Advice: must leave full time employment, anything to be aware of?

[misoandpickles]

Thanks everyone for the replies and kind words.

Kuma, when you say check with my insurer, what exactly are you referring to? I don't pay extra for supplemental health insurance but of course I have access to any number of clinics, mental clinics, and large hospitals in my area.

[kuma]

Kuma, when you say check with my insurer, what exactly are you referring to? I don't pay extra for supplemental health insurance but of course I have access to any number of clinics, mental clinics, and large hospitals in my area.

I mean the institution who provides your employee health insurance and issues your health insurance card.

I’m not sure how much variance there is between insurers in terms of rate of pay when on sick leave (60% of salary is statutory minimum*, I believe, but my insurer pays 80%, for example), how this is calculated, maximum amount of leave allowed (18 months is the statutory amount), reporting requirements if absence is lengthy, process and time for claiming and receiving the payment(s), any excluded conditions and treatments, requirements on who can sign off on the condition (eg ‘medical doctor’ might exclude cognitive behavioral therapist, so would be important to go to a medical doctor first in this scenario), etc etc. My advice is to root around the policy and paperwork to check the Ts and Cs. Familiarise yourself with what happens to tax, pensions, insurance, annual leave accrual, etc whilst on sick leave.

I’ve been misinformed on some aspects of insurance policy by my HR department, hence my recommendation to get the info directly from source, ie the insurer. In my case they have a decent website and a printed manual, but I and my wife have also phoned them a few times to get clear info when things were murky.

* Source: https://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/human/eco ... icle9.html

[misoandpickles]

Wow, thanks for this! It turns out that I am eligible for shoubyou teate, which I wouldn't have looked into further without your information. I had misunderstood a few things about it. I had to start the process while still employed, and got in just under the wire. Thanks again.

[kuma]

Good to hear you were able to get the leave allowance. Hope things work out.