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

The Japanese press has caught whiff of what instructors still hanging on with neo-Nova already know: many are losing their jobs through some creative firing. UPDATED

Here's a translation of an article in the :

G.education "fires" foreign instructors

Nagoya-based g.education, which took over operations of failed English language school Nova, has effectively "fired" some its foreign instructors by not renewing some their contracts despite promises last November that it would re-hire them. G.education says it looked at the instructors who had contracts carried over from Nova and did not renew those it deemed had poor work attitudes. The General Union said it will file a complaint with the Osaka Labour Bureau on Friday stating that it is an illegal termination since g.education failed to sufficiently explain the contract period when instructors were re-hired.

According to g.education, it has rehired approximately 200 Japanese staff and 1,200 foreign instructors since November and carried over the employment contracts instructors already had with Nova. Instructors who were near the end of their contracts finished in December and January.

When those contracts were up, g.education decided not to renew the contracts of those instructors who were "away a lot" or had "a lot of student complaints." G.education says this amounts to about 30% of instructors but did not give a concrete number.

Since January, the General Union has offered advice to about 200 instructors who were refused contract renewals. Says Katsuji Yamahara, head of the General Union, "G.education has not given instructors a clear explanation about continuing to work after the Nova contract period. The number of instructors refused contract renewals is higher than 30% and there are also some who have been let go even though their contracts have yet to expire."

外国人講師を次々「解雇」　ＮＯＶＡ継承のジー社

2008年02月14日

倒産した英会話学校大手ＮＯＶＡの事業を継承した「ジー・エデュケーション」（名古屋市）が、昨年１１月に再雇用した外国人講師の雇用契約を一部更新せず、事実上解雇していることがわかった。ジー社側は「ＮＯＶＡから引き継いだ契約期間が切れた講師のうち、勤務態度が悪いなどの講師を更新しなかった」としている。一方、講師を支援する労働組合は「再雇用時に契約期間に関する説明を尽くしておらず、違法な雇い止めだ」として、１５日に大阪労働局に申告する。

ジー社側によると、同社は昨年１１月以降、ＮＯＶＡの社員約２００人と外国人講師約１２００人を再雇用。講師については、「ＮＯＶＡと講師が結んだ雇用契約期間を継承した」といい、期間が残り少なかった講師は同１２月と今年１月に満了を迎えた。

その際、ジー社側は「休みが多い」「受講生からの抗議が多い」などと判断した講師については契約を更新しなかったという。更新しなかった講師数については「期間満了を迎えた講師の３割」と説明。具体的な数は明らかにしていない。

講師の支援労組「ゼネラルユニオン」（大阪市）には１月以降、契約更新を拒否されたとする約２００人の講師から相談が相次いでいるという。山原克二委員長は「ジー社は講師に対し、ＮＯＶＡの雇用契約期間を引き継ぐと明確に説明していない。更新拒否は３割より多く、契約期間が残っているのに雇用を打ち切られた講師もいる」と話している。

Update 02/15

As mentioned yesterday, the General Union has filed their complaint with the Labour Standards Board in Osaka. The good thing about this is that it is all over the print and broadcast news. That glug-glug-glug sound you hear is g.education's reputation going down the tubes. Here's the :

Ex-NOVA teachers file complaint about getting laid off by new owners

About 20 foreign language teachers formerly employed by NOVA Corp. filed a complaint with a labor standards inspection office here on Friday, claiming that they were illegally fired by the companies that took over the failed language school chain.

"Unfair dismissal!" chanted the former NOVA teachers as they joined a prep rally held by the General Union in front of the Osaka Chuo Labor Standards Inspection Office in Osaka's Chuo-ku on Friday before they filed the complaint with the office.

Nagoya-based G.communication Group bought out NOVA after it filed for protection from creditors in October last year, leaving NOVA under bankruptcy proceedings.

However, G.communication Group fired about 800 former NOVA teachers at the end of December, overturning an earlier agreement in November that the company would in principle hire all the former NOVA teachers who wanted to work for the new employer, according to the General Union.

Furthermore, the company refused to renew employment contracts for about 200 other teachers, leaving more than 1,000 teachers unemployed. The dismissed teachers claim that the company violated the Labor Standards Law.

"The company violated the law in that it did not sign employment contracts with the teachers when they started working in November. The company's dismissal procedures also breach the law in that it notified the teachers of their dismissal via e-mail and without notice," said a representative of the General Union.

However, G.communication Group says they had good reasons to fire them.

"In the first place, we did not promise to hire all the teachers, but only as many as possible. We have reasons for the dismissal as some teachers refused to be transferred to other locations (in Japan)," said a representative of the company.

H/T Japan666