The Japan Labor Flash No.62
Email Journal June 1, 2006
Statistical Reports
Main Labor Economic Indicators
Current Topics
More Than 60% of Workers Feel an Expansion in Income Differentials
JR Tokai Removal of Union Posters Not Recognized as Unfair Labor
Practice
Public Policies
93 Complaints Brought to the Labor Court System in its Initial Month
2006 White Paper on Small and Medium Enterprises in Japan
News Clippings
This Year's New Recruits Highly Value Communication
60% of Job Switchers Have Higher Annual Incomes
Special Issue
Burden of Social Security System to be Revised with Focus on
Employment Insurance
Statistical Reports
-Main Labor Economic Indicators-
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/estatis/eshuyo/200606/index.htm
Current Topics
-More Than 60% of Workers Feel an Expansion in Income Differentials-
In a questionnaire survey on work and life of workers conditions
conducted in April by the Research Institute for Advancement of
Living Standards (Rengo-RIALS), 63.3 percent of the workers surveyed
felt that income differentials among individuals had widened compared
to five years ago. As factors in the expansion of income differentials,
more than 50 percent of the workers surveyed cited "an increase in
the
number of part-time, dispatched and other non-regular workers," and
43.7 percent "an increase in the number of persons without income
due
to dismissals, difficulty in finding new jobs and other reasons."
The survey targeted 900 persons in their 20s to 50s, and 200 in
their early 60s. Valid replies totaled 781 (validity rate 86.8%)
from the former group, and 151 (validity rate 75.5%) from the latter
group.
The findings show that 35.0 percent of the respondents, among whom
the highest proportion, 48.3 percent are in their 50s, believe that
the latest gap "should be reduced." On the other hand, a majority,
25.9 percent, of those who replied that the gap is acceptable are
in their 20s, while 25.1 percent of the respondents who replied that
the current state is acceptable are in their 30s. This suggests that
the younger generation is more accepting of income differentials.
-JR Tokai Removal of Union Posters Not Recognized as Unfair Labor
Practice-
According to Kyodo News, on May 15, in a lawsuit brought by JR Tokai
(Nagoya City) calling for revocation of a Central Labour Relations
Commission order judging the removal of JR Tokai Union posters as
unfair labor practice, the Tokyo District Court approved almost all
the claims of JR Tokai, invalidating nine out of eleven cases of the
order by the Central Labour Relations Commission. The chief judge
denied that the nine cases in question represented unfair labor
practice, ruling that the posters included matter undermining the
credibility of JR Tokai, its president and others, slandering them,
and were unreliable. In May 2005, the Central Labour Relations
Commission ordered that all eleven cases involving the removal of
posters should be deemed as unfair labor practice, calling on the
railway company to submit an apology to the union.
Between July 1995 and May 1996, JR Tokai removed 11 posters from
union boards within the rail yard in Settsu City, Osaka Prefecture.
Public Policies
-93 Complaints Brought to the Labor Court System in its Initial Month-
According to Kyodo News, the Supreme Court compiled complaints
brought to the Labor Court System launched on April 1 at various
district courts and announced that the number of complaints totaled
93 across the country in the first month. The system was adopted to
settle promptly an increasing number of labor disputes involving
dismissals and unpaid wages and other issues.
The Supreme Court, when setting up the new system, assessed the
likely number of cases brought in per year at approximately 1,500,
hence the figure marked in the first month was more or less within
its expectation. While the majority of the complaints brought in
involved dismissals, others pertained to wages, annual paid holidays,
retirement allowances and other issues. Of all the complaints, the
largest number, 20, were brought to the Tokyo District Court, followed
by seven cases each to the Nagoya and Yokohama District Courts, and
five to the Osaka District Court; courts in large cities ranked high
among the 50 district courts across the country.
Of the 20 complaints brought to the Tokyo District Court, ten were
brought by workers calling for confirmation of their employment status
and the invalidation of employers' decisions regarding dismissals.
Three other cases involved indemnification for damages, two cases
demand for wage payments, and one case each retirement allowances
and allowances occasioned by the advance announcement of dismissal.
