Several years ago, I took a seshain contract, and I am still working for that employer.
At the time I was employed, I negotiated with the company’s owner to keep my night and weekend private lessons, which was agreed, so long as I avoided a conflict of interest by not teaching students of the same age group to which the company provides services.
Last year, my contract was transferred to another branch. I was not notified of any changes to its terms other than the change of seat and base salary, which remained the same anyway, to which I agreed. In fact, multiple people assured me there would be no changes to its terms. I did sign some documents that I could only read through Google Translate, which I know is grade-A stupid, but you think after three years you can trust people (don’t, ever–besides, companies are only people-in-law) and I didn’t see any immediate red flags like exclusivity.
I recently fucked something up at work, which a certain middle manager sees as the culmination of a pattern of fucking up following my entire employment history under their supervision. I’ve been made to make apologies and report on myself. This fuck up was in no way related to the work I do outside the company, but this person has subtly revealed multiple times that they consider this to be the issue: that I am not sole property of my employer.
Now, this person is pushing that I need to file a document to ask permission to work outside of the company. The document permits the company to revoke this permission whenever they see fit, assuming they even accept it. It’s probably a standard thing they make all of their employees seeking secondary employment do, and that none of the Japanese staff have ever considered unusual in any way.
None of the Japanese staff ever made a point of negotiating to keep secondary employment they already had on the day they were hired.
My take: the only reason to push for this *in my case* is to revoke it, forcing me to either give up the outside work I do or risk getting caught in violation of my contract.
I cannot survive on the salary from the company alone, but I need the seshain contract until I can get an eijuken visa (if ever). If I lose this job, I don’t think I will ever find full-time employment in Japan again.
What do you think r/japanlife? Withdraw my refusal to sign the documents, ask for a renegotiation of my contract, or hold the line against the blackness?