DON’T let Intearc/Maxceed force you to sign anything that says you agree to non-renewals.
If they plan on non-renewing you, force them to do the honorable thing and actually fire you so that you can claim your unemployment benefits as you look for a new job.

Also, don’t forget that according to Japan’s Labor Standards law, you do have the right to fight your dismissal by an employer. This is a direct quote from the “Foreign Workers’ Handbook” published by the government that can be found here:
http://www.hataraku.metro.tokyo.jp/sodan/siryo/H23_handbook_all.pdf
Dismissal (Page 34)
Dismissal is when an employer unilaterally terminates his/her employee’s employment contract. In accordance with Civil Law, an employer as one party of an employment contract has a right to propose to terminate it. However, as dismissal affects an employee’s life, Japanese labor laws impose severe restrictions on dismissal.

Dismissal in the Case of Workers Hired for a Fixed Period and Termination of Consecutive Employment (rejection of contract renewal) (Page 40)
An employer is not allowed to dismiss employees with a fixed period of contract before the contract expires, except for in cases with an unavoidable reason (Section 1 of Article 17, Labor Contract Act), or when a company goes bankrupt (Article 631, Civil Law).
In case of an employment contract with a fixed period, termination comes with its expiry. However, the so-called “termination of consecutive employment” has become a serious problem. This is where a contract with a specified period has been renewed several times and a company has continued to employ an employee for a certain period, only to suddenly terminate the contract (upon its expiration) and displace him/her.
The “doctrine of abuse of right of dismissal” does not always apply to fixed-term employees. To avoid trouble associated with termination of contract, a ministry notification sets the following requirements for employers.
1 Employers are to clearly state the renewal or cancellation of contracts, and the criterion for contract renewal.
2 Employers are to give at least 30 days prior notice when terminating contracts for employees who have been employed for over one year on a contract for a specified period.
3 When employees request a clear statement on the reason(s) for the termination of their employment, employers must comply promptly in writing.
4 When a fixed-term contract employee, who has already been employed for over one year through contract renewal, arrives at a new contract term, the employer must make an effort to extend the contract period as much as possible, according to the substantiality of the contract and employees’ wishes.
Past judicial precedents (concerning legal conflict involving contract termination) show that some contract terminations were recognized depending on certain surrounding elements (e.g., objective overview of business, procedures and realities of contract renewal, etc.) as seen as a whole by the court.

Osaka prefectural ordinances prevent companies found in violation of Trade Union Law from bidding on public projects. The General Union, along with allied unions from Osaka Union Network and Osaka Zenrokyo have submitted demands to the Governor of Osaka Prefecture, Toru Hashimoto, that Prefectural ordinances be enforced.

As a result, Osaka Prefecture has now informed all divisions of the prefectural government, including the Osaka Prefectural Board of Education, that they may no longer enter into contracts with Interac. Furthermore, Osaka Prefecture has summoned Interac to explain the situation, placing further pressure on the company to obey the Trade Union Law and negotiate.

The union’s victory at the Labour Commission and its subsequent economic impact on Interac will go along way in making sure that not only Interac, but other employers trying to evade their legal obligations, negotiate with the union in the future.

5 Jul 2010
Health Checks – They’re mandatory!
Interac ordered to obey the law

Industrial Health & Safety Act
For many westerners, the idea of a state mandated health check smacks of a nanny state, and we are often reluctant to submit to the tests. While not all companies obey this law, the fact remains it is compulsory for all employees to have an annual health check under article 66 of the act.

We often receive enquiries about how to escape taking the annual check-up. The major reason given is privacy concerns. In the 1990s these concerns had merit. One well known case is that of a company employee who was diagnosed as being HIV positive as a result of the check-up. Rather than inform the employee, the testing company chose to disclose the information to the employer. The company then chose to terminate the employee under false pretenses while still hiding his HIV status.

Changing attitudes and the introduction of privacy laws in 2005 saw most of these issues resolved.

School Health & Safety Act
Looking at labor law stipulations in the light of the education law, state mandated health checks appear much more reasonable.

Concerned with the health of children and that of the general population, the education law states that all school employees must be checked for tuberculosis by x-ray. Pre-war Japan had a high prevalence of tuberculosis. Post-war times saw the numbers in decline but as in many countries it is on the increase again. In 1998 the rate of infection in Japan was more than 5 times that of the USA. The government reports that there are now more than 40,000 new cases of TB per year in Japan and that it claims about 2,700 lives. There are also increases in the number of children and university age students being infected.

Interac and other ALT companies
It is difficult to give a precise figure, but the number of ALTs in Japan is in the thousands. If we then include other teachers of at-risk students, the number may well increase to over 10,000. The majority are not tested for tuberculosis, thereby placing the health of both students and other teachers at risk.

