Home / Main / PAFAQ 6
I'm sick and I want to take byoukyuu, but my school is being difficult about it. What can I do?
This is a difficult one. Japanese people rarely to never take byoukyuu (sick leave) - instead they take nenkyuu (annual leave) or just simply come to school and "ganbarre". While this may seem counter-productive to those of us from outside the system, that's the way it works here.
Our contract states that if we are off for a period of more than 3 days we must produce a doctor's statement to receive byoukyuu. It also says that your particular CO may require you to have this for less than 3 days absence. So basically it's best to cover your ass and get the piece of paper (you may have to pay for it) if you want to have any chance of getting to take byoukyuu. Some people accept receipts for prescription medicine, but some don't. It's best to check at your school BEFORE you get sick as you don't want to deal with this when you do.
Even though you have the certificate from the doctor, getting your school to allow you to take the byoukyuu rather than nenkyuu can be like getting blood out of a stone. I would recommend getting your contract and pointing out the section on sick leave (providing you have the doctor's certificate). If you are genuinely ill and have a doctor backing you up then unless they want to breach your contract, they have to allow you to take the sick leave.
It gets somewhat more difficult if you're just feeling crappy and really don't want to go to work, but don't want to go to the doctor (a cold, upset stomach etc). It is highly unlikely that you will be allowed to take byoukyuu if you don't go to a doctor and get proof that you're ill. In these situations you just have to accept that you are going to have to take a day or two of nenkyuu.
I would really really recommend talking to your CO about this BEFORE you get sick. New ALTs, get hold of your supervisor during August when you have nothing to do and talk through the situation at your school with them. Also when you are arranging to take byoukyuu, i.e. when you call in sick, make absolutely sure that your principal/vice principal are agreeing to the byoukyuu before you hang up. There have been numerous cases where supervisors have said "Yes, no problem, you can take byoukyuu" only for an ALT to get back to school and find out that 3 days of nenkyuu have been taken from them.