Individual Labor Dispute Law Passed

On June 29, the Upper House passed an amended version of the law on the promotion of solutions associated with labor disputes between individuals and businesses ("Individual Labor Dispute Law"). Through its Labor Policy Council, The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) will hammer the law into shape in time for its planned coming into force on October 1.
The Individual Labor Dispute Law was established in order to settle individual labor disputes which are on the increase, swiftly and appropriately. The raw number of labor disputes is increasing because more companies are implementing restructuring plans and adopting separate personnel management setups, which tends to result in employees filing grievances individually instead of collectively.

The Individual Labor Dispute Law offers four separate solutions for defusing disputes. It allows Prefectural Labour Bureaus to offer "assistance," "guidance," or an "opportunity to set up a dispute conciliation committee." In a last-minute amendment by both the government and the opposition, the law also allows Prefectural Labor Relations Commission authorized by the Prefectural governor to conciliate disputes. This last solution, which is a concession to the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, is a big step forward because it allows labor representatives in addition to Prefectural Labor Bureaus a chance to mediate disputes.