Please read the Tokyo Board of Education contract’s guidelines for work hours, holidays, and paid leave carefully. Keep a copy of this contract in your desk at all times. If you have not received a contract in English from orientation or from your supervisor, please contact the public school PA immediately.
General School Year[]
| Month | Notes |
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| April |
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| May |
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| June |
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| July |
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| August |
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| September |
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| October |
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| November |
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| December |
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| January |
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| February |
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| March |
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Work Hours[]
Public school JETs are contracted to work 16 days each month. Regardless of National Holidays where schools are usually closed, you must have 16 days scheduled per month.
A typical work schedule starts at 8:30am and ends at 5pm, but work shifts can greatly vary between schools especially part-time or challenge schools. Working days will be negotiated by the school and JET participant. Per day JETs are expected to work 7 hours and 45 minutes plus a 45 minute lunch break, a total of 8 hours and 30 minutes. Please provide plenty of notice if you would like to change your schedule.
Teaching Hours[]
The amount of hours you teach at your school will greatly vary between JETs. Schools have been notified about the amount of hours a JET should be teaching in class per week. However, it is up to the school, as well as your supervisor to decide how effectively their JET is being used. It is important to speak with your supervisor about your work hours if you are teaching too few, or too many classes a week.
Tardiness[]
Do not be late for work or your classes, as tardiness is frowned upon. However, there are situations in which a train delay might prevent you from getting to work on time. When a train is delayed in Japan, the staff at each station where a delayed train stops will distribute a 電車遅延証明書 (densha chien shoumeisho) or train delay certificate which can be provided to a boss, a teacher, school administrator, or another person in authority as an acceptable excuse for being late.
If you use a vehicle, like a bus or bike, to commute to work and are delayed by traffic, it will not be an excuse for being late.
If your train is late, a station attendant will often be standing on the platform or else at the ticket gate handing out the certificates to exiting passengers. If not, go to the counter by the ticket gate and say: Chien shoumeishou onegai shimasu. (May I please have a chien shoumeishou?)
For public JETS, unless you have a train delay certificate and you are late for any reason 1 minute past your contract start time, your school may require you to take an hour nenkyuu. While some schools are more forgiving, this is not uncommon, so try not to be late.
Overtime[]
JET does not require for you to work overtime. Working overtime is a cultural norm in Japan, but you are not obligated to work past your normal work hours. It is your own decision to stay later than your normal work hours; you will not receive compensation.
Yearly Paid Leave[]
All public JETs receive at least 10 days of paid leave per contract year (nenkyuu, 年休) after working at least 80% of work days between their contract start date and January (a period of 6 months).
Fig. 1 Click to enlarge
As of July/August 2024, the way nenkyuu is calculated for public school JETs has changed and a new chart has been distributed (See fig. 1).
For each contract year, JETs will receive part of their yearly nenkyuu in August/July (depending on your arrival group) and the remaining days on April 1st, the start of the fiscal year.
For example, if you are arrival group A, you will receive 8 days on your arrival date and receive the remaining 4 days on April 1st, which makes a total of 12 days. This same process will happen for the rest of the JETs tenure, but the total day amount may change. JETs will receive 11 days in their second year, 12 in their third, 14 days in their fourth, and 16 days in their fifth. Please look at Fig. 2 to see the complete breakdown until Year 5.
Leave expires if it is not used within 2 years of it being granted.
How to Use[]
Speak with your supervisor first before making any concrete travel and leave decisions, and keep detailed records of your paid leave requests. Please notify all of your JTEs of your future absence as well. Try not to take paid leave during busy periods in the school year, or on days in which you have classes.
How to Fill Out Your Nenkyuu Sheet[]
Paid leave may be used by the day or by the hour. For example, you can use 3 hours of paid leave in order to leave work early if you have some business to attend to (unless otherwise instructed by your supervisor). Leave replaces your working hours and does not affect any time that you would have usually had off.
Sick & Special Leave[]
Sick Leave[]
Public school JETs do not receive separate paid sick days and will need to use regular paid leave (nenkyuu, 年休) in the event of illness or injury.
Please speak to your supervisor if you will need to miss a scheduled work day. And please ask your supervisor what's the best way to call out sick. The process is not standardized across all TBoE schools, but it's generally good practice to call the school in the morning and email both your supervisor and VP if you'd like to call out sick and use nenkyuu. ALSO, you may have to fill out the nenkyuu sheet when you return, so don't forget to fill it out.
Hospitalization[]
In special cases where you are hospitalized for illness, you will have to talk with administrative staff to apply for injury and sickness allowance. You will also need to fill out a form and a medical certificate and submit proof of your condition and period of sickness.
If you are hospitalized for more than three days, then JET's public association insurance will cover about 2/3rd of your daily pay from the third day of hospitalization. It's imperative that you be in communication with your school, supervisor, and PA if you're in this situation. While the situation can differ from school to school, it's likely you WILL NOT get any pay for a doctors visit, sick time off, or hospitalization of two days unless you use nenkyuu.
All JETs have JET Accident Insurance through CLAIR which can help with some costs that are not covered by regular health insurance. Please refer to this page for more information on what JET Accident Insurance covers and how to file a claim.
Special Leave (Congratulatory/Condolence Leave)[]
Fig. 2 Click to enlarge
Special leave would normally be provided in cases of the death of a parent, spouse, maternity/ paternity leave, or when the supervisor grants permission. The amount of leave is outlined in your contract. Please see figure 2 for more information.
Summer Leave[]
Summer Leave (夏休 natsukyuu) is offered to all public school JETs and consists of 3 daily units of paid leave that can only be used during the summer (generally June to September). This is filled out the same as nenkyuu and on the same form.
Help and Support[]
If you find yourself in a position where you need help or support in regard to work, please use these contacts.
| Whom to Consult (in ascending order) |
|---|
| A friendly JTE |
| Your supervisor |
| Your Vice Principal |
| Your Prefectural Advisor |
Public Mutual Aid Association / Benefit Station[]
Starting April 1, 2020, JETs employed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education will become "fiscal year employees" giving them access to the discounts provided by Benefit Station (BS) through the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Personnel Support Foundation (東京都人材支援事業団) or Jigyodan for short. Simply put, it's similar to having a subscription to a massive coupon book! Please refer to this page for more information.
| Incoming JET Navigation | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| READ FIRST | ||||
| HOUSING | ||||
| SETTING UP | ||||
| WORK |
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| SUPPORT | ||||
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This page is under construction!TJET Committee has marked this page as a Work in Progress. Please check back soon for updated information. Or help us by adding your own info. |
