Mark what are you doing. (Japan Today)

[whos.your.daddy]

Well I guess one of the most important stories to the foreign community in Japan has appeared on Japantoday. Guess what, Mark it seems has pulled the story. Link:
http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/389291

[SIZE="5"]Gov't to require firms to report employment of foreign workers[/SIZE]

What are you doing?

Screen shot:


Have you ever cared about your reader base?

[Tommybar]

So quit your jobs and get into illegal employment NOW. Before they can track you!

[whos.your.daddy]

So quit your jobs and get into illegal employment NOW. Before they can track you!

Even when you are in a legal job, what they are asking is discriminatory in nature(not that there arnt plenty of other examples).

[Tommybar]

So what, I got over the fact that discrimination in Japan exists 25 years ago. In fact, I use it to my advantage everyday. If I was interested in P.C.ness and rights, I would go back to the land of wide loads and lawsuits.

REVOLT AGAINST CHANGE!

[Taro Toporific]

Gov't to require firms to report employment of foreign workers

Not news---I'm surprised it was even reported since employers have always had to report their foreign employees on a work visa. The only change is consistency and that's an improvement over the phase-of-the-moon application of the current Immigration procedures (which are held in adminstration secrecy).

[Iraira]

Actually, this could end up being a huge source of comedy from the big Eikaiwas like NOVA, who claim that they don't have any "full-time" foreign workers and just a bunch of sessional workers, so they can get around paying health care, social security, etc.

"NOVA proudly announces that they employ no foreigners."

[Behan]

As a recently recovering ex-Nova drone, I think you bring up a good point Iraira. On the hand as visa sponsors they have been bringing people over here but on the other hand, when it comes to paying the health and retirement benefits they are legally mandated (did I use this word correctly?) to, they have claimed that those same people are only part-time workers. They even started playing smoke and mirror games with work hours . People who work 75% of a full-time schedule are still supposed to be enrolled in Shakai Hoken but Nova started claiming that most of their 'generous' interval time of ten minutes was break time for instructors but 'work time' for titled teachers ('managers' I guess). It was quite ironic because they had told us before that we had to do work in the intervals, like checking new students' levels, etc.
Wow, maybe I should put this in another thread. Getting a bit too long and off topic...
Sorry

[American Oyaji]

I used to work for NOVA as well.
Maybe it is the city you work at, or maybe NOVA has gone shady, but from 1998-2000, I recieved Shakai Hoken for myself and my family.
Maybe it was because they were not paying for my visa..., but other instructors who were on a visa had it too.

*shrug* I enjoyed my time at NOVA.

[Behan]

It was possible to get on it before but you had to ask Nova to put you on it. At orientation they sort of implied that your insurance choices were Nova's JMA (which was only tourist insurance and you should have been on Shakai Hoken anyway), Kokumin Kenko Hoken(National Health Insurance - which is for people who work in companies with something like eight or fewer employees) or your own insurance(from overseas companies I suppose.)
They never mentioned the existence of Shakai Hoken and I had been at Nova for some time before I found out about it.
I deserve some blame for my ignorance of Japanese labor laws but Nova should have just enrolled us in Shakai Hoken(translated something like Employees Insurance).
It's great that you got into it, American Oyaji. A while before I quit Nova I asked to be enrolled but was told that I didn't work enough hours to qualify. I was on a 35 lesson a week schedule which is over 75% of a 40 lesson/week. But around that time they had started counting the interval as 'break' time for instructors and 'work' time for titled teachers so I guess that was there basis for turning me down.
If you enjoyed your time at Nova, that's great. There were times when we had a nice AT and collection of teachers and staff and the working environment was pretty comfortable. But there were also some rude, two-faced, back stabbing, mean staff and ATs.
Some of my time at Nova was pretty enjoyable but I think that was despite(in spite of - which one should be used here?) the company.
I guess I am pretty bitter about Nova because I think of all the money I lost by not getting them to contribute into the pension plan I would have had if they had put me into Shakai Hoken.

[American Oyaji]

I was at a very small school too. In fact, the schools closest to us were small too.
Our school had six classrooms, Aomori had 4 (sometimes, they would hold a fifth in the VOICE room) and Hirosaki had 6 or 8 open tables.

And yeah, I WAS working 40 classes a week.

[Behan]

I think it's great that you had some people on Shakai Hoken at your school. In all my time at Nova (embarassingly long), and at three schools, I only ever met one person, except for AAMs, who was on it.
Just when I was leaving they were bring new people in on something like 37 lesson schedules to keep them off it.
Now the ALT hakken company I work for keeps its workers off, too. At orientation they gave us the same kind of choice Nova did, leaving out Shakai Hoken.
I prefer smaller schools. The big ones can be really hectic. There were fewer chairs than teachers at one branch. People had to sit on the floor or go out to class-booths to do their file work. there was nowhere to put your bag or coats, either.
I imagine that it must have been nice living in Aomori.

[FG Lurker]

The medical insurance portion of Shakai Hokken is......okay, but expensive. If you ever get super-sick and are in the hospital for an extended time then it is great.

Nenkin (the national pension plan) is a complete scam. It costs a fortune every month for both employers and employees and anyone younger than 40 is likely to never see anything from it. It's a pyramid scheme -- the people at the bottom of the pyramid (us workers) are paying for the people at the top (retirees). This is perfect as long as the population keeps getting bigger.... And of course, Japan's population is increasing every year. Oh....wait. Pyramids where the bottoms are smaller than the tops don't work very well. Already the monthly salary percentage for nenkin is creeping up and it is only going to get worse. The system needs to be completely revamped but no politician has the balls to do it. It will have to collapse totally before anything changes. So, if you are not in the nenkin system now, count yourself lucky and do everything possible to avoid it! Invest carefully yourself and plan for your own retirement -- you'll be 1000% better off.

[Greji]

So, if you are not in the nenkin system now, count yourself lucky and do everything possible to avoid it! Invest carefully yourself and plan for your own retirement -- you'll be 1000% better off.

You're quite right Lurk and the strange thing about it, George Bush said the same thing and look where that got him on GJ's Xmas card list!

[FG Lurker]

You're quite right Lurk and the strange thing about it, George Bush said the same thing and look where that got him on GJ's Xmas card list!

Just a hunch, but I don't think that GJ's problems with the Bush administration stem from pension issues.

Personally I'd love to see a real conservative gov't take power in the US. One that is fiscally responsible, isn't militarily inept, and isn't controlled 50-50 by religious nutballs and friendly business interests. Probably just a pipe dream though, sadly.