When you think they can’t go lower, they prove you wrong.
Man, that sucks for those of you working there.
I’m sure this document will be sued out of existence by April, but still
That can’t possibly be legal
Teachers need to unionize and not demand better pay, but just quit and open their own collective eikaiwa’s with staked ownership. Rent out a space, share it for lessons, advertise together and use the same online services, etc…
All NOVA does is provide the structure. To actually break free you just need to do it yourself. Plenty of people open their own eikaiwa, just do that but with a group for safety in numbers.
Can anyone vouch for the authenticity of this thing here?
Pretty sure fines like this are a blatant violation of labor law.
I don’t understand why people choose these shitty companies. I taught English for 5 years. I hated it with a passion but it was just a small private eikaiwa and whilst they were super shady (obviously) the pay wasn’t bad and they sponsored visas etc. there are so many English schools always looking for teachers so whilst the industry might not be a good one there’s no need to go to the very bottom of the barrel. At least float in the shit at the top until you can hop out.
This will have 0 affect on the weeb recruitment
This really Is unacceptable.
If I were working for them, I’d do two things.
1 – if it isn’t in my contract, refuse to acknowledge it. If I’m vomiting or having diarrhea, I’d make sure to do it directly on their floor. I would accept docked pay under no conditions. If they tried to reduce pay and send me away with a policy not in my contract, I’d make sure to sue them for it and start legal proceedings. Ofcourse afterwards just don’t renew your contract.
Alternatively, if its too much hassle to fight, just quit on the spot. I’d say irs for “violation of contract” but that’s difficult when there is no contract. Though under UK law, it would still be violation of contract because you’d have a “verbal contract”.
This seems so extreme that I’m pretty sure it’s a parody based on NOVA’s pre-existing reputation.
Punishing you for not doing the work instead of merely withholding remuneration? That sounds less like an employer and more like a slaver…
Nova is beyond a black company. When I came to Japan years ago, my first job was nova. I stayed for maybe 3 months? I got the flu, and was ordered to stay home for 7 days. They constantly harassed me on the phone to find my own replacement teacher, meanwhile I was barely conscious. They ended up taking about 50,000 yen from my paycheck for “missing” 7 days. Then 40,000 yen for “miscellaneous damages” they charged me more for 7 days then I would’ve made if I had worked. I just didn’t show up again. They then threatened to “take my visa” I responded that I will have my lawyer get in contact with them (I didnt have a lawyer) and they promptly left me alone.
No way this is real? If it is, I hope they get taken to court . This can’t be legal. Nova truly is the evil eikawas here.
While everyone can have legitimate gripes about the places that they work, I must say I am very glad to be working at a place which does not charge ME for the pleasure of NOT working there
People in Japan are taking online Eikaiwa lessons from teachers based in the Philippines. For 100 yen per lesson.
It doesn’t surprise me at all. ESL has been going downhill fast, and companies are taking advantage of the “Cool Japan” tourist rush to recruit weebs who are more than happy to take it up the ass just to be in Japan.
Current Gaba instructors will quit, but it won’t be difficult for Gaba to replace them, since it’s not as if you need any kind of qualifications or even much training to teach under their system.
I’m actually amused by all this outrage because honestly, what did you guys expect?
Nova and Gaba have *never* been legit. This is just business as usual for them.
negative paycheck? as in you owe the company money for being sick?!
Sooo they want you there throwing up on people. Got it
Do they want you to go to work with covid then
I guess I’ll just show up with COVID?
Is this even legal?
How the fuck is this even legal
Show this to the authorities
This sounds pretty fucking close to slavery. “You can work but if you get sick you pay us compensatory fees, slave”.
I’d like to see some serious consequences for this. People should be spamming their reviews and other Japanese sites letting potential students know about this unethical behavior.
The slow methodical spiral down of Japan. It’s been interesting watching for the past 20 years. From someone who just happened to see this thread on the main page of Reddit and not in the English Teaching sector, I assume many teachers came/wanted to teach because they liked it and or just needed a job. With moves like this, 1.) those normal people will slowly drift away, 2.) less qualified “English as a second language” people and weebs will fill their place and finally 3.) English ability will drop even further making Japan even more isolated from what’s happening in the rest of the world.
