Actually the wording was something like
“strongly encourage you to volunteer” “volunteering looks favorable when it comes to rehiring”
The winter camp is the first weekend of my Christmas Vacation and my sister will be in Japan for a visit.
I said that I couldn’t do it. So the school contacted my company and they were going back and forth.
They, my company,told me that I should let my sister explore on her own(she’s 16).
Today it was hinted that if I don’t do the camp there might not be a job for me when break is over
Btw I was told about the camp this week.
Is there anything I can do?
Also I have to find my own way to the camp location. It’s about 40 minutes away but I don’t have a car.
34 comments
That moment when ALTs realise they are modern day forced laborers… But COOL JAPAN!
Dude there are sooooo many jobs out there. Tell em to fuck off and find something else .
Say you caught a cold.
This doesn’t make sense. You don’t “volunteer” for work. You get paid by an employer.
Are you on full salary for the winter break? Then you’re working.
Employers usually pay for employee transportation and write it off as a business expense.
Look at your contract.
They can’t deny your nenkyu but they also don’t have to rehire you. If they want to let you go they need to give you proper notice.
To be honest they can’t just let you go so suddenly, it’s just a scare tactic. I wouldn’t volunteer and spend sometime over the break looking for jobs to switch after they don’t renew your contract. Doesn’t sound like the best of jobs anyways.
Do you belong to the union?
This is why you need to belong to a union.
It’s not legal to make these kinds of threats and the school knows that. But it’s not easy to take a case through the labor bureau and you will need enough evidence that this was said to you; even then, if you are not re-contracted, they could just make some excuse about how you’re not that good of a teacher.
If I were you, I’d tell them to fuck off, find a new job, and be sure I joined the union.
Called blackmailing. Enjoy your holiday act like you don’t care. If you’re a good teacher they’ll want you back anyway. Play cool bro.
If you can, send them an email asking for confirmation about everything they said to you. If they’re stupid enough to do that then you can use it against them. If they don’t reply then they can’t complain when you don’t show up
Yes. There is something you can do. Say no.
Don’t make the first move in leaving, if this is what I’d boils down to.
Have them make the first move, it will be better for you when you apply for unemployment at Hello Work. If you quit, it only takes the burden off them.
What kind of contract are you under?
If it wasn’t written in your contract then you don’t have to do it. But most teaching jobs have something like, occasional weekend or community events. If it has this then you have to do it.
>***strongly encourage*** you to volunteer.
This is quite simple actually.
Is it something you want to do? Say yes.
Is it something you *don’t* want to do? Say no.
Optionally, ‘fuck you, pay me’ (disclaimer; don’t actually)
Doxx the school, quit that shit
Unless otherwise stated, you generally work all normal business days, regardless of students. National holiday is not until the 29th. Christmas is not a holiday, but school ends the 23rd so it kind of lines up. Most people still have work the 26th, 27th, and 28th. If I didn’t take nenkyu, I’d be babysitting at the elementary school jidou club for the latchkey kids.
I only say this because a lot of people seem to misunderstand school vacation and teacher vacation.
I feel like they could be bluffing. Something like this happened to me and I came back with a job still.
Why dont you both volunteer for free? It can be a terrible memory that brings you closer together in the future.
That’s such bull. Do you have any remaining paid time off? The labor law states that an employer can’t refuse your paid time off request so long as the request is made in due time (usually 5 days is enough) and you taking a day off does not jeapordize business relations (ie the school threatens to break the contract if you don’t go).
Put in a holiday request, ignore all of their efforts to reject it, and enjoy your time off with your sister. Family first.
OK. Hey man, owner here. If this is volunteer, then refuse. Plain and simple. Done. If they want to play the no job game, please call your labor bureau.
Either way, you can also claim harassment. Japan is really starting to lean I to those harassment laws, so you can point out to your job that you are feeling threatened into taking this volunteer gig.
There are a ton of different options for you that are available that these types of schools don’t think about because they feel that as a foreigner, you won’t know them. Find them out and use them.
Finally, calling in sick is fine though they might want a doctor note.
Tell the doctor you feel terrible and you need a note.
They will normally write you one or will give you a prescription. Take a picture and send it.
Lastly for the love of God, get the hell out of their apartment housing. It’s a trap.
That’s an unreasonably short notice. Tell them that.
If they give you shit, use a sentence with the word “labor board” in it.
This has happened to me twice. Both times my school wanted me to work the day after Christmas. I said I can’t because I already have plans and they’ve just simply said okay.
A good school won’t simply let you go because you can’t do a camp. If they wanted you to do work over a school holiday they should have planned this way in advance.
Are you hired by an eikaiwa school or a recruiting company? For some of us, a recruitment company is contracted to send “a teacher” to schools that need them. Which is tough because you have to please two bosses at once. Sometimes you’re directly hired by an eikaiwa that sends you out to other available rooms at community centers. In that case, it really should be on the eikaiwa school for not communicating this to you far earlier. “Bad management on your part end not mean disaster on my end”
Plus you’re lucky, tons of schools will be hiring right now for replacements in april. You should probably start looking for new places anyway.
If it’s on a weekend (Saturday and Sunday) and you don’t normally work weekends, then you don’t have to do it, especially if your company is not offering you financial compensation or two days off in lieu with pay at a later date.
As someone else mentioned, start communicating with your company via email. You should start with an email confirming what you were told on the phone, something along the lines of…
“Following our conversation(s) over the phone today, I would just like to confirm the information you told me regarding the winter camp. If I am to understand correctly, the camp will take place on xx date and I will not be compensated for those days. I am also required to find and pay for my own transportation to and from the camp venue, and should I be unable to volunteer for this camp, it could jeopardize my future with the company including the imminent termination of my employment.
Please respond via email with confirmation and/or any clarifications to the above.”
Don’t even ask. Tell them you have plans already
Tell them you can’t. Send out applications now. December-January are peak hunting season for April start jobs anyway. Either they recontract you or you have another job lined up.
> Is there anything I can do?
Apply for a new job.
They can’t hold against you, your unavailability for a volunteer event. Even as a yearly contract, they must give you a legit reason to not recontract you.
But as others said, start looking for a new job. Unless you literally live in the middle of nowhere should be easy. And if you do live in the middle of nowhere, get your license and figure out where rental companies are for when you need a car.
Did you get a yearly schedule when you started working? Like a calendar with all your holidays printed out? I suggest you double check there! If you are scheduled to be off during those days, you are legally allowed to take off.
“asking to work for free looks favorable when it comes to not continuing working for you”.
By the way, the real situation is that even if you work by free cleaning the school owner after his toilet visits, you will be still fired the moment that means saving 1 yen.
That’s pretty shitty. Not sure who you work for but Interac always paid us extra for these camps.
What company is this???
show your principal and work the date and email sent by your company asking about the winter camp, along with your sister’s plane ticket receipt with dates. clearly it was too sudden
Sounds like a workplace you don’t want to be rehired by. Enjoy Christmas with your sister.
Any update?