As part of the General Union’s campaign to make Boards of Education and dispatch companies follow Education and Employment laws, Interac was recently found to be violating the law by not providing ALTs in Tokai city with health checks. As a result Interac was ordered to institute testing and it appears Interac is now rolling out a program for all ALTS to be tested but we are taking a wait and see approach to guage their commitment. Anecdotally, we know that in the past Interac had asked ALTs at some Boards of Education to take the tests but the company often failed to ensure the tests were actually taken.

ALTs should be hired directly
Health checks are another reason that we cannot place the education of Japan’s youth in the hands of private companies such as Interac. They cannot be relied upon to ensure the safety of students or workers. If all ALTs were directly hired their annual health checks would take place at the same time as their Japanese coworkers.

If you are concerned with your health and that of your students, contact us to find out more.

Solidarity,
Erich

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20100417p2a00m0na019000c.html

KASHIWA, Chiba — Public schools here have been unable to start their native speaker-taught English classes this school year after the city’s board of education was accused of violating labor laws with foreign language teachers.

According to the Kashiwa Municipal Board of Education, it has been instructed by the local labor office to change its labor relationship with foreign assistant language teachers (ALTs) in the city’s elementary and junior high schools after it engaged in illegal employment practices.

The local education board entrusted part of its English curriculum for primary and secondary school students to a Tokyo-based staffing agency between 2007 and 2009, and a total of 23 foreign teachers belonging to the agency worked as ALTs at 61 local public elementary and junior high schools during this period. Their contracts expired at the end of last month.

A local labor union supporting foreign language teachers complained to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry’s Chiba labor office that the teachers were forced to work as temporary workers under the guise of subcontractors, while demanding the municipality extend their contract periods.

In response to the complaint, the labor office launched an investigation and confirmed that each school placed the foreign teachers under its direct supervision even though they worked under consigning contracts. The labor office then concluded that the education board forced the teachers to work as temporary workers under the guise of subcontractors, a practice that constitutes a violation of the Worker Dispatching Act.

Under the current law, companies and other business operators must offer a direct contract to their temporary workers after they have completed the first three years of work. Moreover, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare’s labor guidelines require a minimum three-month interval before the two parties enter into another temporary contract.

The city’s board of education had planned to terminate its English class teacher outsourcing contract and employ temporary English teachers directly starting this April. However, as the labor office judged that the education board had already forced its contracted foreign teachers to work as normal temporary staff, it became impossible for the city to renew the contracts right away, in accordance with the ministry guidelines prohibiting consecutive temporary contracts of over three years.

The local education board has announced that it will comply with the labor office’s order and will resume relevant English classes after the three-month waiting period expirees in July.

In August last year, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology instructed local boards of education nationwide to switch consigning contracts for ALTs to either direct or temporary employment. A subsequent survey by the ministry has revealed that 670 municipalities still maintained their outsourcing arrangements for native English class teachers, of which 439 responded they were not planning to change their current practices.

The ministry’s International Education Division has requested each education board consult with their local labor office and make corrections as needed.

(Mainichi Japan) April 17, 2010
Original Japanese article here:

http://mainichi.jp/select/jiken/news/20100417k0000m040089000c.html

Synopsis:
1) Mr Collison is an excellent teacher and has the reviews to prove it.
2) Mr Collison’s wife has a miscarriage.
3) Mr Collison has to take some time off of work to deal with funeral arrangements
4) Mr Collison is fired, Interac claims it is for “performance issues and missing work” (the performance claims are disproven by his excellent reviews).
5) Interac attempts to force Mr Collison to sign resignation papers, going so far as to tell him that he could not leave the office until he signed them (this is horribly illegal).

I really wish that Mr Collison had contacted us when this happened because I can garantee you that this kind of thing will NOT happen to any union member. A strong union can prevent this kind of thing from happening to its members, and can right these kinds of labor issues even after they have begun to go sour, all it takes is the initiative to contact us and the willingness to fight. This is not a criticism of Mr Collison, I certainly cannot imagine the pain he and his family have had to deal with, I just wish we would have had the oppurtunity to try and help. Workers in Japan are all garanteed to have time off for bereavement, and it seems that Interac is unaware of this fact.

A link to the original post:

http://www.debito.org/?p=2993

Instead, you should enroll into Shakai Hoken, because Interac will be forced to pay their half. If there is any back enrollment it will be covered by the company, not by you. You are all eligible for this. The only reason Interac tells you otherwise is because they don’t want to pay their portion of the money.

You can do this on your own, or you can join the “Interac union” (aka members of the Zenkoku Ippan Tokyo General Union Tozen ALTs) and we can force them to pay up together in solidarity. The Tokyo General Union has a lot of experience in forcing companies to enroll their employees into Shakai Hoken so we can get you enrolled with much less effort on you part.

