RetireJapan

I should clarify, I teach 27 hours per week. I also get for some lesson prep (just for a few classes, as the majority of lessons are prepared by the school so I don’t need to).
I know I could work more hours with other schools but I really don’t want to up my hours and never see my wife. Sure I might have a bit more income but how proportional would the subsequent increase in all my taxes and health insurance be?
Also, I’m hoping that my company’s schedule will improve after the current crises fades a bit. 1 teacher is leaving in September so there is a chance for a bit of a shake up and the assistant manager has hinted at leaving a few times. In which case I would end up taking over from him. With of course a decent pay rise.

Thanks for all the comments and advice. I think I’m going to take a trip to the ward office just to confirm that all those bills are correct and to make sure there’s nothing else I can do to lower them etc.
I do want to point out that I do have 1 private student, and was hoping to get more but I have never been contacted. I use hello sense I but I’ll check out some other services (suggestions appreciated), and my wife does 1 private class with one of our friends, cash in hand of course, once a week.
And finally I want to mention that I’m not struggling for money, I was just hoping I’d have a bit more saved up by now to start enjoying my life. But at the very least I have just started popping 10k (yen) into a Tsumitate NISA every month.

I don't want to be rude but 27 hours a week works out to 5-6 hours of work a day. Alot of people work normal 8 hour a day jobs and have normal family lives.

Also, the beauty of progressive taxation is the nightmare scenario that people work themselves up over about earning more but taking home less is almost never true.

zeroshiki wrote: ↑Sat Jun 19, 2021 10:36 am I don't want to be rude but 27 hours a week works out to 5-6 hours of work a day. Alot of people work normal 8 hour a day jobs and have normal family lives.

Also, the beauty of progressive taxation is the nightmare scenario that people work themselves up over about earning more but taking home less is almost never true.

To add to this, as a PT worker you could contribute over 81万 to your iDeco a year and actually REDUCE the tax you pay.

27 teaching hours is a lot of teaching though.... You are not being paid enough IMO. Well below market rates.

Higher-paid positions have fewer teaching hours but do often require much more preparation. That is why you are being paid more. Turn-key positions with preplanned lessons often pay little, because the instructors are seen as nearly infinitely replacable.

zeroshiki wrote: ↑Sat Jun 19, 2021 10:36 am I don't want to be rude but 27 hours a week works out to 5-6 hours of work a day. Alot of people work normal 8 hour a day jobs and have normal family lives.

I don’t think that is fair. 27 teaching hours is not a 27-hour week. If I were doing that amount of teaching, I would likely be doing at least a 35-hour week once lesson planning (yes, most of the lessons may be pre-planned but you still have to get your head around the lesson plan and tweak for your particular class), staff liaison, admin etc was taken into account.

zeroshiki wrote: ↑Sat Jun 19, 2021 10:36 am I don't want to be rude but 27 hours a week works out to 5-6 hours of work a day. Alot of people work normal 8 hour a day jobs and have normal family lives.

Everyone's situation is different so I don't think we need to judge.

Beaglehound wrote: ↑Sat Jun 19, 2021 11:19 am

zeroshiki wrote: ↑Sat Jun 19, 2021 10:36 am I don't want to be rude but 27 hours a week works out to 5-6 hours of work a day. Alot of people work normal 8 hour a day jobs and have normal family lives.

I don’t think that is fair. 27 teaching hours is not a 27-hour week. If I were doing that amount of teaching, I would likely be doing at least a 35-hour week once lesson planning (yes, most of the lessons may be pre-planned but you still have to get your head around the lesson plan and tweak for your particular class), staff liaison, admin etc was taken into account.

Agree - 27 hours a week of contact hours is actually quite a lot. Well, certainly at or above what a full time teacher could expect. Teachers with 25 hours etc are not sitting around doing nothing whenever they are not in the classroom.

Thanks again everyone. I guess I should also add I have chronic fatigue and autism, so it’s not like I can just up and do 35-40 hours a week and still be alive in the traditional sense. I don’t want to sound like I’m making excuses or anything. I want to work and want to earn and do as much as I can. But there’s a limit. Also in regards to my work day, for 2 days a week I’m at the school for 9 hours, another 2 days I’m there for 6, and another I’m there for 4. So 34 hours. Not all of that extra is work prep, but most of it is.
In terms of contact time I do the most hours out of all staff (including the boss, who also teaches), and even outside contact hours I probably do the most work prep and lesson planning etc, because I know for a fact that the assistant who makes most of the lessons just copy and pastes from previous years’ lessons where as I make all of mine from scratch, tailored to my specific group.

