The JIL Labor Flash Vol.27
Email Journal 17.09.2002
Statistical Reports
Main Labor Economic Indicators
Current Topics
East Asia's industrial relations and Japanese companies operating
in the region
Public Policies
The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare discloses Preliminary
Budgetary Demands for FY 2003
News Clippings
Protection of workers subject to corporate restructuring...etc
Special Issue
Mental illness continues to rise in the workplace
Statistical Reports
-Main Labor Economic Indicators August 2002-
http://www.jil.go.jp/estatis/eshuyo/200208/econtents.htm
Current Topics
-East Asia's industrial relations and Japanese companies operating
in the region-
According to a White Paper on Overseas Labour Situations from 2001
to 2002 announced by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, labor
-management disputes have become increasingly rampant in East Asia in
recent years. It has become clear that a growing number of Japanese
corporations that had advanced into the region, too, are facing large
-scale strikes or seeing prolonged labor-management disputes.
About 20% of these Japanese companies have experienced labor-management
disputes over the past five years. The increase in the number of these
companies is especially marked in Indonesia and the Philippines.
Generally speaking, causes of disputes include wages (55%), welfare
programs (21%), and employment adjustments (18%).
The White Paper anticipates that, with business and economics becoming
increasingly global, many corporations will transfer or integrate their
production sites, and labor movements will pick up momentum as a result
of advancing democratization. As the backdrops to labor-management
disputes, the White Paper points out insufficient understanding between
labor and management and a lack of trust in the relationship between
the two, and proposes that, to stabilize the labor-management relationship,
the government, labor, and management must carry out support measures
aimed at promoting social dialogue.
Public Policies
-The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare discloses Preliminary
Budgetary Demands for FY 2003-
The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare released at the end of
August its preliminary budget proposal for FY 2002. The demand centered
around ten key issues focusing on programs to counter the shrinking
number of children and the aging of the population, as well as programs
to assist with the hiring of young workers and developing their vocational
skills. Expenses related to social security (whose expenditure is
already being mandated, such as pensions, medical treatment, nursing
care, employment and welfare) totaled 18.4628 trillion yen, 692.8 billion
yen more than this fiscal year. Discretionary expenses related to new
important policies and expenses related to measures emphasizing public
investments rose 114.5 billion yen and 48.1 billion yen, respectively.
As a result, the Ministry's budget request totaled 19.5237 trillion
yen, up about 4.7% over this fiscal year.
Measures to counter the shrinking number of children included the
establishment of regional childcare centers that also provide
childrearing counseling services, and increases and/or expansion of
clubs that accommodate children after school. In addition, programs
will be created that allow employment centers for elderly individuals
to take care of infants and children, as well as programs to take
and pick up children to and from child care facilities. There are
also plans to accommodate 50,000 more children in childcare facilities
(this is part of a program to eliminate the waiting lists to get into
such facilities), and to set up specified childcare programs that
enable parents to use day care facilities at flexible hours to cope
with diversified working styles, in response to the growing number
of part-time workers. All in all, the programs aim at boosting the
assistance provided to parents of small children.
As measures related to the hiring of young workers and developing
their vocational skills, meanwhile, the government will collaborate
with schools to provide students with increased opportunities to
experience working before graduation. Vocational training programs,
including corporate internships, will also be offered at vocational
skills development colleges and other schools, and to university
graduates who leave their jobs at an early stage. Moreover, companies
will be encouraged to hire, on a test basis, young workers who take
up part-time jobs after graduating from school ("freeters"). And,
as a place for these young people to build vocational awareness,
Young People's Career Formation Assistance Corners will be set up
in major urban areas to provide information exchange services and
other assistance programs.
The Japanese government's preliminary budgetary demands for FY 2003
totaled 84.01 trillion yen.
News Clippings
-Protection of workers subject to corporate restructuring-
The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's study group has compiled
a report on measures to protect workers who had been subject to corporate
restructuring, such as transfer of business operations. In the report,
the study group concluded that it was difficult to legalize these measures,
and that they would try to cope by thoroughly publicizing those measures
that corporations must carry out.
The report stated that, since there are no laws or regulations in
Japan to cover labor contracts in general such as rules pertaining to
employee dismissals, it would be inappropriate, balance-wise, to protect
workers in terms of transfer of business only. Also, mandating the
succession of laborers would make business transfer itself difficult.
For these reasons, the report concluded that it would be inappropriate
to legalize worker protection measures.
In response, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare will set up
a study group comprising labor and management representatives, and draw
up policy guidelines by as early as the end of the fiscal year. Japanese
Trade Union Confederation (Rengo), for its part, strongly objected to
the group's report, criticizing the conclusion reached as being
extremely inadequate.
(Asahi Shimbun, August)
-Women counting on differences in corporate promotions to be corrected-
Nihon Keizai Shimbun has conducted a questionnaire survey on working
women, targeting 1,150 females working full-time in Japan's three largest
cities. Answers were sent in by 493 individuals. The survey revealed
that 81.9% of female full-time workers between the ages of 30 to 49
approved of performance-based personnel systems. Specifically, 37.7%
supported the system; 44.2% regarded the system as necessary; and 8.7%
opposed it. The results show that women who felt that they were at a
disadvantage with respect to their male counterparts in terms of
promotions and raising of corporate status showed the strongest wish
for a more impartial, performance-based personnel system.
By business category, the share of respondents who supported performance
-based personnel decisions was the highest among those working in the
financial and insurance sectors (56.6%), followed by those working in
the transport and telecommunications sectors (47.6%).
In addition, 72.4% of the respondents felt that being a woman put
them at a disadvantage in the workplace. When asked to cite specific
examples, the largest number-44.8% of the respondents-mentioned slower
promotions and rise through the hierarchy.
(Nihon Keizai Shimbun, September)
Special Issue
-Mental illness continues to rise in the workplace-
Mental illness is said to be a syndrome characteristic of our times.
It is of a highly private nature, and companies are not too eager to
publicize the related facts and figures.
In March of this year, the Japan Production Center for Socioeconomic
Development conducted a questionnaire survey on companies' programs
and initiatives pertaining to employees' mental health. The survey
targeted officials in charge of personnel and labor affairs of all
the companies listed in Section 1 of the Tokyo Stock Exchange (a total
of 2,669 companies), and revealed the actual status of mental illness
in Japanese corporations.
Continued on;
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/archives/emm/2001-2003/2002b/vol.27/mentalillness.html
