So its the eve of my wedding ceremony. My parents have come to Japan. ...And I'm somewhat miffed. Why? I shall explain.
In the last "Less Money, More Problems" editorial, I believe I mentioned my former boss threatening to not pay me my final paycheck if I didn't hand in two forms that I really didn't need to hand in. I went to the Labor Bureau and asked if he could legally get away with that. The advisor I spoke to told me no, he couldn't. He made a copy of the lawbooks where it says employers are not allowed to withhold paychecks from employees, and underlined the key phrase. The advisor suggested I email my former company telling them I wasn't going to hand in the forms, that withholding my paycheck would be illegal, and to include a scanned copy of the page from the lawbook as evidence. I did exactly that. I never got a reply to that email, so I figured that perhaps, defeated, my former boss had known when to quit, and would pay me my final paycheck which I desperately NEED on the verge of getting married.
...Nope.
Today was payday. Or at least, it should have been. I checked my account twice, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. Nothing. I did not get paid for my final month of work.
Getting shafted out of money you rightfully and legally earned is infuriating enough, but especially in my case, when I don't have any money to begin with, and was counting on that paycheck to pay my rent and bills...well...yeah, I'm sure you can all imagine how not pleased I might be.
I'm not sure if he thought I was wrong about the whole "not paying your workers" is illegal claim, or just thought that I was bluffing when I said I would go back to the Labor Bureau if I didn't get my paycheck. I have no idea what he's thinking. I know what I'm thinking though: It's time to deliver the biggest Gaijin Smash since Perry opened up Japan with the big black gunships.
First, I've got to deal with the wedding ceremony tomorrow...um...in 18 hours. And hosting my parents, who've traveled 5000 miles across an ocean to be here. And my wife's family who is being very kind and accommodating to everyone. And all the friends and acquaintances coming to the wedding and after party. But then next week...its time to fight.
Until I get my money, I'm royally screwed...but I can't even see that right now. Before, I just wanted to quit the company and go my separate way in peace. Now, I'm determined to get the money he's trying to cheat me out of, even if that means I have to bring down the whole damn company to do it.
To all those who are freaked out about the possibility of working in Japan; don't worry, this is not the norm, not by a long shot. As I said before, any job will have co-workers or even bosses you don't like, and perhaps some unfavorable conditions, but this job/company is way past extreme. As usual, I just seem to have special luck or something.
Don't worry about me, I'm fine. I'm not worried about the possibility of not being able to pay rent this month or even the time/resource/energy drain that the upcoming legal fight may pose. Right now I'm just focused on the wedding. After the wedding is said and done (hopefully without any hitches!)...then its time to fight.
Posted by gaijin at 10:05 AM