I will be fairly vague for obvious reasons.
I just signed a new 1 year contract (not my first one) for work a few months ago…and due to some stuff that’s happened here and back home recently, I’m ready to move back. In the contract, it says I need to give X days notice ahead of time if I want to end my employment early. I do live in company housing, so I do not know if I will be allowed to stay in my apartment over that span of time. Also, the contract says I may owe damages if I give less notice than the X days. If I do have to find housing in that time, are there any suggestions for what to do for short-term leases? Any help with this would be appreciated.
I’ve seen different answers on leaving a fixed-length employment contract (Keiyakushain? I’m not seishain.) contract…some say 2 weeks notice is needed, 3 months, or “neither party can end the contract” unless some “unavoidable reason” pops up. Does anyone know the real answer (if you have some ministry website to cite could you please include it? I can’t read Japanese well and trying to read everything to navigate to find it would take forever)? Also, is there a certain number of days of notice after which they can’t sue for damages for leaving early?
Also, since I’m assuming I’ll be ‘homeless’, I’ll have to fill out form at city hall saying I moved out of my housing. Since I may have to stick around a couple weeks to collect my paycheck, do I have to have a different address available to still be ‘legal’ in the country for that long? Or is a hotel/couchsurfing fine? Most importantly, do I have to close my bank account, cancel cell phone, etc. before I tell city hall I’m leaving? I’m not sure when I have to return my zairyu card.
Any advice/info you give would be much appreciated…I’m sorry to not include a ‘fun’ post on this subreddit for my first post here. 🙁
1 comment
Are you a keiyakushain, or is it an itaku gyomu contract? They’re handled very differently.
If you are keiyakushain, then:
> I just signed a new 1 year contract (not my first one)
It’s a renewal, and your legally mandated notice period is 2 weeks. Only the first contract can stipulate a longer notice period. This is your right under the civil code.
> I do live in company housing, so I do not know if I will be allowed to stay in my apartment over that span of time.
The company is your defacto landlord, and must give you 6 months’ notice of eviction. The CAN, however, increase the level of rent to market standard if the rent is being subsidized as a condition of your employment. (They no longer have to continue the subsidy). You may need a lawyer to give them a letter reminding them of this. This is covered under landlord-tenant law.
> the contract says I may owe damages if I give less notice than the X days.
100% illegal, this is called predetermined indemnity, and is unenforceable. This is covered under the labour code.