Job Discussion Forums

[Industrial Helix]

I've just started with a new eikaiwa and this is my first experience teaching abroad. So let me preface by admitting my ignorance. I also do not wish to be a complainer and a negative person, but I'm somewhat disillusioned. More than anything, I want a better understanding. If I'm being a wimp and need to grow up, then so be it, but some other opinions would be helpful in determining this.

Here's my situation: When I took this job I was told 30 hours teaching a week and up to 40 hours working. This is the exact wording: "Full-time, 40 working hours/week, 30 teaching/class hours/week." This was repeatedly reconfirmed over interviews and communications with the employer.

However, I find myself teaching 40 hours a week and at the school, roughly, 48-50 hours a week. I say "at the school" because often there is a gap of 10-15 minutes between lessons which I use to prepare and refesh, ect. I've not included periods where the gap between lessons is more than 45 minutes as I can then leave the school, get something to eat, ect. It's more break time than work time, even if I must return at a later time.

So, I'm finding myself a little surprised at teaching 40 hours a week and at the school 50 hours a week. I don't feel that I was properly informed of this situation before I came to Japan and am frustrated. After teaching so long in a day, I feel my lessons suffer at the end of the day. I worry about how the future will be at teaching 40 hours a week and wonder if it's something that is even feasible.

So I'm seeking other opinions to know whether I'm being selfish or stupid or irrational. I just feel somewhat deceived and perhaps it was my own naivety that caused it. I want to resolve this somehow in a way that benefits myself and the employer. I don't want to be a jerk about it, but I must admit, I feel this is a problem.

So, all you experienced teachers out there, what do you think? What should I do?

[seklarwia]

[Industrial Helix]

::Sigh::

This is where my naivety really glows and I'm quite embarrassed because I hadn't seen it before. I'd never had an employment contract and the warning signs I read about didn't mention this. Thus, it's a lot of my own fault, making it an even more of a problem.

The section in my contract says, "Work hours depend upon weekly schedule.
From Monday to Saturday"

[rtm]

Well, 40 classes a week times 45 minutes a class (going on your description of having 15 minutes between classes) comes out to 30 hours a week in the classroom. So, I guess they weren't really lying (although it is a bit deceptive).

Are there other teachers that work there full time? Do they also teach similar numbers of classes?

Is there any preparation needed for the classes? Do you need to plan out each lesson from scratch, or do you have a set curriculum that you follow each class? If you have to plan a lot of the lessons yourself, then that seems like a lot of classes. If you don't have to do any lesson planning, it might not be so unreasonable. Are these classes with adults or children? (personally, that number of classes with kids would wear the heck out of me, but with adults it might be more manageable)

[seklarwia]

[Industrial Helix]

Here's some answers to posed questions: There are a total of 60 students at 56 lessons that I am responsible for teaching. Most of them are children and some are adults, roughly 8-10. Class time runs 30 minutes to 45 minutes for children and 60 minutes for adults. There is one adult who runs 90 minutes. When added up minute for minute, the teaching time comes out to 40 hours.

I have not been given a curriculum to implement and was asked to devise one. There are text books the previous teacher used and I have been asked to follow them, though no lesson plans or written curriculum have been provided. So, in essence, I have been asked to devise a curriculum based on available textbooks.

So preparation time varies. So far, i have been rehashing the same general lesson plan for the kids and picking up where left off with the adults.

My "at school" time amounts to roughly 8-10 hours a week and is mostly comprised of 10-30 minutes breaks in between lessons. So its not enough to leave school but some time to prepare, tidy up, find/print materials, ect.

It also amounts to 6 days a week. I feel it might be manageable if it was evenly spread over 6 days, but it is often 12 hours one day and 5-6 another.

I was given a copy of the contract which says:
"Work hours depend upon weekly schedule.
From Monday to Saturday"

-----

From what I understand based on comments so far, the visa application should specify my actual working hours or at least the total amount of working hours?

[seklarwia]

[fluffyhamster]

Even with it in a contract and in black and white, it is still their word against yours (if you choose to take this further than politely renegotiating with your employer). And even if you can convince the authorities of your plight and get redress/recompense, doing so will 99% likely make your postion at the school untenable in certainly the long-term (but would this from the sound of it be a bad thing?). So the best thing in these sorts of circumstances is to cut your losses and seek a new employer, whilst perhaps warning others off of the old if possible. (It's always tricky though deciding whether it is worth giving and working the required notice or not, because there may always be a chance that you will not actually get paid for it and thus be out of pocket for not only the final month worked, but also that extra month of living expenses. Some teachers therefore decide that the best option is to pull a good old-fashioned "midnight runner" right after the latest payday, however much the then definite loss of the next month's income and indeed current job/livelihood may rankle).

[seklarwia]

[Glenski]

You have the ad stating 30 hours of classroom time, right? There's your legal support.

Contracts must state the number of hours worked, even if they vary a bit. Your contract doesn't state that, and I wonder how it got past immigration. I would ask someone at the legal standards office if this is legitimate.

