Following the incident where three Anhui-based research students were beaten while working in Japan and ended up homeless, two more female Anhui interns have been dismissed by the Japanese side for failing to keep a diary as required.
A. "Not writing a diary" led to their dismissal
According to reports, on September 6, 2010, Tao Na and Miao Miao underwent several months of Japanese language training at Anhui Zhonghui Foreign Economic and Technical Cooperation Company (hereinafter referred to as "Zhonghui Company"). They then signed a three-year work agreement with Zhonghui Company and were dispatched to Japan as technical interns, paying 35,000 yuan in intermediary fees to Zhonghui Company.
Unexpectedly, after half a year, the two were dismissed by the Japanese organization (i.e., the business cooperative association approved by the Japanese government responsible for recruiting Chinese trainees, hereinafter referred to as the Association) due to "not writing a diary" and sent back to China.
"The reason given by the Japanese side for dismissing us was that we both had some mental issues caused by the earthquake, resulting in low work efficiency and lack of labor capacity. Therefore, they decided to dismiss us," said Tao Na.
B. "Not writing a diary" means no overtime
Tao Na and Miao Miao worked in a Japanese company processing seafood. After being arranged by the Association to enter the company, the translator teacher required them to write a diary in Japanese every day. "They required us to write a diary every day to improve our Japanese skills, and each diary entry had to be one page long."
According to Miao Miao, the staff of the Association regularly inspected their diary-writing situation. A Chinese Japanese teacher from the Association once scolded Tao Na for her "excessively simple" diary entries, "saying that our diaries were all the same every day and too simple," recalled Tao Na, still feeling wronged.
"In fact, our daily lives were very fixed: getting up, working, finishing work, learning Japanese, with basically fixed schedules and similar content, making it difficult to write anything new," said Tao Na.
Since they believed writing diaries wasted time and they were indeed quite tired every day, the two thought it was enough to just learn simple Japanese conversational skills. "In April this year, we suggested to the Association that we wouldn't write diaries but would continue to learn Japanese." Tao Na said, but this request was soon ignored.
"They told us that if we didn't write diaries well and didn't study Japanese well, we wouldn't have the opportunity to work overtime and earn more money."
From mid-March 2011, Tao Na and Miao Miao stopped writing diaries, and indeed, the factory did not allow them to continue working overtime.
C. A dismissal letter and a plane ticket back home
By April 30, 2011, Tao Na and Miao Miao had not written diaries for nearly a month. Around four o'clock in the afternoon, the two were called by the Association's staff to the meeting room of the company.
"On the table were our wages earned from working in the Japanese factory, plus two tickets back to China."
Miao Miao said that when they saw this scene, they were completely confused, "We didn't want to leave, so we asked why they wanted us to go. The people from the Association told us that the reasons for dismissal were clearly written on paper."
"Tao Na then received a dismissal reason drafted by the Association and signed by its boss, stating that the earthquake caused some mental problems for the two, leading to low work efficiency and lack of labor capacity," said Miao Miao.
Although the Association paid them an extra month's salary according to local legal provisions due to the sudden notice of dismissal, the two still felt that the "reason for dismissal" was insufficient and did not want to return to China without understanding.
"If you think we have mental problems, then please take us to the hospital for a check-up. If we indeed have mental problems, we will return to China ourselves," said Tao Na, but the other party did not respond.
"We did not violate the 21 rules for trainees set by the Association, so why dismiss us?" the two were very suspicious.
"There are rules beyond the regulations." The translator teacher told them. "The rules are made by people, if they're not written down, how can we know?" Tao Na countered.
D. Pursuing intermediary fees in Hefei
Before the two could figure it out, the Association's staff quickly informed them, "This time, the tickets for your return to China are paid by the Association. If you do not return in time, and exceed this deadline before returning, then you will have to pay for the tickets yourselves."
Tao Na and Miao Miao had no choice but to board the flight back to China at 13:50 on May 1.
After arriving in Shanghai, Tao Na and Miao Miao paid for their own transportation back to their hometown of Jieshou, Anhui. On May 9, the two rushed to Hefei, hoping to negotiate with Zhonghui Company and reclaim part of the intermediary fees.
"We paid 35,000 yuan in intermediary fees to the intermediary company, and the contract was for three years. Since we have already been dismissed and deported back to China by the Japanese side, having only worked as interns in Japan for about half a year, we have the right to ask the intermediary company to refund at least two years' worth of intermediary fees," said Tao Na.
On the morning of May 9, the two found a responsible person at Zhonghui Company, who claimed that the boss was not in the office and could not respond to the matter.
E. Business Department involvement
A manager surnamed Wang from Zhonghui Company commented on the situation reflected by Tao Na and the others, "The Japanese side terminated the contract according to Japanese domestic law and paid the two one month's salary after termination. They also bought return tickets for the two. Their situation is very pitiful, and we will communicate with the Association to see if we can recover some losses for the two."
The reporter then reported the situation of the two to the Anhui Provincial Department of Commerce, and the staff stated that they would investigate and handle the matter based on the original contract between Zhonghui Company and the two parties (it was learned that on May 9, Xu Youxiang and others also reported the situation to the Anhui Provincial Department of Commerce).
On the afternoon of May 10, Miao Miao told the reporter that since living and eating in Hefei cost money, she had already bought tickets at the station and was preparing to return home to wait for the matter to be resolved. (The characters Tao Na and Miao Miao in the article are pseudonyms.)
Sun Li, This newspaper reporter Wu Fuliang