Initially, the company tried explaining away their refusal to pay based on the fact that the teacher had “broken the contract” by resigning. This is an invalid reason. Japanese law gives you the right to resign at any point in a contract. And, your resignation does not nullify your right to outstanding paid leave.

So after the second refusal to pay, and with the union helping to guide the member, a formal complaint was submitted to the Labour Standards Office (LSO). The union was then able to act on behalf of the member and liaise with the LSO, providing evidence etc.

And low and behold – the LSO made a ruling against KIS and they were ordered to pay the teacher. Within 8 weeks of filing the complaint, KIS deposited the sum of 102,330 yen into the member’s bank account. This included payment for the portion of your holidays the company illegally sets. (see more below)

We hope that this will help all KIS teachers, but we know that with the culture of intimidation at KIS, many will not feel very confident to do this on their own. You need a union at your side and we welcome you to join the union to guarantee your rights, and force KIS to accept that the law applies to them, too.

Paid annual leave issues at KIS

1. Refusal to grant holidays during term time is illegal. You have the right to use your annual leave when you desire.

2. KIS does not give the minimum as required by law. Depending on your length of service, full-time employees are entitled to between 10 and 20 days. These do not include forced holidays when the school is closed.

3. KIS cannot set your paid holiday unless it is agreed upon by a properly elected workers representative elected by at least half of the employees in an employee run election. KIS does not do this.

4. And as proven above, you have the right to use any outstanding leave before the end of your contract.