Solidarity,
Erich

http://interacunion.org

interacunion@gmail.com

An open letter to the management of Interac (as well as Maxceed and Selnate)

November 5th, 2009

To whom it may concern (including Kevin Salthouse and Denis Cusack),

My name is Erich, and I am an executive of the ALT branch of Tokyo Nambu’s Foreign Workers Caucus. I worked for Interac  from September of 2005 until February 2008, under the Osaka branch.

I am writing to clear up some misconceptions about health insurance in Japan that were evident in a couple of PDFs that were circulated from management at the beginning of October 2009.

The two PDFs in question are the “FAQ – Insurance System in Japan” and the one titled “Social Insurance Letter” dated October 1st, 2009. In these PDFs, you tell your ALTs that they are not eligible for Shakai Hoken if they work less than 29.5 hours.

This is not true.

You also tell them that the only alternative is to sign up for Kokumin Kenko Hoken and that they may have to pay up to two years of back enrollment.

The problem is that, since they are eligible for Shakai Hoken, it is the company that will have to pay the back enrollment (up to two years) into Shakai Hoken, after which the employee can be billed for their half of enrollment fees.

Let me give you some background information on how I know this.

If you take a look at our page:

http://interacunion.org/2009/08/31/stop-illegal-dispatching-in-tokyokanto/

You will see that there is a Nihon Terebi news report from earlier this year. I was interviewed here about my time with Interac and your use of illegal contracts with the BoE where I worked in Osaka. I was also at the meeting of Union Leaders and Government officials that was mentioned at the start of the broadcast. Part of the reason we called the meeting with these officials is to force them to give clarification, on record, on various features of Japanese insurance and labor laws.

One of the things we asked them point blank:

A) Does Shakai Hoken enrollment require one to be working more than 29.5 hours a week?

The answer was no. The 3/4 of full time rule (if 40 hours a week is considered full time, then 30 hours a week is 3/4ths of that) is an internal administrative guideline that they use to determine who to crack down on (the same way that a police officer might not pull over some one for going 5 kph over the speed limit but will definitely pull someone over for going 10 kph over the speed limit). The 3/4 rule, or 29.5 hours a week rule, is not even in the Shakai Hoken law.

B) We asked them clarify what the minimum work requirement is for Shakai Hoken enrollment.

Their response was that, there is no minimum work requirement of hours per week. Additionally, they also stated that they would never turn down any company that wanted to enroll their employees no matter how much the employees were making (which means in effect that Interac can not use “government requirements” as an excuse for not enrolling their ALTs in Shakai Hoken).

The 29.5 hour mark per week is a misconception, and has nothing to do with eligibility. It never HAS had anything to do with eligibility. So says the Japanese government.

In reality, only sole proprietorships (個人事業) with less than five members can decide not to enroll their employees into Shakai Hoken.  The last time I was in an Interac office, I counted more than five employees, and your website claims that you are a 株式会社 (a kabushikigaisha or Limited Liability Corporation) so you are not a sole proprietorship. You have no excuse for not enrolling your ALTs, and with the new visa requirements, it looks like the Social Insurance office isn’t going to look the other way any longer.

Now, Interac has been around for over thirty-five years and they are rooted in every part of the country. I simply do not believe that every single manager, MC, and office worker, much less the owners of the business, are all too uniformly stupid to be ignorant of these facts. I have only been in Japan for for five years now, and I learned most of this three years ago. I can only assume that this leaves purposeful deception on the part of Interac to mislead it’s ALTs away from the insurance coverage that they have a legal right to (which would cost the company money) and drive them into a corporate partnership that they have with Interglobal/Global Health Insurance (I have heard it referred to as both names by Interac).

As evidence of such a deception, I would offer the “Health Insurance Disclaimer” that I was forced to sign upon the beginning of my employment with Interac. The disclaimer forces the ALT to agree that they “understand that it is my responsibility to finance my own personal health care requirements”, even though,  according to Japanese law, you are responsible for half of every ALT’s insurance. Are you still forcing your teachers to sign this disclaimer? I certainly hope so because it will make great evidence in the Social Insurance office or a court of law.

I do not make these accusations lightly, but I just do not see how a company with a nationwide presence can be so completely wrong on this issue. If you can offer any other reasons that Interac as a whole is so uninformed on this issue, then I am very interested in hearing them.

What this leads to is a situation where someone is going to have to back enroll into the system. If the ALTs back enroll into Kokumin Kenko Hoken, then they will have to pay the back enrollment fees (up to two years worth of monthly dues). If, however, the ALTs are back enrolled into Shakai Hoken, then Interac will pay the back enrollment fees (up to two years) and they can attempt to get half of the back-enrollment money back from their ALTs later (perhaps you could work with Interglobal to get a refund for your ALTs since they were supposed to be on Shakai Hoken from the beginning anyway).

