Gaba Corporation - Belting System

Belting System

Instructors are given what Gaba refers to as a "belt", which determines their per lesson pay rate. The base belt is A, which pays 1,500 yen per lesson. Instructors wishing to earn more than the base rate can earn that rate by meeting a set of optional requirements and performing well enough within their Learning Studio to earn a recommendation. Instructors ranked above A are paid a higher rate for 'peak-time lessons'. Peak lessons are morning and evening lessons during the week, and any time during weekends or public holidays. The payment for non peak-time lessons does not increase until the D belts.

The higher belts were introduced in 2005, and since then the percentage of belted instructors has gradually increased. As of February 2013, 550 out of 1,015 Gaba instructors (54.18%) are being paid more than the 1,500 yen base rate for peak lessons. However, the rate of belting up slowed considerably following the restructuring in late 2008. In addition, the lesson evaluation average (LEA) required for some belts were raised in 2009, and the averages for all belt were raised again in 2011. Gaba raised the minimum LEA requirement because the entire company saw a sharp rise in LEA from the time the original standards were implemented. In theory, the increased LEA requirements mean that it is harder to attain belts and easier to lose them. However, the minimum LEA requirements for various belting levels tend to be far lower than the average LEA of instructors in that belting level. For example, the average company LEA is about 4.65, but the current requirement for the D belts (the highest possible levels) are only slightly higher (4.7). The belts range from A to A2, B1, B2, C1, C2, D1, and D2.

The details are as follows:

Instructors are belted after undergoing certification and meeting certain requirements. The requirements to achieve and maintain belt levels are as follows:

(* The A2 Belt only came into existence in May 2010.)

Evaluations refer to evaluations done by students, which are done on a five-point scale, 5 being an exceptional lesson, and 1 being very unsatisfactory. This system requires that instructors are expected to get a large percentage of high evaluations in order to maintain their current belt level. This in turn encourages instructors to teach good lessons.

Negative evaluations refer to evaluations with a score of "1" or "2". The schedule refers to instructors' schedules, which must be submitted by the 10th of the previous month. Punctuality/Attendance issues are self-explanatory and peak-time lessons are explained above.

Gaba has imposed limits on the higher belts (30 instructors for C1 and C2, and 15 instructors for D1 and D2). As of October 2012 only the numbers of instructors at C2 are at the limit. C1, D1 and D2 are all under the limit.

There have been many cases where instructors have been "unbuckled", (issued with notices that Gaba may cut their pay if their performance does not improve) and then "debelted" (had their pay cut). Debelting became increasingly common from 2009 onwards.

This has been done on several different grounds. For example, instructors who have submitted their proposed schedule late, or received a lower client evaluation average than their belt level requires may be "belted down". As noted above, instructors are required to get a substantial percentage of "5" evaluations to avoid the threat of unbuckling. Getting too many "negative evaluations" (with a score of 1 or 2) can also resulting in debelting. "Attendance issues" primarily refer to incidents of lateness or failure to show for lessons, but can also refer to sick calls if they are seen as excessive or frivolous. Instructor support leaders are required to classify sick calls as "excused" or "unexcused" depending on the circumstances.

In order to be debelted, the instructor has to fail to meet the minimum requirements for their belting level for two consecutive contract periods. If Gaba determines than instructors have not improved their performance after the second contract period, then they will generally proceed to "debelt" the instructor. Every month, Gaba's Instructor Review Committee (IRC) meets to decide which instructors will be belted up or debelted. There is no way for instructors to appeal a decision or appear at an IRC meeting when their case is being considered. However, Instructor Support Leaders (essentially instructor managers working on the LS level) can and do appeal pending decisions to de-belt instructors.