National/Shigaku Pension - Does this look right?

[captainspoke]

In my case there was a "taishokin" payment of about one month's salary for every year worked. I have heard some places will raise a bit that if you work more than 20 years. You can check that policy with the accounting office or better yet with someone who has recently retired.

I've heard a number of way that taishokukin might be calculated--and even where I worked, this was altered in the employer's favor, at the expense of newer hires (I was grandfathered in). So for younger workers at the same workplace, I couldn't give much advice, other than to check the rulebook.

Tho there are some similarities, how it's arrived at from one workplace to another can vary in the details. And in some cases, there can be some surprises.

[Tokyo]

I was cleaning out old papers when I stumbled on my university’s formula for calculating retirement bonuses. It was obviously designed to reward those who hung around longer.

For example if you had retired after working 10 years you would get 7.5 months of your final salary. But if you died on the job the bonus goes up to 10 months.

If you worked 15 years you would get 23 months, but 28 months if retiring or dying after your 50th birthday.

Those around for 30 years - and quite a few of my colleagues have been - would get a generous 60 months of salary. Unfortunately, most non-Japanese were ineligible for receiving retirement bonuses, or regular July and December bonuses, as they were contract workers.

But this is the example at just one University. The amounts and different stages vary enormously.

[RetireJapan]

This is my uni's scale (it was on the uni public website, so I presume it isn't secret or anything)

From left to right, the columns are: in the case of quitting, finishing a contract/retirement/illness/death outside of work, finishing a contract/retirement/etc, dying at work, finishing a contract/retiring/etc.

The longer you hold on, the better the conditions. I got slightly more than the 14.46 months salary I was expecting after 13 years, but I am not sure why. I suspect it might have been some kind of kyosai thing.

[ClearAsMud]

... more than the 14.46 months salary I was expecting after 13 years, but I am not sure why.

Tohoku University publicly discloses its taishoku teate kitei in full, a 13-page document that can be downloaded here:
https://www.bureau.tohoku.ac.jp/kohyo/j ... ekitei.pdf

or viewed online here:
https://www.hokudai.ac.jp/jimuk/reiki/r ... 00459.html

Now, this is only speculation because so many different conditions are mentioned, I'm not really motivated to read through the entire document or qualified to interpret it, and there's always the possibility that special circumstances apply in your case, but the regulation you indicate applies to you (Article 4) mentions in Paragraph 3 an upward adjustment of 37.5% per year of annual calculated benefits for those (some of those?) employed between 11 and 15 years.

Your initial taishoku teiate estimate of about 5.2 million yen (as mentioned in the blog) results in an average annual amount of 400,000 yen. Thus, 400,000 x 37.5% = 150,000 x 13 = 1,900,000 yen, which, when added to your original estimate, would come pretty close to matching your final amount. I suspect that something like this in the published regulations is the likely reason for the pleasant surprise you got. But if you want closure, you should talk to the personnel office about the calculations (I'm a little surprised they didn't break the amount down for you in their official notification).

[RetireJapan]

Tohoku University publicly discloses its taishoku teate kitei in full, a 13-page document that can be downloaded here:
https://www.bureau.tohoku.ac.jp/kohyo/j ... ekitei.pdf

or viewed online here:
https://www.hokudai.ac.jp/jimuk/reiki/r ... 00459.html

Now, this is only speculation because so many different conditions are mentioned, I'm not really motivated to read through the entire document or qualified to interpret it, and there's always the possibility that special circumstances apply in your case, but the regulation you indicate applies to you (Article 4) mentions in Paragraph 3 an upward adjustment of 37.5% per year of annual calculated benefits for those (some of those?) employed between 11 and 15 years.

Your initial taishoku teiate estimate of about 5.2 million yen (as mentioned in the blog) results in an average annual amount of 400,000 yen. Thus, 400,000 x 37.5% = 150,000 x 13 = 1,900,000 yen, which, when added to your original estimate, would come pretty close to matching your final amount. I suspect that something like this in the published regulations is the likely reason for the pleasant surprise you got. But if you want closure, you should talk to the personnel office about the calculations (I'm a little surprised they didn't break the amount down for you in their official notification).

Incredible. Are you sure you don't want to take over the RetireJapan site? You're clearly more qualified to run it than I am

Thanks for the info -that's good enough for me. No one has asked me to return anything so far!

(had an unpleasant experience a few years ago where the kyosai determined they had given me too much money and then asked for it back -took me four years to pay that off in installments)

[Jamesblacktokyo]

Hello,

I have a question. Did you also receive an annual bonus as part of your salary? Usually at the end of each year? Also is taishoken a legal requirement?

I ask because I am a permanent employee and we receive a bonus at the end of each contract year so I am wondering if this could be my company's get-out clause for not having to pay a taishoken when we are asked to retire at 62.

Thanks a lot,
J

[RetireJapan]

I have a question. Did you also receive an annual bonus as part of your salary? Usually at the end of each year? Also is taishoken a legal requirement?

We had a biannual bonus (June and December). I believe taishokukin is at the discretion of the employer.

[TokyoWart]

Hello,

I have a question. Did you also receive an annual bonus as part of your salary? Usually at the end of each year? Also is taishoken a legal requirement?

I ask because I am a permanent employee and we receive a bonus at the end of each contract year so I am wondering if this could be my company's get-out clause for not having to pay a taishoken when we are asked to retire at 62.

Thanks a lot,
J

In my company this depends on the class of employee. Regular permanent employees get a bonus twice a year and would be enrolled in the retirement bonus system. Special hires, which are usually mid- or later career employees with special skills, get a once a year bonus and are not in the retirement bonus system but their salary is also somewhat higher so it isn't clear that either empoyee category is really at a disadvantage. I currently get the bonus once a year and cannot participate in the retirement bonus system.