The Japan Labor Flash
No.40
Email Journal June 15, 2005
Statistical Reports
Recent Statistical Survey Reports
Current Topics
Scheduled Cash Earnings Mark the First Increase in 53 Months
The Proportion of "Non-Regular Employees" Reaches 32.2 percent
Public Policies
Number of Cases of Consultation concerning Individual Labor
Disputes Exceeds 160,000
Occupational Disease involving Overseas Worker Acknowledged
Public Policies
Mild Expressions Used by 90 percent of Doctors in their Reports
to Make It Easier for Depressed Patients to Return to Workplace
Directors' Retirement Allowance Abolished in One out of Five
Listed Companies
Public Policies
Realization of a Gender-Equal Society
Statistical Reports
-Recent Statistical Survey Reports May 2005-
Features
Wage Survey on Forestry Workers by Occupation (2004)
Wage Survey on Outdoor Workers by Occupation (2004) …etc.
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/estatis/esaikin/2005/e2005-05.htm
Current Topics
-Scheduled Cash Earnings Mark the First Increase in 53 Months-
On June 1, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare published
the preliminary findings of the Monthly Labour Survey for April 2005.
The monthly average of total cash earnings per regular employee (in
firms with 5 or more employees) was 281,935 yen, an increase of 0.6
percent compared to the same month in the previous year. Scheduled
cash earnings increased by 0.3 percent to 255,607 yen, the first
increase since November 2000. The number of regular employees
increased by 0.5 percent compared to the same month in the previous
year. While the number of full-time employees saw an increase of
1.1 percent, that of part-time workers decreased by 1.1 percent,
a drop for the first time in nearly 10 years.
-The Proportion of "Non-Regular Employees" Reaches 32.2 percent-
On May 31, the Statistics Bureau of the Ministry of Internal
Affairs and Communications published detailed results of the Labour
Force Surveys (average figures for January - March 2005). According
to these results, the number of part-time, temporary, contract and
other "non-regular staff members and employees" averaged 15.91
million, an increase of 360,000 persons compared to the same period
in the previous year. The proportion of "non-regular employees"
to
employed workers as a whole (not including executive employees)
stood at 32.3 percent, an increase of 0.8 percent compared to the
same period in the previous year.
Public Policies
-Number of Cases of Consultation concerning Individual Labor Disputes
Exceeds 160,000-
Three and a half years have passed since the enactment of the
Resolution System for Individual Labor Disputes in October 2001.
In May, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare published details
of the system's achievements during fiscal year 2004. The number
of workers or employees making use of the "Comprehensive Labor
Counseling Desks", which deal with individual labor disputes within
the scope of civil procedures, increased by 13.7 percent from the
previous year to more than 160,000 cases. These Desks are located
in approximately 300 areas across the country. The number of cases
in which resolution via advice or guidance was sought exceeded 5,000,
while the number of cases in which application for mediation was
accepted exceeded 6,000. Use of the resolution system to solve
individual labor disputes is increasing each year.
-Occupational Disease involving Overseas Worker Acknowledged-
According to Kyodo News, the Sagamihara Labor Standards Inspection
Office in Kanagawa Prefecture had recognized a heart infarction
suffered by a Bangladeshi construction worker as having been caused
by overwork and therefore recognized it as a case of occupational
disease.
The worker, learning that even overseas workers who have exceeded
their legal stay are protected under labor laws, consulted a labor
union that assists foreign workers and brought a claim for workers'
compensation to the office. In recognizing the case as an occupational
disease, it seems that the office took seriously the fact that the
worker was working more than 100 hours overtime per month. A notebook
in which the worker recorded the times he went to work and returned
home also served as a decisive factor in winning the favorable
judgment. The recognition was made in March this year, and the worker
was awarded medical expenses and leave compensation.
Although quite a few economic migrants suffer under severe working
conditions, few of them bring claims of industrial accidents or
disease to the Labor Standards Inspection Offices.
