Kilt
Jan 26, 2007, 10:38
A small disclaimer - Been in Japan for nearly 7 years. I know alot about Japan and the culture and do my best to fit in. I have many likes and dislikes about Japan. I do try to look at things with an open mind.
Warning to Foreigners seeking a Job in Japan.
I came to Japan just over five years ago. After completing a Masters degree, my Supervisors suggested I apply at a well know Japan Research Institute. They mentioned it as being a nice new Institute with a lot of funding. I suspect they put in a good word for me, as I got an interview soon after I applied. The interview process was fairly simple, and having visited Japan on two previous occasions, once on holiday, the other on a working holiday visa, I had a good idea of what to expect and how to behave. Everything went smoothly and a few months later I was offered a job. I was also given the details about my contract. They would fund my moving expenses to Japan, including airfare and shipping of personal belongings. Once in Japan, they would pay for my “Key” money and support my housing. There were other benefits and they also promised to pay for my return to my home country after completion of my contract. The contract was a 1 year contract, renewable for up to 5 years. At the completion of the 5 years, you could then reapply for another contract.
During my 5 years in Japan I got married to a wonderful Japanese girl, and we had a son. Soon after his birth I started to realize that Japan was probably not the best place to raise a child. I was also unhappy with my housing and couldn’t change housing (Company Rules) or I would otherwise lose housing support. My salary wasn’t bad, but the cost of moving and having to pay rent would make saving for the future impossible. There were also rumors of cutting our housing support altogether, which was another reason I thought it might be time to leave. All the other foreigners who had worked at the Institute had already left to other jobs, and I was about the last one to leave. It seemed that the longer you stayed the more problems you had when it came to contractual obligations. Although I had it in writing that they were obligated to pay for moving expenses for myself, spouse and dependents, they initially refused to cover any costs. They then indicated they would cover the costs of my airfare and a set amount of my shipping costs (about 4 cubic meters).
Some might say I should be happy that the company would even pay some of the shipping fee and cover my airfare, since it was no longer in their regulations to pay for anything. But I see it differently. When you move 6000 km away from your home, family and friends, with a certain set of expectations, those expectations should be met. Prior to moving to Japan I understood that I would not have to worry about the costs of moving to and from Japan. And while staying in Japan I did purchase some items that I probably would not have purchased if I had of know I would be paying to ship them back to my home country.
I also understand their point of view. When they first started hiring foreigners, their budget was much bigger. Since then there have been cutbacks. The rules as indicated made it rather expensive to send people back home, and some workers might have abused the system. But after hearing arguments from them giving reasons why they shouldn’t have to pay for my moving expenses, I kind of lost all sympathy.
Arguments for not covering my costs included –
1) It is no longer part of our Regulations.
2) The Japanese wording is different from the English I was given.
3) The person who wrote me the email about the initial contract details no longer works for the company.
4) The last several researchers who returned home got either no funding or a similar package. These people were friends and colleagues of mine and were treated in a similar manner as myself. Fortunately for them, they were moving to other research centers which were covering there moving expenses. In my case, I wasn’t moving onto another job and I knew that would be the case when I first got hired.
5) Because I got married and had a kid while in Japan, they won’t pay for my family’s costs. Sure, this seems reasonable to me, even though it contradicts what I was given in writing (the writing wasn’t overly clear on this one). I did have a problem with this because it was more a personal decision on account of the directors, rather than a Regulation, as there really is no Regulation for this specific situation. Plus, previous researchers who had already left and had children born in Japan (so basically gaining dependents while in Japan), had all their expenses covered including those of their dependents.
Financially, I can afford the move. I have saved up some money while working in Japan. But then I also think what if I couldn’t afford it, what if I had lived from paycheck to paycheck.
So, a warning to those who want to move to Japan to work, especially technical and skilled people. I suggest before you sign any contract, make sure all the details are on the contract you sign. Get them to confirm that all the obligations are guaranteed regardless and changes that might take place in company rules or personnel. Previously, I had always considered Japanese people to be reasonably honest. And I would never have expected this type of behavior from a well known research institute.
Like most of you, I have read horror stories of how some foreigners are treated in Japan, the old “The Japanese translation is different” and stuff like that. But I would never have thought a well known international research institute would try to pull the stuff that the English schools do.
A side note: Legally I don’t have a case. Although they initially promised to pay for my return trip when the job started, at some point, the fine print of the contract stated than no moving costs are covered (after the 4th or 5th year).
Another sore point, many of the researchers that came here left after less than 2 or 3 years and had all their expenses covered. And yet someone who stays the course and puts in his 5 years isn’t rewarded, but is basically punished. I was even one of the very few Foreigners who received an extension to their original 5 year contract, so I find it unlikely that they were unhappy with my work performance.
After 5+ years I was hoping to leave Japan on a good note and it seems that won't be the case as I will now be paying expenses that I figured I wouldn't have to worry about.
There is a lot of things I have learned about Japan in the past 7 years. If you do plan on moving here to work, I suggest you do your research. I also suggest you inquire in detail about living arrangements, and fees, as another surprise we received is that we are responsible for a rather large cleaning fee after we move out of our premises. We had always assumed that the substantial key money was used to cover any and all remodelling of the mansion after we left.
