The Japan Labor Flash No.6
Email Journal December 15, 2003
Statistical Reports
Recent Statistical Survey Reports
Current Topics
Rengo adamantly opposes the privatization of workers' accident
compensation insurance ...etc
Public Policies
The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare holds a conference to
promote greater adoption of work-sharing ...etc
News Clippings
40% of overtime work and karoshi hotline callers are in their 30s
...etc
Special Issue
Looking back on 2003
JILPT Information
Statistical Reports
-Recent Statistical Survey Reports November 2003-
Features
General Survey on Labor Conditions (2003)
Basic Survey on Wage Structure (Starting Salary) (2003) ...etc
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/estatis/esaikin/2003/e2003-11.htm
-TANKAN-
Short-term Economic Survey of Entreprises in Japan
-December 12, Friday, released by the Bank of Japan
http://www.boj.or.jp/en/stat/tk/tk0312.htm
Current Topics
-Rengo adamantly opposes the privatization of workers' accident
compensation insurance-
The Council for Regulatory Reform, an advisory body to Prime Minister
Koizumi, plans to study the privatization of the workers' accident
compensation insurance program and then submit a final report to the
Prime Minister in late December. Meanwhile, the Workers' Accident
Compensation Insurance Subgroup, Labor Conditions Subcommittee, Labor
Policy Council of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare compiled
a written report in November reflecting the members' unanimous view
of public interest, labor and management, and announced their
opposition to reaching a hasty conclusion. The Subgroup called on
the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare to deal with the issue
appropriately, explaining that the problems that would be brought
about by privatization are not clearly defined, and that this move
would have a serious impact on worker protection.
Continued on;
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/archives/emm/2003/no.6/workersinsuarance.html
Public Policies
-The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare holds a conference to
promote greater adoption of work-sharing-
In late November, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare held
the First Conference to Promote the Spread of Work-Sharing, attended
by working-level representatives of the government, labor and management.
The Conference aims to promote labor-management consultations under
government leadership, since, although a framework was agreed upon by
the government, labor and management in March and December 2002, not
much progress has been made in terms of specific initiatives and programs.
Members of the Conference plan to introduce diverse work models according
to business type, such as for regular employees who work for a short
period of time, and investigate such models. At the same time, they
will try to develop general-purpose models for introduction, so as to
investigate methods for effectively spreading the concept of work-sharing
and providing education, and to study support/assistance measures.
For the time being, the Ministry will incorporate the views of the
Conference and compile, by the end of FY2003, a collection of ideas
and tips for introducing the work-sharing system.
-Comprehensive survey of working conditions reveals record low paid
holiday uptake and first-ever drop in retirement benefits-
According to an Overview of a Comprehensive Survey of Working
Conditions for 2003 which the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare
released in November, the surveyed employees took 48.1% of their annual
paid holidays, renewing the lowest-ever level reached last year of 48.4%,
although only by a slight margin.
The survey asked 5,300 private-sector corporations about their
retirement benefit systems and work hours. The effective response rate
was 80.8%.
Of the surveyed companies, 5.4% adopted the early retirement
preferential treatment system, up from 3.4% five years previously.
The figure was especially high among large corporations.
College-graduate clerical/technical staff received 24.99 million yen
on average last year in retirement benefits, down by approximately
four million yen from the survey conducted five years previously,
in FY1997. The amount was equivalent to 42.8 months' worth of salary,
versus the previous survey's 45.3 months, recording the first-ever
drop since the survey began in 1978. The Ministry of Health, Labour
and Welfare explained that this reflected the tendency for retirement
pay to be cut, or for cuts to be made in salaries that are paid at
the time of mandatory retirement--the criterion for retirement benefit
calculations--because of the currently tough corporate management
environment.
News Clippings
-40% of overtime work and karoshi hotline callers are in their 30s-
The Overtime work and Karoshi Hotline, a free phone consultation
service implemented by the Labour Lawyers' Association of Japan and
the Karoshi Lawyers' Association, received a total of 304 calls.
Of the 151 callers whose ages have been revealed, 60--approximately
40%--were in their 30s. The Labour Lawyers' Association of Japan
concludes that the reduced workforce resulting from corporate
restructuring is taking its toll on younger workers.
One specific example is a 32-year-old male working at the sales
department of a major real estate company, whose total overtime work
reached 80 hours per month. The company allowed overtime payments
only for 40 hours, one-half his actual overtime work. Worse yet,
the company criticized the employee, alleging that he was unable to
complete his work within 40 hours because he was inefficient. He was
ordered to submit a report on how he intended to improve his job
performance.
Both defense teams plan to hold an explanatory meeting pertaining
to 15 individuals who sent in particularly serious complaints, and
are supporting their filing of reports for non-payment of overtime
work to the Labour Standards Inspection Office and other procedures.
(Nihon Keizai Shimbun, November)
-A subsidiary hiring disabled persons to begin operations on a
nationwide scale-
Staff Service Group, Japan's leading temporary employment company,
plans to carry out nationwide operations of its special subsidiary
that aims at hiring disabled individuals who are said to have few
opportunities to find work.
The company currently employs about 130 individuals who are responsible
for calculating salaries and managing documentation. They will be
assigned clerical work by Staff Service's branch offices located in
various areas of Japan as well as by municipalities, corporations,
and other entities.
The subsidiary will begin recruiting additional employees this month
and hire about 70 people throughout Japan by the end of FY2004. Their
styles of reporting for work will be made flexible, for example, to
facilitate hospital visits to undergo dialysis. They will be paid by
the hour, based on the salary of college graduate employees working
at the parent company.
The Handicapped Person's Employment Promotion Law, revised last year,
mandates corporations to make disabled individuals account for 1.8% of
their total employees.
(Nihon Keizai Shimbun, November)
1US$=\108 (December 2003)
Special Issue
-Looking back on 2003-
December is regarded in Japan as being the most hectic month of the
year. For better or worse, only a few days of 2003 remain. Let us look
back on the past year, focusing on Japan's labor issues.
This was a year where a sense of helplessness and deadlock loomed
over the country, from start to finish.
Continued on;
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/archives/emm/2003/no.6/backon2003.html
JILPT Information
Dear Readers,
Thank you for your continued support for JLF.
This is the final issue for 2003. We will begin the New Year with
Issue No. 7, to be released on January 15, 2004.
To further improve the quality of this newsletter, we plan to conduct
a readership survey next year. We hope you will assist us by taking part
in the questionnaire.
On behalf of the Editors at JILPT, we wish you all a very happy and
prosperous New Year.
