The Japan Labor Flash
No.36
Email Journal April 15, 2005
JILPT Information
Statistical Reports
Recent Statistical Survey Reports
Current Topics
Spring joint labor negotiations for 2005 make headway with pay
hikes achieved by smaller unions and progress seen for childcare
leave …etc.
Public Policies
Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare moves to enforce participation
in labor insurance
Public Policies
Employers also responsible for subcontractors' suicide due to
overwork …etc.
Public Policies
Koizumi Administration's next step in administrative and financial
reforms
JILPT Information
Dear Readers,
Thank you very much for taking the time to participate in our 2nd
questionnaire carried out in February and March. Your valuable comments
and requests will be put to use to further improve our newsletter.
Please look forward to receiving even more interesting and informative
articles in the future.
Sincerely,
JLF Editors
Statistical Reports
-Recent Statistical Survey Reports March 2005-
Features
2nd round of 21st Century Follow-up Survey on Adult (Continuous
Survey on life of the people)
Monthly Labor Survey (Preliminary Report in February / Year-end
Bonus) …etc.
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/estatis/esaikin/2005/e2005-03.htm
Current Topics
-Spring joint labor negotiations for 2005 make headway with pay hikes
achieved by smaller unions and progress seen for childcare leave-
On March 30, the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (Rengo), released
the compiled results of the wage hikes achieved in this year's spring
joint labor negotiations. This was the second such release made by the
organization that aims to narrow the wage gap between large and smaller
unions. The average wage hike amount of 1,021 small- to medium-scale
labor unions with less than 300 members that had elicited a response
from the management as of March 29 was 4,324 yen (weighted average).
This corresponded to a wage hike rate of 1.68% and an increase of 311
yen from the previous year's results. The 761 unions whose negotiations
have already been concluded had an average pay hike value of 4,429 yen
(weighted average), corresponding to a wage hike rate of 1.71% and an
increase of 344 yen from the previous year.
Meanwhile, most labor and management representatives of large electric
machinery and equipment manufacturers negotiated and discussed measures
to respond to the revised Child and Family Care Leave Law, and agreed
to revise their labor contracts to incorporate more extensive programs
than those stipulated by law. With regard to childcare leave, Toshiba
decided to extend the period of leave to "the end of the month in
which
a child reaches the age of three," a level comparable to that of
public
service employees. As for nursing care leave, most manufacturers decided
to allow their employees to take such leaves of absence for a total of
one year. Those working as quasi-regular employees at Matsushita Electric
Industrial and Sharp have become eligible to take such leave with the
same conditions being applied as to those for regular employees.
US$=\108 (April 15, 2005)
-College-graduate employees receive 24.35 million yen as retirement
allowance-
On March 30, Nippon Keidanren, or the Japan Business Federation,
announced the results of their fact-finding survey on retirement
allowances and pensions for the September 2004 term.
The survey targeted 2,077 member corporations of Nippon Keidanren
and Tokyo Employers' Association. A total of 272 companies responded
(valid response rate: 13.1%). A breakdown of the responding companies
by type of business showed that 54.8% were manufacturers and 45.2%
were other industries; by scale, 69.5% had 500 or more employees, and
30.5% had less than 500 employees.
The survey revealed that a "standard" male employee who joined
the
company immediately upon graduating from university and who made a
standard progression up the corporate ladder could expect to receive
a retirement allowance of 24.35 million yen when retiring at the
mandatory age of 60. This amount represents a 770,00 yen decrease
in comparison to 2000, the previous occasion that this survey was
conducted. Over 50% of the companies polled indicated that the basic
amount by which the retirement allowances was calculated was separate
and unrelated to the rises in basic wages.
Public Policies
-Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare moves to enforce participation
in labor insurance-
Since 1975, universal coverage of labor insurance (workers' accident
compensation insurance and employment insurance) has been applied to
all Japanese businesses. Under the current system, employers who hire
even one employee are obligated to subscribe to this program in
principle, and go through the required procedures. At present, however,
a considerable number of businesses, mostly small-scale and micro-scale
companies in the commercial, service, and other sectors, have not joined
this insurance.
In FY2003, a total of 2.63 million business premises subscribed to
workers' accident compensation insurance, and 600,000--approximately
20% of the total--reportedly did not subscribe to such programs and
paid no insurance premiums. As the situation currently stands, if an
employee loses his or her job or suffers an industrial injury, he or
she is entitled to receive a fixed sum of money even in the event that
the employer has not subscribed to labor insurance. This is one of the
factors responsible for raising the overall premium level.
