The Japan Labor Flash
No.26
Email Journal November 1, 2004
Statistical Reports
Main Labor Economic Indicators
Current Topics
Nippon Keidanren urges member companies to reexamine their corporate
activities
Public Policies
Less than 80% of the respondents regard the declining birthrate as
a critical issue …etc
News Clippings
Seiyu to offer performance-based compensation to both full-time
and part-time employees …etc
Special Issue
Male perspective on childcare leave
Statistical Reports
-Main Labor Economic Indicators-
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/estatis/eshuyo/200411/index.htm
Current Topics
-Nippon Keidanren urges member companies to reexamine their corporate
activities-
In October, Nippon Keidanren (Japan Business Federation) held a
Seminar on Corporate Ethics for Top Executives at the Keidanren Kaikan
in Tokyo. In his speech, Chairman Hiroshi Okuda mentioned several cases
of corporate misconduct, whose incidence has recently been on the rise.
He noted that there are an increasing number of problems and errors
at manufacturing, sales, transport and maintenance management sites
that then evolve into corporate misconduct and scandals. "The fact
that people at the top do not have a sufficient grasp of what exactly
is occurring at job sites is triggering problems and errors there,"
he pointed out, and called on top managers of member companies to
reexamine their corporate activities throughout the company. Nippon
Keidanren has designated October the Corporate Ethics Month and carried
out a range of programs to promote corporate ethics and make them fully
effective.
Meanwhile, in previous issues, we have shown how, in the wake of
the long series of scandals that occurred at major corporations last
year, many labor unions were revealed to have failed to monitor
adequately the quality of their companies' management. In his Guest
Speech, given during the Regular Convention of the Toyota Motor
Worker's Union, held in October, the president of the Mitsubishi
Motors Corporation Labor Union referred to a series of scandals that
had occurred, including fatal accidents resulting from his company's
cover-up of the need for recalls. He admitted that his union was also
responsibe because they had failed to monitor how the company was
being managed. With business environment becoming increasingly
stringent, to enable corporations to fulfill their responsibilities
to society, both labor and management are requested to re-acknowledge
the roles they must play in reexamining their corporate activities.
Public Policies
-Less than 80% of the respondents regard the declining birthrate
as a critical issue-
In October, the Cabinet Office released the results of their special
public opinion survey on measures to cope with the declining birthrate.
The survey targeted 3,000 people nationwide who were aged 20 and older.
The response rate was 70.3%.
When asked if they were worried whether the continued low birthrate
would affect Japan's future, 76.7% of the respondents said that they were.
Concerning the effects of fewer children being born, 71.9% of the
respondents cited "Influence on social security such as pensions
and
medical expense burdens," while 50.6% cited "Influence of the
declining labor population on economic activity," 33.1% cited
"Influence on family life such as the burden of childrearing and
the
form of social support," and 26.8% cited "Influence on further
progress in depopulation and loss of social vitality."
As measures to counter the declining birthrate that the respondents
hoped to see, 51.1% cited "Provision of assistance to help people
work and raise a family at the same time, and the promotion of
reviewing styles of work," and 50.5% cited "Lightening the economic
burden incurred by childrearing."
-The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications* plans to
impose residential tax on job hopping "freeters" in 2006
*The Ministry changed its name from Ministry of Public Management,
Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications on September 10, 2004.
According to Kyodo News Agency, the Ministry of Internal Affairs
and Communications has decided on a plan to collect residential tax
from short-term workers, such as job-hopping part-time workers
("freeters") and part-time workers employed for less than 1
year.
At present, these individuals are not counted as taxpayers. The
Ministry will obligate employers (corporations) to submit reports
of actual payments made to these short-term employees. Under the
current system, corporations submit salary payment reports to
municipalities on their salaried employees as of January 1.
Municipalities use these reports as the basis for calculating the
amount of tax to be imposed, and which they collect during the
following fiscal year. There is a sharp increase in the number of
individuals, mostly in urban areas, who work only for brief periods
--such as by starting work in February and quitting in August--as
a result of diversification in people's styles of working. Still,
municipalities are virtually unable to levy taxes on these individuals
since they are not employed as of January 1 and the employers are
not obligated to file reports on their payment.
The Ministry has therefore decided to demand corporations to submit
salary payment reports for individuals who are employed but leave
their job in the middle of the year, so as to rectify the inadequacies
of the current system. However, no taxes will be levied, as at present,
on individuals who earn income from part-time work totaling less than
1.088 million yen (a model case) and have no dependents.
News Clippings
-Seiyu to offer performance-based compensation to both full-time and
part-time employees-
Major supermarkets are under pressure to pick out and foster
competent personnel while holding down total personnel expenses.
Seiyu has introduced a wage system linked to performance, targeting
a total of 34,800 people, comprising 7,800 full-time employees and
27,000 part-time employees who work for 30 hours or more per week.
The company will integrate the two personnel systems, which until
now have been kept separate, and provide salaries and bonuses according
to the company's operating profits. The change in the system has
already been notified to its labor union, and the new system will go
into effect beginning with salaries to be paid at the end of October.
The company has established a new, 10-grade qualification system,
to be applied to its full-time employees and most of their part-time
employees. Distinction between full-time and part-time employees will
be practically eliminated for low-ranking workers, from Grade 1 new
recruits to Grade 3 section managers (persons responsible for the
sales floor).
For example, there may even be cases whereby the annual income of
part-time section managers may surpass that of full-time employees
if they perform exceptionally well and receive high evaluation scores.
If part-time employees are promoted to senior posts such as store
managers, they will need to switch their employment status to that
of full-time employees.
(Nihon Keizai Shimbun, October)
-Baby boomers passing down their skills to later generations-
There is now a growing move in the machinery and plant industries
to extend the mandatory retirement age or to introduce a system of
re-hiring retired personnel. Kawasaki Heavy Industries will raise
the mandatory retirement age in stages beginning FY2005, while JGC
Corporation will re-hire, beginning this October, all employees who
have reached the retirement age of 60. After 2007, when the baby
boomer generation reaches retirement age, a large number of skilled
and experienced technicians will leave employment. To avoid loss of
corporate strength, this sector was the first in industry to begin
working to establish the necessary setup.
Before September, JGC employees who had reached the retirement
age of 60 were treated like temporary workers registered with the
company's subsidiary that handles personnel dispatching operations,
even if they continued to work for JGC. This meant that even if they
took pride in their skills and experience that gave them the edge
over younger workers, their motivation was liable to change depending
on how the company treated them, including benefits. The company
reviewed the system "to make it clear that even if employees turn
60,
they remain valuable assets to the workforce, and to boost their
morale" (director of Personnel Department).
Kawasaki Heavy Industries plans to raise the retirement age of all
non-managerial staff to 61 in FY2005. The age will be raised in stages,
to 63 by FY2009, and ultimately to 65 thereafter. To secure the
necessary funds, the company has decided to reexamine their welfare
programs as well.
(Nikkei Sangyo Shimbun, October)
Special Issue
-Male perspective on childcare leave-
One of the major reasons cited for the continuous decline in
birthrates is the tremendous burden that childrearing places on
working couples, not to mention financial pressures. Solutions cited
include policies to boost childcare facilities both in quantity and
in quality, the expansion and boosting of childcare leave programs
at the workplace, and ways and means to encourage employees to take
up childcare leave.
Continued on;
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/archives/emm/2004/no.26/26_si.html
