Let's Japan.org Debunking Eikaiwa and Ramblings in Japan

If you don't buy my version of events.

When Nova first collapsed, I was pissed like everyone else but I see it now as a blessing in disguise. I opened up a small school with my old BT on the same day that G.Cunt opened its doors. Though we may not have as many students as they do, we're not doing too badly and are much more satisfied with our jobs.

At least now we CARE about going to work.

Although many of my friends decided to stick with Nova because they were either too damn lazy to look for new jobs, they tried to look but couldn't get one cos the market was flooded by surpluss teachers or they have faith in the system, I really hope that G.Cumm sink and die a languid death; mainly so I can get more students at my school of course.

Despite the above comment I can assure you that Jack and Kisa are total and complete morons. The fact that they are still at Nova/G.comm should tell you something.
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The statement above, "If G-com do pull the plug, nobody would lose any wages. There are many other businesses under the same umbrella . . . " shows a complete lack of understanding about Japanese business practice. G. comm has sharp lawyers which has been proven. If it hasn't already happened then soon all the failing schools will be put in a separate holding company, maybe offshore somewhere, with no strings back to the current organization and sunk. You'll go to the union or hire a lawyer and be told that there's nothing left and no way to get anything from these other companies! Inayoshi et. al. will be vacationing in the Philippines for a few years.

Why...? Because it is better than unemployment while looking for a new job or planning your return home. I know of nobody at my branch that isn't currently doing one of the above. Teacher numbers are plummeting. The death of G-Nova will be brought about through a teacher shortage before any other aspect of poor management has a chance to sink the boat. It's the snowball effect. The more teachers leave the more the remaining become miserable. Even the most stalwart have become cynical. Amazingly, in 4 short months G-Comm has recreated the same conditions that lead to the demise of Nova Corporation.

It is G-com employees as a whole who are due to take a pay-cut from May 5th. Thinking that the parent company is safe from the re-collapse of NOVA is blind. The company as a whole cannot get credit now. Not just G-ed. And if you think that this is a really big company then dream on. G-com will go down with Nova which is currently it's largest single interest and burden. I heard so so so many people say of old Nova that;
"it is too big to collapse"

Did you all learn nothing from last September and October.

Everything's gonna be just dandy! You'll see!

Nothing to worry about. Nothing at all!

I did a Tax RETURN, on the very last day [St. Pat's Day] because I had to, by law.

By luck, I also got a Tax REFUND. It was nothing to write home about, but better than a kick in the teeth.

On a different note, seems to me that EVERYONE working for the G-Con-men started on or about 26, 27, 28 Nov 2007. That means PAID holidays will be kicking in about...well, the SAME BLOODY TIME for EVERYONE. And it's pretty soon...end of MAY, 2008! They'll be history by then, for sure.

They might have saved this heart-ache if they'd actually HONORED the old Nova contracts...Even total MORONS would have realized this.

dear organise now its only ged who are taking the cut

They stay at NOVA not by loyalty but because they managed to keep their previous salary and know they won't get as much in another company. That's it and it doesn't look so dumb to me. They'll just have to leave at the right moment, before the whole thing collapse on them again. It's like surfing :D

Inayoshi was very proud to explain to the press that G-COM has no official lawyer because as they do a great job, they don't need one. I can hear people starting to prepare champagne over this news because they intend to sue G-COM and think they will succeed easily but in fact this is a bad news because attacking in justice in Japan take a long long time and it will take even longer if G-COM takes bad lawyers.

still doesnt explain why i didnt get a refund..i know that in your first year here you get a small refund..but both my buddy and I have been here 5 years..

he gets a refund and I dont..messed up.

it will be hilarious if everyone took their holidays at the same time..

i love watching this train wreck in the making from my seat..well away from it.

