What’s in a contract anyway

Anyone been asked to clean a toilet at work? Lord! Just asking. I know it’s an extreme case. But back in the US a contract employer has clear and defined roles for its employees and the client understands this or puts it on the agenda at contract negotiation time. But in the Far East, a contract seems to be far more flexible than that. At least from the US civilian stand point. Don’t get me wrong. Master Labor Contract workers MLCs are under a similar contract with the military, but it seems that the Japanese government is a little better at holding the Navy and the US military to the letter of the law in reference to what can be asked of a MLC. But recruit a US citizen over to Japan and once they arrive they find that though their employer has not misled them, it seems that the Navy has. Maybe it’s because they (the client) is allowed to get away with it for lack of accountability being applied to them. But it seems that whatever the Navy asks of its US contractor is pretty much assumed to be implied in the current contract in what is defined as their purview. Bill and Steve maybe asked to help move large cabinets, or mop and wax a floor in the work place all depending on what mood the GS is in or how cheeky they feel. All the while forgetting that the civilians are not covered by any program of self-insurance the military has in place to cover its service-members. What if Bill slips and falls and that heavy cabinet he was asked to move crashes on him. Good thing there’s a military hospital down the street with Emergency surgical care. But who pays the cost? His group insurer? The Military? The Civilian Employer? Or lastly the GS who asked for the job to be done without prior permission or authority granted from their employer the US Military. Sure some are reading this and say. The military isn’t going to pay. HUH? We are contractors (civilians) not unformed military. Yes, we can and do sue every day. The Military branch involved will investigate and pay really quick to head off that bad publicity and scandal. Commanding Officers get relieved around the world for far less. But do they know? Maybe not! Do they know of the liabilities created under their command without their prior knowledge? Most probably not! But when that CO doesn’t have more than 20-30 military and over 100 civilians in their command or unit.  And when the CO is told that 10 offices with over 4000 pounds of furniture was being moved from one building to another,  do you think they ask at the meeting, who is providing the labor? Or what’s our liability on this? And what happened if the 100 or so civilians refuse to be the mules for this adventure? Who will hold the military and the contracting company accountable if dismissals take place?

     It’s like speeding to work each day. You do it because well, you’ve been getting away with it all these months and who cares? The police don’t! You don’t see them out there stopping you. So you keep doing it knowing it’s dangerous and somebody might get hurt SOMEDAY. Then one day SOMEDAY comes and you or someone else gets hurt! Why? Because you couldn’t plan ahead and provide yourself enough time to get to work.

It’s the same thing here. For lack of planning and budgeting someone will get hurt performing a task that they are not properly equipped, trained and or authorized to do. Someone, God forbid will get hurt (statistically) because there simply isn’t enough military at each command or unit to perform all these tasks. So some contractor for fear of dismissal will jump in and help and then slip and fall, maybe have something fall on them. And the boom will come down on all those in management who let it happen. Yes, the military will pay for lack of planning as they do in prosecuting their wars. Yes, they will pay for some poor slubs broken leg, pain and suffering all because the same poor slub wanted to show that he was part of the team.

ITcontracting

For Contractors By Contractors Jobs

I think we should start a Job finder or Network to keep all of us abreast to whats open and availible in the market place. We all know that knowledge of a job opening and who to apply to is golden. So I will create a category called Job finder and place it in the index to the right. If anyone needs a job hey go ahead post a resume. If you are looking for a recruit or panhandling for a referral bonus and have a opening then once again post it.

Hello UCMJ! Goodbye Constitution

As a civilian contractor and a former enlisted who did a 3 year tour here in Japan, I know that we are all guests in the land of the rising sun. I know what my civic duties are to my Japanese neighbors. In addition, I like so many others have been horrified by the recent run of violent acts and drunk and disorderly behavior against Japanese citizens by US service members and a few US Civilians; I agree that something has to be done about it. And the Navy here has done a lot to improve its image with the local populace. As a military member in past, I knew my ass belonged to the Navy, and what they said is the law of the land as it concerned us Sailors. If they required that we be off the streets and in our homes by a certain time, so be it. No one forced me to sign an Enlistment contract. It’s a volunteer force. In addition, when that Enlistment ends, it ends with a DD-214 to prove it. Now that I am no longer active-duty, I am free to come and go as I please, regardless of what my boss or his boss might think right? When my duty in the Navy ended, I became a private citizen with all the constitutional rights that accompany that status.

