Japan Times: NOVA to close hundreds of schools?

27 Responses to “Japan Times: NOVA to close hundreds of schools?”

1. Jeremy on September 21st, 2007 3:52 pm

   You are da man Ken. They are done. Just put a fork in em’.
   Some of my daughters classmates go there and I am thinking of
   starting some classes on Saturdays at my house after they go under.
   It would be an easy pick-up. No cash investement required. So, I
   should say thanx to Nova. I met my ol’ lady there 13 years ago and
   will be picking up some students.

   Any predictions as to what English schools will pick up their
   students? How does that work anyway?

   Jeremy

2. B.A. on September 21st, 2007 4:39 pm

   I work at Nova in a small city.
   Well a titled instructor is basically like a trainer, assistant trainer, block trainer, manager or whatever other boss title they might have. Usually there is one per branch but sometimes there might be more or less (like 2 branches share one or 2 per branch etc). (Regular teachers are not titled instructors). So if you say on average about 1 per branch and more than 900 branches. But really I don’t know how many there are per branch in big cities since I live in a smaller one. I was paid on the 19th but I am not a titled instructor.

3. A.T on September 21st, 2007 4:39 pm

   Title Instructor is a nova-ism for the instructor supervisor/ trainer each branch.

   A.T’s and B.T’s are titled instructor.

   A.T’s - Assistant Trainer, usually one in each branch, just one step up from a regular teacher, teachs like everyone else, does observations on the other teachers, a little bit of training, some admin work, liases with the Japanese branch manager and the AAM - (Assistant area manager who is in charge of about a dozen or so schools). Gets a mere 10000yen a month -
   A.T is like a foreman in each branch, bigger branches have more that one.

   BT is block trainer - a more senior instructor who does the initial training of new instructors and kids training etc, more follow training and is like the AAM’s right hand man, there are usually two BT’s for each AAM, so each BT has about 6 schools or more to look after. B.T’s get perhaps 20000yen a month more.

   Perhaps there are 500-600 Titled instructors.

   (AAM is not considered a titled teacher - more a manager)

4. Tyler Durden on September 21st, 2007 9:22 pm

   I am a titled instructor and that entails conducting Training and evaluations, a little scheduling and quality control.

   We WERE due to be paid on 14th but this was held over until Wednesday and only then didnt appear. Today was slated to be the payout day but we heard that this will now be next Wednesday.

   Gutted? Yes we are. Those of us with Shakai Hoken insurance (and a kind of morbid fascination for how bad it can get) are hanging on til the end for the Givt Payout after Mr Saruhashi gets off his cowardly, no business acumen atall arse and files for bankruptcy.

   Being kept in the dark is the worst thing about this all.

   Trimming the slower schools is finally a sensible idea. Shame it should have happened 3 years ago though.

5. Jeremy on September 21st, 2007 9:57 pm

   Tyler, it is too late. Just go on interviews now but do not quit if
   you want the gov’t payout which is NOT 100% certain. There have
   been English schools in the past that were paid and ones that were
   not paid. Don’t count on ever getting that money. You can collect
   some unemployment if you have paid into the system. Remember there
   will be thousands of you competing for only a handful of jobs out there
   so… good luck.

6. Ken Worsley on September 21st, 2007 11:22 pm

   Jeremy brings up a good point. If you have not been paid, quitting means that you will never be paid. You basically give up the unmade salary payments, unless you make a claim to the bankruptcy court after goes under. Not many individuals have the time or inclination to do this.

   However, I don’t agree that the government payout is not 100% certain. It is. If you work there and they file for bankruptcy (legally) and you haven’t been paid, you will receive about 70-80% of what they owed you from the government. This is NOT from Hello Work and has nothing to do with Hello Work.