I’ll be looking out for other work positions. But unfortunately most of them are way more hours for about the same take home, which just doesn’t seem worth it. Or they are on the other side of Courtney and I just can’t afford to move within a month’s notice. Anything in Kyoto will be great. But no one seems to teach English in Kyoto.

KCLenny wrote: ↑Sat Jun 19, 2021 2:17 pm Thanks again everyone. I guess I should also add I have chronic fatigue and autism, so it’s not like I can just up and do 35-40 hours a week and still be alive in the traditional sense. I don’t want to sound like I’m making excuses or anything. I want to work and want to earn and do as much as I can. But there’s a limit. Also in regards to my work day, for 2 days a week I’m at the school for 9 hours, another 2 days I’m there for 6, and another I’m there for 4. So 34 hours. Not all of that extra is work prep, but most of it is.
In terms of contact time I do the most hours out of all staff (including the boss, who also teaches), and even outside contact hours I probably do the most work prep and lesson planning etc, because I know for a fact that the assistant who makes most of the lessons just copy and pastes from previous years’ lessons where as I make all of mine from scratch, tailored to my specific group.

I’ll be looking out for other work positions. But unfortunately most of them are way more hours for about the same take home, which just doesn’t seem worth it. Or they are on the other side of Courtney and I just can’t afford to move within a month’s notice. Anything in Kyoto will be great. But no one seems to teach English in Kyoto.

Good luck to you sir, I am sorry you have needed to justify yourself for asking reasonable questions.

KCLenny wrote: ↑Sat Jun 19, 2021 2:17 pm Thanks again everyone. I guess I should also add I have chronic fatigue and autism, so it’s not like I can just up and do 35-40 hours a week and still be alive in the traditional sense. I don’t want to sound like I’m making excuses or anything. I want to work and want to earn and do as much as I can. But there’s a limit. Also in regards to my work day, for 2 days a week I’m at the school for 9 hours, another 2 days I’m there for 6, and another I’m there for 4. So 34 hours. Not all of that extra is work prep, but most of it is.
In terms of contact time I do the most hours out of all staff (including the boss, who also teaches), and even outside contact hours I probably do the most work prep and lesson planning etc, because I know for a fact that the assistant who makes most of the lessons just copy and pastes from previous years’ lessons where as I make all of mine from scratch, tailored to my specific group.

I’ll be looking out for other work positions. But unfortunately most of them are way more hours for about the same take home, which just doesn’t seem worth it. Or they are on the other side of Courtney and I just can’t afford to move within a month’s notice. Anything in Kyoto will be great. But no one seems to teach English in Kyoto.

Sorry to hear that. It sounds like part-time uni work might be a great fit for some with your condition. You can make you own schedule, and the actual time in class would be greatly lessened. You could do most of your prep at home.

Most jobs in Kanto require and Ma., But not positions in Kyushu and elsewhere.

As a PT worker I do suggest you look into iDeco to reduce your yearly tax as you save too.

KCLenny wrote: ↑Sat Jun 19, 2021 2:17 pm So 34 hours. Not all of that extra is work prep, but most of it is.
In terms of contact time I do the most hours out of all staff (including the boss, who also teaches), and even outside contact hours I probably do the most work prep and lesson planning etc, because I know for a fact that the assistant who makes most of the lessons just copy and pastes from previous years’ lessons where as I make all of mine from scratch, tailored to my specific group.

I’ll be looking out for other work positions. But unfortunately most of them are way more hours for about the same take home, which just doesn’t seem worth it. Or they are on the other side of Courtney and I just can’t afford to move within a month’s notice. Anything in Kyoto will be great. But no one seems to teach English in Kyoto.

Since you are actually working close to full time, I would say you are being quite underpaid at 130hrs/month for ¥200,000. You should get at least ¥250,000. My guess is the company is only paying for contact hours, which is "black" in my view.

My son had a busy one-day moving job yesterday and came home pissed off. Told to get there at 7am for a 8am start. Back to office at 6:45. Got paid ¥1200/hr, but only from 8am-6pm. Add in my driving him to the job (45 minutes roundtrip) and the net was really low.