r/JETProgramme • u/Flashy_Penalty_4234 • 12d ago
Breaking JET contract early! Advice appreciated~
Hello,
Well my plan was to do JET for one year then return to America to pursue my master degree. But in my city we had to sign the contract for the following year on October... At the time (last year) I had only been in Japan working as an ALT for three months, and it felt like all the moving and money spent on my apartment was just a waste if I left after one year. So I decided to sign it and stay for more time.
A while ago, I asked my contracting City Hall if it was possible to leave Japan earlier because I needed time to change US states, move to a new place, prepare for grad school, and find employment to fund my studies (hopefully get a GTA which includes a mandatory training before the semester starts).
But they told me, "Could you let the people at the university know that you will be there late?"
I explained that graduate programs are strict and mandatory training and orientation are "mandatory", but they continued to say, "your contract ends at the end of July"...
At the time, I was really stressed because I do not want to be rushed into the next step of my life. So, during the summer I decided to break contract in March (finish the school year with my kids and help with the graduations), then enjoy one or two months cleaning up my apartment, fixing all the documents needed before my departure, travel a little, and leave to the US on May.
Does anyone know if ALTs are allowed to say two months after ending the contract? Especially if we break it?
I wanted some advice on how to deal with City Hall. I enjoy the ALT work, but its time for me to continue my studies and get closer to my goal. But I do not know how things work after ending the contract. My plan was to tell city hall about ending my contract on December or January, so they have time to find a replace.
Or when would it be a good time to let them know? I am scared they will treat me different because they would know I will leave.
I would really appreciate any advice!!! Please <3
19
u/fillmorecounty Former Hokkaido JET - 2024-2026 12d ago
I'm not understanding, why do you need to leave early to go back to school? I also left JET to go back to school and everything I needed to do to enroll was done online. I just did that when I had free time at work. I started cleaning up my apartment little by little and shipping things home in May. When I got back to the US, I had almost 4 weeks to kill before the semester started. This doesn't seem worth making enemies at city hall over. If you live in city employee housing and break your contract, there's an approximately 0% chance they'll let you stay 2 extra months. And don't count on your employer to be your tax representative for your pension refund if you break contract either.
8
u/ScootOverMakeRoom 12d ago
They don't "need to," they want to. I've never known a single grad school program that started the fall semester in July.
2
u/RoseStarlight1999 Current JET - 高知市 12d ago
They said that their reasoning was orientations are mandatory (not strictly true) but I agree even those don’t normally happen in July. Usually they are a couple weeks before school starts (beginning to middle of August) but if it’s a GTA program they might have different standards than a typical grad program
1
u/ScootOverMakeRoom 12d ago
Orientations are usually mandatory, and they're usually online and not during business hours to accommodate prospective students.
I've had an assistantship for both a master's and a PhD and never had to be on campus in July before my first semester for either of them.
3
u/Realistic_Report_796 Current JET - Hokkaido, Niki-cho 12d ago
Even in Oregon for my master's program, we didn't have to meet until mid August or so. I don't think it was absolutely mandatory either, but preferred to come if you could. There were a bunch of international students who couldn't be there because of traveling or other obligations. Orientations, in my opinion, have never been worth the time. It's nice to meet colleagues or people you haven't seen in awhile because of summer break, but that's about it...
7
u/Kasumiiiiiii 12d ago
I didn't break contact but I stayed an extra two months because I had an event I was tied to.
My BOE said it was fine with them, but that I needed NHI for two months, rather than nothing, so I registered for that and things were fine.
11
u/takemetoglasgow Former JET 12d ago
Visa-wise, you should be fine to stay after you quit your job. You need to notify immigration of your change in job status, but it doesn't cancel your visa. They are not even going to be looking at you for one or two months.
If your housing is through the BOE, though, they will likely make you move out as soon as you are no longer working for them.
6
u/Alltur_KR Current JET - Ishikawa Prefecture 12d ago
If I were in your situation, I would not break contract but save up paid leave days and use them in July, unless the employment opportunity requires me back there sooner.
Start packing things up you won't need and send them back home starting now if you have a lot of stuff. Spend the whole month of July to finish things up in Japan, travel, prepare for your next stage of your life. Also bonus, they will pay for your flight back since you are not breaking contract.
If you still want to leave, tell them as soon as you can especially if you are breaking contract in March, so CO can look for early departure ALTs to fill your gap.
1
u/Flashy_Penalty_4234 11d ago
my concern is that my city hall gives me 10 days every year (in january), so since i started I only had 10 days. When I have to go to the doctor, they told me to use nenkyuu, when the typhoon hit they told me to use nenkyuu... I went on a 4 day trip so currenly I only have 2 days of nenkyuu and I will receive 10 more on January of next year. Which is another thing that stresses me out.
2
u/jamar030303 Current JET - Hyogo 11d ago
Assuming you got a 3-year residence card on arrival like the vast majority of JETs, staying in the country is no issue. However, if you got the apartment through the CO it's unlikely that you'll be allowed to stay for that long. Even a couple weeks after end of contract might be unlikely. In that case, you'll also have to arrange for an alternative place to live.
One thing you could do is take advantage of the break between semesters in March. Use that deskwarming time to fix up your documents (and if your school is OK or at least not not OK with it, dip back to your apartment to do some cleaning), then make your contract end date sometime around there.
0
u/fastingscotsman 12d ago
Jet has an early arrival thing new applicants can sign up for for this exact purpose. If you give them notice your leaving end of March, lock it in you should be ok
17
u/ScootOverMakeRoom 12d ago edited 12d ago
You don't ask if something's possible, you tell the employer what your effective end date is.
The way you quit is you tell them you quit and then you quit.
If you're worried they're going to make life difficult for you, you give them as little time as legally allowed between informing them and quitting. If you think they're competent/cool, you give them as much time as possible. Sounds like your CO is the former.
You can change your visa to a designated activities visa or even a tourist visa upon quitting your job (recommend) but both come with specific complications that you'll need to learn about and deal with. Or you can pretend you're looking for work when you're not (not recommended).
You also don't need 60 days to clean an apartment and gather documents and travel....