The Japan Labor Flash
No.39
Email Journal June 1, 2005
Statistical Reports
Main Labor Economic Indicators
Current Topics
Industrial Accidents in 2004: Death Tolls and Trends
Court Approves Refusal of Job Relocation Orders on Account of
Family-Care
Public Policies
CEFP Proposes Voucher System for Vocational Training for Youth
The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare to Grant Subsidy to
SMEs with Employees on Child-Care Leave
Public Policies
Only 1% of Listed Companies have "Whistle-Blowing Schemes"
Towards Establishing a Women's Executive Association
Public Policies
Equal Employment Opportunity Law Marks its 20th Anniversary
Statistical Reports
-Main Labor Economic Indicators-
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/estatis/eshuyo/200506/index.htm
Current Topics
-Industrial Accidents in 2004: Death Tolls and Trends-
On April 28, 2005, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare
released data on industrial accidents that caused death and serious
injuries in 2004. The number of persons who were killed in industrial
accidents fell by 8, compared to the record low of 1,620 in 2003.
However, the number of serious industrial accidents (i.e., industrial
accidents that caused three or more casualties, or three or more
cases of illness, at one time) has been increasing steadily since 1985,
reaching 273 cases, 25 more than the previous year. The manufacturing
sector in particular saw a substantial increase in the number of such
accidents, totaling 64 cases compared to 38 cases recorded in the
previous year (i.e., an increase of 68.4 percent). Apart from traffic
accidents, the causes of this increase are largely attributable to
"explosions" and "fire, intense heat, etc." In terms
of death tolls
by industry, the largest number of workers, 594, were killed in
construction, followed by the manufacturing sector (293) and the land
transportation industry (243).
-Court Approves Refusal of Job Relocation Orders on Account of
Family-Care-
According to Kyodo News, on May 9, the Himeji Branch of the Kobe
District Court handed down a ruling that two male employees of Nestle
Japan Holdings Ltd. (Inashiki-city, Ibaraki Prefecture), a Japanese
affiliate of the giant food manufacturer Nestle Group should have
the right to call for the invalidation of their company's orders
relocating them from a plant in Hyogo prefecture to Inashiki, on the
grounds that they would be unable to provide nursing care for their
family members. The court also ordered the company to reimburse them
for unpaid wages.
The presiding judge referred to the regulation in the Child- and
Family-Care Leave Law requiring employers, when ordering job relocation,
to take into account the circumstances of workers who have to provide
nursing care for family members, stated that since relocation would
put the families in question in crisis, the orders significantly
exceeded the degree that employees should normally tolerate, and
thus constitute an abuse of the authority to order relocations.
The lawyer representing the plaintiffs said, "it must be the first
time for a court to acknowledge the need to provide nursing care as
a reason for refusing job relocation."
Public Policies
-CEFP Proposes Voucher System for Vocational Training for Youth-
The Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy (CEFP) discussed employment
issues at its 10th meeting in May of this year. Mr. Hiroshi Okuda,
chairman of Nippon Keidanren (the Japan Business Federation), and
three other expert members proposed steps to eliminate mismatching
in the labor market. These steps include: the creation of a voucher
system for job training for young people; the creation of civil
service jobs with shorter working hours to encourage workers who
have left the labour force to care for children to be re-employed;
and the revision of three employment insurance schemes. A voucher
system is already in operation as a model project in Tochigi Prefecture.
-The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare to Grant Subsidy to
SMEs with Employees on Child-Care Leave-
The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has decided to set up
a grant scheme to promote child-care leave. The scheme will be
directed at small and medium-sized enterprises with less than 100
employees, and which have no record of employees' taking child-care
leave. Eligible companies will be given a grant of approximately
one million yen the first time an employee takes leave, and
approximately 700,000 yen for each subsequent time. The Ministry
intends to promote child-care leave through the new grant scheme,
which will go into operation for five years starting in fiscal year
2006.
The series of laws currently in effect allow workers who meet
certain conditions to take child-care leave until the child reaches
one and a half years of age, at the latest. In addition, the Child
-Care Leave Law was recently revised so that both male and female
workers become eligible for child-care leave from April 2005. The
government has set the target rates for taking child-care leave at
80% for females and 10% for males; the actual rates at the moment
stand at a mere 73.1% and 0.44%, respectively.
US$=\108（June 1, 2005）
Public Policies
-Only 1% of Listed Companies have "Whistle-Blowing Schemes"-
According to "Affidavits concerning Appropriate Disclosure"
submitted
to the Tokyo Stock Exchange by approximately 2,170 listed companies,
only 25 companies (about 1%) stated that they have a whistle-blowing
scheme. While an act designed to protect whistle-blowers, known as
the "Safeguards for Those Who Disclose Information in the Public
Interest Act", is to be put into effect next spring, companies seem
to be making slow progress in upgrading their schemes.
Meanwhile, Unicharm Co., Ltd. launched a "Ring-Ring Dial" service
last summer, which offers counseling and accepts internal information
from its employees about compliance with laws and regulations.
A corporate ethics office within its CSR department serves as a channel
for employees to report illegal activities, while its audit committee
investigates important issues that arise.
On the other hand, Sanken Electric Co., Ltd. launched a new "Help
Line System" in October 2003. The system, which protects the privacy
of informants, allows employees who have witnessed unfair and/or
illegal corporate activities to report to Integrex Inc., an independent
research company specializing in socially responsible investment (SRI).
Other companies use external lawyers as a channel for employees to
blow the whistle. In October 2004, Daimaru set up a "compliance hotline"
in which not only a committee of internal executives but also external
corporate lawyers serve as channels for whistle-blowing. Toshiba Co.
also set up a "Risk Counseling Hotline" which promises employees
that any information on illegal corporate activities will be routed to
its legal department and external lawyers at the same time.
(Nikkei Kinyu Shimbun, Nihon Keizai Shimbun, May)
-Towards Establishing a Women's Executive Association-
In Japan, the proportion of women in managerial posts still
remains as low as 2.8%. In an effort to increase the proportion of
women managers to 50%, IBM Japan, Sony, and 43 other firms and
organizations have jointly established a Japan Women's Innovative
Network with their voluntary initiative. The network intends to
hold monthly seminars and an annual conference for the purpose of
discussing the issue of reforming various systems and schemes to
enhance the recruitment of woman, and focusing on fostering future
woman executives. It also plans to change its status to a non-profit
organization.
(Nihon Keizai Shimun, May)
Public Policies
-Equal Employment Opportunity Law Marks its 20th Anniversary-
In the days when male dominance permeated every corner of Japanese
society, it was women who took up the struggle for reform. It was
not until World War II ended in 1945 that Japanese women first got
the right to vote. Then in 1985, they finally achieved the enactment
of the Equal Employment Opportunity Law (EEOL). Today, June 1, marks
the 20th anniversary of its enactment.
Continued on;
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/archives/emm/2005/no.39/39_si.html
