Job Discussion Forums

b00kwheat · Joined: 18 Nov 2006 Posts: 7 Location: Osaka, Japan

I want to apply for a Full Time ALT position in Osaka for the upcoming school year.
My main concern is getting Full Time pay and getting all the Japanese Holidays paid for. Should I go w/ Interac or ECC Best Careers?

Are there any other competiive outsourcing/dispatching companies I should consider?

thank you for your thoughts and time.

furiousmilksheikali · Posted: Mon Nov 20, 2006 11:55 pm Post subject:

Asking about reputable ALT outsourcing companies is a little like asking about reputable loan sharks.

c-way · Joined: 19 Nov 2004 Posts: 226 Location: Kyoto, Japan

ECC Best Career is not a full time position.

you are paid for each visit to the school. The number of dates is predetermined in your contract, but the actual days that you teach is not.

Thus, you will get any holidays that fall on your normal working days off, but you will not be paid for these days or any other days that you don't come to school. ON the upswing though, there will be many days during midterm exams and days of school activities where you will be paid to go to school but won't actually teach any class.

You will also be given 5 ALPs to use at your discretion, but you will have to make up the days by the time your contract finishes. Thus, it is in your best interests to use your ALPs bc/ it is the equivalent of extending your contract by 5 days.

The big downfall to ECC Best Careers is that during the Summer you will have a long unpaid break and will probably also have a couple months off from around mid Feb to Early May. None of this time is paid, and generally speaking you will get a much better deal if you able to work out a direct hire with a school. NOt sure how you go about this though.

Hope this helps.

angel1985 · Joined: 23 Oct 2006 Posts: 11 Location: Australia

I'm not sure if the OP meant that they want to be paid over the holidays but not teach?

When I interviewed with Interac, they made it very clear that they do not pay full wages over the holidays. I can't remember exactly what the figures were but the long summer holiday and the winter break were scheduled as only paying around 70% of the usual monthly pay.

They said that they offer camp work over the holidays for teachers to subsidise their cut income, but I've never heard whether they actually follow through with it.

Vets, maybe you could shed some light on that one?

b00kwheat · Joined: 18 Nov 2006 Posts: 7 Location: Osaka, Japan

what about getting Japanese public holidays off and golden week and obon?
do they pay for those?

thank you all for your feedback.

TK4Lakers · Joined: 06 Jan 2006 Posts: 159

b00kwheat · Joined: 18 Nov 2006 Posts: 7 Location: Osaka, Japan

is there anyone out there who has experience w/ ECC Best Careers?

Or how about W5?

canuck · Joined: 11 May 2003 Posts: 1921 Location: Japan

b00kwheat · Joined: 18 Nov 2006 Posts: 7 Location: Osaka, Japan

who do you recommend than Canuck?

canuck · Joined: 11 May 2003 Posts: 1921 Location: Japan

ripslyme · Joined: 29 Jan 2005 Posts: 481 Location: Japan

yamanote senbei · Joined: 28 Jun 2005 Posts: 435

c-way · Joined: 19 Nov 2004 Posts: 226 Location: Kyoto, Japan

Assuming I'm an employee of who exactly.

with ECC Best Careers you are subcontracted by ECC Best Career to work in public high schools under the BoE. I've been told that this system is referred to as haken, but I'm not sure about that.

Maybe I didn't explain myself quite well enough, but I really don't see what's illegal about either of these two stipulations.

In my contract, I agreed to visit the school 96 times in the school year from beginning date X to ending date Y. In the first few weeks you are at the school they are supposed to work out the specific dates that you will come to school for the rest of the year. What I meant by 'the actual days that you teach is not' is that many of the dates that you are scheduled to work you don't have to teach. If making me come to work and paying me to do nothing is illegal then:

BREAKIN THE LAW!!! BREAKING THE LAW!!!

As for the ALPs and make-up days, I again don't get why this would be illegal. You agree to come to the school 96 times, and if you decide you need some days off, ECC will pay you for 5 days, but you still have to fulfill the 96 days you agreed to. And again, even if it is illegal, I take an ALP on a day when I have class, reschedule for a day when I don't normally teach class, and spend the day prepping and posting on Daves'. So Please:
SHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

yamanote senbei · Joined: 28 Jun 2005 Posts: 435

c-way · Joined: 19 Nov 2004 Posts: 226 Location: Kyoto, Japan

I'm an ECC employee, but the BoE controls my working dates, starting times, lesson structure etc.

Perhaps subcontracted was the wrong word. Maybe dispatch is actually what I do. But the way it was simplified to me was:

"ECC is your employer and the Board of Education is your boss".

ECC has no control over my work, but they cut the checks.
SO what does that mean?