The Japan Labor Flash
No.49
Email Journal November 1, 2005
JILPT Information
Information on JILPT Foreign Researcher Invitation Program for FY 2006
Statistical Reports
Main Labor Economic Indicators
Current Topics
JBF Expresses its General View on Labor Contract Law
Takagi of UI Zensen Domei Elected as New Rengo President
Public Policies
Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare to Grant Another 89 Regions
Subsidies for Local Business Start-ups
Survey Aimed at Women with Small Children: 70% See Financial
Assistance the Most Important
Public Policies
Sony to Use "CSR" Criteria in Choosing Suppliers
Insurance Firm Launches New Service: "We Detect Dissatisfaction
among Your Employees"
Public Policies
Postal Bills Pass Lower House: Administrative and Financial Reform
to Be Next Phase
JILPT Information
Information on JILPT Foreign Researcher Invitation Program for FY 2006
1. Purpose
This program invites foreign researchers to Japan and provides
them with opportunities for conducting research on labor policy
and labor issues in Japan, with the ultimate goal of improving
the quality of labor policy research in Japan.
2. Programs
Program types:
1) Long-term invitation program: 1-12 months
2) Short-term invitation program: Less than 1 month
Expenses
Travel, living and other expenses will be covered.
Requirements:
1) Must conduct research on Japanese labor policies or other
labor issues.
2) Must submit a research report to the JILPT at the end of
their stay.
3) Must possess adequate command of Japanese or English
4) Must conduct research and remain with the JILPT
5) Must be in good enough health to carry out and complete
intended studies
3. Application deadline
Applications are accepted annually. We are currently accepting
applications for FY 2006 (April 2006 to March 2007). If you would
like to apply for this fiscal year, please submit your application
documents by December 10, 2005.
For more details, please refer to:
Application Process for the Foreign Researcher Invitation Program
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/Invitation.htm
International Affairs Department (Invitation)
Statistical Reports
-Main Labor Economic Indicators-
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/estatis/eshuyo/200511/index.htm
Current Topics
-JBF Expresses its General View on Labor Contract Law-
In October, Nippon Keidanren (the Japan Business Federation)
published the general view of employers concerning the final report,
compiled in September by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare,
of a group studying, desirable future forms for a "labor contract
law." Enactment of the law is currently being discussed as a means
of preventing labor disputes by encouraging labor and management to
determine labor conditions voluntarily on a more or less equal basis.
(For details, see No. 44 <SI> of JLF). The Japan Business Federation
takes the stance that this report is unacceptable: "The nature of
the report," it says, "is to place restrictions, in the form
of
compulsory rules or guidelines, on firms where recruitment,
probationary period, transfer of workers, retirement, dismissal,
and many other issues are concerned;" however, it also says that
it
has no intention of rejecting it as a general civil law. The Federation
also calls for early adoption of a scheme for cash settlement in cases
of dismissal, and for "white-collar exemption," demonstrating
its
belief that a labor contract law should not impose regulations or
become a burden on firms by including compulsory rules or guidance.
-Takagi of UI Zensen Domei Elected as New Rengo President-
On October 5 and 6, Rengo (the Japanese Trade Union Confederation)
held its regular conference in Tokyo, endorsing its new agenda for
the coming two years, which attaches priority to the strengthening
and expansion of unions through unionization of part-time workers.
In the leadership election occasioned by the retirement of Kiyoshi
Sasamori, the incumbent Rengo president, Tsuyoshi Takagi, head of UI
Zensen Domei (the Japanese Federation of Textile, Chemical, Food,
Commercial and General Workers' Unions), defeated Momoyo Kamo,
chairwoman of the Japan Community Union Federation, and was elected
as its fifth president.
In the election, 472 of a total of 486 representatives cast votes,
323 going to Mr. Takagi and 107 to Ms. Kamo, in addition to 39 blank
and 3 void votes. It was particularly noted that Ms. Kamo gained more
than 100 ballots.
Prior to the election, Ms. Kamo, explaining that she was standing
for the presidency in the interest of halting deteriorating labor
conditions as well as the increase in the number of non-regular
employees, pointed out that the process whereby an executive
recommendation committee narrowed the field to Mr. Takagi as candidate
for president was "dubious.," and also claimed that having an
election
would in itself make Rengo open to the public. In addition, she
emphasized, in a discussion of basic governmental policies prior to
the conference, that labor unions should lead the campaign for peace,
exemplifying her view that the Constitution needs no revision.
Soon after the appointment, the three new key executives paid
courtesy calls on various political parties and economic organizations.
They confirmed with the Democratic Party of Japan President Seiji
Maehara that Rengo will have a cooperative tie with DPJ. Where reform
of the civil service system and other selected policies are concerned,
the union decided to establish appropriate forums for each subject.
