Students and former employees of the Nova Corp. language school chain were critical of the company’s practices in light of its suspension Wednesday for six months from recruiting students on long-term contracts.
Sadaaki Suwazono, director of the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry’s Consumer Protection Division, detailed a list of 18 offenses, including exaggerated advertising claims and misrepresentation.
“These offenses were committed with the full knowledge of senior management,” Suwazono said.
The ministry and the Tokyo metropolitan government launched an investigation into Nova in February.
They found a memo in which Nova President Nozomu Sahashi stated there is no need to stop pushing sales at a meeting held to discuss measures to deal with a lack of teachers making it difficult to meet student reservations.
Company officials have reportedly told students that the ministry permitted Nova to run the business that way.
When the company was faced with requests from students to cancel contracts within a cooling-off period after signing a contract, an executive in the company’s complaint department reportedly instructed other employees to tell the students the system could not be applied.
“People will lose faith in the Specified Commercial Transactions Law if we let [Nova] get away with these offenses,” Suwazono said.
Questions have also been raised by former employees of the company about Nova’s profit-first approach to business.
A 24-year-old woman from Wakayama who worked until December as a Kansai area representative at Nova’s Osaka headquarters said about the company: “The catchphrase stating that if a student booked they could take a class at any time also implied that this included videophone lessons.”
She said, however, that the contract manual states videophone classes must not be mentioned unless the customer brings the matter up, and that there was a rule that staff could not volunteer information to students unless asked.
Furthermore, when potential students took a 20-minute test to ascertain their level of language skills, they were made to sign a contract which stipulated that day as the first day of their contract.
“I feel terrible as I’m aware I did some bad things,” the former employee said.
Lessons went ahead as normal at a school near Shinjuku Station in Tokyo on Wednesday evening, but all the students there expressed surprise at the suspension enforced by the ministry.
A Nova pamphlet states that students can freely choose what type of lesson they want, when and where to take it and how many people will be in the class.
“Because I couldn’t reserve lessons, I couldn’t use up the points I’d paid for. Staff told me that if I bought additional points, I could extend the time period for my lessons, but it was just an aggressive sales tactic,” an unemployed 29-year-old male student said.
A thirtysomething female company employee from Osaka said that she could not reserve lessons at a school in Kyushu and could only attend 10 lessons in three months.
Nova staff recommended she take more expensive one-on-one lessons when she complained she could not use up her points in the specified time period.
“The company thinks of profits more than students,” she said.
Nova has more than 400,000 students at over 900 schools nationwide. It is claimed that the company pushes long-term contracts offering cheaper lessons that trap students who cancel midway through their contracts.
The chain is well-known for its “Nova rabbit” mascot and its “ekimae ryugaku” policy of opening schools near stations.
Nova dealt penalty for deception
Students routinely misled, METI says
Nova Corp., the nation’s largest English-language school chain, was ordered by the government Wednesday to partially suspend business for six months for lying to customers about its services.
Nova will be banned from selling long-term contracts for language lessons starting Thursday, officials of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said.
Contracts with existing students, however, will be allowed to be renewed.
“We have concluded that (Nova’s way of signing up students) was extremely malicious,” said a METI official who briefed reporters about the order.
Nova “engaged in illegal acts, with the top management at its head office authorizing the irregularities. The company even compiled a manual advising staff on how to respond to claims by students.”
The language school chain, with about 480,000 students and 900 schools, tells prospective students they can book language lessons “any time” they want and at any Nova school nationwide.
However, clients have complained that they were not able to book lessons during busy periods.
METI has been investigating business irregularities at Nova since it inspected the company’s headquarters in Osaka in February.
The investigation has uncovered that several Nova schools did not give full refunds to people who canceled lessons, the officials said.
In addition, some people have reported that Nova misled them into believing their cooling-off periods had expired and they could not cancel their contracts.
Under the law, private language school clients have an eight-day cooling-off period from the time they sign a contract, during which they can cancel and get a full refund. However, Nova staff reportedly told some people the cooling-off period begins on the day they register their name and address at the school, not when they sign a contract.
Nova shares fell 10 percent to end Tuesday’s trading at a 52-week low of 88 yen.
Rule-breaking Nova hit with suspension order
“We have concluded that (Nova’s way of signing up students) was extremely malicious,” said a METI [Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry] official who briefed reporters about the order.
Nova “engaged in illegal acts, with the top management at its head office authorizing the irregularities. The company even compiled a manual advising staff on how to respond to claims by students.”
http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200706130423.html
Nova barred from making long contracts
The Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry said Wednesday it ordered Nova Corp., the nation’s largest English language school chain, to suspend for six months its recruitment of customers for new contracts of more than one year or 70 lesson hours, starting Thursday.
According to sources, the ministry has concluded Nova’s practice of telling prospective customers they can reserve classes at any time they choose, even though classes at certain times on some days are difficult to book, constitutes giving a “false account” of the company’s services and violates the Specified Commercial Transaction Law.
