The JIL Labor Flash Vol.24
Email Journal 01.08.2002
Statistical Reports
Main Labor Economic Indicators
Current Topics
The 2002 Edition of the White Paper on the Labour Economy
Public Policies
The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare announces results of
an Industry Labor Situation Survey
News Clippings
A plaintiff demanding that her employer pay accumulated "unpaid
overtime work" wins her case ...etc
Special Issue
Raising of employment insurance premiums again and their problems
Statistical Reports
-Main Labor Economic Indicators July 2002-
http://www.jil.go.jp/estatis/eshuyo/200207/econtents.htm
Current Topics
-The 2002 Edition of the White Paper on the Labour Economy-
The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has published the 2002
Edition of the White Paper on the Labour Economy. It features "Recent
trends in employment and unemployment, and their backgrounds" as its
sub-theme.
The White Paper first described how the Japanese economy had
regressed after October 2000, and showed that, while the employment
rates in the Western countries continued to drop, Japan saw its
overall unemployment rate rise sharply to 5.5% in December 2001.
At the same time, although Japan's unemployment rate is still low by
international standards, the White Paper suggested the possibility
that, should the unemployment rate continue to rise, Japan may slip
from "Economic Superpower" status to become just "an ordinary country".
Continued on;
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/archives/emm/2001-2003/2002b/vol.24/wp2002.html
Public Policies
-The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare announces results of an
Industry Labor Situation Survey-
The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare announced the results of
their Industry Labor Situation Survey for 2001, in which it investigated
corporate initiatives and labor practices brought about by the
globalization of the economy. The Ministry conducted the survey in
September 2001 by visiting about 4,000 private-sector companies
throughout Japan that consistently employed 30 or more employees.
Answers were sent in by 3,153 companies (77.1%).
The survey found that 7.6% of the subject companies overall conducted
business in other countries, and that 47.9% of companies with around
1,000 employees were conducting business operations overseas.
In terms of country/region, a total of 60.2% of the surveyed companies
were operating in Asia (not including China). This was followed by China
(54.4%), North America (27.3%), and Europe (17.4%).
A high percentage of large-scale companies answered that they planned
to make inroads into overseas markets, or expand their existing overseas
businesses. By business category, 16.9% of the companies in the
manufacturing sector replied positively, followed by finance/insurance
companies (12.6%), and wholesale and retail sectors as well as food
and beverage companies (8.8%). When asked about their reasons for
advancing into overseas markets, 55% cited "to expand or develop their
markets," followed by "to secure cheap labor" (42.5%), and "to procure
cheap raw materials and parts" (32.5%).
The survey also studied the employment status of foreign workers
in Japan. When asked to cite the channel through which the companies
hired these foreign nationals, 47.2% of the companies apparently did
so "through personal connections," followed by "through private job
placement offices in Japan" (19.5%), and "through public employment
security offices in Japan" (13.8%).
News Clippings
-A plaintiff demanding that her employer pay accumulated "unpaid
overtime work" wins her case-
An Osaka woman filed a lawsuit against Sunmark Education System,
her employer, who allegedly failed to pay for her overtime work which
was not recorded and regarded as service work (amounting to as much as
700 hours a year), demanding payment of about 2.2 million yen to cover
unpaid overtime and other work. The court’s decision was made completely
in favor of the plaintiff, with the company agreeing to issue an apology
and paying a sum of 2.47 million yen by way of amicable settlement.
(Nihon Keizai Shimbun, July)
-The Yomiuri Shimbun survey reveals that 41% of Japanese people find
day-to-day living "tougher" than a year ago-
The Yomiuri Shimbun conducted in late June a nationwide opinion poll
on people's livelihoods. The survey targeted 3,000 eligible voters
throughout Japan, and responses were sent in by 65.4% of those surveyed.
The survey found that, despite the government's announcement that
"business had hit bottom," many Japanese people felt that the poor
state of the economy made their day-to-day living a hard grind. For
example, 41% of the respondents felt that living was tougher now than
a year ago, 6 percentage points more than the previous year. This was
the highest figure since 1991, immediately after the collapse of the
bubble economy.
When asked about the effects of the current reduction in commodity
prices on their current lives, 42% of the respondents said that they
had "a fairly good effect", while 43%--about the same percentage--said
that they had a "somewhat bad effect." However, the percentage of those
who answered "an entirely bad effect" increased by 7 percentage points
over the previous year.
Moreover, when asked whether or not they found the government's
business forecasts and analyses to be accurate descriptions of their
actual living conditions, a high 76% dismissed such reports, saying
that they "had no relation to their actual living situations."
Similarly, 84% of the respondents doubted that business would show an
upturn within a year.
(Yomiuri Shimbun, July)
Special Issue
-Raising of employment insurance premiums again and their problems-
The overall unemployment rate, which was 2.2% in FY1992, has since
increased each year, and exceeded 5% in FY2001. The number of
unemployment insurance recipients also increased year by year, from an
average 570,000 people per month in 1992 to over 1 million people in
FY1998, and has continued to increase steadily. On the other hand,
growth in premium revenue has continued to stagnate because of the
lingering recession. Ever since FY1994, deficit between income and
expenditure has been dealt with by using reserves accumulated from
employment insurance. These reserves, however, are expected to run
out in FY2003.
Continued on;
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/archives/emm/2001-2003/2002b/vol.24/employmentinsurance.html
