The Japan Labor Flash No.75
Email Journal December 15, 2006
Statistical Reports
Recent Statistical Survey Reports
TANKAN
Current Topics
Economic Expansion Exceeds Record-Long "Izanagi Boom"
Starting Salaries of 2006 Graduates Mark First Positive Growth
in Three Years
Public Policy
Study Group on Labor Conditions Presents Draft Proposals on
"Future Laws Related to Labor Contracts"
Study Group for Equal Employment Opportunities Presents Draft
Proposals on Future Policies for Part-Time Labor
News Clippings
Overtime to Be Banned from 2007
Hiring of Daily Part-Time Workers to Expand
Special Issue
Draft Policies for 2007 Spring Joint Labor Negotiations Now on
the Table
From the Editing Office
Statistical Reports
-Recent Statistical Survey Reports-
Features
National Accounts (The 1st Preliminary Estimates of Expenditure
in Jul.-Sep.)
Labor Force Survey : Detailed Tabulation (Preliminary Report for
Jul.-Sep.)
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/estatis/esaikin/2006/e2006-11.htm
-TANKAN-
Short-term Economic Survey of Entereprises in Japan
-December 15, Friday, released by the Bank of Japan
http://www.boj.or.jp/en/type/stat/boj_stat/tk/yoshi/tk0612.htm
Current Topics
-Economic Expansion Exceeds Record-Long "Izanagi Boom"-
On November 22, Hiroko Ota, Minister of State for Economic and
Fiscal Policy, submitted the economic report for November to a
meeting of cabinet ministers. The latest report downgraded its
economic assessment from the previous month's report ("recovering"),
saying that the economy is "recovering but consumption is still weak."
The report leaves unchanged the assessment of the employment situation,
saying that the situation is "improving in the broader sense, although
some critical aspects remain." The current economic expansion has
lasted for four years and 10 months, exceeding the longest postwar
boom, "the Izanagi boom," which ran from November 1965 to July 1970.
-Starting Salaries of 2006 Graduates Mark First Positive Growth
in Three Years-
According to the 2006 Basic Survey on Wage Structure published in
November by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the average
starting salary for new university graduates this year increased to
196,200 yen, 1.2 percentage points above the previous year.
The average salary for male graduates was 199,800 yen (an increase
of 1.6 percentage points) and for female graduates 190,600 yen (an
increase of 0.7 percentage points). All the figures showed positive
growth for the first time in three years.
By industry, the highest average starting salaries were paid in
the service sector for male university graduates (207,000 yen); in
the finance and insurance sector for graduates from technical and
two-year colleges (184,900 yen); and in the construction sector for
high school graduates (162,100 yen). For female workers, the highest
average starting salaries were paid in the information and communication
sector for university graduates (207,100 yen) and graduates of technical
and two-year colleges (173,600 yen); in the construction sector, the
average salary of high school graduates was 153,500 yen. The lowest
average starting salaries were 182,900 yen in the medical and welfare
sector for male university graduates; 159,800 yen in the food service
and hotel business sector for male graduates from technical and two
-year colleges; and 143,900 yen in the education sector for male high
school graduates. For their female counterparts, the lowest starting
salaries for university graduates, graduates of technical and two-year
colleges, and high school graduates - 179,400 yen, 154,300 yen, and
138,900 yen, respectively - were all found in the finance and insurance
sector.
US$=117yen (December 15, 2006)
Public Policy
-Study Group on Labor Conditions Presents Draft Proposals on
"Future Laws Related to Labor Contracts"-
At a meeting held on November 21, a Labor Policy Council sub-committee,
the Study Group on Labor Conditions, presented a draft proposal of
specific issues to be discussed regarding future laws related to labor
contracts.
The Study Group suggested that, to ensure that the contents of labor
contracts are determined voluntarily by labor-management agreement
and continue to be effective, it is necessary to clarify basic rules
on "completion and modification of labor contracts," "major labor
conditions," and "termination, etc. of labor contracts." Where rules
pertaining to "major labor conditions" are concerned, it cited the
necessity for laying down rules regarding temporary transfers, changes
in employment, and the validity of disciplinary actions. As for changes
in labor conditions affected by amendments to employment regulations,
the Study Group suggested that the validity of the changes should be
examined in relation to their rationality, referring, more specifically,
to "agreements or otherwise with labor unions, and coordination of
the conditions of workers who do not belong to the unions," "the
necessity or otherwise of the changes in labor conditions," and "the
content of the amendments to employment regulations."