7. The end is nigh? « The Poetist on September 22nd, 2007 12:48 am

   […] More articles on the topic: threads from letsjapan.org article from Japan Economy News & Blog […]

8. Jeremy on September 22nd, 2007 3:09 pm

   Ken- that was the case with NCB (or whatever that school was in
   Tokyo) that went under last year, I mean they got about 80% of their
   pay. However, there have been schools in the past in which people were
   not paid, for instance, the Nova knock-off TOZA. They went under
   and got zippo in terms of salaries. The government is not
   obligated to pay but does so due to the KINDNESS society it is, or
   you can say “socialism”.

9. BT on September 22nd, 2007 6:01 pm

   I am a BT, and we have yet to be paid.

   Like AT said before, we are basically the Assistant Area Manager’s right hand man/woman. We do initial training and follow up training. More importantly, we also do almost 100% of instructor evaluations that matter. For example, off probation evaluations or contract evaluations, which directly impact instructor salary.

   All of the ATs and BTs in my area have called in sick for days on end, we have sent faxes and emails, and have been in constant contact with the Area Manager, to no avail. There is NO WAY NOVA can survive this: no BTs and ATs= no evaluations, no training, no nothing. It is scary how little information everyone has gotten.

   Also, apartment rent has not been paid in my area yet, and dozens of instructors are going to be homeless soon.

10. Ken Worsley on September 23rd, 2007 1:21 am

    BT: I’d like to see some evidence of non-payment of rent, something we can go to the media with. Do you think we’d be ale to get something together? I mean, payslips showing rent deductions and statements from the employee that the money was not paid towards their rent.

11. sbaf on September 23rd, 2007 8:15 am

    The trainers that haven’t been paid are essentially anyone who holds any position that is higher than a basic teacher.
    At the MM center there might be about 50 or so of these trainers. Perhaps more. None of whom have been paid.

    I’ve heard that a few days ago there was a small protest outside an office. Apparently about 40 or so teachers attended, most of them being trainers. Could someone who was present at this protest please confirm the numbers/positions and location of the protest?

    I have also heard rumors that there will be a big and important meeting with some very senior managers/executives of the company taking place on Tuesday (Sept 25th) to decide on the next move the company should make. Correct me if I am wrong but I think this is also the same day that the trainers were promised that they would be paid on. Basically Tuesday might very well be the date where Nova teachers find out whether they should keep coming to work or not.

12. Jeremy on September 23rd, 2007 10:41 am

    Ken- I just found out that the teachers may not be paid by the
    government. It is not the law. Companies that have been bailed
    out and workers paid were under special circumstances. I think
    in the case of Nova, it is not special and the workers will not
    be paid.

    Jeremy

13. Ken Worsley on September 23rd, 2007 10:55 am

    Jeremy, have any links? I know that it depends on the type of bankruptcy filed for, but in nearly all bankruptcy cases that involve a total cessation of operations, the type I, or full liquidation bankruptcy is pursued. In this case, unpaid wages are picked up by the government. I don’t see Nova entering bankruptcy protection for the sake of restructuring, since they would most likely simply be rejected from this status.

14. resigned on September 23rd, 2007 11:37 am

    I was an AT at NOVA. I went to the Labor Standards department to seek what my options were.
    They believed NOVA was going bankrupt (although they couldnt say for sure) and all advice they gave was based around NOVA going bankrupt.
    The 30days notice that is spelled out in the NOVA contract means nothing. Labor Laws in Japan stipulate that 2 weeks notice is the minimum notice before quiting.
    Any teachers with paid holidays remaining can use these as your 2 weeks notice.

    I have now quit and as NOVA broke their contract (article 8 (2) the employer shall pay the employee on or about a fixed constant date each month. And numerous other salary based contract rules) I am still eligible to get unemployment insurance. If you quit without a reason you are ineligible.

    Now I have the awful wait until Tuesday to see if i get my August paycheck. (I hold little hope for Setembers paycheck come October 15th.)

15. BT on September 23rd, 2007 11:24 pm

    Ken,

    I heard from my boss that we should not open our payslips until we actually get a deposit into our bank account, because legally it could be seen as us accepting that we got paid. Not sure if thats a rumor or not. So we can’t open them until Tuesday. Its very difficult to actually prove anything, because the chain of command has a huge gap between my direct manager and the management that pays rents, gives out paychecks, etc. For example, the faxes that went out saying payment was delayed only had the CEO’s name on it, but no signature, no Hanko, no department, nothing, so I doubt anybody could be held responsible.

