Berlitz Union

Contracts

Berlitz prides itself as being 'the leader in language instruction for more than a century', while closer to home Berlitz Japan boasts it has the most flexible workforce in the industry. That's a lot to live up to! While the Berlitz Union is in no position to comment on the first claim, we are in a very strong position to comment on the second. The Berlitz Union has held consultations with the Labor Standards Office and the Ministry of Labor regarding this flexible workforce. We were seeking clarification on how Berlitz Japan could operate so efficiently without offering illegal contracts. The answer was a resounding. It can't.

In latter days, Berlitz Japan could offer instructors a full-time contract with a range of schedules to choose from. These days, the only full-time contracts offered to foreign national staff are management and the odd specialist positions. Apart from a scattering of our well regarded Senior Instructors, full-time contracts are but a distant memory. Schedules are now based on the needs of the company. Expect to work on Saturday and Sunday.

Berlitz is gradually cutting salaries and increasing working hours. Full-time contracts are no longer offered to instructors. Minimum Guarantee 30/30 contracts (30 lessons with a 30 lesson availability) were replaced in 1992 and 1993 with 35/40 contracts and 35/40 contracts have as of 2005 been replaced by 40/40 and 45/45 contracts.

All Berlitz offer these days are part-time contracts that are designed to fit within the needs and requirements of each Language Center.

Contracts Available
Minimum Guarantee 40/40 Instructor Contract
Minimum Guarantee 45/45 Lead Instructor Contract
Minimum Guarantee 20/20 Instructor Contract
No Guarantee Pay Per Lesson Instructor Contract (Some English Instructors and all Non English Language Instructors)

PAY PER LESSON CONTRACT (1 YEAR)
Starting at 1,920 yen per 40 minute unit.
With the Pay Per Lesson contract the employee is available for agreed upon schedule during which Berlitz will schedule lessons (if lessons are available). Click here to view in pdf format.

This contract is best defined as: a one year agreement between two parties that offers the possibility of something at a set rate but with no guarantees. Under Labor Standards Law the vagueness of the Pay Per Lesson Contract brings it into a more than gray area. It is therefore regarded as illegal. 

At best, this contract provides Instructors with a high earning potential over busy periods and the possibility of more flexibility (explains why some members are reluctant to stamp it out). With these potential benefits come the horrors. It's not unusual for an Instructor to be scheduled to start work at 7.00am and finish at 10.00pm. Imagine working 2 lessons in the morning, maybe a couple more in the afternoon and then 3 or 4 in the evening week in week out and then being obliged to work at the weekend too. At the larger Language Centers the Pay Per Lesson Contract can be a viable option all year round but if you visit one of the smaller Language Centers then you'll see the real damage the Per Lesson Contract inflicts on the well-being of Berlitz Instructors. If the contract is so bad then why don't Instructors just close off part of their availability?

An Instructor tried just that and had their request refused. The Berlitz Union filed a grievance with Berlitz and received an intimidating and predatory response. Berlitz advised the Berlitz Union that if our member was prepared to sit with staff while they explained to the students that their lessons would be cancelled because the Instructor wouldn't be available then they would consider the request. Talk about a touchy response! Berlitz want Instructor availability and loyalty but can't provide a clear working schedule or minimum guarantee of lessons. Sorry Berlitz, this response just doesn't make sense. Why should you have to cancel lessons for a teacher with no set schedule or guarantees. When the quiet periods come to the Language Centers and the Per Lesson Instructors are scrimping for the odd lesson here and there you won't be making any allowances. You can't have the best of both worlds on this one...more to follow!

UPDATE
This case caused no end of bad feeling throughout the Kansai region. Instructors are well aware of how the Per Lesson Contract works and were not amused by the further deterioration and misuse of an already illegal system.

Berlitz Lock-up
Berlitz have agreed that Pay Per Lesson Instructors do not have to lock up Berlitz language Centers. Berlitz will restrict the locking up to Contract Instructors and Per Lesson Instructors who 'volunteer'. Berlitz understands that asking Pay Per Lesson Instructors to lock up puts them in an unpaid work situation. Contact the Berlitz Union if your rights are being abused.

MINIMUM GUARANTEE CONTRACT (MG 35/40) No longer offered
250,000 yen minimum per month.
Click here to view in pdf format.
(Other Language Department Instructors have their own special MG Contracts. They exist in the imagination but not on paper.)

With an MG 35/40 contract the employee must be available for 40 x 40 minute units per week and must work for 35 units of the 40 available (23.5 hours within 26.6 hours).
Numerous varieties of this contract exist throughout Language Centers in Japan. Some Language Centers have merged the Per Lesson flexibility into the MG 35/40 contract requiring Instructors to be on call from 7.00am - 10.00pm. This is how Berlitz maintains its profits and remains the most cost efficient company in the language industry. Example hybrid contracts include:

FUKUOKA
MG 35/75 contract but hired as an MG35/40 (An MG35/40 on paper with a horrendous floating schedule and weekend availability).

