Japanese workplace | When unexcused absenteeism becomes the norm

Yesterday, on the third day of vacation, I stopped by the company because I wanted to get something for my colleague. The counter supervisor, Abe-san, was just about to get off work and said he would drive me home by the way. For me, who was already exhausted from the six-hour bus ride, it was a sound of heaven. I took my luggage and got on the bus with him without saying a word.

Halfway through the car, he suddenly sighed and said that the newcomer, Xiao Lin, who had only come to report this Monday, suddenly didn't show up today.

"He went to work at nine o'clock and he didn't arrive at 8:50. We thought that the weather was too bad and the tram might be delayed, but he didn't come by 9:30, so I had to call. But the phone was hung up after several calls. ... Then I followed the address directly to his house."

I'm not surprised, because this is not the first time that newcomers have been absent from work without any reason and have not answered the phone. Since there are some formalities that must be done if they want to resign, Abe-san had to go directly to their door and knock on the door.

This should be the second time in two months.

"When I got to his house, it was his sister who opened the door. I said he didn't come today, what's wrong? My sister also said, but he said it was a vacation today. I said no, today is work day, may I ask him Are you there? My sister said she wasn't there, so I had to ask her to tell him to call him back. If you want to resign, you have to go through some formalities."

"...How old is he?" I asked.

"30 years old."

Hmm... ok, I thought it was a young man who just graduated from high school. In addition, the boy who was knocked on the door by Abe-san last time was also 28 years old.

"Later he called and I asked him if he wanted to resign, but he couldn't tell. I said that if he wanted to resign, he had to go through some formalities. Should he come to the company in person or should I go to his house?" Abe-san said, "In the end, he said that he was very embarrassed to come to the company, but he didn't want me to go to his house, so he ended up making an appointment at the cafe. "

After listening to it, I really feel inexplicable. If it's a freshman who has just graduated, it's okay to be embarrassed. Are you older than me? Because there have been too many similar incidents in the past year, I asked him if the Japanese are like this? It doesn't matter if it doesn't fit, at least make a phone call?

I didn't even answer the phone, which was really annoying. I started to wonder if it was our company's problem, or was there a resignation SOP on the Internet?

The last one to leave was a 28-year-old former store manager (male). He also suddenly didn't come after two weeks. Abe-san didn't answer the call. We were still worried about his accident because of the heavy snow that day. People picked it up, and finally Abe-san had to run to his house to ring the doorbell, but no one was there. He ran for the second time that night. His grandparents came out to answer the door, and the person involved said that he felt that it was not what he imagined and that he was going to resign.

Abe-san said that now he does not care whether the interviewer has the ability to work, as long as he is willing to do it, or he is willing to call before he leaves.

"I don't want to go to other people's houses anymore, I'm very tired," he said.

The above mentioned cases are just two months.

About half a year ago, there was a former department store clerk (female) in her 40s - Komori.

She is a very energetic woman. Because she has worked in the service industry before, she has her own experience in treating customers. She also learned very quickly. She once learned about appointment-related matters beside me for a week. I explained the details clearly, and finally told her that there is no need to rush to learn everything, and you will understand when you are familiar with it . She also smiled and said ok to me.

After finishing the internship in the reservation department, I stood at the counter for two weeks, and suddenly no one came.

Abe-san called her, and she said that she was not feeling well and needed to rest—forgot to mention that feeling unwell was also a common excuse for them, and they usually just didn’t come.

The next day, the third day, and the fourth day, she didn't come, Abe-san had to call again, and she honestly said that she was leaving.

I know that Japanese people don't like too direct, they like detours, but this kind of thing really doesn't need detours. If you don't want to do it, you don't want to do it. Don't be awkward and can't tell why. Is there any benefit in procrastinating for a few days?

Little cute sister who just graduated

Among the unexcused absences, the one who impressed me the most was the newly graduated little sister Xiaomeng (19 years old).

She is a girl who can show a pair of watery eyes even when wearing a mask. There is a cute character in her name, but she is probably just graduated and not yet socialized? She often "flirts" with people at the counter. At that time, there happened to be a Taiwanese boy who came to support from other stores. They laughed too loudly outside. I went out to the counter to talk to Xiaomeng's sister, and she instantly changed one. Serious face, don't leave me the slightest smile.

It doesn't matter to me, but other Japanese girls don't think so. The little supervisor at the time reprimanded her directly, telling her not to laugh so hard at the counter that it “was trembling”—this was an adjective we used in private, and of course we didn’t tell her directly.

Later, she suddenly didn't come to work, and the night shift was chaotic that day. Called and she said she had temporary gastroenteritis.

