Job Discussion Forums

[starteacher]

I have heard of a few places where the company/school is forcing the teacher to take the health insurance within 2-4 weeks of joining that company/school, otherwise the contract is terminated. The company usually recommends a company(s) for this, which you can even find in any magazine or newspaper advertised for gaijins (hence aimed not only for teachers but all foreigners).

Is this legal ? The forcing part, and the recommendation ?

Eventually, the insurance premiums will be taken out of your monthly salary.

[ripslyme]

It's not legal. Stay away from any company that does this.

If you really want to work at a place that does this, tell them you want Shakai Hoken instead (the national health insurance and pension plan). It's expensive, but you can get the majority of (3-year's worth of) your payments into this refunded when you return to your home country.

The company may reply that you can go on Kokumin Kenko Hoken (national health insurance, commonly referred to as NHI) which is pretty cheap for year 1 but goes up quite a bit for year 2 and on (as it is based on your previous year's salary).

[Glenski]