-Study Group for Equal Employment Opportunities Presents Draft
Proposals on Future Policies for Part-Time Labor-
On November 29, a Labor Policy Council sub-committee, the Study Group
for Equal Employment Opportunities, held a meeting at which members
representing the public interest brought up draft proposals on "future
labor policies for part-time work."
Thirteen years have passed since the enactment of the so-called
Part-Time Work Law and three years since the revision of Guidelines
for Part-Time Work, which aimed to improve the management of part-time
employment. Currently, the number of regular employees have been falling,
and many formerly regular employees have been forced to take part-time
jobs. Thus, there is an urgent need to deal with the dissatisfaction
of such workers who feel that their treatment has not been commensurate
with their work contributions.
The draft newly incorporates certain conditions -- availability of
promotion, bonus payments, and retirement allowances -- in an area
which the Labour Standards Law has traditionally called on employers
to address by presenting labor conditions to employees in writing.
The draft also includes a clause whereby employers who have flagrantly
violated the rules should be fined. Regarding part-time workers whose
duties, human resource management, and employment patterns are identical
to those of regular workers, the Study Group also suggested setting
up regulations whereby discriminatory treatment of such part-time
workers in terms of wages and other treatment should be banned, and
that employers should take responsibility for steps to encourage such
part-time workers to become regular employees.
News Clippings
-Overtime to Be Banned from 2007-
Ryohin Keikaku Co., Ltd., known for its "Mujirushi Ryohin" brand,
under which it designs and manufactures clothes and various other
products for wholesale and retail, is in principle to ban overtime
after 7 pm. This new step, to be launched in January 2007, is aimed
at employees in the headquarters and those whose duties require them
to stay in the office after seven; they will now be required to report
the reasons for overtime in advance.
The company aims to remove unnecessary steps in the work process
and standardize it so that anyone in the office can take over someone
else's duties.
Some 400 out of a total of 970 employees working at the headquarters
are therefore subject to the new policy. While there are quite a few
companies which ban overtime on one day a week, it is rare to ban
overtime on all working days.
(Nihon Keizai Shimbun, December)
-Hiring of Daily Part-Time Workers to Expand-
The system of daily wage payment to workers is becoming increasingly
popular in the catering industry and among retail shops which have
been struggling to secure part-time workers. HotLand Corp., which
runs "tako-yaki" (octopus dumplings) chain restaurants, is to adopt
the system at all of its 300 outlets within this year.
Convenience store chain Lawson Inc. has adopted the system
provisionally at its outlets in the Tokyo metropolitan area. The aim
is to offer flexible work opportunities for young part-time workers
who have diverse motives, such as the desire to "work at the times
one likes the most."
Behind the moves by these businesses to deal with changing employment
patterns lies the fact that, while the young population has been
shrinking, more and more firms are taking on part-time workers as
regular employees, and it that become increasingly difficult for
businesses particularly in the catering industry and retail shops to
get such non-regular workers to settle in their workplaces.
The system whereby wages are paid on a daily basis has not yet been
adopted in this industry.
While such businesses expect workers to stay in jobs for a certain
period of time or to work repeatedly for any length of time, they also
allow workers to work for one day only.
(Nihon Keizai Shimbun, December)
Special Issue
-Draft Policies for 2007 Spring Joint Labor Negotiations Now on
the Table-
On December 7, Rengo (the Japanese Trade Union Confederation)
officially determined its Spring Struggle Policy for 2007. The policy
aims to surpass the achievements of the 2006 spring struggle by seeking,
for example, raises in basic payments and hourly wages, rectification
of differentials and wage curves, and an increase in the wages of low
-income earners. On the other hand, the Rengo-MSE (Medium and Small-sized
Enterprises) Joint Struggle Committee aims to halt the lowering of wage
levels of small and medium-sized labor unions, setting its rough target
of wage improvement at a minimum of 2,500 yen.
Continued on;
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/archives/emm/2003/no.75/75_si.html
From the Editing Office
Dear Readers,
Thank you for your continued support for JLF.
This is our last issue for 2006. The first issue for 2007, No.76,
will be delivered to you on January 15.
According to Oriental Zodiac, next year will be a year of Wild Boar.
In 2007, let's live a fruitful working life as straight as wild boars
run without taking weaving courses!
We, JLF editores, whish you a very happy and brilliant New Year.
