_Hi all, I am an English teacher teaching at a cram school. I am seeking advices. I would like to know if my situation is normal for an Eikaiwa teacher. It is going to be a long post because there is no easy way to describe my situation and problems. I apologize in advance.
Now, the first problem is I work 6 days a week with one day being paid extra money. But I am only being paid 1,200 per hour for that extra day and I am being paid based on the period of the class on that day. So, example if I have four hour classes on that day, I will be paid 4,800 and even if I come early to do some preparation, I will not be paid for that. I wonder if that is normal. I asked my principal about this and he said that that is the normal rate for part time teachers in Japan.
Secondly, I am handling 55 students and 45 classes per week. I work from 2pm to 10pm on weekdays and 9am - 6pm on Saturday. The longest break I have is 45 minutes on Saturday but I can only eat for 30 minutes because I have to prepare for the next students or classes. Other than that, I don’t have breaks for most days. Example, on Tuesday, I have a break at 3 - 3:30pm but because I don’t have any preparation time, I have to prepare the materials for my class quickly. Besides, I already have lunch before I start work so the only time I can eat is after 10:10pm (I finish at 10pm and it takes at least 10 minutes for me to walk back home). I am not provided any materials and preparation time by the school so I have to make my own materials at home after work or before work. So, yea my rest time is very limited so Sundays are very very precious to me.
Thirdly, the school used to hire two teachers (usually on 1 year working holiday visa) to manage the students but now I am the only person that is handling the classes for almost five years. Unfortunately, my salary has been the same from day one. There is no increment and whenever I asked about it, I will be ignored.
Fourthly, this is one thing that I really really hate about my school. I forgot when was it but one day, my principal told me that he had paid the resident’s tax or city’s tax for me (deducted from my salary monthly). So, he told me that if I quit, he can call the cops on me. What kind of principal blatantly threaten the teacher? Is that normal in Japan? Most importantly, is it true that he can call the cops on me? I want to change a new job but I am scared of this.
Fifthly, I am a human and I will get sick eventually due to overwork, stress and viruses spread by other students (I got covid from my students). I don’t have any paid leave or sick leave. If I get sick, I have to replace the class eventually. I have to find a way to replace it like squeezing it somewhere in my schedule or sacrifice one day of my precious holidays (obon holiday, golden week holiday). Is that normal for Eikaiwa teacher? Also, talking about covid, I got covid during the peak period of covid infection (in 2021) and I wanted to go to the hospital or clinic for treatment but my principal stopped me and asked me not to tell anyone about it. He asked me to go back to work after 2 - 3 days. I insisted to wait for the fifth day before going back to work and I have to sacrifice my obon holidays to replace the classes. I regretted it so much because I was still coughing and not feeling well. Luckily, none of my students got infected because I sat very far from them with mask on. I actually scolded the principal and told him to think about the safety of the students but he ignored me and said it doesn’t matter. Was he being selfish or was I thinking too much?
Last but not least, my school and I don’t have any contract anymore but the school is renewing and sponsoring my visa. We have like a spoken agreement and that’s it. Based on the previous agreement, there is no mention about the notice period if I want to resign. But one day, my principal was talking to me about the future of the school.
Principal: So, yea I am thinking about the future of the school and I feel like I want to open another cram school around this area to get more money.
Me: That’s a good idea.
Principal: Yea, I think so too. And probably I need you to help me to teach the students there. Because I am not sure if I want to hire a new teacher. Will you still be working for me next year?
Me: Oh well, I might.
Principal: Oh that’s good. We like you a lot. If you’re not going to work for us the next year, you have to tell us 6 months before you quit and we can find a new teacher.
Me: stunned6 months?! It isn’t written anywhere in the contract at all. Can I just quit after giving a month’s notice?
There are actually more problems ( in example: the computers are not working but the principal doesn’t want to buy a new computer so I have to share the computer with another part time teacher for 2 years now) but I think it will be too long for me to continue typing.
The positive side of this job is that the school always pays me on time and I am always grateful that the principal gave me the chance to work in Japan. Another thing, I love my students a lot. Most of them have been learning English from me for so long. Imagine, watching the kindergarteners grew up and became elementary school students or watching my university students graduate from the university and started working or watching my adult students being able to give an English presentation in Boston. The relationships I have with some of my students are precious.
However, the main question is should I change a new job? Are all the above-mentioned situations normal for Eikaiwa teacher? Will I be in problem if I quit? How many months notice can I give if I want to quit? If the principal threaten me, will the Labor Bureau help me even if I don’t have any written contract with the company?_
He’ll learn soon enough! Welcome to Japan, so polite, so clean!