Case #8 - Sick Leave

Steve Tobias
MGT 470- Conflict Management and Negotiation
Colorado State University – Global Campus Dr. Ernesto Escobedo
September 3, 2013

Background Three foreign Assistant Language Teachers (ALT’s), Mark, Suzanne, and Kelly are employed in a teaching program titled Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET). The Japanese government developed JET in an effort to better the English language education in Japan through the use of international teachers. It was also hoped that the program would promote an understanding at the local level of the importance and value of the differences between various cultures. Any differences that presented themselves between the ALT’s and their employers would be heard by the Conference of Local Authorities for International Relations (CLAIR). An issue however, was that, by agreement, CLAIR would only become involved if the employer would not or would not resolve the problem itself.
Issue
In this case study, Kelly and the other ALT’s had taken two days off for being sick. The ALT’s were directed by their boss Mr. Higashi to get a doctors note before returning to work and were told they could not use sick leave, instead they would have to use accumulated vacation time for their absence. Mr. Higashi explained that the work ethic is different in Japanese workers and they feel guilty missing work generally and especially because they are sick. When time is missed because of illness, the works use vacation time. Sick time is only used when the employee has exhausted all their vacation time. This was not consistent with what Kelly and the other ALT’s were told before going to Japan, nor was it consistent with their practices in their home countries. Kelly considered filing a complaint against Mr. Higashi with CLAIR, while Mark made it clear he was not happy with the Japanese style of management, and Suzanne proclaimed that Mr. Higashi was incompetent.

Proper Handling by Kelly

There are several issues that contributed to the issue involving the ALT’s and Mr. Higashi. In a nutshell, the different cultural beliefs, and lack of communication is what caused this incident to occur. A value is a judgment of what is important in social interaction (Lewicki, 2009). Lewicki (2006) also said, “Communication is the substance of negotiating.” An example of how cultural differences played a role in this case study is; there was a perception by the Japanese that the ALT’s did not value hard work. The study indicated that the Japanese always put their job and employer before their family and personal needs which conflicted with the way the ALT’s thought. Something else that added to the conflict was Kelly choosing not to attend the pre-departure training session that discussed the difference in costumes between Japanese workers and other countryes workers. Had she attended this meeting, she likely would have learned much more about the cultural differences between her and the Japanese and certainly how sick leave would work. All this considered, I believe the best course of action would be for Kelly to meet with Mr. Higashi before calling CLAIR. Many times these types of issues can be traced back to communications and beliefs; Lewicki (2009) said, beliefs are an expectation. In this case study, Kelly, believed she should have been able to use sick leave; however, Mr. Higashi believed she should have used vacation time. Had Kelly attended the meeting, she likely would have had a better understanding of the Japanese norms, and this problem may not have presented itself. Lewicki (2009) said, norms are standards of appropriate and inappropriate behavior in a cultural context. I believe a compromise could be reached after a discussion between Kelly and Mr. Higashi.

Tangible and Intangible Factors In this case study the tangible factor was whether or not Kelly and the other ALT’s were going to have to use vacation time, or Mr. Higashi would eventually give in and allow them to use the sick time that was written into their contract. An example of a tangible is the price or terms of an agreement (Lewicki, 2009). An intangible factor is the underlying psychological motivations that may directly or indirectly influence the parties during a negotiation (Lewicki, 2009). In this case study, the intangible factors include Kelly believing she is entitled to use her accumulated sick time while Mr. Higashi believes the ALT’s should use vacation time when they were ill. It is hard to distinguish which is more important, the tangible or intangible factors to Kelly and Mr. Higashi. I believe the tangible factor of having to use vacation leave instead of the sick leave is likely more important to Kelly, while the intangible factors of maintaining the cultural norms of working long hours and not using sick time is most important to Mr. Higashi.
Conclusion
Understanding cultural norms can play a significant role when negotiating with other cultures. If Kelly and the other ALTs had attended the meeting before leaving for Japan, as well as tried to understand the pressures that were affecting Mr. Higashi’s behavior they may not have gotten so upset when mr. Higashi required them to use vacation time rather than sick time. Mr. Higashi had a responsibility to all employees (which included the Japanese workers) to ensure that equality prevailed in the workplace. The ALTs had already insulted their Japanese colleagues by not working on weekends as well as expecting to use their sick leave instead of holiday time – both considered non-acceptable Japanese behavior. Mr. Higashi felt pressure to maintain a sense of equality amongst his employees.
References
Lewicki, R., Barry, B. and Saunders, D. 2009.Negotiation: readings, exercises, cases. Boston, Mass. [u.a.]: McGraw-Hill.

Lewicki, R., Saunders, D., Minton, J. and Lewicki, R. 2009. Essentials of negotiation. Boston, Mass.: Irwin/McGraw-Hill.