Job Discussion Forums

[jascrabol]

I have been in Japan for about 6 months, working for AEON. Things are going ok, good at times/not so good other moments.

I recently was approached about a position with the local education department. The money would be better, as would the schedule. I:ve thought about breaking my contract, but am not sure how to do this or how they would receive the news.

any insight would be appreciated.

thanks,

jascrabol

[seanmcginty]

I used to work at AEON. One of my coworkers broke her contract early. They weren't too happy about it, but she gave a couple of months notice so they didn't make much of a fuss.

Really there isn't much they can do, if you give them enough notice there probably won't be much problem, though I suppose it depends on a lot of stuff.

[lalalateda]

I recently gave notice at my job. I was also very nervous about breaking the contract and how the boss would react. When I finally worked up the nerve to talk to the boss, it wasn't really all that bad. As long as you give notice they shouldn't treat you too badly. Even if it gets bad, you still have your new job to look forward to!

Good luck!

[[email protected]]

I hate to be the one to rain on the parade, but it seems to me a contract is a contract.

When an employer breaks a contract, there is all kinds of outrage expressed on this website. But when an employee- not through any mistreatment, but just because there is a "better" job available, wants to break a contract, then a lot of people think this is acceptable. Just give them lots of notice and, "everything will be OK."

But it's not OK. People who are leaving one job for another rarely put much effort into the job they are leaving. The the employer has to go out and find a replacement and that costs them time and money, and assuming you are a good employee, they might get someone not as good. Most students also dislike a teacher change.

AEON hired and agreed to pay you for a year and you agreed to work for them for a year. You certainly didn't tell them when they hired you that you would quit if someting better came along, did you?

And what would your reaction be if AEON gave you, "reasonable notice," and replaced you will someone better or cheaper?

Let's hear from some of the union types who are always lecturing employers on this website about honoring contracts.

The silence is deafening.

[guest of Japan]

I know AEON does not look favorably on contract breakers, however with reasonable notice I'm sure they will not be too upset.

In a sense I agree with gimp208 about honoring contracts, but that high-mindedness doesn't really exist in the real world. Opportunities don't always arise and when they present themselves it's best to take them. I don't much care for the mercenary types, but for those who are hard-working and honest with a bit of sensetivity I recommend taking opportunities as they arise.

Gimp may see honor in the contracts but in actuality they are used as a weapon to deny stability. The only reason we get 1 year contracts is because immigration demands a bit of financial stability for the dangerous foreigners entering the country. A company will not hesitate to drop an employee if they are bad for business contract be darned.

Still this high-mindedness about contracts is a Western idea. In Japan loyalty to an employee is shown by giving a full time job with no contracts. Giving contracts is a way of making sure the employee is unable to stick around when their face gets too wrinkles, their personality too solidified or their skills too expensive.

Knowing a bit about AEON I actually feel a bit bad for them in this, but there will be no good jobs available at the end of his contract. Regular school goes from April. There are few good jobs open after this. AEON is not heavily inconvenienced to find a new teacher at anytime of the year if given proper notice, but finding great jobs in Japan requires specific timing.

Gimp can stick to his high ethical standards, but in Japan having a contract means that you are disposable, so in my opinion that means the companies are disposable too.

[seanmcginty]

[lalalateda]

[earthmonkey]

[quote="lalalateda"]

[tokyorabbit]

[[email protected]]

I would like to comment on some of the arguments made in favor of teachers breaking a contract.

"In a sense I agree with gimp208 about honoring contracts, but that high-mindedness doesn't really exist in the real world. Opportunities don't always arise and when they present themselves it's best to take them. I don't much care for the mercenary types, but for those who are hard-working and honest with a bit of sensetivity I recommend taking opportunities as they arise."

Actually, 'high-mindedness,' (I'm not sure exactly what the writer meant by that, but I assume it means keepings one word) does exist in many parts of the real world. I've noticed over the years that people who are dishonest and selfish assume that everyone else in the world is like that. They aren't.

Furthermore, 'people who are hard-working and honest with a bit of sensetivity,' are the kind of people who honor their signature on a contract. And what if a school owner fired a teacher in mid contrat because someone else would work for 20,00 yen a month less? Isn't that just, 'taking opportunities as they arise?'

"Other than that, better schedule and better pay are the only two reasons I know to work in the first place. They will survive without you and you will probably be happier. Quite a no-brainer. "

So a better schedule and better pay are reasons enough to break a contract? Again, if a school owner found someone who would work for less pay and a better schedule, is that grounds for management to break a contract? Quite a no-brainer indeed.

"I do think that people should try to avoid breaking contracts but being happy is more important."

Being happy is more important!? And if a teacher were fired because a manager's happiness were more important, what would the reaction be?

I was working at a school a few years ago where the union went to bat for a teacher, demanding the school honor his one year contract. The teacher had cost the school over 20 students who had quit because the teacher was awful. It was so bad that the owner took the guy out of the classroom and had him looking out the window all day becasue there was no work that he could be trusted to do either inside or outside a classroom. The guy didn't care- he loved doing nothing. Meanwhile the rest of us teachers were doing extra work to compensate for this clown. Why wasn't he fired? Because he had joined one of the teachers' unions who were threatening this small school owner with all kinds of grief if he didn't honor this guy's one year contract. Several of the other teachers tried to meet with the union to tell them the truth about this guy but we were told to get lost because we weren't dues paying members of the union. Truth . . . justice . . . facts . . . quality of education . . none of this meant anything to the teachers' union- they were looking out for one of their dues paying own.

It's this, "Me first," attitude that bothers me most about contract breakers.

Also, not a single writer talked about the effect teacher changes have on students. But they don't give a damn about the students any more than they give a damn about the owners. After ME, everyone else comes first, right?

That;s the real problem here.

[guest of Japan]

Ginp208 wrote

[seanmcginty]