The biggest cause of different tax burdens is timing. Your salary is based on the calendar year, and you pay tax on that. Eevryone gets a standard deduction, and very roughly, you don't pay tax on the first million yen of income (very roughly)

Most teachers know this means your first year of taxes is very low, as there is no local tax, only national.
In the second year, you MIGHT still have low taxes, depending on what month you showed up in Japan. If you showed up later, like in October, your "annual income" might be close to the million yen-ish line.
This mainly factors in to the insane local tax system, which is based on your income the year before last. So, none of us pay local tax in our first year, and in the second year, the local tax cut might still be small or zero, if you showed up later in the year.

The other major difference is just the withholding, some companies give you different tax withholding options when you join, so some people could get refunds, while others owe. Usually the eikaiwas make sure to withhold enough so you don't owe (who knows if you get all that's owed to you when you leave Japan)

Are you at least getting 1 month severance pay?

Afraid it is all G employees taking the cut. Check your info.

to the guy sacked with 1 day's notice, i feel for you mate. g-cumm are disgusting and will not survive. they don't deserve to and they don't have enough business acumen to. no company that has the contempt of its workers survives for long. they leave once they can. simple. c-cunt are just a 2-bit flash in the pan, sayonara to them. best for all of us to get out while there is time.

ok..basically i am very grateful to learn that i am not the only one whos been dismayed by the system that helps some, and bones others..

i appreaciate your comments..and your help..thanks muchly.

if i was in your proximity, i would make you my patented Tandoori chicken sarnie as a reward.

You are certainly entitled to the one month severence but you might have to take some legal action to get it. Under the 'old' Nova, two people were sacked when I worked there and neither were paid the one month severence pay. The last I heard was one of them 'lawyered up' but then you have to judge the risk VS. reward (ie. cost VS. benefit).

I would put the pressure on FP and threten to sue as a starting point.

This is a very interesting and intriguing turn of events.

Good luck, anyway. Hope you at least get one month's pay.

Let us know how it goes.

I heard about this from a friend last night. This has got to be the lowest thing they have done yet. I'd advise going to Labour Standards but they are really a bit of a toothless tiger. Maybe in your case thiugh they might actually be able to do something though. Be prepared for bare-faced lies no doubt from the G though. Please keep us all informed as to what happens when you can, it should prove interesting to say the least.

GComm SAITEI!!! SAITEI!!!

The g-com dream will be over and out between June and October. All that is going on right now appears to be a desperate attempt to give it just one more try. I don't know the CEO but he is not stupid. He knows what happened to Saruhashi and he knows he'll be next in line.
I don't work for g-com but my advice for those of you wish to remain in Japan for some time: try and find alternative employment before it's too late.

PS: If you were a potential student and read all this, would you opt for g-com?
All those recent and on-going changes clearly signals desperation.

I'm gonna get about 20,000yen back in taxes.
Just go to the tax office, if you pay pension, health insurance, life insurance, or have dependants (spouse/kids) shows them some documentation, fill in a form (they will help you!!), and that's it. Oh, and you need to bring your hanko and bankbook as well (post office account will also do). They'll do the calculation on the spot, you'll get confirmation in wrting, but the actual payment might reach your account only 1-2 months later.

... yes, you will all be fired instantly and probably deported too. What a clever idea!

I still havent received the promised letter that they said I should have received yesterday. I have a meeting with the Labour Office on Monday and am in the process of contacting a lawyer as well. I have sent letters to the Union in Tokyo and in Osaka last evening. I will keep you all posted!

Did they threaten to sue and still not get paid severance or did they just get fired and not get paid severance?? If it is the later, your post is totally idiotic since it has nothing to do with what he ex-aam was saying.

What I do not understand is why they are firing people when posters on this board are saying they do not have enough instructors to cover the lessons the students want. Are those posters wrong or is g spot really that totally incompetent??

The letter came and it said that I was fired on the 27th on March. No one month notice. I do think that this could be against the law especially since my contract states that they need to give me one month notice. On the phone Robert kept putting words in my mouth, which I refused. Looks like it is off to see the labour office on Monday. I have no idea why they have broken a contract that they made. If it was the other way around then I could understand it!

"On the phone Robert kept putting words in my mouth, which I refused."

That's not Robert Vaughan by any chance is it? You might as well talk to a brick wall as try to get anything out of him. Company man through and through, he'll still be at G Com when the last person to leave turns out the lights.