Fukuoka Floaters
In April 2003, we reported on the flexible floating contracts being offered to Instructors at Fukuoka L.C. Instructors were under the impression that these contracts were a temporary measure and they would soon be put on the standard MG35/40 contracts. Well, 5 months after hiring and not a single MG35/40 contract in site. It's hardly surprising really! Why take Instructors off contracts that are saving the L.C. money. Why should Berlitz care that the 'flexible floaters' keep Instructors in 'lesson limbo'. The new Instructors at Fukuoka were hired under their current contracts in February 2003. The Fukuoka I.S. has kept them on these contracts although paperwork officially registers these contracts as MG35/40s. We can envisage the Labour Standards Office making a simple request for rosters and all those floaters will be converted to out of contract and rest date rate lessons. The Berlitz Union requests all readers to submit details of any irregular contracts they are aware of. We will display the results on the Berlitz Union website. http://berlitz.generalunion.org

HOKKAIDO
MG35/Indefinite. Hokkaido changes the teacher's contract schedule at will to fit in with the timetable. This is a great way to make sure the language center doesn't lose money. A typical day will provide an MG teacher 3 lessons - 4 breaks - 1 lesson - 1 break, etc.

NAMBA, Osaka
MG35/40 Contract Instructors are being hired to work 6 days a week including Sunday. Instructors are better off going to NOVA. This is a bad sign of a Language Centers' performance when contracts stoop to this level.
August 2003 UPDATE
Namba continues to hire MG floating contract Instructors. Instructors are given a minimum guarantee of 35 forty minute unit lessons within a waiting period of 77-85 units lessons (based on a 5 day schedule). In total this amounts to an availability of between fifty seven hours and twenty minutes: 57:20 to sixty three hours and twenty minutes: 63:20.

NAGOYA
MG 50/50 Contracts. (Burnout)

OTHER LANGUAGE DEPARTMENT
The Other Language Department at Berlitz beats them all. Instructors are given a rest day but it means little when there are lessons to be covered. Some Instructors are available for up to 111 units per week. This amounts to eighty two hours and forty minutes: 82:40. A number of Other Language Instructors are guaranteed a minimum of 120 units per month. A unit is defined as a teaching unit (variable payment) or a travel unit (1,400 yen). This contract therefore provides a guarantee starting from 168,000 yen. As some Other Language Instructors have their visa sponsored by Berlitz this puts instructors in an illegal working environment as immigration law requires a guaranteed minimum of 250,000 yen per month.

SENRI CHUO, Osaka
MG35/40 Instructors are required to work on Sundays as a regular working day. Sunday is the official rest day at Berlitz as can be noted in the Policy and Procedures manual under Wage and Salary Administration. 

UMEDA
Umeda Language Center has tried to request Per Lesson Instructors to stick to their fixed and open availability as if they were MG Instructors. All this commitment to Berlitz while still only receiving the per lesson guarantee; a one year agreement between two parties that offers the possibility of something at a set rate but with no guarantees. This was always a recipe for disaster.
Umeda LC has now decided to hire MG35/40 contract Instructors who are required to work on Saturdays and Sundays as regular working days. Again, you are better off going to NOVA.

MINIMUM GUARANTEE CONTRACT (MG 20/20) 
170,000 yen minimum per month.
With an MG 20/20 contract the employee must work for and be available for 20 x 40 minute units per week. These units are usually split between evening shifts from 6.15pm - 9.10pm and weekends. Even these very limited part-time contracts haven't gotten past the floating schedule mentality that Berlitz is so keen to conserve. For example;

ATSUGI
Atsugi Language Center has a habit of randomly assigning contract lessons outside of an MG20/20 Instructor's schedule. According to Berlitz Work Rules, such scheduling should result in an automatic bonus payment as teachers have neither been informed nor agreed to a change in working conditions. Do teachers receive a bonus payment? You must be joking. What does Berlitz feel about the current scheduling practices at Atsuji Language Center?

"After looking at the contracts in Atsugi we feel that the current situation with regard to schedules is beneficial to both the employees and the company, if this is unacceptable to the employees then we agree that this flexible approach should be discontinued for all employees and fixed contract for all employees in Atsugi should be the rule..."

Berlitz was made aware that such practices are unacceptable but the contract lessons continue to be moved around. It's a simple case of one hand doesn't know what the other is doing! Human Resources issue requests to its management who fail to make the necessary changes. Berlitz admits that its management has communication difficulties but is unable or unwilling to assert any real guidance.

Remember!
Berlitz has a set of Work Rules that it must legally abide by and this includes the way it issues contracts. If you accept to work a hybrid contract then you are making it worse for yourself and others. Berlitz won't remember you for your flexibility at a later date as they may initially promise. The bottom line is that Berlitz is just looking out to cut costs and maximize profits.
 

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