Public Policies
-Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare to Grant Another 89 Regions
Subsidies for Local Business Start-ups-
In September, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare selected
priority industries in 89 regions to receive subsidies for local
business start-ups; they include, for example, "industries leading
to revitalization of local shopping areas" in Bihoro-cho, Hokkaido;
"visitor-related industries" in Sendai city, Miyagi prefecture;
"manufacturing industries" in Komatsu city, Ishikawa prefecture;
"the tourist industry" in Kobe city, Hyogo prefecture; and "industries
conducive to lively regional development" in Niihama city, Ehime
prefecture. The grant scheme, established in this fiscal year by the
Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare for the purpose of reinforcing
assistance to individual regions for promoting job creation, is to
provide local public authorities and priority industries selected by
local authorities subsidies for expenses (1.5 - 5 million yen)
involved in outsourcing or business start-ups and hiring. The latest
designations in this fiscal year were the third round of the scheme,
making the selected regions 134 in total.
US$=\116 (November 1, 2005）
-Survey Aimed at Women with Small Children: 70% See Financial
Assistance the Most Important-
The Cabinet Office has published the findings of an awareness survey
on subsidies for child-rearing as a measure to deal with the declining
birthrate. The survey was conducted in February and March of this year
and targeted 4,000 women aged 20 - 49. Valid returns totaled 2,260,
a validity rate of 56.5 percent. When asked about important steps for
remedying the falling birthrate, 69.9 percent chose (multiple answers)
"subsidizing the expenses of child-rearing, education and medical
care,
and financial assistance such as child benefits." On the other hand,
a mere 30-odd percent of respondents supported steps to help achieve
a balance between work and child-rearing, such as: "upgrading and
expansion of nurseries and other facilities for the care of children"
(39.1%); "pregnancy and child-care leave and shorter working hours"
(37.9%); "assistance in finding re-employment for those who have
given
up jobs for childbirth and child-rearing but wish to work again"
(36.1%); and "assistance to firms making efforts to help workers
achieve a balance between work and child-care” (33.1%). In an opinion
survey conducted in 1999 by the General Administrative Agency of the
Cabinet (currently, the Cabinet Office), respondents who wanted "an
improvement in the overall situation to allow husbands and wives to
continue working while they take care of children" outnumbered those
who called for financial assistance.
The 2005 White Paper on National Life, published by the Cabinet
Office, cites the statistical fact that, while real disposable incomes
among the generation with small children have increased little since
1990, income differentials within that generation have been expanding
since 1997. In response to the findings of the latest survey, the
Office's analysis is that an increase in the number of households with
incomes insufficient for child-rearing has resulted in an increase in
those calling for financial assistance.
Public Policies
-Sony to Use "CSR" Criteria in Choosing Suppliers-
Sony Corp. is aligning its criteria for corporate social
responsibility (CSR) with those of U.S. IBM and other manufacturers,
requesting its suppliers to comply with them. It has notified 4,000
domestic and overseas manufacturers of parts, materials, etc. of
conditions concerning, for example, the environment, safety, and
human rights. It will apply the criteria in order to differentiate
between suppliers, for example, by ultimately ceasing business dealings
with those which violate them. It was the first time for a leading
Japanese electric-appliance and electronics manufacturer to share the
same CSR criteria as U.S. firms and seems likely to spur other makers
to follow suit.
Sony's decision is in accord with its belief that it is more efficient
to share criteria within the industry than to design its own criteria.
The company intends to call on Toshiba, Hitachi and other leading
electric-appliance and electronics manufacturers to participate in
the CSR complying group.
(Nihon Keizai Shimbun, October)
-Insurance Firm Launches New Service: "We Detect Dissatisfaction
among Your Employees"-
Launching a new service for corporate customers, Tokyo Marine &
Nichido Fire Insurance Co., Ltd. will monitor dissatisfaction and
the spirit of commitment among their employees. A lowering of
motivation to work not only undermines corporate performance but may
also lead to corporate misconduct, and Tokyo Marine & Nichido has
calculated that the service will be in demand as a corporate risk
management policy.
The service begins with a questionnaire survey of employees of the
client company, comprising 80 questions classifiable into 10 groups.
On the basis of answers to questions such as, "do you sympathize
with
the objectives of your company?" and "are you concerned that
your
boss may abdicate responsibility halfway through?," issues with
which employees feel dissatisfied are identified as well as gaps in
outlooks between superiors and subordinates. Subsequently, hearings
are conducted with the employees before a report is drawn up which
summarizes points for intensive rectification. Tokyo Marine & Nichido
will charge approximately four million yen for its standard service
which ranges from the conducting of a questionnaire survey to the
drawing up of a report.
(Nihon Keizai Shimbun, October)
Public Policies
-Postal Bills Pass Lower House: Administrative and Financial Reform
to Be Next Phase-
On October 10, following the landslide victory of the Liberal
Democratic Party in the general election, the postal privatization
bills which had triggered dissolution of the House of Representatives
and the subsequent general election, were passed smoothly by a plenary
session of the House of Councilors. Most of the LDP lawmakers who
joined the opposition camp in the ordinary session before the election
now voted for the legislation on the grounds that, in the light of
the results of the election, there was no advantage in continuing to
oppose it. Bills which the Democratic Party of Japan hastily submitted
to the Diet ahead of the voting, as a gesture of the opposition to
the government bills, were turned down too soon for the public to
show interest.
Continued on;
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/archives/emm/2005/no.49/49_si.html
