In recent negotiations, the union formally demanded that Altia Central increase wages and extend contracts through March 31. 

Every March, Assistant Language Teachers (ALTs) dispatched by Altia Central finish the school year – but they don’t just walk away with a lighter schedule. They walk into a legal and financial trap.

Altia Central ends its contracts on March 28, rather than March 31. That three-day difference has a hidden cost: workers lose their eligibility for Japan’s employer-based health and pension coverage at the end of the month. To remain legally insured, teachers must enroll in National Health Insurance (NHI) and National Pension and are charged for a full month of coverage, even though they only need it for three days.

The combined bill can easily exceed ¥50,000 – or a quarter of the monthly salary Altia Central is offering its Kyoto Prefecture-assigned workers this year.

This is not a mistake. It’s a cost-shifting strategy. Ending contracts before the last day of the month means Altia Central avoids its share of those insurance contributions and offloads them onto its workers, many of whom are already financially stretched after a year on low wages and limited benefits.

Worse still, the company does not warn new hires, even those coming from abroad. Some learn about the bill in their final month; others are hit later by demands from the pension office. Either way, it causes a last-minute financial scramble for workers already being paid a pittance.

When raised in Collective Bargaining, Altia deflected responsibility by suggesting workers could simply enroll in National Health Insurance or continue their coverage voluntarily – sidestepping the reality that this shift creates a burdensome gap in coverage and cost for workers during a critical time. Again, they have failed to explain this to incoming employees, and enrollment is a bureaucratic task that can only be done during the workday.

Let’s be clear: extending contracts to March 31 isn’t an administrative nightmare. The only “burden” on the company is figuring out how to assign three days of work to the people they employ – because make no mistake, ALTs dispatched by Altia are Altia employees. And just as the company finds work for them between April 1 and the start of the school year, they can do the same at the end. This isn’t about logistics. It’s about priorities, and who’s expected to bear the cost of corporate convenience.

This kind of treatment targets workers at their most vulnerable – especially if Altia fails to win the next year’s contract. Even those rehired may face a worsening deal: in 2023, Altia paid ¥240,000/month with a ¥180,000 completion bonus. This year, it’s ¥210,000 and ¥60,000 – nearly a 13% decrease, even as unions and even the government have continued to support pay increases in all sectors.

We await a response that justifies this exploitative policy. But for now, let this serve as a warning to anyone whose contract doesn’t last the full month: you shouldn’t have to pay for their savings.