Question about Lunch?

24 comments

1. If you’re looking at potentially joining a dispatch ALT company, you’ll want to realize that most of what they do is treading a fine line with labor laws.

2. I’ve seen ALTs leave the school ground to go to the nearby park for lunch so it really depends.

3. I was always told that it was a hard no. This was ‘for safety’ e.g. earthquake and they need to account for everyone which is fair. Dispatch companies also want you to ‘work’ during your lunch break by eating with students and talking to them in the free time afterwards.

   Some schools will let you leave if you sign out but a lot of them hate it as the other teachers are not allowed to leave for lunch. Its often a problem for teachers who can’t eat school lunch (e.g. vegetarians) and aren’t allowed to store their lunch somewhere cool.

4. I leave school for lunch almost everyday.

   ESID

5. I just sit in the teachers room and eat my lunch. I apologize and say that I’m on my scheduled lunchtime. Some schedules have it clearly marked and make my company explain if needed.

6. I’m direct hire, I’d say it’s closer to 60 minutes for me, basically I eat for 20, 20 is a “break” because we have our food ready about 20 minutes before the students, 20 is cleaning time, and 20 is the official break time. So, the lunch time might be about 45 minutes on paper, but in reality it’s closer to 60.

7. I was literally told it was a “no” because the parents might see me and think I’m shopping or something. It really depends on the BOE/school you end up in, but this definitely happens. But I sit in the teachers’ room and eat my lunch and don’t work during that time.

8. Normalize leaving for lunch.

9. There is nothing around my school. But yeah, you cant leave the school from 8-4, unless you have shucho or half day off

10. Something you’ll learn being in Japan, it’s better and easier to do whatever you want, within reason, and apologise if called out, than ask permission and force whomever is “in charge” to say no. Chances are nobody will really care if you go out for lunch, as long as you’re back in time and otherwise are doing a good job. If the ALT before you would always eat with the students you’ll obviously get some flak for not doing the same, but it’s not something that’s going to get you fired.

11. My new visit school this year literally all but pushed me out of the school gates at lunch time with the direction to the nearest 711 when they realized I didn’t have lunch, lmao.

12. Once you’re on site, ignore whatever the dispatch company says and follow your school’s rules. That goes for lunch and pretty much everything else.

13. According to Japanese labour law, if you work 6 or more hours then you are mandated a 45min break. If you work 8 or more hours, that increases to 60min. The break must be taken all in one go, not broken up into multiple smaller breaks. And you are free to use that time however you like. Your employer legally cannot tell you what to do and where to go. i.e. all the schools that are telling their ALTs that they cannot leave school grounds are lying and breaking the law.

14. Unless you’re being paid for those 45 minutes, your employer can not dictate what you do or where you go during your lunch break. It’s your free time free from work obligations. If you’re expected to eat with students or roam the corridors trying to make conversation over your lunch break, those are work responsibilities, and you should expect to be paid for them.

    It’s not indentured servitude; it’s a job.

15. No one can force you to do anything. On paper it says you have a break, so take your break however you want. I eat with the students because I absolutely love being around them, but there have been days where I had to run to a bank/the post office, and I just told my vice prinicpal hey I have an errand to run, I’ll be back…and they always just say “alright, be careful”

    The only people who are willing to dick around with labor laws are the dispatch companies, ask any of the staff inside your school, and they will always say how much they hate those companies.

    They are fully aware ALTs are being screwed, but its also out of the scope of their power to do anything (and also, they are being screwed too)

16. I leave every day to buy some cheap bread or onigiri from nearby konbini. Just tell the vice principal or someone you’re going to buy lunch.

17. If they say you have to eat lunch with the students tell them that you’re not paying for it. If they say you have to pay then say “I’m gonna buy something different.”

18. Not sure what the rules are in the US.. but teachers in the UK don’t leave the schools either and a lot of them are asked to do Lunchtime monitoring.

19. I never understood this complaint especially considering it isn’t an hourly wage position: no one is fucking off in their car to go eat somewhere. Everyone is eating the lunch provided. What are you gonna do in 45 minutes? Huddle at a famimart and burn through a pack of lucky strikes?

    Eating lunch with kids isn’t working. You can talk about goofy stuff or just generally spend that time doing whatever.

    We’ve gone to teacher’s office lunches since COVID and it’s pretty boring. Yeah, it’s a break. Yeah, I can surf my phone. It sucks alot more, to be honest.

    There’s also the fair price and decent balance of the lunches provided. They’re usually 600-750 kcal and cheaper than heck.

20. I had to eat with the kids wherever the kids ate and they liked me to tell stories and engage the kids.

21. I always thought the law in Japan stipulated that a break was time when the worker was free of duty. There is no degree of free. You are or you’re not.

    I can’t remember the last time I got a proper break.

    Our school is pants on the head crazy always. There is always some problem solving that needs to be done or something. It’s so annoying. We talk about work stuff when we are eating etc.

    I take really long breaks when no one else is there to compensate.

    Set your barrier and stick to it is the he best way. You’ll make it easier for you and the next person whole also setting an example to others.

22. I’ll tell you a story, when I was a JET they wanted me to eat with the students. However, I didn’t eat the school lunch. So what happened? For lunch I got Lawson fried chicken, french fries, coke, ice cream and some chocolate (to make a point, I don’t usually eat a lot of sweets). Well guess what? All the students were very jealous of my lunch.

    The next day, they kindly asked me to eat in the staff room 😉

23. My school are laissez-faire with the ALTs to the point of negligence. Like, if there aren’t lessons either side of lunch, we can go out, go home: take our time.

    Perhaps this would be different if our school had 給食 (school lunches). Instead we have bento delivery, self-made bentos and people that come in selling bentos and sweets. (Teachers eat at their desks, students in their classrooms.)

    Personally I go and sit in one of the local restaurants for 40 mins – 1 hour. ¥1000 for a delicious 日替り/定食 (set meal) and mini desert. Necessary to study Japanese for the rest of the day…

24. If you’re not free to do what you want during your break time, then you can’t be considered “on break”. Might want to give the union a call.