A draft of the government-labor-management agreement on worksharing
For some time, officials of the government, the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (Rengo), and the Japan Federation of Employers’ Association (Nikkeiren) have been studying the issue of worksharing. On March 29, 2002, the draft of an agreement was announced as scheduled.
The proposed agreement defines worksharing as “a means of reducing work time and for reexamining the balance among employment, wages and work time, with the purpose of protecting employment and creating jobs.” It divides worksharing into two types, and proposes basic rules which the labor, the management and the government should follow. According to the proposed agreement, worksharing may be used either as (1) an emergency measure lasting two to three years which companies suffering from deteriorating business may opt for as a way to temporarily safeguard jobs, or (2) a medium-term measure to diversify work aiming at enhancing management efficiency through reviewing work styles and adopting flexible employment formats.
Opinions were divided between labor and management concerning the issue of providing public assistance to companies implementing the worksharing scheme. In the end, the proposed agreement incorporated a phrase stating that the government would “actively consider” the issue. Since the government is currently in a situation that forces it to formulate an austere budget, however, it may not be in a position to allocate a substantial budget to this plan. Also, to maintain their international competitive advantage, companies strongly intend to cut their total labor/personnel expenses. Although companies are likely to reject worksharing in any form that does not contribute to this aim, if their wishes to reduce labor/personnel expenses become too apparent, the result will inevitably be vigorous opposition from labor.
The purpose of worksharing is to create as many job opportunities as possible in the labor market as a whole. The fact is, that in an overwhelming number of cases, it is only the non-regular employees who are expected to work under this system. The Japanese employment system has thus far restricted most benefits to regular employees, creating extremely large differences not only in wages but also in status between regular and non-regular employees. Companies will increasingly be called on to rectify this situation, and, from this perspective, it is worth noting that a proposal was made to establish a new category, “regular employees working for short periods of time,” positioned somewhere between regular employees and part-time workers.
It is highly meaningful that, at study meetings held during the course of reaching this agreement, the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare reportedly expressed his dissatisfaction, demanding that the parties “conduct more discussions that emphasize worksharing programs aimed at creating more jobs in the future, rather than conducting discussions on merely maintaining current employment levels.” Another significant piece of information is that a questionnaire survey which the Sankei Shimbun conducted between February to March, targeting about 100 major companies, found that, at the time of the survey, not a single company had implemented the worksharing program.
It is true that an important step was made initially through an agreement between government, labor, and management. Many important problems must be resolved, however, before the planned guidelines can take hold.
