In recent years ECC has turned its attention to hiring from overseas.
However, prior to this it was known as a refuge for ex-NOVA teachers seeking
less working hours (about 40 a month fewer until a few years ago) with
considerably more time off and about the same salary. Like NOVA, ECC is a
nationwide company known by most Japanese.
Salary
The basic starting salary at ECC is 252,000 yen a month ($2250), with annual
performance related pay increases of between 5,000 to 15,000 yen a month ($45 -
135).
Holidays
ECC teachers usually have Sundays and one weekday off every week in addition
to a good vacation package that includes all national holidays, about 2 fixed
weeks in August, about 10 fixed days in May and about 10 fixed days over the
Christmas and New Year holidays.
On top of this, ECC teachers have five flexible holidays a year that can be
used at anytime. As is the case at NOVA, the number of flexible holidays
increases with time.
The Schedule
ECC teachers work 29.5 hours a week with about 25 hours of contact time.
Teachers teach at three or four schools (on separate days)
Shifts start either from around 1100 to 1200 or from around 1530 and last a
maximum of six hours, which means there is no lunch break. Japanese Labor Law
insists that six hours is the maximum shift time without a formal lunch break.
At ECC, teachers can expect a mixture of kid’s classes and 40- or 80-minute
classes for adults. Web lessons are just beginning at ECC and are not taught
often, if at all, as part of a regular schedule.