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Decision on Unpaid Wages Reviewed and Overturned
At the beginning of July in 2008, after former NOVA president Nozomu Sahashi was charged with embezzlement, he was also hit with a charge of failing to pay ¥105 million in salary to 400 workers:
The Osaka Labor Bureau sent papers to prosecutors Monday on failed English language school operator Nova Corp. and its former president, Nozomu Sahashi, on suspicion of violating the Labor Standards Law for failing to pay wages to Nova workers.
According to the bureau, Sahashi, 56, is suspected of failing to pay 105 million yen in wages to 400 Nova workers.
Among the 400, 134 were Japanese staffers who did not receive salaries for September, totaling 33 million yen, and 266 were foreign instructors who received no wages for October, totaling 72 million yen.
Sahashi has claimed his failing to pay wages is not a violation of the law. He was quoted by labor officials as saying, "I feel responsible as the [former] president of the company, but I did what I could do, like putting my own money into the business."
By the end of the month, he had managed to wriggle out of the charge because prosecutors couldn't determine if the failure to pay the wages was deliberate or not.
The Osaka District Public Prosecutor's Office announced Tuesday it will not indict the former president of Nova Corp. for failing to pay the salaries of non-Japanese teachers and Japanese personnel.
Nozomu Sahashi, 56, is already under indictment for embezzling ¥320 million from reserve funds for corporate workers at the failed foreign-language school chain.
Prosecutors said they couldn't determine whether Sahashi's failure to pay ¥105 million in salary to 400 workers for September and October was deliberate or the result of the company's poor financial state. Sahashi had spent ¥2 billion of his personal wealth in a failed attempt to save Nova, which went bankrupt in October.
Sent to prosecutors in June, the case alleged violation of the labor standards law for failure to pay salaries.
It looked as if he had dodged a bullet, but in late October, two former instructors petitioned the Osaka District Public Prosectuor's Office to re-examine their decision.
The good news is that they have succeeded in getting the decision overturned.
An independent panel formed by court-entrusted citizens has ruled unjust last year's decision by prosecutors not to slap criminal charges on the failed English conversation school operator Nova Corp. and its former president for failing to pay salaries to foreign instructors and employees, the panel said Tuesday.
The decision was made by Osaka's No. 2 committee for the inquest of prosecution, which urged the Osaka District Public Prosecutors Office to reopen investigations into Nova and former Nova President Nozomu Sahashi, 57.
The panel found that Nova and Sahashi were aware of a revenue shortfall, ran the language school chain on a hand-to-mouth basis, and continued to hire instructors and employees without any clear prospect of ensuring the source of their salaries.
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare filed with the prosecutors in June 2008 an investigative report on Nova and Sahashi on suspicion of violating the labor standards law for failing to pay about 105 million yen in salaries to some 400 language instructors and employees in September and October 2007.
But in July 2008, the prosecutors decided against indicting Nova and Sahashi, saying they did not intentionally fail to pay the salaries.
I like how that last sentence is worded. It sounds as if Sahashi was so busy that he simply forgot to pay his instructors.
This doesn't mean that the instructors will be paid, however. The article notes that the panel's decision is non-binding but usually results in re-investigations. Still, it's a small victory and one step forward in ultimately holding Sahashi to accountability.
Comments
The amount of red-tape just
The amount of red-tape just to come to the conclusion that it was an accidental oversight not paying instructors and staff, is mind-blowing. I wonder how many Labour Ministry Officials were employed deliberating this waffle?
By the way, anyone know what ever happened to Saru's 2nd in command, that hideously ugly Swedish werefwold, Anders Lundqvist? He was a right c*nt. Is he still with G-Conn, along with all the other losers that joined up? Or has he retired to a nice little villa in Pattong, Thailand?
Not sure exactly what he's up
Not sure exactly what he's up to these days but he does seem to hang out around Fukushima-ku (Osaka) a lot. It's unlikely that too many of these guys, who have wives and sometimes children in Japan would be able to so easily just get up and leave... In a sense, Nova going under, worse yet, Neo Nova going under, would be a whole lot worse for them as they'd be far less likely to find anything to do back home...
So, what's going on at GEOS
So, what's going on at GEOS Eikaiwa? Who has or has not been paid?
What happened to all the posts from concerned people on here?
There are a lot of concerned people, worried about whether the GEOS crisis will affect them just as NOVA affected thousands. I hope GEOS Corp. is not applying pressure to silence this blog.
Regards, Warwick.
Maybe it wasn't a true story?
In which case the moderators have taken the posts down, to avoid further mischief, distress, or confusion.
I'm sure that MUST be the case. The alternative would be that they're in cahoots with an EIKAIWA, in order to withold information, and distort the truth, with the effect of active participation in fraud - and I'm sure the good folks who run this board are above that. If not, then what would be the point of this site??? Hara Kiri would be the only honorable action.