    Also, I talked to the labor standards office in my prefecture, and they said that NOVA actually has to be late paying 2x before they can take any action!!! Then you have to wait 3-4 months at least before you could see any kind of unemployment money, based on your previous salary. AND that only amounts to about 40% of your paycheck. Insane.

    Any teachers that could not pay bills back home or loans or anything because of the delay can possibly take legal action against NOVA. You have to send a general request to head office to get the ball rolling.

16. billy shears on September 24th, 2007 12:49 pm

    A notice has been posted (in Japanese and its English translation), purportedly from Sahashi, telling staff that Nova is over the worse and there is no need to worry about future salary payments !
    Re. unemployment payments…whether you are eligible for these or not is nothing to do with the “kindness” of the society (lol), but whether you have made specific contributions (about 3,800 yen a month) to the unemployment benefit scheme. Part-time workers are ineligible for this kind of insurance, so will receive nothing (as, of course, will non-contributors).

17. billy shears on September 24th, 2007 2:05 pm

    Here’s a link to useful information for those considering quitting Nova (or any other job in Japan).

    http://www.tfemploy.go.jp/en/spec/spec_1d.html

18. Jeremy on September 24th, 2007 9:55 pm

    billy,

    You misunderstand what I was saying. Ken and I are discussing whether the
    government would pay your salary after goes under, not whether you would
    receive unemployment benefits. Those are two separate issues. I am saying
    that the government does not have to pay the salaries that you did not receive.
    Ken is saying that they would pay the salaries that aren’t being paid. Unemployment
    has nothing to do with that discussion. Sorry if I confused you.

    Jeremy

19. Jeremy on September 24th, 2007 9:58 pm

    “after Nova goes under”. I forgot to say, “Nova”.

    Jeremy

20. Ken Worsley on September 25th, 2007 2:10 am

    Unemployment benefits and unpaid wages in the event of a corporate bankruptcy in Japan are two entirely different things that are dealt with by two different parts of the government. If Nova goes bankrupt, Hello Work is not who’s going to be paying your unpaid salary.

21. Michael on September 25th, 2007 2:45 pm

    As mentioned above, last Friday Nova promised that Titled Instructors would get paid today (Tuesday 25th), but this did not happen (in Kyushu at least). ‘We expect it to go in tomorrow’ is (yet again) the official line.
    The only reason I’m going into work tomorrow is to recruit privates.

22. Jeremy on September 25th, 2007 5:04 pm

    Good job Michael-get those privates!

23. Jeremy on September 25th, 2007 7:48 pm

    After reading that article that Ken was quoted in, I feel that
    Suhashi is crazy and in denial. He will probably not declare
    bankruptcy and just let things go. This way it will be drawn out
    and harder for the teachers to get paid, if ever. The good
    thing is that METI knows about them already.

24. Ben on September 28th, 2007 12:25 pm

    Hey everybody,

    just wondering if the AT’s got paid yet? The last message was posted on the 25th, and I’m now on my weekend. Just curious if anybody has an update about wages being paid. Thanks.

25. Ken Worsley on September 28th, 2007 12:46 pm

    Ben, word has it that pay for Ats came through around noon today.

26. Ben on September 28th, 2007 1:26 pm

    Thanks Ken. I guess that’s a little bit of good news, but I’ve got a feeling there won’t be much more to come.

27. Kevin on October 9th, 2007 11:22 pm

    I’ve been in Japan 14 years. And I saw this happen to one of Japan’s formerly much larger chains 8 years ago or so. Things happened suddenly and they were all out of work in less than a month.

    I run a small group of mid-sized English schools in Niigata, Japan. I will be looking for new teachers in the not so far future. So, for those of you who want a much better job
    please feel free to email me at kevinjapan@msn.com

    Send me a resume, picture, and cover letter.

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