As I stated prior, I am a guest in Japan, on a job related SOFA status VISA. I know that my rights in town, outside the gate are whatever the Japanese host says they are. I have no constitution rights here. (neh?) But when I am on base by definition, US Federal property, Japan makes no claims against me unless I commit a crime out in town of course. On base, I am protected by the US Constitution. I f I am Active-duty those rights are configured differently by the Uniformed Code of Military Justice. The UCMJ was drafted to ensure that our nation’s uniform services met their obligations in time of war and peace. But with a DD-214 in hand, my obligations are no longer to the Navy, but to my family and myself. So here’s my question to all of you. Does anyone get the feeling that the military is seemingly trying to force the UCMJ down the throat of the average civilian contractor? I mean they know that the UCMJ does not apply to us. But there are incidents where if contractor doesn’t comply with a rule that the CO wants applied to all their personnel, civilians included, that CO will pressure the employer to fire that contractor. I have heard cases where base security has tried to force contractors to leave a bar when the curfew for Sailors ends. When told that their authority over a US Civilian outside the gate ends at the gate, they have been known to reply that since we are all SOFA sponsored, we ALL fall under the jurisdiction of the base. Hearing this! I thought of calling PSD to ask about my re-enlistment bonus since apparently they didn’t pay me when I involuntarily re-enlisted in the Navy after accepting this contracting job. I heard another case where a co-worker was standing in the parking lot of his off base (mansion) apartment building drinking a beer and speaking with a fellow US civilian and a Active duty (presumed khaki) male out of uniform approached him and told him he could not consume alcohol in public. Hmmm, under Japan law, that is legal. But if these guys were active duty then they would fall under Military law as well. And the military authorities do not allow their uniformed personnel to consume alcohol in public.

So where are these military folks getting the idea that contractors and military are one and the same? It’s not possible to sign away your constitutional rights and nowhere in any employment documents does it say that we’ll agree to abide by any additional rules set by our overseas US Military client. It doesn’t say these things, because frankly, it would be illegal for them to state and or enforce such rule. So where is the power to make something like this stick? Your future job prospect (?) Is the military pressuring the contracting companies to hold an employee’s job over his her head if they don’t comply with the questionable rule set my the base commander? It’s not too far fetched to believe that a company would sacrifice an employee for the sake of a future contract renewal. I can’t imagine this type of thing staying out of the newspapers in the US for long if it occurred in say San Diego.

Now I know some of you are thinking, well if the military here in Japan feels that continuing to grant you SOFA/Visa status is a determent to their mission and relationship to Japan then they should be able to revoke said Visa for that purpose. Absolutely! If I or any civilian here on a SOFA status Visa breaks Japanese law, and/or US Law (on base), then so be it! Send them home. Enforce this rule as long as it is within the law. Meaning don’t try to revoke the rights granted to any civilian visiting Japan (while I am off base), nor the inalienable rights granted to me (US Citizen) by the constitution (while I am on base). Sure National Security laws pre-empt me from certain rights ie… yes, they can randomly search my car or in the case of me entering or leaving a classified space, they can search my person. That concept is the same in CONUS. But just because things a little touchy here in Japan with all the issues with military related crime out in town, doesn’t grant the military any new special powers over me or my fellow contractors/civilians.

As a final note, in a even more radical sense some civilians have reported that they have been told by their employers/US Navy that the SOFA status also applies to a Japanese spouse. NEGATIVE! The SOFA agreement specifically states in the first paragraph that the definition of a SOFA status personnel shall be defined as a NON-JPANESE NATIONAL. So it looks like the military is trying to boss our wives around too. But here I go ranting…….