The Osaka-based company, which gained popularity with its “ekimae ryugaku” model of opening schools near stations, became the first English language school operator to receive a ministry order to suspend business operations.
In recent years, consumer affairs centers have been swamped with complaints of Nova’s practices with some claiming, for example, the company uses an accounting method disadvantageous to customers who cancel their contracts halfway through.
The ministry and the Tokyo metropolitan government launched an investigation into Nova in February, including inspecting the Osaka headquarters, its main Tokyo office and branches in Kanagawa Prefecture.
Under the ministry’s administrative sanction, Nova will be barred from carrying out a number of actions, including soliciting prospective customers for contracts of more than one year, for six months from today, the sources said. But those who already have signed such long-term contracts can continue attending classes. The sanction does not apply to short-term contracts, they added.
“We take the ministry’s decision seriously and offer sincere apology to the people concerned,” Nova President Nozomu Sahashi said at a press conference held in Osaka on Wednesday afternoon.
“We’ll do our best to take care of students and provide them with lessons without any problems,” he added.
Nova introduced a discount system in which students can take classes based on the number of points they purchased. The more points they buy at once, the bigger the discount. To take advantage of this system, many customers signed contracts with points valid for three years.
However, some customers reportedly ended up cancelling their contracts midway through, complaining it was difficult to make reservations and that they could not use up their points before they expired.
Industry sources said foreign language schools usually set contract periods of less than one year to avoid trouble over midterm cancellations.
As of September, Nova operated 926 branches and had about 450,000 students nationwide. Average sales per Nova branch reached 85.68 million yen in fiscal 2005, about 4.9 times higher than the average for its rivals.
Nova handed suspension order over tuition fee practices
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry on Wednesday ordered major English-language school operator Nova Corp. to suspend part of its business operations for holding back money from students who cancelled their contracts, ministry officials said.
The ministry issued an order prohibiting Nova from soliciting customers or accepting applications for contracts exceeding one year or new contracts exceeding 70 hours. The suspension will be in place for six months.
It is the first time for the ministry to issue a business suspension order to an English language school under Japan’s special transaction law. People who are currently taking lessons at the language school will not be affected by the order.
Ministry officials explained Nova operates a system in which students buy points enabling them to take lessons. When they buy a large number of points in advance, they can take lessons at a cheaper price.
However, when people cancelled their contracts before finishing their courses, the company lowered the amount of lesson fees it returned to them. In addition the company didn’t inform people about the procedures for canceling contracts.
In April this year, the Supreme Court ruled that Nova’s policy of demanding penalties when students cancelled their contracts violated a law regulating commercial practices. It said the policy restricted students’ right to initiate the cancellation of their contracts, and ruled the practice invalid.
It has also emerged that the company prevented students from canceling their contracts under Japan’s “cooling off” law which states that people can cancel contracts without any obligation if they do so within eight days of forming the contract, by listing students’ contract day as the day they took tours of classes or received explanations about lessons.
Furthermore, when inviting students to take lessons, the company advertised that they could book lessons any time they wanted, but because of the difficulty in securing teachers, it remained difficult to make bookings. Because of this, the ministry reportedly decided to issue a business improvement order to the firm.
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government conducted an inspection of Nova in February in connection with the law regulating commercial practices. It found that several practices that violated the law had been ordered by the company’s general headquarters. The ministry said it judged the company’s practices to be “organized and malicious.”
Nova operates over 900 schools across Japan, and has about 480,000 students. Since 1996, the National Consumer Affairs Center of Japan has received over 7,000 complaints and inquiries about the company.
http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/national/news/20070613p2a00m0na015000c.html
Competing foreign-worker plans face off
Justice chief’s proposal to open doors, briefly, for all sectors causes stir
“Putting a three-year limit on a foreign worker’s stay in Japan does not give the company doing the hiring any incentive to take the time to train them for specialized work. Of course, there is also the question of how many skilled workers would want to come to Japan if they are forced to leave after three years,” [Hidenori] Sakanaka [director of the NGO Japan Immigration Policy Institute and former head of the Tokyo Immigration Bureau] said.
Nambu teams with Zentoitsu to take on Sunrise and Yanagawa-Kogyo
A delegation of six Nambu members joined approximately 50 Zentoitsu union members at a series of demos in eastern Tokyo this morning.
First stop was Sunrise, a small company that manufactures helmets, using trainees from China as a source of labour. The trainee/internship system has been in the news a lot
recently, due to abuses by companies who, instead of training the interns, force them to work long hours for less than minimum wage, with none of the benefits guaranteed to employees under Labour Standards Law. In this case, five Chinese women who made a claim for unpaid wages were forcibly taken to Narita and put on a plane to China. Those who resisted were beaten. Today, union activists expressed their outrage to the owner of Sunrise, who found himself surrounded by angry protestors on the doorstep of his office, in full view of all the neighbours. The demonstration was very loud and tense, but very well-organized. The police at the nearby koban observed from a safe distance, clearly not wishing to get involved in that.
