For context, this August both my schools (and every other school in town) will be closed for 6 working days, 11 days consecutively for what’s called 閉庁日 (heichoubi). However, since ALTs are technically employed by the BoE, I don’t get this time off automatically and instead get 3 extra days summer vacation to use any time in August. I’m intending to use those 3 days and some nenkyuu to take a longer trip before the start of the 閉庁日. I would then be supposed to work at the BoE during the school closure, but my supervisor said in his message about the 3 days vacation that it would be “inconvenient” for me to work there because there are “no extra desks”. He is therefore “encouraging” all the ALTs in my town to use our 3 days summer vacation plus the extra nenkyuu needed to be off on all the 閉庁日.
I know that the answer to my question will probably be somewhere in my contract, but obviously I want to get the days off I would like and wanted to ask if anyone had had a similar experience or if anyone knows whether my BoE has the right to force me to use nenkyuu just because it’s inconvenient if I don’t?
I’m thinking my best move is to get my prinicipals to approve the days off I want, then inform my supervisor of when I’m taking nenkyuu (this is my usual process for getting time off). At that time, I’ll simply say I’ll be working at the BoE the days the schools are shut. I’m expecting my supervisor will say in a vague and indirect way that I “should” also use nenkyuu when my schools are shut, and in that case I’ll say that unless he is exercising a legal right to force me to use nenkyuu without a real reason then I’m not going to do that.
My supervisor does not know English (we communicate in Japanese), and my inaka BoE are normally very rigid and unhelpful, so would be grateful for any advice on having this conversation.
15 comments
Encourage them to let you work by just showing up. That’s what I would do.
Technically force you, no.
In practice yes. Also the heichoubi around me has the regular teachers using nenkyu too.
They’re also told to use an extra couple of days over a couple of weeks to make sure they actually take time off and use some nenkyu.
Unless you only get like 10 days nenkyu, or you have very specific plans that make this a problem, this is probably not a hill to die on.
Surely your BOE has a spare meeting room or two to put you in that day. It’s possible they just haven’t thought about that, so maybe consider asking about it.
Hey dude! Pretty sure I know who you are 😂.
So I ran into the same thing in December and basically got the same response. “Technically they can’t, practically the do.” Normal teachers are forced to use nenkyuu as well. Personally I think it’s horseshit, but it’s just how they do things.
I can’t believe they don’t have somewhere they could put us for days they want us to “work” aka literally sit and do nothing for the day. So you can try pushing on the subject if you want. I pushed back on December and basically everyone was unwilling to give a clear answer and just kinda shrugged and recommended I take nenkyuu again.
From my understanding technically they can’t force it, but I didn’t have any luck myself with getting a seat during the break, and unfortunately I think it’s just one of those cultural things that maybe you could push back on, maybe even successfully, but it may sour relations with the BOE 🤷♂️. Your between the Scylla and Charybdis, I completely agree and sympathize with you. It’s honestly one of my only major complaints since being here, that, and schools not turning the AC on until it’s almost 90 F inside, or 30 C.
If you are who I think you are feel free to message me here or on line.
Is this your third year? Do you want it to be your last?
Just saying… they might decide to move JETs to a three year limit if too many “rock the boat”. I mean, just because Japanese teachers take this shit doesn’t mean you should, but… depends what you want out of the next few years.
They can’t force you. They’ll just highly suggest it.
You can always ask to use an empty conference room or backroom as your office for the day. If they still insist than tell them you can work from home but that you don’t want to use nenkyu.
If all else fails, just show up to the office.
So like…how do you navigate stuff like this not knowing Japanese??
We are forced to use our summer leave on those days because it’s most convenient. In the time before special summer leave existed we just got regular special leave, so we all kind of let the summer leave go. For any other days during Obon that we can’t go to schools we get special leave. Fight for you nenkyu.
They can’t force you. You are free to take nenkyu when you please.
But they are making super clear, in a Japanese round about way, that they *absolutely* want you to just line up with it like everyone else.
So going against that for the sake of your ‘rights’, which are allotted to you, is up to you. In the end you will likely win the argument about rules and regulations, because they simply can’t win the argument in that way, and they would probably rather avoid saying things that would further upset you in the process, not knowing how far you would be willing to take it.
But while there will probably be no material consequences, it’s hard to measure the unseen consequences in a work environment based on how people work together with as little conflict as possible.
Edit: I can’t tell why this being upvoted, but my stance is that if it was me I would not, as another commenter mentioned, die on this hill.
Get them to book an empty meeting room in the BoE and you sit in there.
That’s what we do during summer.
Could you propose working-from-home? You could say you’re going to plan lessons, make games/materials, or whatever needs to be done, and then submit a daily report.
I know people might jump on that idea as implausible, but during the height of the pandemic our BoE let us work from home during breaks under the above conditions (planning lesson, building materials, daily reports), so never say never. In fact, this summer is our first where we have to go in again 🙁
Legally, employers can decide when workers use up to 5 of their paid leave days, although I’m not sure if it’s the same for city hall employees like ALTs.
It seems like you might as well follow your plans and ignore your boss’s strange wishes. All it takes is one ALT once standing up for labor law, and the contracting organization will magically find a way to solve this problem for everyone, for the foreseeable future.
The best way to approach this is passive aggressively. Fill out the forms for the days off that you want to take out, and don’t bring up the other days until they do. When they do, just reply with the statement of the days you want to take off and look confused. Repeat as necessary.
I had this exact same situation. I ended up going to the school while everyone else was gone, and it was glorious because I had the entire school to myself. I also did this during my last year, so if you are on your way out, it will be a lot easier to fight the system than otherwise.
Is there a library or spare room you could suggest working in??