Wife wants to quit her part time job

[laterthanyou]

My Japanese wife is working at a hotel part time during the graveyard shift. She put in her notice to quit in March and the GM is giving her a hard time about quitting. She said she wanted to quit in March and he is saying that it takes at least 1 month to hire her replacement and then will take 2 months at least to train the person..... There is another person leaving at the end of Feb, and their hotel system is changing in March, so.... it is kind of hard to let her go in March. I'm telling her business is business and she is giving them ample time. She went back to him, but he is saying he cannot accept and that she has to work until 4/15. Her "agreement" to work until 4/15 was agreeing with the GM to discuss it with me.

Any ideas on how to extricate her? I'm telling her to just quit b/c it seems to me that he is bullying her. I want to go and talk to him, but she doesn't want me to...

[Jack]

Just listen to her whining and empathise with her but let her do what she wants.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

Call your local labor standards office. One month's notice is more than ample (two weeks suffices, by law, as far as I can recall).

[TennoChinko]

My Japanese wife is working at a hotel part time during the graveyard shift. She put in her notice to quit in March and the GM is giving her a hard time about quitting. She said she wanted to quit in March and he is saying that it takes at least 1 month to hire her replacement and then will take 2 months at least to train the person..... There is another person leaving at the end of Feb, and their hotel system is changing in March, so.... it is kind of hard to let her go in March. I'm telling her business is business and she is giving them ample time. She went back to him, but he is saying he cannot accept and that she has to work until 4/15. Her "agreement" to work until 4/15 was agreeing with the GM to discuss it with me.

Any ideas on how to extricate her? I'm telling her to just quit b/c it seems to me that he is bullying her. I want to go and talk to him, but she doesn't want me to...

All you and your wife need to do is to spend less than 30 minutes with any half-decent paralegal - not even a full-fledged lawyer - who is familiar with the relevant parts of the Japanese Labor Standards Law http://www.jil.go.jp/english/laborinfo/library/documents/llj_law1-rev.pdf The fact that she is a part-time - not even full-time - employee means it is even easier for her to give notice ... almost immediately. Although not lawyers, you can also get virtually the same advice for free by visiting your nearest Labor Standards Inspection office.

Your wife - after getting a brief download on the law and her rights - can indicate her new-found knowledge to her supervisor (who is probably well aware of them but taking advantage of your wife's ignorance regarding the law). It does not need to be a detailed discussion or debate about the intimate details of labor law - simply " I consulted a lawyer and he indicated ...."

[FG Lurker]

There are a couple of things to consider...

One thing is certainly the law. Your wife does not need to stay any longer than the law states, which in my experience is 2 weeks for full time workers. It may be less for part timers but it certainly isn't going to be more. I quit a corporate management position with 2 weeks notice, something which created more than a few problems (which was the idea, new prez was an arrogant shithead), but there was nothing they could do.

Another angle though is where you live (small town or big city) and your wife's future job plans. If you're in a small town your wife is probably worried about the typical small-town bullshit (everyone knows everyone and there are no secrets). Also if your wife is planning to work more in the hotel industry she may not want to create too many waves with this departure.

If she just wants out in a hurry though then TennoChinko's advice sounds good to me.

[Yokohammer]

Tell the boss the law is the law and she'll leave as soon as the law allows. But if he really needs her to stick around for a while she'll be happy to do so for double pay.

If he refuses, then he really didn't need her that bad after all.

I'm actually kind of serious about this.

[Samurai_Jerk]

As others have stated, for fulltime employees in non-management roles the legally required ammount of time to give notice is two weeks. However, even if you give less a company can't force you to work for them or withhold pay. What they can do is sue you for damages after the fact but my bet is that it would be almost impossible to win a case like that in Japan's labor friendly courts. Your wife is neither a manager nor fulltime and she gave more than a month's notice so she has gone way above and beyond anything that's required of her or that should be expected of her. I would go with Yokohammer's idea of trying to get more money out of them if there's no compelling reason for her to leave in March. By the way, if your wife doesn't have the balls to stand up to her boss, the labor office will contact him on her behalf. They don't take sides but they will act as an intermediary, remind employers what the law says and outline any demands that an employee has.

[Ketou]

Just tell the boss she is leaving in March and if he wants to be a dick she can make it 2 weeks instead.
As others have said you have the law on your side here, don't give into their intimidation bullshit.

[Greji]

As Lurk said in essence, the law is one thing, but TIJ. It depends on many factors. Who introduced her to the job? Giri to the company, and or, any senpai, or bosses. The position that resigning in an unfavorable light with the company/boss may place her in the neighborhood, or acquaintance circle.

If she has no requirements under giri, she can tell the boss the law and to insert job A, into Orifice B. However, if it is a TIJ problem, she may need to play his game to a later resignation date.....Shoganai!

[FG Lurker]

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

[IparryU]

Tell the boss the law is the law and she'll leave as soon as the law allows. But if he really needs her to stick around for a while she'll be happy to do so for double pay.

If he refuses, then he really didn't need her that bad after all.

I'm actually kind of serious about this.

knock

She does not need to train anyone. They try to do that at my job, but when people quit and are serious about quitting, they will do so and you cant do nothing about it.

If all else fails, do the gaijin husband phone call and ask the guy why he is harassing your wife over quitting. Might end up being a harder last 2 weeks for her, but at least it aint 3 months.

[Tsuru]

If all else fails, do the gaijin husband phone call and ask the guy why he is harassing your wife over quitting. Might end up being a harder last 2 weeks for her, but at least it aint 3 months.

Seconding this. It's like a fucking miracle cure.

[AssKissinger]

I never knew it was against the law in Japan to tell your boss to eat shit and roll right then. I must be above the law.

Tell the boss the law is the law and she'll leave as soon as the law allows. But if he really needs her to stick around for a while she'll be happy to do so for double pay.

If he refuses, then he really didn't need her that bad after all.

I think that's a great solution.

[Kanchou]

I was going to say ask for a raise, promotion, and better hours.