What th is this? This has to be a joke
This is a race to the bottom now.
Holy shit. At least on the bright side, this makes me think maybe the company is really struggling with money and might go under in the nearer future
These seem to be the final throes of a dying industry. Quite honestly, why would you come to work here now? If you come as a tourist it will be MAGICAL every time, and you don’t have to put up with any of this nonsense.
Just don’t work for those assholes
They’ve been doing this to Nova gyomu itaku since that contract started 8+ years ago. It’s not surprising that they would put this crap on Gaba teachers since they bought the company. At least Nova teachers can change to employees, but Gaba teachers are all independent contractors, so they have no choice but to do it or quit. I assume Nova is trying to kill the company as they did with other schools they bought out (EC, Geos, Linguiage). And it’s not illegal because these people aren’t employees, so aren’t covered by labour law.
Are they… *trying* to get their workers to unionize more?
For any GABA teachers here who may not know, GABA already has a Union under Tozen.
How does the ‘independent contractor’ status actually fit in with Gaba workers? I thought that if you are trained by them, restricted to a particular workplace, paid per hour (or whatever time period each lesson is) obliged to follow workplace policies, use computers provided by them, etc. then that may well cross over into “employment” status? And if that proves to be the case, then you could be protected by employment laws and thus have legitimate grounds for protesting these kind of clauses?
Wtf! I am so glad I left.
Japan was always terrible with days-off regarding death of a family member. (No I’m not going to be back at work 5 days after my wife or parents die…)
But this takes the cake. Now if your family dies, you’d be losing money for being sad about it and not contacting them in your lowest hours. Truly magnificent.
Shitty job just became shittier…:(
Holy shit, is this even legal?!
This is why I’m not just a teacher but have cultivated multiple skills behind the scenes that can be done online from anywhere. You should never rely on an employer.
Tozen Union is mostly based in Tokyo but has members all over the country. [Their website is here if you are considering joining](https://tozenunion.org/category/gaba/). I find it hilarious that the company gave Tozen free recruitment! 😂
The General Union is based in Osaka but also has members across the country.
I worked at Nova over twenty years ago. It was really bad when I worked there. I can see it’s only worse now.
By the gods. What’s the point
Ok, all you YouTube and TikTok guys whose subject is jobs in Japan, you need to post the shit out of this. This should be outrageous enough to get some attention from legit media organizations. Ask the top execs from Nova/Gaba for a puff piece interview (hopefully while livestreaming) and ambush em with questions about this policy. Teachers, do some malicious compliance and slam a bottle of ipecac or a box of laxatives and keep on teaching. Force some schools to close for cleaning.
Ok: Challenge! Get a job at Gaba, and see how many fines you can rack up in a week –
​
​
GO!!!
Man, the coffin really is being nailed shut on the English teaching industry here.
This screams of “you should have booked your ambulance in advance when you were hit by a car and lay unconscious on the floor”
This is the most retarded thing i have ever seen. *laughs in general union*
I’d definitely take a loud and luxurious shit in the classroom if I had to pay for it either way.
This is not comprehensive (being an overview), but more in depth reading can be done through a deep dive at [Japanese Law Translation – Labour Standards Act](https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/3567) , although this is a bit harder to filter through without a strong underpinning in the study of law and critical thinking.
What Gaba and Nova are doing is not actually legal (Article 16 of the Japanese Labour Law is just one of the violations). For them to not get away with it, however, legal action needs to take place.
The worst part here is easily overlooked. This is per lesson and not per day. If you miss a day of work due to any reason without notifying them, the ¥1400 will be added and you’ll owe ¥80,000 per day missed.
50 comments
When you think they can’t go lower, they prove you wrong.
Man, that sucks for those of you working there.
I’m sure this document will be sued out of existence by April, but still
That can’t possibly be legal
Teachers need to unionize and not demand better pay, but just quit and open their own collective eikaiwa’s with staked ownership. Rent out a space, share it for lessons, advertise together and use the same online services, etc…
All NOVA does is provide the structure. To actually break free you just need to do it yourself. Plenty of people open their own eikaiwa, just do that but with a group for safety in numbers.