There were also complaints from non-regular employees: for example,
one in which a contract worker was dismissed when he (or she) complained
to the superior that he (or she) was punched at the workplace; and
another in which a part-time doctor was refused renewal of his contract
by his employer, Nagoya University Hospital.
The system stipulates that the first session of the tribunal will
be held within 40 days after the complaint is made; in practice, if
the tribunal starts working on complaints in May, it comes to
decisions sometime in June or July.
-2006 White Paper on Small and Medium Enterprises in Japan-
On April 28, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry published
the 2006 White Paper on Small and Medium Enterprises in Japan.
The White Paper first explains the general trends regarding SMEs,
followed by an analysis of economic globalization and changes in the
environment affecting the management of SMEs, and lastly a discussion
of the roles of SMEs in a society with a declining birthrate, a growing
proportion of elderly people and a decline in overall population.
Emphasizing that SMEs play a stabilizing role among young workers
in an era of high unemployment rates, the paper quotes survey results
showing that more than 70 percent of the SMEs surveyed which hire
freeters on a regular basis find no particular difference between
them and newly graduated workers, and that half of the SMEs surveyed
commented favorably on them, stating that their morale and sense of
responsibility are satisfying. The White Paper also points out that
smaller firms tend to provide a better work environment for young
workers, in that they tend to view personality as more important than
practical and potential abilities.
It also shows the flexible attitude of SMEs towards child-rearing
leave, quoting statistics that, while 40.5 percent of firms with
1,000 or more employees have a flexible child care system, 62.4 percent
of firms with 20 employees or fewer do so.
Where business openings and closures are concerned, the number of
closures among individual businesses which opened up during the high
economic growth period has been increasing due to the ageing of the
founders and the dearth of successors; the number of SMEs has fallen
by approximately 120,000 per year (causing a loss of 200,000 - 350,000
jobs per year), the current total being approximately 4.3 million.
News Clippings
-This Year's New Recruits Highly Value Communication-
Employees newly hired this spring attach much importance to
communication in the workplace, according to surveys by the Japan
Management Association (JMA) and the Japan Productivity Center for
Socio-Economic Development (JPC-SED). The two surveys were carried
out in March and April. The former survey received replies from 1,961
respondents, and the latter from 863.
The latest survey of the JPC-SED shows that the proportion of new
recruits surveyed who responded that they are willing to participate
in company athletic festivals or other corporate events aimed at
deepening employees' sense of community stands at 82.7 percent, a
record high since it started the survey.
On the other hand, JMA's survey shows that the second highest
proportion, 31.1 percent, of new recruits surveyed cited "communication
ability" when asked about abilities which they wish to cultivate
further
(multiple answers), close behind the item, "foreign languages"
(32.4
percent) which the majority chose.
(Nihon Keizai Shimbun, April)
-60% of Job Switchers Have Higher Annual Incomes-
Recruit Agent Co. Ltd., the leading job placement agency, has
published the findings of a survey, according to which approximately
60 percent of job switchers surveyed saw an increase in their annual
incomes. By age group, the group aged 24 or under enjoyed the largest
increase, \790,000. The margin of increase becomes smaller among
higher age groups: those aged 25 - 29 gained \423,000, and those aged
30 - 34 gained \356,000. Job switchers aged 40 or above, conversely,
saw a decrease in annual income of \123,000. This seems to prove that
younger workers have the advantage in job switching in terms of higher
income since their current income levels are lower.
The survey targeted 16,970 workers who changed jobs in 2005 through
the agency, which used the findings for an analysis of incomes before
and after switching jobs.
(Nikkei Sangyo Shimbun, May)
US$=\112（June 1, 2006）
Special Issue
-Burden of Social Security System to be Revised with Focus on
Employment Insurance-
The Japanese government has been tackling revisions to the burden of
social security costs in the face of an escalating drop in the birthrate
and the ageing of society. The mainstays of the revisions are three
points: (i) a reduction in the government share of contributions to
employment insurance; (ii) effective use of reserve funds in the special
account for employment insurance to deal with the decreasing birthrate;
and (iii) an increase in the proportion of social security benefit
payments used to strengthen measures against the decreasing birthrate.
Continued on;
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/archives/emm/2003/no.62/62_si.html
