Job Discussion Forums

[Shimokitazawa]

How are university EFL teacher dispatch companies like Westgate and Interac (and Dispatch ALTs for high schools) legal?

I have read on this site in the past that they are not legal yet always see them advertising for new instructors.

I also notice that these university teachers are not faculty teachers, so they work for the dispatch company and not the university.

For example, a quick look at the Westgate website states that every teacher has to be on campus for 9 hours a day! Come on, that's what most university instructors teach per-week!

And the salary is set at 250, 000 yen a month. How much do you think Westgate takes for themselves? Salaries can range from 500, 000 - 700, 000 yen per month for teachers that are employed directly at universities, not including the 2 or 3 yearly bonuses.

I'm guessing these dispatch companies are taking FAT cuts and that it's a really lucrative racket for them.

one good thing is that they are only 3 month contracts and then you can move on after getting your visa. Does anyone know if teachers get a 1 year or 2 year visa?

[razorhideki]

It's all pure gangsterism....

Come on, mate...you answered your own questions....

And yet you get this BS about how"kind & wonderful" the Japanese are...even as they offer teaching contract conditions that homeless Sally Ann residents back home would thumb their noses at!! !!


No airfare! No free apt.! 170,000/mo.!Go in debt $5K for a year just to take the job! Spend 50 hours/week on the job(teaching & commuting)for the privilege of living in "wonderful Japan!"(that's a direct quotation from the current gov. of California, who, presumably, didn't have to work for an eikaiwa/dispatch co.).

[Kionon]

[Shimokitazawa]

Kinon,

Thanks for the reply and information about the visas. Also, I thought the dispatch companies, like Westgate, would be taking a larger piece of the cake than just a few man. I'm surprised. But 9 hours a day, not including commuting time, is ridiculous! And they're now requiring a Master's!

I just finished going over their website and doing some research on here and was thinking about applying and then though, "F*** it, I'm not going to be at school 9 hours a day for 25 man a month."

[flyer]

yes, don't go there! There are better jobs

[Glenski]

They are not necessarily legal, but the government looks the other way. General Union is working hard to set matters right.

[Kionon]

[tdu1510]

[Kionon]

[Glenski]

[lost devil]

[tdu1510]

[Kionon]

There's a lot to address here, but what it comes down to is that dispatch companies often use either gyomu itaku or hakken contracts.

The issues as I understand them are that gyomu itaku is illegal because it violates education laws about where schedules and directions are coming from, and who ultimately has control over the ALT (should be the principal). If the ALT is merely a visitor to a school, then the company provides entirely for the lesson plan, and team-teaching cannot occur at all. This is legal. However, this is rarely the case. In most cases (such as my own, which answers what mine does wrong in general, although even smaller things are technically legal issues as well) the lesson planning is in combination with an HRT or a JTE, and team-teaching occurs. Legally you cannot have your cake and eat it too. You can either have a visitor ALT with a pre-decided lesson plan, or you can have a direct hire ALT that is entirely subject to the school or BoE the ALT works for.

Hakken is illegal after three years. After three years, the BoE must directly hire someone. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean it has to be you, even if you've given the BoE three years through your company under hakken. What it really means is that the BoE has had the appropriate amount of time to find someone to replace you with, since you are "temporary." You, of course, can be hired, and if you've been there for three years, you certainly think you deserve the job. You can apply, but there's an even chance you will not keep your job.

Both of these systems are legal within their accepted boundaries. For visitor ALTs, especially in rural areas where schools are far apart, and the ALT does an entirely independent lesson, nothing wrong with gyomu itaku. If a BoE had a budget shortfall one year, could no longer direct hire, and then later had to negotiate with a dispatch company for a period of no more than three years to figure out how to once again direct hire, then there is nothing wrong with hakken.

The problem occurs when either system is used in ways not intended. These contracts that continue on past the "expiration date" of hakken are illegal, and have been ruled against. These contracts that intentionally muddy the waters as to who is in charge of the ALT and how lessons are being conducted are illegal, and have been ruled against. The Osaka labor board has issued a number of warnings to its area BoEs explaining such abuses are illegal and must stop. In certain cases it has specifically ruled against individual BoEs.

Unfortunately, it takes an interested party to make a complaint and gather support to bring enough pressure that the prefectural labor board will go after the offending BoE. But make no mistake, prefectural boards HAVE gone after such BoEs, and the General Union has made excellent progress in the Kansai area restoring some BoEs to direct hire, given those BoEs... unpleasant experiences with the prefectural labor boards.

[Glenski]

[tdu1510]