch: At the start of the year, in April, Interac/Maxceed teachers are given their yearly calendar outlining all holidays. This year, in June, well after summer plans have been made, calendar dates were changed, with no explanation, and new work days were added to many teacher calendars, taking the place of holidays.

This poses a massive ethical problem as many teachers have made plans for summer already. So now teachers are liable to be docked pay for all the days they had planned to travel if they fall during the newly added work days. Days that were previously granted off, for which they based their holiday plans, are now unpaid if they get a call from a fishing staffer looking to call you in suddenly for no clear work assignment.

In combining #1 & 2, it's easy to see that teachers who may now get calls during these newly added work days will lose pay, as they are gone traveling having made plans already (or they have to get these days off in advance, using their allotted 5 vacation days). This saves money for the company if the teachers are called and are not available. Hmmmm... wait a minute?!

Contracts were were finalized in April, not June. This is akin to moving the goal posts after the game has started.. Sketchy!@!

Resolution: Grandfather in these changes. These newly added work days cannot be penalized. Then communicate clearly to employees how this matter is being resolved.

Stay ahead of matters with professionalism, don't clean up the mess after the damage has been done.. certainly don't disregard matters altogether by not addressing them..

[fluffyhamster]

Wouldn't it be easier to simply not pay anything for these vacation periods, and offer only whatever (usually very limited) work is genuinely available during them, like a number of competing dispatchers do? Because what you've described seems a very inefficient way of going about whittling down paid or semi-paid leave entitlements!

[eteacher16]

I've heard from many that Interac/Maxceed is an awful place (or rather a specific branch office) to work for but more because of certain people working at that office. This of course along with their questionable overall practices, some of which are illegal.

[rxk22]

Man. I am glad I am out of the alt industry. It is just getting worse and worse in Japan

[marley'sghost]

[fluffyhamster]

I guess Interac want to give at least the appearance of still being more generous and attractive than their competitors. Word will soon get round however if appearances are deceptive and the contract not worth the paper it's printed on. Time will tell.

[kah5217]

I think it's a branch by branch thing. Mine hasn't been nasty to me (though I'm probably on one of their lists since I dinged my car).

[zues]

[quote="kah5217"]I think it's a branch by branch thing. Mine hasn't been nasty to me (though I'm probably on one of their lists since I dinged my car).[/quote]

I am in Kyushu and wouldn't fuss over it normally but have spoken with others who said it happened at their branch as well. I am no Edward Snowden here and I am sure there must be ethical branches out there but there's just something so wrong about trying to shaft people on the DL, as if we can't figure it out. Duping people is no way to conduct biz.

[Pitarou]

This is very troubling, and you urgently need to find out what the hell is going on. From your description, it sounds like Interac pulled a fast one on their own staff in order to cut the wage bill. I can think of a few reasons why they might do such a thing, and none of them bode well for the ALTs working at Interac now.

Have you contracted a union? The General Union ([url]interac.general union.org[/url]) may well be interested

[qwertyu2]

[rxk22]

[qwertyu2]

[rxk22]

Oh yeah japan def has it's appeal.

For EFL and what not, it's a dead end. You have to wait for glenski to die at his desk to get a job.
Also wage deflation for EFL seems to be pretty bad. Just on the wages and lack of advancement I would rank japan pretty low for people wanting a career

[Pitarou]

[zues]

To follow up on this, as it has come full circle:

Interac/Maxceed called in a number of teachers over summer vacation for the newly, late added work days for "training". The training was crap all around, I've been told, covering common sense stuff, with no new information to advance the teachers for their work. Playing patty cakes and watching supes fumble around, trying to figure out why they are doing a bogus training and how silly they must look. And guess what happens to teachers who had travel plans? They were screwed and had to take days off!

So there it is, illegal schedule changes to yearly calendars that occurred months AFTER contracts were signed, with no explanation as to why, was to conduct "training" designed to take vacation days from people to save the company money.. oh my.

Japanese top brass to gaijin supes: "just call a training during the newly added work days.. we don't care what for, or what you do, just do it...."

So glad I left.. Work there at your own stupidity...