At the same time, have you politely inquired with your boss about this discrepancy? Politely but firmly pin him down about the number of hours, even if you have to say that "I thought contracts had to say how many hours teachers work".

I won't go down the road of telling you that essentially you work from the moment you set foot in the office. Prep time, paperwork time, etc. all play into that, but too many employers get by declaring only time in the classroom as "work hours". That it total B.S., but it's something we shouldn't go into here.

However, if you are in the office >40 hrs per week, that's another thing to raise with the labor standards office, even if the employer says you are "working" only 30 hr/week, because you are owed overtime pay.

The labor law is clear and not clear on work hours. Your hours vary week to week, which is where things become unclear. Labor law says this (underline is mine):

(Clear Indication of Working Conditions)
Article 15. In concluding a labor contract, the
employer shall clearly indicate the wages, working hours
and other working conditions to the worker. In this case,
matters concerning wages and working hours and other
matters stipulated by Ordinance of the Ministry of Health,
Labor and Welfare shall be clearly indicated in the manner
prescribed by Ordinance of the Ministry of Health, Labor
and Welfare.
2. In the event that the working conditions as clearly
indicated by the provisions of the preceding paragraph
differ from actual fact, the worker may immediately cancel
the labor contract.
3. In the case referred to in the preceding paragraph,
in the event that a worker who has changed his or her
residence for the work returns home within 14 days from
the date of cancellation, the employer shall bear the
necessary travel expenses for the worker.

Immigration guidebook says this about the documentation needed to be submitted for visa:
1. Copies of the company registration and a statement of profit and loss of the recipient organization.
2. Materials showing the business substance of the recipient organization.
3. A diploma or certificate of graduation with a major in the subject regarding the activity of the person concerned, and documents certifying his or her professional career.
4. Documents certifying the activity, the duration, position and the remuneration of the person concerned.
http://www.immi-moj.go.jp/english/tetuduki/kanri/shyorui/Table3-1.html

Clearly, item 4 says "duration", which translates into hours IMO.

Overall, I'd say the employer played a bit of a shell game with you, and is basically trying to wiggle around the law by having you in a classroom 40 hours/week and counting nothing more, yet still in a way requiring you to be in the office >40 hours/wk. Pretty unreasonable and a bit of bullying IMO. Getting out of this will be a bit delicate, and I'd strongly suggest getting some official support.

[Industrial Helix]

Thanks to everyone for your knowledge and time, I can't say how much i appreciate it.

So I have a question after reading the labor laws, thanks Glenski for your help.

1) If the contract does not specify the working hours, like my contract does, is the whole contract considered void? I believe paragraph 2 of the Clear Indication of Working Conditions law says this is. The reason I ask is that the contract stipulates a certain notice must be given before quitting and there's the issue of my rent which is paid through the company. I'm trying to figure if I cut and run, how deep of legal trouble am in.

--

The other trouble I'd like to avoid is their word against mine. But I imagine that in order for employment to even occur, the employer must have specified somewhere, even if I haven't seen it, the amount of working hours, as mentioned in the Immigration guidebook. The fact that the contract does not specify hours or duration might make the contract illegal, thus making the contract void. Or so I think.

---

My biggest hope is to settle this matter peacefully and through communication. My demands are simple, I don't want to be at work more than 8 hours a day (and even then, I'm flexible, I'm not going to walk out as soon at 8 o'clock strikes). But now I feel I know my options and the situation.

---
So if I presume a future situation and right now, my situation is somewhat like this. What if I have 14 lessons at 30 minutes each (8 hours working total), but they are spaced out by 15 minutes where technically I'm not working... so an additional 2.5 hours. My total time "at school" is 10.5 hours though the 15 minutes gaps equal out to nothing. Can the employer say, "well you only worked 8 hours." How can I ensure that my "work time" has to be consistent?

[cat mother]

I suspect that there is a Japanese version of your contract, which, again, I suspect you signed, and that version does specify your working hours. In all likelihood that's the version of the contract that was submitted to Immi.

I also suspect that in your English contract there is a sentence that states something along those lines "that the Japanese version of this contract is the only legally binding version and shall be used to settle all issues and disputes", or somesuch.

Again, I'm just speculating here, but I've seen it done numerous times, unfortunately.

[Glenski]

[fluffyhamster]

The problem though Sek is that it will in all probability play out like this: if the OP raises things with the boss, the boss will act offended and say or strongly intimate something along the lines of "Oh, now we have even more reason to dislike you" or some other BS (seeing as it is the employer who is being the unreasonable one in all this). Then it will become more difficult for the OP to get the time off to seek redress elsewhere (and the authorities will usually ask/expect that one has at least tried to rectify the problem amicably with the employer - see prevous sentence). And if/when the OP finally gets full redress and recompense it will have probably been at the expense of the job itself. So probably the best thing for anyone in a bad job (and IMHO no job is ever that bad provided one gets paid the basic salary that was agreed regarding at least the contracted hours) is like I say to suck it up and bite one's tongue for as long as it takes to find alternative employment.

[Inflames]