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New Nova hours pose health risk
Bob Tench, president of the Nova Teachers’ Union, argues that Nova’s attempts to “wriggle out of its obligations” under the insurance system, could leave teachers, particularly those with families, in an dangerous position should they become ill while working for the company and have to take time off work. “Most teachers aren’t even aware of…
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English schools face huge insurance probe
Bob Tench, president of the Nova Union, says that Nova’s failure to enroll its teachers while offering JMA insurance is irresponsible. “This JMA insurance is only designed to ‘patch you up and ship you home,’ ” he says. “JMA is travel insurance and should not be used for everyday health care. “The government and the…
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English on the Cheap
Dispatch companies employ teachers, so while they have an employer-employee relationship, the BOE (school) holds no legal relationship with the teacher. And while all workers in a school must be under the authority of the principal, in this situation, they are not. Also, if your company designates a method of teaching, but your team teacher…
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Top temp agency seen forcing unpaid overtime
Staff Service Group is facing allegations that it systematically forced about 4,000 employees nationwide to work overtime and neglected to pay a total of about 3 billion yen in wages, according to sources. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20050226a3.htm
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Bic Camera hit for overtime nonpayment
“Bic Camera allegedly failed to pay overtime allowances totaling 127 million yen to some 110 employees at its outlets in Tokyo’s Ikebukuro and Shinjuku districts between December 2003 and last November. Failure to pay overtime is a violation of the Labor Standards Law.” http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20050226a9.htm
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Workplace worries
Seven of us who teach at a university in Tokyo would like to start a labor union, but many of us are afraid the university will refuse to renew the contracts of members of the union next April. What should we do? http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?fl20041221zg.htm
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Right side of the law
I am an Assistant Language Teacher at a middle school outside of Tokyo. My employer is a large dispatch company, but I’m not sure if it has a dispatch license. My manager told me the company has a “gyomu-itaku” or “entrusted service contract” with the local school board. One thing confusing me is whether I…
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Foreign English teachers call for fair treatment
About 40 foreign English teachers urged the government Friday to take steps to eradicate the serious problems they face on the job, including low wages and sudden dismissal. Kazuo Inoue, one of the three DPJ lawmakers present, said Japan needs to immediately improve foreigners’ working conditions and protect their rights. Louis Carlet, a deputy secretary…
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Class action
What would you do if you were sacked for “clicking your pen too much in class,” or for “talking to yourself during your break” . . . or how about for “only eating the topping on your rice during lunch?” These are all actual reasons given for showing English teachers the door, says Louis Carlet,…
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Japan mulls multicultural dawn
Mr Nakatani is worried because Japanese are living longer, yet having fewer children. The result is a shrinking workforce which threatens economic growth. In recognition, the government is thinking of loosening its restrictive immigration policy. But any changes may come as a shock to a nation where registered foreigners make up just over 1% of…