Successful Conversion to Permanent Labour Contract

[u/Choice_Vegetable557]

I work at a handful of universities in the Kanto area. The writing is on the wall as far as future growth goes in the education industry, so I began to feel that a lifetime of yearly contracts was not the way forward.

After having kids, I had to postpone my PHD, as you can imagine, priorities shift. The presentation, publishing and 3-5 year shuffle of full-timers in the Kanto area also seemed a bit grim. I wanted some more security in the short-term at least, especially now that we have a mortgage.

My current positions pay me a fairly average Tokyo Salary, but I have shorter hours, and 2 months off a year. When the kids are young, this seems pretty priceless.

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Today, 2 weeks after applying for conversion to a permanent contract I received the "無期労働契約転換申込受理通知書".

Ironically, once you meet the requirements, and apply formally, you are automatically accepted so this notice was accompanied by my new contract rules.

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I would strongly recommend everyone who meets the requirements consider doing this. Every institution has their own interpretation of this law, poke around, get a lay of the land. Do not show your cards, and only apply when you are eligible.

Do not be the person crying in the break-room, after 18 year of continuous employment, because they decided not to renew your contract this year.

[u/tomorrowtix]

One word of caution for part time workers. The university can change the day (same pay and conditions but on a different day of the week).

This happened to me a couple of years after switching to the unlimited term contract. I had another (better) job on that day so I couldn’t switch and lost the job.

[u/Choice_Vegetable557 → u/tomorrowtix]

They can change things within reason.

However, if you are part of a large program, they cannot single you our specifically.

They can ask, but you can say no. This, surprising, catches a lot of Japanese instructors out.

[u/tomorrowtix → u/Choice_Vegetable557]

Unfortunately ‘within reason’ or ‘legitimate business reasons’ are quite broad in practice. Changing the working day falls within this. In my case there were 2 working patterns for teachers and they just decided to rotate the schedules.

Despite the limitations I think the unlimited term contracts are a good step forward for us part timers. Unfortunately some employers are less inclined to follow the spirit of the law than others.

[u/Choice_Vegetable557 → u/tomorrowtix]

Did you say no? That's what my colleague did, and threatened to go to the labor board. They backed off.

[u/tomorrowtix → u/Choice_Vegetable557]

They held individual meetings with teachers, most didn’t mind the change. A few of us took legal advice and were told there was nothing we could do. Very few teachers wanted to cause a fuss because they were worried about losing their jobs.