The scary thing is that GCum actually bought anything of what remained of Nova, the market did exist, that was obvious, but why the push? Even poster staring smiling corporate fascists should have been able to recognize what was feasible and what wasn't in terms of how many schools to open, this stinks of politics.

Hey man,
they are bullshi**ing you.
1) They HAVE TO give you 1 month notice.
2) It is THEIR responsibility that this notie reaches you.

It's very uncommon to communicate those kind of things by e-mail or over the phone.
Usually they get it in writing, either hande over personally or sent by mail (usually registered mail).

In other words, as long as they have your current contact address, they can't claim they 'couldn't get hold of you'.

They are just trying to intimidate you or anybody who they believe haven't been in Japan long enough to know how things work.

Your options:
1) Go to your local Labor Standards Office. You don't need no f***ing union that just cost you money.
2) If you really got the balls, you can also go to s so-called small claims court (KAN-I-SAI-BAN-SHO in Japanese). They are all over Japan but relatively unknown. They are good for small claim (I think up to 1 million yen or so).
The good point of these court are:
You don't need a lawyer, you have to pay only a small fee altogether (about 5000yen), and they whole thing is over within about 2 months.
Some poeople tried that with the old NOVA. It didn't work at that time because NOVA filed for bancrupcy.
So as long as G-com doesn't file for bancrupcy your chances are high.
DISADVANTAGE: If G-com guys don't show up in court, they court might decide in your favor but these type of courts don' have power to enforce judgments. In that case, you would have lost 5,000yen and still no money for 1 month. G-com, however, would be put on some kind of credit black list for ignoring court orders.

I'm really not sure, you might be right. I know I read someone's comment somewhere (either here or in the forums) about a 3 month cut-off line. They might not have had their facts straight, I'll see if I can find it again, could take some time though!

Yeah, he's that kind if guy, will suddenly be unavailable if he realizes someone wants to ask him some awkward questions. Got a real arrogance about him, became quite intoxicated on the "respect" and "prestige" of having such a high-flying career with Nova.

I can't confirm this but I was told that several teachers at a Nova branch which include two instructors who have been dismissed without sufficient notice or explanation have "walked off" the job in protest. Some of the participants were instructors who actually got new contracts but are sick of what both workers and students are having to put up with.

I hope they stay home and more branches do the same. If I was a teacher or student at Nova I wouldn't go back too. Fitting 5 to 6 students in a cubicle... Isn't that a scaled down version of a sweat-shop?

I hope all of you can pull through this nightmare one day.

I heard from two friends that when they transferred to Nagoya they were provided with G.com apartments. Apparently they had to sign a lease on the spot which was written in Japanese (they asked for it in english but it wasn't provided) then later when one instructor left after giving a month's notice, 90,000yen was deducted from her last pay as a 'fine' for ending her lease early. I think that's outright theft.

One of my questions for quite some time now has been regarding the trustees and their choice of G Comm. Now, we have G Comm claiming to STILL be losing money by the bucket-load (how hasn't been explained, though they've certainly lightened their salary load substantially!). Wasn't there any kind of vetting process by the trustees which involved checking whether or not G Comm had the financial stamina to maintain life-support for, what was reportedly, the biggest financial collapse in post-war Japanese history?
If there was, then did someone fudge the books? If there was no check, why not?

So Tokyo FPS will no longer exist from tomorrow I was told today. I get a call from Osaka and this guy says to me... so you have decided not to work with us any more. I was like... NO you guys decided that for me. I asked him to please get his facts right before calling people. I guess any staff who have not taken the one month deal will be teaching tomorrow.
Also they pulled the plug on the Yokohama school . Could be they dont have the staff or teachers to open it. One of my Japanese friends refused to work/be transfered there. It is all down hill from here!

I left after I was told to wait at home back in November(I did not). I loved Japan, people were great,karaoke was awesome, made friends with everyone, but then I stopped getting paid.
I feel awful for the people going through with this.
All english schools can't be terrible, can they?

