This paper revolves around Kelly a Canadian citizen who got into a serious problem with her immediate boss concerning sick leave provisions when she became ill. Upon graduating from college, Kelly decided to participate in the Japan Exchange and Teaching, JET program. Kelly believed that this would be an excellent opportunity for her to make money as a fresh graduate from the college. Besides, she felt that this move would assist her to enhance a good understanding of the Japanese language. Luck enough, Kelly got a job as an Assistant Language Teacher and worked in Board of Education under Mr. Higashi. Her job contract allowed her to work for three days a week and the other two days was for visiting schools. Additionally, the contract specified vacation days, sick time and standard workdays. She was also supposed to work until late in the evening and on Saturdays as well.
The source reveals that a problem arose when she became ill and failed to report to work only to alert her boss via a call that she was rest for 2days. The boss agreed and requested for a doctor’s note for that effect despite the contract provisions that required a note for 3 days. Instead of treating the missed days as sick days, Mr. Higashi treated them as vacation days. Kelly was very disturbed by the issue forcing her to seek interventions.
The case also acknowledges that the problems surrounding this case were subject to experiences and miscommunication between the two parties. Cultural difference was a key concern on how they should have handled the issue in Japanese culture as opposed to Kelly’s focus on Canadian statutes. In this case, miscommunication occurs due to the failure of Kelly to tailor her behavior to match that of Japanese culture. Kelly, who was seeking an experience in Japanese culture, ought to have acted within the provisions of the Japanese culture. All these impelled Kelly to report the issue to CLAIR to seek clarification and solution to the problems.
It is recommended that Kelly ought to approach her boss with respect and request
information regarding the issue to enhance good relationship. Besides, it recommends that Kelly needs to have a better understanding of norms and expectations of different cultures to avoid confrontations. Above all, it is recommends the employer to consider making it mandatory for the new hires to undergo orientations and training sessions before becoming permanent employees. This would play a great role in providing a clear understanding of cultural expectations better (Colquitt, 2015).
References
Colquitt, J. A. (2015). Organizational Behavior: Improving Performance and Commitment in the Workplace. McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
