I’ve been working at a small eikaiwa for over three years as a keiyakusha (one-year fixed-term contracts). Although the contract is nominally fixed-term, I have continued working without interruption, and there has been no discussion of non-renewal. My contract month passed recently, and I continued working as normal, so it appears the contract was tacitly renewed.
I have now been told directly by the owner that I am being dismissed. There has been:
- no written warning
- no performance issues raised
- no misconduct alleged
- no notice of contract expiration or non-renewal
The school has been struggling to attract new students and the line from management is that staffing costs need to be cut to maintain viability. How they plan to do that is, in part, to divide my workload among minimum wage labour – some of which is already employed by the company.
Other staff members have been affected. Namely, one teacher had their days reduced, and another part-time teacher was let go.
My understanding is that:
- dismissal of a fixed-term employee mid-term requires “unavoidable circumstances” (労契法17条), and
- after repeated renewals, termination/non-renewal is subject to Article 19 (雇止め法理), requiring objectively reasonable grounds.
Since this is being framed as an outright dismissal, not a non-renewal, I’m trying to confirm whether this would be treated as an unlawful dismissal under the Labor Contract Act.
by jamestheobscure