Public Policies
-Mild Expressions Used by 90 percent of Doctors in their Reports to
Make It Easier for Depressed Patients to Return to Workplace-
A questionnaire survey polling approximately 3,000 psychosomatic
and psychiatric specialists in private practice and doctors in
industrial hospitals across the country, found that as many as 92
percent of respondents replied that, in health reports for patients
with jobs, they give the name of a milder condition, but not to the
point that it is false. The highest proportion, 40 percent, prefer
"in a dispirited state" to express the idea of depression, which
also
tends to be reported as "in a psychosomatic disease" and "suffering
from mental and physical fatigue." This tendency reflects the fact
that doctors feel they have to protect their patients from the fear
of losing their jobs if diagnosed as depressive, and from the strict
conditions posed by their employers for letting them return to work.
The survey found that 96 percent of doctors believe their patients
can return to work once the illness is in remission at a level which
does not disturb daily life. However, the survey also found that
74 percent of doctors are required by employers to certify that those
with depression are "completely cured." In some cases, employers
refuse to let employees return to work, and eventually dismiss them
by prolonging their leave. Such cases have risen in number over the
past few years, according to the Labour Lawyers Association of Japan,
which offers labor counseling services.
This tendency makes it difficult to understand fully the actual
state of mental health in the workplace. It also jeopardizes the
proper treatment of patients and the understanding by patients'
employers and co-workers. A survey conducted in 2002 by the Ministry
of Health, Labour and Welfare found that more than 60 percent of
workers felt a "high level of stress from work", whereas, in
fiscal
year 2003, the number of employees applying to be recognized as
having a psychiatric disorder involving depression totaled 438,
and the number of cases so recognized was 108, both of which were
record highs. Employers need to understand better mental health
disorders and improve mental health care for employees.
(Asahi Shimbun, May)
-Directors' Retirement Allowance Abolished in One out of Five Listed
Companies-
An increasing number of firms are abolishing their practice of paying
allowances to retired directors, according to a survey by Nihon Keizai
Shimbun of approximately 1,680 listed companies across the country
which settle their accounts at the end of March (excluding those on
emerging stock exchange markets).
The number of listed companies that have announced they would
abolish payments of such allowances in March 2006 exceeded 100;
they include Tokyo Electron Ltd. and Kyowa Hakko Kogyo Co., Ltd.
This brings the total of such firms to approximately 300, or one-fifth
of all listed companies. Some public-interest firms have also gone
along with this trend: they are aiming at management strategies that
are more conscious of corporate values by getting rid of the directors'
retirement allowances, which are higher for those who stay longer, and
by adopting a merit-based remuneration system.
More than 100 companies in the survey replied that they would either
propose abolishment of the directors' retirement allowance to their
boards of directors this fiscal term or consider proposing related
resolutions at their shareholders' meetings for approval. Starting
in June, when agendas for discussion at general meetings are sent to
shareholders, still more firms are expected to announce their
intention to abolish the allowance.
(Nihon Keizai Shimbun, May)
Public Policies
-Realization of a Gender-Equal Society-
The "2005 Annual Report on the State of the Formation of a Gender
-Equal Society," published in June, seeks to analyze current gender
issues from a variety of perspectives.
The report outlines its view of the current state of gender equality
in reference to indices published by the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP): "in 2000, Japan was ranked ninth out of 174 nations
in the Human Development Index (HDI), which is calculated on the basis
of their citizens' life expectancy, educational attainment, national
income per head, and so on, while it was ranked 41st out of 70 nations
in the gender empowerment index, which is calculated by making use of
the proportion of females to Members of the Diet, civil servants in
managerial or administrative posts as a whole, and gender wage gaps
as indications of the degree of women's participation in decision
making. The rankings show that, though women in Japan have developed
their potentialities, society has not yet put in place enough
opportunities for them to demonstrate such potentialities."
Continued on;
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/archives/emm/2005/no.40/40_si.html