The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare judged that ensuring all
uninsured employers join the scheme was of the utmost importance from
the perspectives of maintaining robust management of the labor insurance
system, encouraging equal sharing of payment burdens, and enhancing
workers' welfare, etc., and therefore decided to implement hard-line
measures targeting uninsured businesses starting FY2005. The Ministry
issued a notification to each prefectural labor bureau at the end of
March, focusing on those employers who fail to voluntarily go through
the procedures pertaining to labor insurance despite having received
instructions from the labor bureau to take subscription procedures or
being the target of activities to promote and encourage becoming
insured.
The notification advised the bureaus to use their authority to
instigate procedures leading to businesses taking out labor insurance
and to collect the labor insurance premiums.
These moves on the part of the Ministry amply demonstrate its
determination to prevent hollowing out of the labor insurance system.
Public Policies
-Employers also responsible for subcontractors' suicide due to
overwork-
In a lawsuit instigated by the mother of a male employee of Atesuto,
a temporary staff agency, who committed suicide while working at a
Nikon factory, alleging that overwork was the cause of her son's
death and demanding both companies to pay a total of 144 million yen
as compensation, the Tokyo District Court ordered the two companies
to pay a total of approximately 24 million yen, based on a ruling that
the major cause of the employee's suicide was depression attributable
to his excessive work load.
According to the Japan Liaison Council of Lawyers on Karoshi (death
from overwork), this is the first ruling in which compensation for
damage was approved for employees of subcontracting or temporary
staffing companies who committed suicide due to overwork at the
companies to which they had been dispatched.
In citing the reasons for his ruling, the Chief Judge described the
said employee's working status immediately prior to committing suicide,
and concluded that being made to work for fifteen consecutive days or
to participate in training sessions besides usual work operations
created "a physical burden above and beyond what is normal."
The Chief
Judge stated that the employee "developed depression because of strong
psychological pressure, and took his own life," acknowledging that
the case was overwork-related suicide attributable to business
operations.
The Chief Judge also pointed out that Nikon directly ordered the
employee to work overtime without consulting Atesuto. Ruling that
Nikon could have taken measures such as providing counseling or
ordering rest but had failed to do so, the judge found the company
responsible for an illegal act associated with violation of obligation
of security.
The Chief Judge also pointed out that Atesuto had failed to make
considerations for their employee's safety, saying that the company
could have demanded Nikon to reduce the employee's work load but
only learned of his working hours after receiving a report at the
end of the month. The company was found to have been responsible,
along with Nikon, for committing an illegal act.
(Nihon Keizai Shimbun, April)
-Dispatch and referral of retired employees-
In April, Caplan, a personnel referral company affiliated with
Itochu Corporation, will begin a personnel dispatch and referral
service business targeting retired employees who had worked at major
and medium-scale companies. The company plans to send these
individuals to work at SMEs and venture businesses, and supply, as
human resources, a wide range of individuals who have experience of
working at production sites, as well as those who have specialized
knowledge of financial and legal affairs, accounting, and other fields.
The company is aiming to achieve the dispatch and introduction of 300
people in three years' time.
Besides Caplan, a growing number of staffing companies are actively
making use of people in their 50s and 60s, including those who had
applied for the early retirement program. Pasona, for example, has
approximately 7,000 individuals registered with their senior business
department that dispatches people mostly in their 50s. Looking at
the breakdown by type of business, most inquiries to this department
come in the form of requests for guidance to younger employees,
including call center supervisors who deal with customer complaints,
and sales department advisors, among other positions.
(Nikkei Sangyo Shimbun, April)
Public Policies
-Koizumi Administration's next step in administrative and financial
reforms -
The promotion of policies towards administrative and financial
reforms that have been advanced for more than three and a half years
by the Koizumi Administration has now reached a critical juncture in
the guise of the decisive push towards privatization of the Japan
Highway Public Corporation. All eyes are focused on how the
Administration will persuade those opposing forces within the ruling
Liberal Democratic Party to support the move, or whether the prime
minister will submit a privatization bill at his own discretion and
force its passage through the Diet.
Continued on;
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/archives/emm/2005/no.36/36_si.html
