Recruitment

The nearest city is called Shirakawa and it is situated in Fukushima prefecture. It is small but has all the usual shops, supermarkets, bars, restaurants etc. British Hills runs a free shuttle-bus three or four times a day, dependent on demand, which takes about 40 minutes each way. From Shin-Shirakawa station the Shinkansen takes about 1 hour and 15 minutes to Tokyo, and costs approximately 6,000 yen one way. If you are trying to locate us on a map, you may want to look for Koriyama city, which is a large city only an hour drive away, or for Fukushima Prefecture, the province in which British Hills is situated.

We employ staff year round on an ongoing basis as current contracts expire. We are flexible to a certain extent in both the numbers we will hire and their starting dates. Visa application is also unpredictable - it can take up to 6 weeks to process a work holiday visa application, but usually takes between one and two weeks depending on the consulate. We generally try to arrange for a few new staff to have the same starting date, as this is helpful for new recruits and also enables us to run a thorough orientation and induction program.

We use a One-Month Variable Working Hour System which means that work days vary from month to month. Service staff usually work 8 hours a day. We stagger our days off so that we can cover all departments 7 days a week (British Hills is open 365 days a year!), so days off tend to vary from week to week. In general, a working week is 40 hours over 5 days but staff may be asked to work longer shifts and sometimes extra days, especially in the summer.

Hourly pay is 1,150 yen. During the summer there is a lot of opportunity to gain extra hours by offering to work in other departments. Overtime is paid at 1.25 times the regular hourly rate (1,438 yen an hour). The pay system for service staff consists of four 7-day blocks during which the aim is to work 40 hours a block. Our pay period runs from the 16th of one month to the 15th of the next with payday being the 25th of that month.

The standard contract length is 6 months but can be extended to one year for service staff on Working Holiday visas. Staff who choose to extend their contract for a further 6 months will receive a pay rise, bringing their basic hourly rate to 1,200 yen an hour. We provide an end-of-contract bonus for all service staff. Upon completion of your initial six month contract you will be awarded a bonus of 60,000 yen. This may be taken as a cash bonus, or if you are extending your contract with us, as 10 days paid holiday. In addition, employees who extended their contract receive an end-of-contract bonus of 75,000 yen at the end of the 12-month period of employment with British Hills.

In Japan paid holidays are notoriously few in all companies. However, you will receive 5 days paid holiday for each 6-month contract in accordance with the British Hills Rules and Regulations.

Usually 9 days during each pay.

You are obliged to enroll in one of the health insurance system and pension system. At British Hills, you shall be covered by the Employees’ Health Insurance system, regardless of your nationality. The Employees’ Health Insurance system provides you with insurance benefits for sickness, injury, childbirth or death. And also you shall be covered by the Employees’ Pension Insurance system, regardless of your nationality.

Accommodation and food is provided FREE OF CHARGE to our service staff living in our staff house. You will be provided with your own furnished room. You can also use the wireless LAN for free.

Service staff salary deductions include income tax, AIU insurance premiums (specified by labour law) and any personal pub and sales charges.

We have nine guest houses which can sleep 271 guests.

British Hills employs about 60 Japanese staff and 20-30 foreign staff. In addition to the service staff and management, we also have an Education Department staffed by teachers from around the world. The Education department is responsible for the majority of guests at British Hills and the teachers conduct a wide variety of language, sports, cultural and craft classes. Service staffs are welcome to join public sign-up classes at a 50% discount. Please note that teachers are recruited under a different visa and require different qualifications (university degree, TEFL certificate and teaching experience) from those required of hospitality staff. Our service staff are recruited from Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand (limited to countries that have a reciprocal working holiday agreement with Japan). The majority of our office, sales, kitchen and maintenance staff are Japanese, though they all speak English to varying degrees.

Uniform must be worn while on duty. You will need to bring black trousers, black leather shoes, black socks and plain white shirts for work. Please note that the usual hospitality standards for personal presentation at work apply. Please do not to dye your hair in bright colors or show tattoos to guests. In addition, you are expected to dress smartly even when you are off duty if you are in a guest area such as the Snooker Room or Pub (guests see you as a Foreign Service Staff member whether you are working or not). Hats, caps and beanies are not to be worn in the Manor House. All staff should keep in mind that British Hills is a guest facility which is ‘never’ off-duty - even if we are!

British Hills staffs are welcome to use all hotel facilities free of charge, provided it doesn't interfere with our guests’ enjoyment of them. This includes use of our indoor swimming pool, sauna, spa, roman bath, mountain bikes, cross-country skis, hiking trails, snooker room, tennis courts, basketball courts, sports gymnasium (table tennis and badminton) etc. In addition, local facilities include that two golf courses, a Japanese "onsen" (hot spring resort), and a ski-resort (allless than 10 minutes away) - charges apply.

Hospitality service staff are recruited on a work-holiday visa (the only visa option available for most applicants who do not have a university degree and necessary experience prerequisites for company sponsored visas).