So, yeah, I'm going for the first possibilty I mentioned - it was a bogus story.... I hope!
WE WANT ANSWERS
My husband and I invested everything we had to relocate to Japan for an experience, having been promised a teaching career. We soon realised it was not a career. We were ok with that, but we were not ok with all the stories about being able to save money being untrue unless you want to live life like an impoverished college student back home.
We are really worried about money and live pay check to pay check. We are really scared of these G.E.O.S rumours because we had friends that were pretty much financially destroyed by the Nova collapse, and we don’t want the same to happen to us.
We really want to stay in Japan but we can't afford to miss out on one week of pay let alone 2 months of pay.
Bravelittlesassafras, the
Bravelittlesassafras, the simple solution to your query is: Don't come to Japan. Unless you have enough cash saved for several months together here, it is not worth coming.
I don't know about the valididty of all these GEOS rumours, but I have been hearing whispers for quite some time. ANY EIWAIWA HERE is not a guaranteed, stable paid job, no matter what people tell you. At the time NOVA went down, loads of instructors were running around saying "it's too big, it can't go broke, stop over-reacting... etc etc" Well, it did, and it could happen to any one of these places, especially in this economic depression.
Japan is a good place to visit on a tour, there are some really cool packages you can choose. However, being one of the most expensive places on earth, it is not the place to come and stay if you rely on living pay-cheque to pay-cheque.
Thanks Warwick, but we are so worried
Thanks for your kind words Warwick, but we made the “career” decision a long time ago, used up all our money we had in relocation, and now are bravely living from pay check to pay check, so worried that the our employer will go bankrupt at any moment. We are badly exposed. We have no money, there is no career here, and we aren’t even officially recognised as full-time workers, even though we work more than full-time hours. My husband has been talking to his parents about the possibility of them giving us an emergency loan, if worse comes to worse. Worried sick. We aren’t the only ones.
best way to save money
If you aren't already, cook all your food at home and take leftovers to work for lunch. Talk to the J staff at work if you need help figuring out where the local 100 yen shops are for little everyday things. Save up enough for a plane ticket home for both of you and if you ever need to buy those tickets don't try to start a new life somewhere else and go in blind... you're probably going to find landing a job back home is nigh impossible while you are in... if the s*ht does hit the fan go back to where you have a network of support (parents/family) Once you have that emergency money tucked away you can start thinking looking at other employers but to be honest any conversation school is a risk, size doesn't matter.... Nova wasn't run any worse or any better than the other conversation schools out there. You're right, there is no career there.
Maybe sit down with your husband and draw up a 6mo, 1year, 3 year, and 5 year plan see what you can come up with... review your plan every couple of months as circumstances change.
No need to worry. Just enjoy your life as usual.
There is no reason to be concerned about GEOS. Everyone's salary was paid last month- no problem. Everyone's salary will be paid on time as usual. It was just a case of people having a bit of fun at others' expense.
The economy is bad but people are still looking to study English. I think that for the next year and 1/2 it will be a bit tough for all industries but I think the majority of the companies who were holding out for bank help have already been hit. Other companies are working through being careful and watching their expenses closely. Give it a year and things will pick up. Will we see the bubble that was here in the 90s? No. But then again who knows.
And I think Shawn was being careful about what gets written here. He lets people speak their mind but there is a fine line when it comes to talking about companies. Fair enough if there was something documented but there were people quoting fake news which could cause problems. It is fine for people to air their griefs but as a website owner you need to be careful what gets written. Because if it is not monitored then it could cause the website owner problems.
I believe there was another website that was not monitored before and the owner got sued. But something tells me he didnt have the money to pay. I am not going to mention the names because I dont know the right facts. People who have been around for awhile and know the different blog sites know which one I mean.
Keeping a Brave Face
Now we are more worried than ever. A career, leftovers for lunch, and the 100 yen shop? I actually cried when I read the reality, written there, right in front of my very eyes, by you, Nova Whiz. I knew the truth, but seeing it written down is another thing again. It hurt. I have been doing a lot of crying lately, but I have been able to limit it a bit, and keep a brave face for my husband, who is also worried about who is going to want to employ him back home, if they ask for any specifics about his job here. We love Japan but this is one big nightmare. For all we know, when we go to work tomorrow, the doors and windows will be boarded up. :(
Just hang in there Brave Little Sassafras
Just hang in there Brave Little Sassafras. Let's hope things pick up soon, well, ok, at least one day, ummm, let's hope things pick up at some point, in the future, like, before next century.
And don't worry about having to keep a brave face in front of your husband.
What kind of a monster is he anyway?
Just keep your chin up, Brave Little Sassafras, keep it up. PETE
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