Live and Learn.
I would be interested to know if there is some place I can make a formal complaint to.
Kilt.
Warning to Foreigners seeking a Job in Japan.
I came to Japan just over five years ago. After completing a Masters degree, my Supervisors suggested I apply at a well know Japan Research Institute. They mentioned it as being a nice new Institute with a lot of funding. I suspect they put in a good word for me, as I got an interview soon after I applied. The interview process was fairly simple, and having visited Japan on two previous occasions, once on holiday, the other on a working holiday visa, I had a good idea of what to expect and how to behave. Everything went smoothly and a few months later I was offered a job. I was also given the details about my contract. They would fund my moving expenses to Japan, including airfare and shipping of personal belongings. Once in Japan, they would pay for my “Key” money and support my housing. There were other benefits and they also promised to pay for my return to my home country after completion of my contract. The contract was a 1 year contract, renewable for up to 5 years. At the completion of the 5 years, you could then reapply for another contract.
During my 5 years in Japan I got married to a wonderful Japanese girl, and we had a son. Soon after his birth I started to realize that Japan was probably not the best place to raise a child. I was also unhappy with my housing and couldn’t change housing (Company Rules) or I would otherwise lose housing support. My salary wasn’t bad, but the cost of moving and having to pay rent would make saving for the future impossible. There were also rumors of cutting our housing support altogether, which was another reason I thought it might be time to leave. All the other foreigners who had worked at the Institute had already left to other jobs, and I was about the last one to leave. It seemed that the longer you stayed the more problems you had when it came to contractual obligations. Although I had it in writing that they were obligated to pay for moving expenses for myself, spouse and dependents, they initially refused to cover any costs. They then indicated they would cover the costs of my airfare and a set amount of my shipping costs (about 4 cubic meters).
Some might say I should be happy that the company would even pay some of the shipping fee and cover my airfare, since it was no longer in their regulations to pay for anything. But I see it differently. When you move 6000 km away from your home, family and friends, with a certain set of expectations, those expectations should be met. Prior to moving to Japan I understood that I would not have to worry about the costs of moving to and from Japan. And while staying in Japan I did purchase some items that I probably would not have purchased if I had of know I would be paying to ship them back to my home country.
I also understand their point of view. When they first started hiring foreigners, their budget was much bigger. Since then there have been cutbacks. The rules as indicated made it rather expensive to send people back home, and some workers might have abused the system. But after hearing arguments from them giving reasons why they shouldn’t have to pay for my moving expenses, I kind of lost all sympathy.
Arguments for not covering my costs included –
1) It is no longer part of our Regulations.
2) The Japanese wording is different from the English I was given.
3) The person who wrote me the email about the initial contract details no longer works for the company.
4) The last several researchers who returned home got either no funding or a similar package. These people were friends and colleagues of mine and were treated in a similar manner as myself. Fortunately for them, they were moving to other research centers which were covering there moving expenses. In my case, I wasn’t moving onto another job and I knew that would be the case when I first got hired.
5) Because I got married and had a kid while in Japan, they won’t pay for my family’s costs. Sure, this seems reasonable to me, even though it contradicts what I was given in writing (the writing wasn’t overly clear on this one). I did have a problem with this because it was more a personal decision on account of the directors, rather than a Regulation, as there really is no Regulation for this specific situation. Plus, previous researchers who had already left and had children born in Japan (so basically gaining dependents while in Japan), had all their expenses covered including those of their dependents.
Financially, I can afford the move. I have saved up some money while working in Japan. But then I also think what if I couldn’t afford it, what if I had lived from paycheck to paycheck.
So, a warning to those who want to move to Japan to work, especially technical and skilled people. I suggest before you sign any contract, make sure all the details are on the contract you sign. Get them to confirm that all the obligations are guaranteed regardless and changes that might take place in company rules or personnel. Previously, I had always considered Japanese people to be reasonably honest. And I would never have expected this type of behavior from a well known research institute.
Like most of you, I have read horror stories of how some foreigners are treated in Japan, the old “The Japanese translation is different” and stuff like that. But I would never have thought a well known international research institute would try to pull the stuff that the English schools do.
A side note: Legally I don’t have a case. Although they initially promised to pay for my return trip when the job started, at some point, the fine print of the contract stated than no moving costs are covered (after the 4th or 5th year).
Another sore point, many of the researchers that came here left after less than 2 or 3 years and had all their expenses covered. And yet someone who stays the course and puts in his 5 years isn’t rewarded, but is basically punished. I was even one of the very few Foreigners who received an extension to their original 5 year contract, so I find it unlikely that they were unhappy with my work performance.
After 5+ years I was hoping to leave Japan on a good note and it seems that won't be the case as I will now be paying expenses that I figured I wouldn't have to worry about.
There is a lot of things I have learned about Japan in the past 7 years. If you do plan on moving here to work, I suggest you do your research. I also suggest you inquire in detail about living arrangements, and fees, as another surprise we received is that we are responsible for a rather large cleaning fee after we move out of our premises. We had always assumed that the substantial key money was used to cover any and all remodelling of the mansion after we left.
Live and Learn.
I would be interested to know if there is some place I can make a formal complaint to.
Kilt.