From there, we moved by hired bus (more excellent organization) to Adachi-ku, where we demonstrated in front of Yanagawa-Kogyo, a company which, among other things,
rents construction cranes, one of which was parked in the front lot. Protestors made their way around the construction material to the verandah of the home office, and chanted slogans through the open door, where the owner stood watching. This company dismissed a union member who had insisted on taking his legally-owed number of paid vacation days to deal with back pain brought on by the working conditions.
Coming out to these demos is a great way to build solidarity with our sister union Zentoitsu, and to learn about the conditions faced by other workers in Japan. Watch this space for information about future action.
May 25th Mini-Koudou Demos
Rain or shine, Nambu members turn out when called, and more than 20 people participated throughout the day in the Mini-Koudou demos last Friday, May 25.
Action began with a multi-union demo in Kasumigaseki. Hundreds of unionists surrounded the Ministry buildings in support of dismissed JR workers who have been fighting for decades. Listening to the speakers, some of whom were on a hunger strike, suddenly the rain didn’t seem worth compaining about.
A highlight of the day was a visit to the offices of Universal Language Institute (ULI) where we declared a new branch. Management were more than a little surprised to find their office suddenly filled with a dozen union members, and demanded that we leave. Nambu President Hiraga refused, and insisted that ULI recognize the union and commit to negotiations with the new branch. After some debate, ULI management realized that it made more sense to recognize the union than to have a dozen activists occupying its offices and chatting about working conditions with other ULI staff, who in fact seemed to enjoy the diversion.
Later in the day, we returned again to the infamous [three lettered college in Shinjuku], where management has been trying to crush the union for two years now. Managers stood by scowling as students took our leaflets to read during their break. As for the non-union teachers who walked by the picket line, one of our members said it best by quoting Edmund Burke: “Evil triumphs when good men do nothing.”
Union-busting problems at a Berlitz franchise in Sapporo were brought home to Berlitz HQ in Aoyama, as leafletters informed passers-by about unfair labour practices going on under the Berlitz name. Demonstrations were also held in front of ELS, the Berlitz-affiliated company in Shinjuku that runs the Sapporo franchise. This demo was well-timed, just as ELS students and teachers were leaving the building, and all were curious to hear about what was happening up north.
By coordinating action, and working together to resolve disputes at other workplaces as well as our own, wemultiply our strength and solidarity. Watch for more Mini-Koudou in the future!
Reinstate the Sapporo Four!
The fight against union busting at the Berlitz-ELS Sapporo Language Centre continues, with two demonstrations held recently in Sapporo and Tokyo.
In Sapporo, union members leafletted in front of the Berlitz-ELS LC on March 12. The union continues to receive strong support, with a new member joining the original Four, and students as well as members of the local Sapporo Rentai union helping to hand out flyers. The public is obviously reading the flyers, as we have received phone calls to the office in Tokyo from students concerned about the situation.
In Tokyo, union members gathered in front of the ELS school in Shinjuku, and distributed about 300 leaflets. Even without a loudspeaker, the colourful placards and energetic chanting of the protestors convinced the passers-by that something was definitely amiss with the company on the 7th floor. More than half the participants were from Berlitz and Simul, who, along with ELS, are Benesse group companies.
Background:
Union members at the Berlitz-ELS Sapporo LC are fighting unfair dismissals and union-busting at ELS Japan. ELS denies that the dismissals targeted union members, but cannot explain why out of 17 teachers, only the four union members were fired, less than two months after their first collective bargaining to boot. Unsubstantiated claims of “poor performance” don’t stand up against years of experience, good evaluations, and petitions from students to bring these teachers back to work.
The real reason may lie in changes to contracts introduced unilaterally this April, as teachers said good-bye to benefits such as paid national holidays and prep time for kids’s lessons.
This unfair labour practice is going on literally under the names of Berlitz and Benesse, which adorn the entrance to the school in Sapporo. ELS took over the Sapporo LC in 2006, but retained the Berlitz operation in a “double-branding” agreement with Berlitz Japan.
Court invalidates sacking of Japanese-Brazilian who called boss ‘idiot’
The Nagoya District Court on Wednesday invalidated a company’s sacking of a third-generation Japanese-Brazilian who called his boss an idiot, saying the company had abused its right of dismissal.Ruling in favor of the 35-year-old worker, the court said sacking the worker for calling his boss an idiot was unacceptable.
“The firing is not acceptable under current social standards, and it was an abuse of the right of dismissal,” Judge Toshiro Tamiya said as the ruling was handed down.
http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/national/news/20070509p2a00m0na022000c.html