Question – which ALT Dispatch program has the most time off (paid/unpaid)

17 comments

1. I’m an incoming JET and it looks like we won’t be getting a ton of time off.

   Interac pays less but they get more time it seems.

2. I get 20 paid days off per year

3. Jets recieve anywhere from 10 to 20 paid days off a year. They are trypically required to come into school during summer vacation. This varies by boards of education (BoEs) as JET is not a traditional dispatch company but rather a placement organization that pairs JETs with BoEs who become your employer.

   Interac get a month off in thr summer and a week off between Christmas and new years but interac deducts a percentage of the pay for that time off. I believe it was 20% reduced for Xmas and new years and 50% deduction for the month off in summer. JETS do get the week off between Xmas and new years and they are paid for it.

   Honestly, between two JET is the better way to go wage wise. Interac is pretty poorly paid and often interac ALTs pickup second jobs to make up for the difference in wages.

4. My BOE gives 18 days the first year, 20 the second , and 25 for year 3 until 5.

   Also my BOE gives 5 days off (paid ) in the summer that we have to use from June 1 until September 30. It’s not 1 month, but still.

   That plus great benefits, decent pay and support from the start , while you’re an ALT , all the way until you depart / leave the BOE. I think JET is much better IMO.

   If a long vacation is what you’re looking for, then Interac.

   Everyone hates this phrase but really, ESID. I know some BOEs only give 10 days the entire time you’re there and forces some people to go to the BOE building during summer break.

5. What do you want?

   More money? Go with JET.

   More free time? Go with Interac. Just be aware that with that free time comes a lot less money.

6. As you’ll see by the variety here, every Board of Education will be doing things a little differently. So it’s up in the air a little bit – as someone else mentioned you could have as little as 10 paid days off for the entire year.

   I got 20, ten of those could be rolled over to the next year if unused so it’s entirely possibly I could have started the year with 30 paid days off in my case. Plus, I got two weeks in the summer off (paid) under the guise of “Explore Japan days” where we were encourage to travel domestically. Yes, it was a generous BoE.

7. INTERAC has more time off, but the pay is far lower. JETs generally have to go to work all summer and during the breaks unless they use their paid time off. I would still say JET is better even if you just want the time off since you get 20 paid vacation days a year.

8. As a JET you’re guaranteed at least 10 paid vacation days (most people get around 15-20), national holidays, golden week, winter vacation. Some BoE’s are now giving staff and ALT’s additional 3 paid summer vacation days to be used from July to September. Other than that, you are generally coming in on every weekday even though there aren’t any classes. I don’t believe there are any unpaid days off.

   Interac has about the same paid vacations, but ALT’s generally don’t come into work when there are no classes/students, so you have quite a few unpaid days off. One thing to consider is that the monthly salary is lower than JET. Low salary + unpaid time off can be quite stressful when managing your finances.

   You’re basically comparing: good salary & less time off VS. bad salary & more time off.
   I have worked in both circumstances, and I would much rather be bored for several days at work with decent pay than have a lot of time off and no money. When I was on JET I could afford going on trips every month. My next job’s pay was so low I couldn’t do shit on my days off.

9. r/teachinginjapan will probably be able to give you more info

10. I’m a current JET and I REALLY lucked out with my BOE. I get two weeks off during the winter holidays, three weeks off during spring break and the entire month of August I get to “work from home”, and this is all paid. Additionally, I came half way through the school year and still got 20 days of “Nenkyu” (paid vacation) and can carry 12 of those days into the next year. This is definitely not the norm for most JET’s, but it’s what I have and I doubt any Interac branch would ever offer anything similar to their ALTs. JET is like rolling the dice and sometimes you can get REALLY lucky, but the opposite can also be true.

11. Paid = JET.
    Unpaid = almost any of them since you won’t have classes during summer(aside from camp maybe). Or you can take time off between semesters.

12. dispatch companies are all the same basically. You cant compare any of them with JET. Expect as little as ￥180 000 in dispatch companies and up to ￥320 000 in JET (in case they pay your rent).

    I worked at 3 dispatch companies, all 3 shared the same “good” and bad things.

13. I’m not a JET, just started with a dispatch company this April. I get 15 paid vacation days, but can’t use them until I’ve been here for 6 months. My monthly salary is technically ¥230,000, with an asterisk – I get paid *in* August, but not *for* August, so my 11 months of salary is split between 12 months and I therefore get a little less than my monthly rate every month. However, I don’t work in August, and I’d personally rather make a little less every month but not have to go a month without a paycheck than make the full amount and skip a month.

    Not getting paid *for* August is pretty standard among dispatch companies from what I’ve seen, what mainly varies is whether or not they distribute your 11 months pay such that you still get paid *in* August. Regardless, you’ll still always be jealous of the JETs who make more than you and don’t have a month of not getting paid.

    I live in the countryside, and ¥230,000 a month is just fine for me to pay my bills, go out on weekends, eat out more often than I really should, travel a bit on holidays, and enjoy my life. I live alone, and everything’s cheap as hell out here. I wouldn’t do it long-term, probably wouldn’t survive in Tokyo on this salary, and definitely wouldn’t do it if I had a family to support, but it’s not nearly as bad as people make it sound when you’re a single young person in the countryside doing this for a few years for fun.

14. Unless you win the JET lottery with an amazing placement, standard is that you have to come in during all breaks and use PTO if you want to take it off. Most JETs seem to get 20 days, but people have as few as 10, and it just depends on where you are assigned.
    All of the dispatch companies give you that time off and either don’t pay you or prorate your salary so you can get paid a lower amount all year round. While you get less PTO with dispatch, it’s almost entirely irrelevant because you already have off the times that JET people use their PTO.
    Dispatch also often is more willing to negotiate with you about location, so if you push you might be able to get a better base for traveling if travel is your concern. If you don’t care about money, dispatch is hands down better for slightly more control of placement and way better for time off.

15. I applied to both. Jet is 100% a better deal.

16. As a JET I get 20 days off a year but any days I don’t use will roll over to the next contract year to a max of 40 days. My placement also gives a week extra of “cultural furlough” to explore Japan and experience its culture you just have to stay in Japan during that time of course. So that’s an extra 3 weeks or 15 days divided between winter, spring, and summer break. Just a nice extra bonus for Ishikawa since a lot of the prefectures stopped giving that extra time out. Plus any paid public holidays and golden week of course.

17. Thanks everyone for all the information!! I am under the consensus that:

    More money/benefits/generally better – JET

    More free time – INTERAC

    I appreciate all the help! Good luck to all incoming/prospective JETS!