The Japan Labor Flash
No.25
Email Journal October 15, 2004
Statistical Reports
Recent Statistical Survey Reports
Current Topics
Rengo pledges to strive for fair and secure workplaces and
livelihoods in its Action Policy to Realize the 2004 Fall Policies
and Systems
Public Policies
Changes in the wage system and lowest-ever annual paid vacation
take-up rates
News Clippings
70% of Kansai's SMEs hire employees to fill retiree vacancies …etc
Special Issue
Reshuffled second Koizumi Cabinet launched
Statistical Reports
-Recent Statistical Survey Reports September 2004-
Features
Survey of Salaries in Private Sector (FY2003)
Report on Social Welfare Administrative Operations (FY2003) …etc
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/estatis/esaikin/2004/e2004-09.htm
Current Topics
-Rengo pledges to strive for fair and secure workplaces and
livelihoods in its Action Policy to Realize the 2004 Fall Policies
and Systems-
Rengo (the Japanese Trade Union Confederation) held a Central
Executive Committee meeting in mid-September and confirmed its Action
Policy to Realize the 2004 Fall Policies and Systems.
"Oppose Koizumi's structural reforms, which will further widen
the gap, and make a fair and secure workplace and livelihood a
reality" was set forth as the main slogan, and Rengo positioned the
following four points as priority tasks that must be addressed.
(1) Formulate a budget that gives employment and regional areas the
highest priority, (2) legislate for equal treatment of part-time
workers, (3) carry out measures aimed at fundamentally reforming the
entire social security system, and (4) work to eradicate unpaid
overtime work.
Rengo's strategy, in other words, is to push through Institutional
and Policy-Related Demands while strengthening its say in the
government, and, at the same time, address more familiar topics such
as eradicating unpaid overtime work.
Rengo criticizes the Koizumi administration for having "exploited
its majority to pass a pension reform bill that simultaneously
increases the burden on the public and cuts pension benefits. As a
result of persisting with policies that place the utmost priority
on financial reconstruction and market-based principles, the
government is steadily making conditions worse for regional
economies, small businesses, workers with insecure employment and
incomes, and unemployed persons. We are thus seeing growing disparities
between regions, between industries, between corporate scales, and
between workers who are being categorized by style of employment and
work." It appears that Rengo, concluding that the Koizumi administration
cannot carry out true structural reforms, has come up with a clearer
and more confrontational stance.
Concerning unpaid overtime work, a survey conducted in late
September by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare found that
a total of 1,184 companies throughout Japan received corrective
guidance in FY2003 by the Labour Standards Inspection Office. The
amount of unpaid wages totaled approximately \23.9 billion, indicating
that the issue is still far from being resolved.
US$=\109 (October 15, 2004)
Public Policies
-Changes in the wage system and lowest-ever annual paid vacation
take-up rates-
On September 30, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare announced
the results of its comprehensive survey on working conditions.
The survey targeted approximately 5,300 companies with 30 or more
full-time employees, and investigated the status as of January 1, 2004
of their working-hour systems, wage structures, and asset formation,
as well as measures related to married workers being posted away from
their families. The response rate was 78.5%.
This survey revealed a number of interesting facts.
Regarding the status of wage structure revisions, 38.4% of the
companies had revised their system in one way or another (multiple
answers accepted) during the past three years. By item, "Increases
in the portion of wages that correspond to business performance and
accomplishments" was cited by the largest number of companies, or
20.7%, followed by "Increases in the portion of wages that correspond
to job performance" (17.6%), and "Increases in the portion of
wages
that correspond to content of work, such as line of duty and job
category, and so on." (15.5%).
It was also found that 48.2% of the companies included managerial
workers' individual job performance in their wage calculation (including
bonus), and 50.5% did so for non-managerial workers.
Companies that have a system of performance evaluation in place were
asked about the challenges they faced regarding such evaluations, as
well as how they handled various problems (multiple answers accepted).
A total of 46.6% said that they have drawn up a manual for evaluations,
41.3% said that they carry out measures for workers who have received
low evaluation scores, and 35.0% said that they had informed the results
of evaluations based on the performance-measuring system to the workers
themselves.
Among the companies that included an employee's performance in his
or her salary calculation, those that had a performance evaluation
system in place were asked how they themselves felt the system was
working. The answers showed that 15.9% of the companies felt that the
system was working well, 45.3% felt that the system was working well
but needed some revisions, and 30.4% felt that substantial parts of
the system needed improvement.
Moreover, the average number of paid vacations the employees took
was 18.0 days, which was 0.2 days fewer than the previous year. The
actual number of paid vacation taken was 8.5 days (8.8 days in 2003),
and the percentage of paid vacation days actually taken against the
number of paid vacation days provided was 47.4% (48.1% in 2003),
falling to new record-low levels. These figures show that, with a
growing number of companies dismissing middle-aged and older workers
and putting off hiring full-time employees, the mood in the workplace
makes employees feel they cannot take time off from work.
News Clippings
-70% of Kansai's SMEs hire employees to fill retiree vacancies-
JAC Japan, a job placement company, conducted a survey on employment
trends targeting small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Kansai
area, and found that approximately 50% of the companies polled planned
to recruit new employees. However, 70% of these companies cited "To
fill vacant posts" as the reason, and only 20% answered that they
planned to actively expand their workforce. JAC concludes that, seen
from the employment perspective, the business sentiment of SMEs in
the Kansai region still lacks buoyancy and spark.
(Nikkei Sangyo Shimbun, September)
-Fuji Heavy Industries reviews personnel evaluation system-
On September 1, Fuji Heavy Industries introduced a merit-based
personnel system targeting its approximately 11,000 people in
administrative positions. What differentiates their system from
those of other companies is that, rather than overly emphasizing
results in the form of achievement of business goals, it also
evaluates the work process. This makes the appraisal results more
convincing and readily understood by individual employees. For
example, if an employee worked on a difficult project and could not
achieve his or her goals, the work process and the degree of
achievement will be taken into consideration, giving the employee
the same evaluation score as that of other employees who had set
up a simpler goal. The aim of introducing a less rigid form of
performance-based system such as this is to revitalize the
organization without losing the warm, family-like corporate climate
that the company traditionally had.
The company has thus far actively worked to preserve the seniority
system. If the labor union consents to this plan, the system will
be expanded by as early as next spring for application to its
approximately 13,000 rank-and-file employees.
(Asahi Shimbun and Nikkei Sangyo Shimbun, October)
Special Issue
-Reshuffled second Koizumi Cabinet launched-
The reshuffled second Koizumi Cabinet was inaugurated on September 27.
(For a List of Ministers, see:
http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/koizumidaijin/040927/index_e.html
)
Prime Minister Koizumi himself dubbed this "the Reform Implementation
Cabinet." The following were established as the key elements of the
government's basic policies. (1) Thorough enforcement of the shift
from the public to the private sector, and from the national level to
regional levels, (2) revitalization of business and the economy, and
(3) ensuring the safety and security of people's livelihoods, among
other issues. In the employment and labor sectors, the Cabinet is
poised to vigorously promote programs to encourage the employment of
young people, focusing on job-hoppers and non-working individuals.
Continued on;
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/archives/emm/2004/no.25/25_si.html
