too much stress!

Hello all.

Have been living in Japan for about a year. Recently I was offered a full time (seishain) job with a small IT company.

I've been with this company for only 4 weeks, and I don't know what to do.

The salary is very low, I knew that coming in (roughly 236,000 yen per month). Less than what I made as an English teacher. About 1/3rd of what I made doing similar work in the US last year. But after doing some calculations, we could live off of it, if my wife worked part time to help out with expenses and if the overtime pay and bonus was there as promised.

I am fine with reasonable amounts of unpaid overtime. This is Japan after all. However, I am working 20-25 hours of (unpaid) overtime every week. I am working from 9:15a until 10:30p nearly every week day. I have not been paid a single yen for overtime work, and I suspect that no one else has either.

We are also supposed to be coming in on holidays and weekends, to "study." Since I am new no one has come down on me for not going, but I dunno how long that will last.

On top of that, we are required to pass one IT certification per month and have been warned that if we don't keep up we will get penalized (salary).

As it is, if I break down my salary into an hourly wage, I make about 837 yen per hour! That doesn't include jobs we have to go do on weekends or early mornings (which are all considered "service" (unpaid) overtime).

I've talked to my wife and she actually wants me to quit and go back to teaching English, but I don't know. I worked so hard to get this job, it seems like such a shame to let it go like that. But I have to worry about my health too, I have no time to exercise except on the weekends, and I am definitely feeling the effects (gaining weight, trouble sleeping).

I don't know why I am posting this here, really. I guess I just want to read people's reacions/opinions. Especially people who have had similar experiences.

I hear your frustration, that's Japan for ya.
Listen to your wife, QUIT ASAP and teach English you will make way more.
I recommend part time teaching this way you can teach with multi English schools and have your own students as well, you'll make way more then working at just one school full time.

Despite the job being in the area you want to be in, you shouldn't put up with such bad conditions. Quit, go back to teaching and look for another IT job that is better that what you have now. There are no doubt better ones about. At least you will be earning more and enjoying a better lifestyle while searching.
If your wife is Japanese, then you will have no visa problems so don't put yourself through it and better your situation.

Good luck.

Some overtime might be normal but your regular overtime seems way overboard! The pay is crazy. You can perhaps get back to teaching for now until you find something else.
It seems like they're taking advantage of you whether you're Japanese or not. If the company can't generate a sound cashflow including overtime, I think it's a sinking ship already.
Some people might be attracted to the prospect of being a salaried employee (seishain) but the numbers don't add up to make it anywhere near an attractive offer.

are you american? if so you can check out federal jobs open to american citizens at usajobs or various military hr's that hire civilians. right now i don't think there's much but there are times they have a handful of jobs for american citizens esp in the IT field. check out http://www.cfay.navy.mil/Employment.htm from time to time.

and there's cfn http://www.careerforum.net/?lang=E with job listings. a lot of them are listed in japanese but you have a couple that lists in english and they don't necessarily require applicants to be a native japanese speaker.

Of course it is normal in Japan to work some unpaid extra hours. But I think yours are too much, at least compared to your salary.
I will move from Germany to Japan in June and I will get paid double as much as you and the half of my apartment costs will also be paid.
I also talked with my future co-workers and they work from 9 am to 7 pm (one hour break), so the work one unpaid extra hour at most a day. They don�ft work on weekends or holidays.
Also I only have about 2 years work experience after I got my degree and my Japanese language knowledge is also very limited (about JLPT 4 level).
So I think they rip you of and I would definitively quit that job asap and go back to teaching English if I were you.

If possible, try to stick it out for at least 6 months. Quitting after only 1 month would not impress future employers in this field. In the meantime, get more credentials and learn more Japanese at the company's expense. Change ways that you do thing--maybe you could bicycle to work for exercise, etc. Think long term (but this is easy for me to say).
BTW, the Ministry of Labor has been cracking down on non-paind overtime labor. McDonald's lost its battle and had to pay millions for its practice.

You are being exploited really. My husband works in IT- he only became a seishain last year so is probably in a similar position to yours, but he gets paid almost twice as much, plus bonuses twice a year. He also rarely works past about 6.30pm unless there is a big project nearing completion.

He works for a gaishikei company and although he is Japanese he says he would never work for a Japanese company again if he could help it because he is not willing to do hour upon hour of unpaid overtime.

If you can stand it, one of the above suggestions is good- try to stick it out for 6 months. That will look reasonable on a resume and might give the economy and job market some time to recover before you look for another job.

You are completely getting screwed at this job. Sure, Japanese working conditions aren't known as the most friendly but at the same time, you shouldn't have to put up with ridiculous conditions either. I guess it wouldn't hurt being around for six months but to me, that's only because:

- You want to stay in this field as a career.
- The economy really is crap, right now isn't a time to be choosing jobs when others are getting laid off, contracts cut-off, etc.
- There are people at your workplace who can help you network with other professionals for future positions and companies.

You signed a contract . . . right? What does it say about OT?

The twice ayear bonuses are normal here (summer/winter)will you receive them?

I've feel your frustration at times, but when bonus time comes I feel a little guilty. I maybe put in 20 OT hours a month and my salary is higher.

Thanks everyone for the replies, I really appreciate it.

Part of the problem is that we are stuck where we are (Nagoya), since my wife doesn't want to move away from her parents. Salaries seem to be much higher in Tokyo for instance (of course the cost of living there is much higher as well).

My responses to points raised in this topic:

Biking to work
~I would love it if I could do this, but it would be a 2 hour ride one way. Just don't have that kind of time unfortunately.

Contract
~I did sign a contract, and of course it says that any hours over 8 per day or any hours over 40 per week counts as paid overtime. From what I understand this is typical of Japanese companies... the contract is in step with the law, but what the paper says and what actually goes on are completely different things unfortunately.

Bonuses
~Allegedly we get two bonuses a year. In the job posting and interview they told me that this would amount to roughly 3 months of pay (total, 1.5 months pay per bonus) at least. According to the contract, however, the bonus is one month pay at least, dependent upon company performance. I found out after that the company is in the red but "this year we are going to turn around!" Besides, my first 3 months are a trial period and won't count towards the bonus (but I understand this is typical).

6 months
~I will try this, assuming they don't try to cut my pay for failing a certification exam. I have two coworkers that are great, so if I just focus on that aspect I think I can stick it out for 6 months.

Military/US jobs
~I'll look into this, thanks.

The thing that is really killing me about this job is the mandatory unpaid study sessions. We stop getting paid at 6:30p but we have to stay until at least 9:00p (assuming there is no class) sitting in the office studying (of course, if a customer should call we have to stop studying and do work for free). If there is a class that night (nearly always the case), we it in the office studying until 7:30p, then attend the mandatory unpaid class until 10:30p.

But everyone is so busy with projects that they work through the study sessions (for free). But then you have to drop what you are working on to attend the class... if that means you have to go back and finish your work when the class ends (10:30p) then you're just going to have to work past midnight and stay at a hotel that night.

Even if you have to go out the next morning and do some early morning work (2:00a) you still have to attend the class. It is madness!