How about the recent "Vote for an Employee Representative" ?

who is john kukasik? is he some guy at MM? How is the new MM doing? I used to work there miss hearing about how its going? Same old lesson schedules etc.? getting any frees? Boob job still working there? what are you voting for?

and that was the funnies thing I have read all day! Thank you.

His nickname is 'little jon'. He was apparently going out with an AT years ago but she had enough of his little one.
A loser indeed. No ambition in life whatsoever. He will die a very sad and lonely man.
I used to work at the MM center. He told me that he wants Craig Boobyer's job and will get it!
Who the fuck would want that?
The reality is, he can't go back home because he is unemployable and he can't get laid.

That lil' pink headed troll used me as a stepping stone, went out of his way to file every and anything i did wrong for a month then submitted it all in the form of a three page paper to Boo-boo inorder to look like he was working. well needless to say i wasnt given a contract just in time to collect unemployment before the crime ridden nova ship sank. he was one rat bastard that didnt flee... too bad i was hoping to see him in a pile of newpapers so i could set him ablaze. well when g-com collapses(next month) he will be 92 years old no retirement, no wife and no chance of even working at mcDonalds, sleeping his news paper pile in osaka jo koen. that clown is the best example of "when all else fails teach english in japan"

anyone remember when he first came to japan? he had these huge coke bottle glasses!!! classic!
once in a meeting he put his hand on my leg in an uncomfortable way, i reported it but it went unheard. he is a sick man from what ive seen and heard.

John Lickashit has perma-pubes around his lips from the various Japanese tooth-pick cocks that he has been gumming ever since he arrived here. Yes, he has no teeth to go along with the absence of any brain cells. He does somewhat remarkably however, manage to follow the basic behaviorist principles outlined by Mr B.F. Skinner. He is a pigeon, a little stinking fuckin rat in a cage pressing his little bar in order to get his next piece of positive reinforcement. He is quite likely to shit in his own mouth, if given half the chance, if that is indeed what is required for him to do in order to keep his job.

Even more remarkable, however, is his uncanny ability to scale straight plastic perpendicular walls. How else did this little wank-stain manage to climb out of the abortion bucket?

The dumb fuck also scoffed about knowing how to ride a scooter as possession of it was transferred to him from the previous owner. He then proceeded to gun it full-throttle thus inadvertently doing a wheelie which resulted in himself careering head-first, uncontrollably into the nearest parked car. And that is the reason why this evolutionary anomaly was walking around work with a bandaged head for so long. So he totalled his scooter, had to fork out for the damage to the other (parked) car in addition to cracking his head open. His brain not even being smart enough to realize that it is so stupid that it ought to wear a helmet as it needs all the assistance that it can get.

Humankind can be thankful that his genetic material will not be passed on to future generations. Anyway, you can't get pregnant when you are a poof. Some brochures for retirement homes, walking frames and electronic wheelchairs have been thoughtfully left for him in his booth. They are all out of his price range and he knows it. Eat some more Asian dick John you fuckin cunt-faced beeeaaarrrtch.

I heard from an ex-Nova student today that she tried to enrol at GCom in Sagamiono school. She was told there were 1200 students there and only 16 teachers and was refused.She was told to try Yokohama school. She refused.Good for her!Her friend who is a student there, told me it is difficult to get a lesson reservation."It was easier at Nova!"

Could it be that the two-faced bitch that was at Ofuna, Odawara , Chigasaki and Yokohama is at Yokohama GCom?　If so, my heart goes out to anyone connected to the school.

Strange. 1200 students and 16 teachers works out at 75 students per teacher. Which is a figure much less than at other branches. Yet she was turned away?

Yes. That's her.And such a sleek body. It looked like two dolphins were trapped in her skirt. In the end,I wonder how many quit because they couldn't stand working with her.I know of at least 12. She was a nasty piece of work, typical of what could happen after brown-nosing the likes of M.C..

Not sure about the situation at S. Ono. Maybe they just don't have the space or
more likely, just the usual incompetence they've shown throughout this whole fiasco.