Later, she didn't show up for nearly two weeks, because her class schedule was in chaos, Abe-san asked her to bring a diagnosis certificate from the hospital. After that, she did bring a certificate of diagnosis and returned to work. I thought everyone would be in peace like this, but on the day Xiaomeng's sister came back to work, Director Dalin at the counter chatted with her and explained to her that being absent for too many days without any reason would cause trouble to others.

The day after he finished speaking, Director Dalin happened to ask her about something, and sister Xiaomeng was probably unhappy, so she ignored the Director and even squinted at him. The always good-tempered Director Dalin got angry for the first time, so he grabbed her into the office and read aloud, and told her, "If you don't want to do it, go home."

Xiaomeng sister is really halfway to work, and she goes home when she gets her things!

I was really dumbfounded when I went to work the next day, Director Dalin who wasn't even angry when he was green! Xiaomeng's sister made him so angry and cursed in one day, she was a genius!

But even more exaggerated later, poor Abe-san called and asked Xiaomeng's sister to go through the resignation procedures. She didn't come at the appointment time, but she called and said she was playing in Sapporo? We were dumbfounded again and had no choice but to ask a colleague who knew her parents to call her mother. Her mother then apologized to us, saying that she thought her daughter had gone to work, and she said she would definitely invite her daughter to go through the resignation procedures.

On the day I came to go through the formalities, there was a lot of noise outside the office, and I thought the cleaning aunties who were sitting at the door had come to work. I checked that the time was wrong, and then a short-haired girl was pushed in at the door. I glanced at her.

do not know.

"Uh, that, Xiaomeng is here." She scratched her head, looking embarrassed.

I looked at her, and if the thoughts in my head could materialize, it was definitely just a bunch of question marks.

Before I blurted out and asked her, "Who are you?" the supervisor at the back was ashen and walked out with some paper documents. I just found out that little sister Xiaomeng is going to go through the resignation formalities today, and even if she finds a friend, she will push her friend into the office.

It's truly a marvel.

Don't you dare to ask for resignation? There is a resignation agency service in Japan

The small mark is like a karma (laughs).

The first time I heard about this service was when a younger sister Matsuyama (19), who had been working at the counter for a year, was expected to go to the morning shift one day.

Early in the morning, poor Abe-san received a call again. The other party said that they were "Saraba Union" (サラバ: saraba, which means goodbye in Japanese, usually in movies or poems), and they were calling on behalf of Matsuyama's sister. Come on, sister Matsuyama will resign from today. They will handle all the resignation procedures on your behalf. Please do not contact Matsuyama sister from now on.

I believe Abe-san must have wanted to scold when he received the call: What the fuck? Because when he conveyed it, I also wanted to ask What the fuck?

From that day onwards, all the people in our office realized that there is such a thing as resignation agency service in this world! Moreover, they can ignore the provisions of the notice period of resignation, and they will not come if they say no. The colleague on the other side checked the Internet, and the service actually costs 25,000 yen to use it once. I would rather spend 25,000 yuan than come to the scene and say that I want to leave. What kind of terrible monster is the workplace? Can you eat people? !

A few months later, the sister who was studying accounting work met Sister Matsuyama at the counter of a certain indoor hospital. She heard that Sister Matsuyama sighed and said to her, "It used to be easier for restaurants." The sister who was studying accounting work used to work in that hospital. , I heard that the water is very deep, and we also sighed that my sister really chose the wrong one. The colleague opposite said: "She can find Saraba Union again!"

Then Saraba Union became the stuff of jokes that we all have to talk about.

With so many similar cases, who is the problem?

I can't say that the company has no problems, but no matter how there are problems, absenteeism for no reason should not be the correct solution .

I only had my first job after college for a week, because the atmosphere in the office was so bad that I couldn't stand it, so I knew how hard it was to quit when I first arrived. But I never thought that being absent for no reason and refusing to answer the phone would be an option. Let's not talk about how the company feels about me. If my mother finds out, I may be beaten to death first!

Entering "new people suddenly do not come" on the Internet, there will be a lot of cases, even in Japan.

Running and jumping in society, at least you should be responsible for your own life, right? Is it really hard to make a phone call? It's very risky that I have only taught one of them, and if there are more, I will probably refuse to teach new people.

However, among the newly graduated freshmen, there are still a lot of serious work, and they are like a duck to water at the counter. It can only be said that school education and family education, as well as personal responsibility awareness are really important. Otherwise, every job should be done for a long time, and in the end, it is easy to smear your own reputation. Hakodate is a small place. Even if the executives of different companies know each other, sometimes they will receive calls from other places to ask how so-and-so is going... So don't take a fluke, I really don't know if other people already know those black histories before entering the company or interviewing.

Next, our department is going to recruit people. Please at least someone who will call when you leave.