The General Union has scored major victories at three universities, forcing them to finally enrol part-time teachers with 10+ koma in the public insurance that they’ve been legally entitled to for years. But enrolment isn’t enough. Now we’re demanding these universities take full responsibility for the financial damage they’ve caused.
The 20-Hour Reality Check
If you’re teaching 10 koma per week, you’re working at least 20 hours and since 2016 you have been eligible as Employee Health and Pension Insurance (also known as Shakai Hoken – and Shigaku Kyosai in universities) eligibility expanded to cover employees working 20+ hours at workplaces with 501 or more employees. Many universities easily met that threshold. Even smaller universities had no excuse after 2022, when the requirement dropped to 101+ employees.
And that’s not the only scandal: the 20-hour threshold for employment insurance has existed for decades. Universities should have been enrolling eligible part-time teachers years ago. People have been systematically excluded from benefits that they were legally entitled to for far longer than most realize.
What YOU’ve Actually Lost
The financial impact goes far beyond missing a few benefits. You’ve been systematically short-changed across multiple areas:
Health Insurance Costs: You’ve been paying dramatically more for national health insurance, which charges per family member, while Shigaku Kyosai would have covered all your dependents under one policy.
Pension Gap: With potentially 8 years of missing Shakai Hoken coverage since 2016, your retirement income has taken a massive hit. Private school mutual aid provides significantly better pension benefits than the national system.
And let’s hope to God that you never suffered a disabling injury or illness as you would have been deprived of disability pension benefits.
Medical Leave: Every time you were hospitalized or seriously ill or even off work longer than three days, you missed out on injury and sickness allowance that would have replaced your wages.
Maternity Benefits: If you had children, your maternity leave was unpaid. National health insurance doesn’t cover maternity leave pay – only private school mutual aid does.
Employment Insurance Benefits: This is where the losses really multiply. Parental leave for both men and women is covered by employment insurance – meaning every child you’ve had represents missed paid leave. Years of non-enrolment also means when you do face unemployment, you’ll qualify for shorter benefit periods and lower payments.
Time to Fight Back
The union’s success at three universities proves these institutions can be forced to do what’s right. But we’re not stopping at enrolment. We’re demanding full accountability for years of financial damage.
We’ll fight in negotiations for universities to take responsibility and provide fair compensation for what you’ve lost. For those institutions that refuse to acknowledge the harm they’ve caused, the General Union is prepared to file lawsuits on behalf of members to recover lost benefits and damages.
Your university short-changed your family’s security for years. Now it’s time they pay the price.