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Question

I have been asked by my friend to help with an elementary school party on a Saturday. They have offered to pay for my train ticket and lunch. I know we cannot do any work that gives us additional income, but would this be okay?

Answer

First, you should check the Terms and Conditions your BoE gave you. Although all BoEs are given a model of terms and conditions by CLAIR they are able to make some changes as they see fit. They may say that you are prohibited from participating in any enterprise from which remuneration is received (this may include transportation).

Secondly, it is important to note that you are a public employee and as such you face the same restrictions as Japanese public employees. This means that there can be some limits placed on what you are able to do outside of work hours. In particular, you are seen as a representative of your BoE. So participating in another organization’s/school’s activities could be seen as your BoEs support of the activity (which may not be the case). In addition, if a negative situation arose at the event this could reflect poorly on the BoE if you are involved.

The best thing for you to do would be to contact your supervisor at your BoE, give them as much information as you can about the event, including who is organizing the event, who will be attending, what your role is etc. and ask for permission to attend the event. There is every possibility that they will say no, so do be prepared for this. If the event is being organized by a teacher that is part of a BoE that is not your BoE, that BoE should contact your BoE to ask for special permission for you to attend their event.

If your supervisor has any questions regarding the guidelines suggested by CLAIR, ask them to call the Japanese PA at kencho for more information.

Answered by PAs 2014/2/28.