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How do you know if you've been blacklisted in Japan?

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fredhead

Joined: 23 Jul 2016
Posts: 14

Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2016 9:08 am Post subject: How do you know if you've been blacklisted in Japan?

I had a friend who had some real difficulties with a school in Japan. They tried ripping him off big time so I think he just took off. Is there a way he can find out if he's been blacklisted? Thanks

mitsui

Joined: 10 Jun 2007
Posts: 1562
Location: Kawasaki

Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2016 9:13 am Post subject:

If it was a chain school I could see that. Otherwise, no.

taikibansei

Joined: 14 Sep 2004
Posts: 811
Location: Japan

Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2016 8:51 pm Post subject:

mitsui wrote:

If it was a chain school I could see that.
Otherwise, no.

Schools (or companies) in Japan cannot get people blacklisted. Basically, foreigners get blacklisted/refused entry for having criminal records (illegal drugs being the favorite reason), for committing crimes (sometimes including visa overstays) in Japan, for appearing seriously ill at the immigration counter, or for somehow letting out to the immigration officer that one intends to enter Japan in order to do stuff that is specifically forbidden on one's visa (e.g., telling the immigration officer of their plan to, say, work in mizu-shōbai on a student visa). Rejections in the last two categories are very, very rare...though I do personally know one idiot who was rejected for that last reason.... Rolling Eyes

I mention this because schools/companies will sometimes threaten foreign employees with "official" blacklisting in order to intimidate them into, say, dropping a lawsuit over unfair employment practices. Assuming one has not committed actual crimes while employed (in which case you'd be dealing with the police as well), these threats can almost always be ignored.

victory7

Joined: 22 Mar 2016
Posts: 68

Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2016 2:52 am Post subject:

taikibansei wrote:

mitsui wrote:

If it was a chain school I could see that.
Otherwise, no.

Good points but lack of a reference and badmouthing the former teacher when a new school they have applied for calls the old school, can kill job hopes swiftly.

To the OP on the whole subject of schools threatening to blacklist or threatening to fire or actually firing teachers who object to illegal clauses in contracts or their employer suddenly changing their contract on them or simply because their employer or somebody else there is an unprofessional person who doesn't care how good the teacher is, you and I and everyone else here working as foreign teachers are NOT powerless.

Japanese Labor Law is on our side in many instances. Sadly your friend didn't know this or he would have seen his local Labor Standards Office. It is best to seek help from this or other offices designated as places where foreign workers can go for assistance.

Laughable (as well as unlawful) clauses are the following: The teacher cannot work in the same area for one or two years after they leave their job. Employers such as Nichibei have had the gall to write this into their 'contracts' and they need a swift slapdown from the Labor Standards Office when they try to enforce this. They shouldn't even have it in the contract in the first place.

Nichibei and others who pull this piece of anti-constitutional and illegal behaviour should be barred from running English schools as far as I am concerned. I have never worked for them and never will.

Weirdly enough, there are other employers who think that kind of clause is just fine. There's a Japanese English school owner in a prefecture close to Tokyo who thinks it is just dandy to have that clause in the contract. She also needs to be barred from owning or running an English school.

And you wouldn't believe how many small and smaller English schools state in their contracts that if the teacher leaves without a certain period of notice, then their outstanding wage won't be paid and they won't receive a letter of release. Absolute lies and illegal clauses. We have the right to unpaid wages and a letter of release from a previous employer on request and they have to respond within seven days.

There are also good Japanese labor lawyers who speak English. They will charge about 5.000 yen for an initial consultation but it is worth it if you need somebody to assist you in labor cases. They are not like American lawyers who are relatively confrontational but the Japanese labor lawyers who speak English are usually helpful.

taikibansei

Joined: 14 Sep 2004
Posts: 811
Location: Japan

Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2016 3:41 am Post subject:

victory7 wrote:

Good points but lack of a reference and badmouthing the former teacher when a new school they have applied for calls the old school, can kill job hopes swiftly.

From the phrasing of the OP (and thread title), it sounded like we were talking about issues with immigration. I just wanted to emphasize here (because this has come up in my union work) that schools in Japan have no real pull with immigration. (Apparently in some other countries, certain schools have sufficient influence with immigration to get a teacher blacklisted from the country.)

However, yes, schools in Japan certainly can badmouth you to other schools, and the lack of a reference (assuming the school is listed on the resume) can cause major problems too. Of course, that's true just about everywhere, right? Wink

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