I work for a school in Tokyo. I haven’t taken any vacation time or done any traveling since being here.
Well recently I was told that my family will be coming in April for three weeks and I am really excited to see them since I have not seen family in a year and a half.
I went to work to book off time for it since we plan to travel around Japan while they are here. My coworker was concerned. She asked if they could change their plans to August. I politely said no since tickets have been paid for. The beginning of the school year is in April and they worry that it will change plans they have for it. Thing is, no one has plans made for April. I am willing to only take 10 days off and work the last week they are here. The other thing my coworker said was to take a few days off instead and work throughout the three weeks.
This is my first time seeing my family in a year and a half, and I won’t see them again for a year and a half. I miss them so much. WHAT SHOULD I DO!?
5 comments
By ‘family’ what do you mean? Parents? Brothers & sisters?
I can’t imagine any family expecting someone to take three weeks of of work to chaparone them around. The last week of April / first week of May is Golden Week, so school will be out then anyway. So work for most of the month, let your family travel around on their own, then maybe take the last week or so of April off, that + GW will be a nice stretch to see your family before the head back home.
I mean, to be fair to the school, I can see how April – start of the school year – could be a bad time to be taking time off. And it’s not unusual for companies to have vacation time approved ahead of time (that’s the policy at my US-based firm).
And it’s too bad your family didn’t ask you ahead of time; late March would have been perfect.
Do NOT have them come in August. You’ve been here in August, right?
Why don’t you take time off in August and see your family back home, where it isn’t as hot as the center of the sun?
Sorry, but you should realize you’re asking for 10 days off in the single busiest and most important month of the academic year in Japan.
‘No one has plans made for April’ is almost certainly not true: not only am I a teacher in Japan who’s been making plans for April (and the following months) at least 35 hours per week for the last three weeks, but the other people I know who teach (from elementary school to junior high and university) are similarly making plans.
Didn’t your family consult you before deciding to show up in April?
Speaking from my own experience teaching in Japan, taking 10 (or more) days off consecutively is generally not done. Most teachers will not take PTO on days that they teach classes – and if they do, it’s one or two days (like your coworker suggested). I know ALTs play under different rules, but I think because we don’t have as many responsibilities as the JTEs, we are expected to take PTO when we aren’t scheduled to teach (for example, exam week or sports days or days like that in which there’s school held but no classes). Anyway, that’s just been how it’s gone for me, could be different for different schools/areas.
Its your legally granted PTO. Take it whenever you want.
Do, however, consider that most schools (and other businesses, for that matter) rely on/profit off their staff NOT TAKING all of their legally granted PTO, or at the very least only taking it when convenient for the organization. If you do take it on your own schedule (again, your legal right), you may ruffle feathers. That may be especially concerning if you’re on a fixed-term contract and are in a position considered easily replaceable. If you piss off the wrong person enough, they can make your life difficult. But that’s always the case with office politics.
When you say school, I’m assuming you mean for example a junior high school, as opposed to an English conversation school. Certainly you will upset some coworkers and bosses by taking 10 days off in April.
Should you do it? Probably. Maybe. Just be aware that there could be consequences in terms of getting recontracted a year from now. Also, some workplaces have policies for taking leave that lasts longer than five days, so you absolutely need to read the workplace rules as soon as possible.
If I were you I would have scheduled things to partly overlap Golden Week. Of course places can be packed during Golden Week, but it also means you could take 5 days instead of 10, or something like that. Anyway, that’s just something to keep in mind for future vacations.