Can anyone vouch for the authenticity of this thing here?
Pretty sure fines like this are a blatant violation of labor law.
I don’t understand why people choose these shitty companies.
I taught English for 5 years. I hated it with a passion but it was just a small private eikaiwa and whilst they were super shady (obviously) the pay wasn’t bad and they sponsored visas etc. there are so many English schools always looking for teachers so whilst the industry might not be a good one there’s no need to go to the very bottom of the barrel. At least float in the shit at the top until you can hop out.
This will have 0 affect on the weeb recruitment
This really Is unacceptable.
If I were working for them, I’d do two things.
1 – if it isn’t in my contract, refuse to acknowledge it. If I’m vomiting or having diarrhea, I’d make sure to do it directly on their floor. I would accept docked pay under no conditions.
If they tried to reduce pay and send me away with a policy not in my contract, I’d make sure to sue them for it and start legal proceedings.
Ofcourse afterwards just don’t renew your contract.
Alternatively, if its too much hassle to fight, just quit on the spot. I’d say irs for “violation of contract” but that’s difficult when there is no contract. Though under UK law, it would still be violation of contract because you’d have a “verbal contract”.
This seems so extreme that I’m pretty sure it’s a parody based on NOVA’s pre-existing reputation.
Punishing you for not doing the work instead of merely withholding remuneration? That sounds less like an employer and more like a slaver…
Nova is beyond a black company.
When I came to Japan years ago, my first job was nova. I stayed for maybe 3 months?
I got the flu, and was ordered to stay home for 7 days.
They constantly harassed me on the phone to find my own replacement teacher, meanwhile I was barely conscious. They ended up taking about 50,000 yen from my paycheck for “missing” 7 days. Then 40,000 yen for “miscellaneous damages” they charged me more for 7 days then I would’ve made if I had worked.
I just didn’t show up again. They then threatened to “take my visa” I responded that I will have my lawyer get in contact with them (I didnt have a lawyer) and they promptly left me alone.
No way this is real?
If it is, I hope they get taken to court . This can’t be legal.
Nova truly is the evil eikawas here.
While everyone can have legitimate gripes about the places that they work, I must say I am very glad to be working at a place which does not charge ME for the pleasure of NOT working there
People in Japan are taking online Eikaiwa lessons from teachers based in the Philippines. For 100 yen per lesson.
Who can compete with that?
[Link to one of many 100 yen Eikaiwa providers](http://e-english.info/parrots/)
It doesn’t surprise me at all. ESL has been going downhill fast, and companies are taking advantage of the “Cool Japan” tourist rush to recruit weebs who are more than happy to take it up the ass just to be in Japan.
Current Gaba instructors will quit, but it won’t be difficult for Gaba to replace them, since it’s not as if you need any kind of qualifications or even much training to teach under their system.
I’m actually amused by all this outrage because honestly, what did you guys expect?
Nova and Gaba have *never* been legit. This is just business as usual for them.
negative paycheck? as in you owe the company money for being sick?!
Sooo they want you there throwing up on people. Got it
Do they want you to go to work with covid then
I guess I’ll just show up with COVID?
Is this even legal?
How the fuck is this even legal
Show this to the authorities
This sounds pretty fucking close to slavery. “You can work but if you get sick you pay us compensatory fees, slave”.
I’d like to see some serious consequences for this. People should be spamming their reviews and other Japanese sites letting potential students know about this unethical behavior.
The slow methodical spiral down of Japan. It’s been interesting watching for the past 20 years. From someone who just happened to see this thread on the main page of Reddit and not in the English Teaching sector, I assume many teachers came/wanted to teach because they liked it and or just needed a job. With moves like this, 1.) those normal people will slowly drift away, 2.) less qualified “English as a second language” people and weebs will fill their place and finally 3.) English ability will drop even further making Japan even more isolated from what’s happening in the rest of the world.
What th is this? This has to be a joke
This is a race to the bottom now.
