Outcomes of reverse proposals by the management of major electric companies following the spring labor offensive negotiations

The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has begun studying the possibility of creating, in April of next year, a system that facilitates re-employment of currently unemployed workers as part-timers. Under the planned system, unemployed workers who resume work on a part-time basis will be given wages for a set period of time as compensation for loss of income.

Individuals to whom this system apply will be those receiving unemployment allowance benefits who will begin working as part-time employees, temporary dispatched workers, contract employees, or part-time workers taking on other temporary work, all with an employment contract period of less than one year.

The system aims at reducing the number of people who are worried about resuming work as part-time employees, shortening the period of unemployment, and preventing financial deterioration of employment insurance programs.

Although unemployed people often seek long-term employment as regular employees, there is a marked tendency for job-offering companies to cut their number of regular employees. Payment of reemployment benefits used to be restricted to when employment was definitely secured for 1 year or more. However, this would end up further prolonging the period of unemployment. This was why the Ministry decided to launch a new system.

Under the new system, part-time workers will receive unemployment benefits for the same number of days as regular employees (unemployed workers who used to work for fewer than 30 hours a week currently receive unemployment benefits for a maximum of 300 days, a shorter period than ex-regular employees’ 330 days). This will most likely be realized by raising employment premiums (1.2% of monthly salary) which are the source of revenue for providing unemployment allowances.