I personally pledge to you and to every Interac ALT that wants help challenging your statements found in these aforementioned PDFs that I will help them to the best of my ability. Trade law prohibits unions from representing those who are not official members, but I will personally help organize the legal team necessary for litigation against you should you refuse to pay for the back enrollment that any of our members face.  I will encourage as many ALTs that I can to join their local union to force you into collective bargaining, and I will also encourage ALTs that are not interested in joining the union that they should apply for Shakai Hoken on their own. Anyone making an individual claim (a kakunin seikyu) will probably face a fimiliar pattern; they will be initially denied because of the internal 3/4 or 29.5 rule, but they will win their case on appeal as long as they have evidence of their employment (paystubs, bankbook records, contracts, recordings of conversations with management, etc).

I am also translating these PDFs that you sent out into Japanese in order to give it to the Social Insurance Agency; I think they may find it very interesting. Actually, if you happen to have a Japanese version already written that would really save me some time; feel free to send a copy to interacunion@gmail.com.

My advice to you is this:

1) Own up to your mistakes

2) Start back enrolling everyone into Shakai Hoken in order to avoid litigation from union members and non-union members alike.

Interac has saved a lot of money over the years by not enrolling people in Shakai Hoken, and has probably made money by steering people into Interglobal/Global Health. I think now it is time for you to put those savings to work by back enrolling your hard working ALTs into the system that they should have been in all along. Don’t try to force them to face back enrollment into Kokumin Kenko Hoken alone when they have a legal right to be enrolled on Shakai Hoken.

I look forward to your reponse.

In solidarity with our union brothers and sisters throughout the country,

Erich

Tokyo Nambu ALT Branch

Interac Union Nambu FWC

http://interacunion.org

interacunion@gmail.com

Tokyo Nambu FWC

http://nambufwc.org/

03-3434-0669

Social Insurance Agency

English: http://www.sia.go.jp/e/index.html

The reporters that researched the story surveyed the greater Tokyo/Kanto area to see which Boards of Education (BOEs) were using dispatch contracts that are considered legal, and which BOEs were using illegal contracts. A graphic supplied during the report showed that a large swath of the Tokyo area was highlighted in red, the color used to indicate a BOE that is currently using an illegal contract.

Continue reading to see the videos:

What does this mean?
There are a few ways to hire ALTs in public schools, the main differences among the methods are the amount of responsibility that BOEs have to accept for their ALTs.
1) Direct Hire (直接雇用-ちょくせつこよう)
Legal to use in public schools.
This is fairly self explanatory. The BOE hires you, and makes sure that you have a full array of insurances (unemployment insurance [失業保険 しつぎょうほけん], National Health and Pension [社会保険 しゃかいほけん]), year round employment, guaranteed paid sickdays/年金 ねんきん.

2) Dispatch (派遣-はけん)
Legal to use in public schools.
Your are employed by the dispatch company but you receive your orders from your BOE and the teachers that you collaborate with.  You have more rights under the law, but not as many as would be afforded to you if you were directly employed.

3) Gyomu Itaku (業務委託  - ぎょうむいたく) or Ukeoi (請負  -（うけおい）
Illegal to use in public schools.
The dispatch company is your boss, and  you are not allowed to receive orders from the school in which you teach; you are only allowed to receive orders from the dispatch company.  Not only is this illegal, it is impractical. All ALTs know that it is impossible to teach in a class with Japanese teachers and not be guided by their wishes when collaborating with them.
This is most often used by BOEs that want to abdicate responsibilty of the ALTs to outside sources. Dispatch companies also use this to avoid paying into the insurance system, and giving you nenkyuu both of which a normal employee would be afforded under the law.

How does this affect me?
Given the fact that such a large number of BOEs are abusing the system, there is a large chance that the contract you are working under is illegal and therefore, by law, invalid. If you want to take control of your own employment situation, this fact alone can give you a lot of leverage.

If you would like to help change Interac and the education system for the better, please join our struggle, not only for the current ALTs in Japan, but for the future ALTs as well.

Here are copies of the video for you to watch for  yourself.  If you would like an English translated version, Japan Probe did a great job of translating here.

This leaves you with two options -
Be insured through your employer on shakai hoken/shigaku kyosai or enroll yourself on kokumin kenko hoken through your ward office.

The danger in enrolling in kokumin kenko hoken is that you may be hit with a back bill of up to 2 years for the health insurance and the pension.

Japanese law clearly states that all workers should be enrolled on shakai hoken/shigaku kyosai, and the General Union has been fighting for access for foreigners to the system since 2004. As a result we have seen Aeon enroll all teachers, ECC provide the option for all teachers to be enrolled, and an increased number of Berlitz & Nova teachers being enrolled. We have also been successful in negotiating for the enrollment of full-time & part-time high school teachers.

Cross posted from the General Union website.