Holy shit. At least on the bright side, this makes me think maybe the company is really struggling with money and might go under in the nearer future
These seem to be the final throes of a dying industry. Quite honestly, why would you come to work here now? If you come as a tourist it will be MAGICAL every time, and you don’t have to put up with any of this nonsense.
Just don’t work for those assholes
They’ve been doing this to Nova gyomu itaku since that contract started 8+ years ago. It’s not surprising that they would put this crap on Gaba teachers since they bought the company. At least Nova teachers can change to employees, but Gaba teachers are all independent contractors, so they have no choice but to do it or quit. I assume Nova is trying to kill the company as they did with other schools they bought out (EC, Geos, Linguiage). And it’s not illegal because these people aren’t employees, so aren’t covered by labour law.
Are they… *trying* to get their workers to unionize more?
For any GABA teachers here who may not know, GABA already has a Union under Tozen.
Reach out to Tozen to find out more!
https://tozenunion.org/locals/gaba/
Has anyone contacted the GU about this?
How does the ‘independent contractor’ status actually fit in with Gaba workers? I thought that if you are trained by them, restricted to a particular workplace, paid per hour (or whatever time period each lesson is) obliged to follow workplace policies, use computers provided by them, etc. then that may well cross over into “employment” status? And if that proves to be the case, then you could be protected by employment laws and thus have legitimate grounds for protesting these kind of clauses?
Wtf! I am so glad I left.
Japan was always terrible with days-off regarding death of a family member. (No I’m not going to be back at work 5 days after my wife or parents die…)
But this takes the cake. Now if your family dies, you’d be losing money for being sad about it and not contacting them in your lowest hours. Truly magnificent.
Shitty job just became shittier…:(
Holy shit, is this even legal?!
This is why I’m not just a teacher but have cultivated multiple skills behind the scenes that can be done online from anywhere. You should never rely on an employer.
Tozen Union is mostly based in Tokyo but has members all over the country. [Their website is here if you are considering joining](https://tozenunion.org/category/gaba/). I find it hilarious that the company gave Tozen free recruitment! 😂
The General Union is based in Osaka but also has members across the country.
I worked at Nova over twenty years ago. It was really bad when I worked there. I can see it’s only worse now.
By the gods. What’s the point
Ok, all you YouTube and TikTok guys whose subject is jobs in Japan, you need to post the shit out of this. This should be outrageous enough to get some attention from legit media organizations. Ask the top execs from Nova/Gaba for a puff piece interview (hopefully while livestreaming) and ambush em with questions about this policy. Teachers, do some malicious compliance and slam a bottle of ipecac or a box of laxatives and keep on teaching. Force some schools to close for cleaning.
Ok: Challenge! Get a job at Gaba, and see how many fines you can rack up in a week –
​
​
GO!!!
Man, the coffin really is being nailed shut on the English teaching industry here.
This screams of “you should have booked your ambulance in advance when you were hit by a car and lay unconscious on the floor”
This is the most retarded thing i have ever seen. *laughs in general union*
I’d definitely take a loud and luxurious shit in the classroom if I had to pay for it either way.
An article of value that will be a good jump-off point for people to read (who are interested in the study of law, especially as it pertains to Japan and labour laws) is:
[Atsumi & Sakai (L&E Global) – Employment Law Overview Japan 2021-2022 (PDF)](https://www.aplawjapan.com/application/files/2816/5542/9654/LEGlobal-Employment-Law-Overview_Japan_2021-2022.pdf)
This is not comprehensive (being an overview), but more in depth reading can be done through a deep dive at [Japanese Law Translation – Labour Standards Act](https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/3567) , although this is a bit harder to filter through without a strong underpinning in the study of law and critical thinking.
What Gaba and Nova are doing is not actually legal (Article 16 of the Japanese Labour Law is just one of the violations). For them to not get away with it, however, legal action needs to take place.
The worst part here is easily overlooked. This is per lesson and not per day. If you miss a day of work due to any reason without notifying them, the ¥1400 will be added and you’ll owe ¥80,000 per day missed.