The Japan Labor Flash No.89
Email Journal August 1, 2007
Statistical Reports
Main Labor Economic Indicators
Current Topics
In SME Agency Survey, 70% of Shopping Malls Say They Are Declining
or Likely to Decline
One out of Ten Employees at SMEs in Tokyo Had Thought about Suicide
Public Policies
SMEs to Be Penalized for Failure to Satisfy Statutory Employment
Rate for Disabled Workers
The 166th Ordinary Diet Session Ends: Revised Part-Time Work Law, etc.
Enacted
News Clippings
Osaka Gas Co. to Adopt Leave Scheme for the Citizen Judge System
Foreign-Invested Firms Move Out of China: Environmental Regulations
Strengthened
Special Issue
Japan's Family Life Seen in Household Account Books
Statistical Reports
-Main Labor Economic Indicators-
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/estatis/eshuyo/200708/index.htm
Current Topics
-In SME Agency Survey, 70% of Shopping Malls Say They Are Declining
or Likely to Decline-
On June 29, the Small and Medium Enterprise Agency published the
findings of its fiscal year 2006 survey on shopping malls. Approximately
70 percent of the representatives of the malls surveyed answered that
business was stagnant and likely to decline. As problems facing shopping
malls, respondents cited "lack of really attractive shops" (36.9 %);
"the shop owners' poor sense of participation in the activities of their
malls" (33.4 %); and "the difficulty of finding successors to the
businesses as the present shop owners age" (31.4 %).
-One out of Ten Employees at SMEs in Tokyo Had Thought about Suicide-
A research group of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has
found through a survey that one out of 10 employees (10.3%) of small
and medium-sized enterprises in Tokyo had thought about committing
suicide in the previous one year. The survey was carried out in January
2007 and was addressed to 2,890 persons. Effective replies came from
2,181 employees of 55 business establishments.
Of the respondents, 1.8 percent replied that they "frequently thought
about suicide", and 8.5 percent "sometimes". Asked if they had thought
about actually committing suicide in the previous one year, 2.2 percent
replied "yes."
A self-assessment test shows that 25.6 percent of the employees
surveyed may be "in a dispirited state," a fairly high rate compared
to the rates of 13 - 18 percent found in previous surveys.
A survey addressed to personnel in charge of health management in
individual business establishments shows that 7.3 percent of the
establishments surveyed had persons who attempted to commit suicide
in the previous one year.
Public Policies
-SMEs to Be Penalized for Failure to Satisfy Statutory Employment
Rate for Disabled Workers-
The current Employment Promotion Act for Persons with Disabilities
requires firms with 56 or more employees to satisfy a statutory employment
rate for disabled workers (1.8 percent of employees as a whole), and
calls on those with more than 300 workers which have failed to satisfy
the prescribed rate to make payments (penalties) of 50,000 yen a month
per disabled worker who should have been hired.
The payment rule was adopted in 1976, at a time when the overall
employment rate among small and medium-sized enterprises was higher
than that among large firms, and the management bases of SMEs were
weak in general; as a result, it was decided that SMEs should be
exempted from the rule. However, while rates among large firms have
improved since the adoption of the rule, among SMEs they have been
declining and have been overtaken by the former in the last few
years. (In 2006, the average rate among large firms with 1,000
employees or more stood at 1.69 percent and that among SMEs at
1.27 percent.)
In July, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, concluding
that it was necessary to encourage SMEs to improve their rate by
subjecting them to the penalty - for the sake of the many disabled
workers who wish to get jobs in SMEs close to their residences -
decided to launch a full-scale discussion at a council to be held
in coming autumn, with an eye to submitting a relevant bill to the
Diet in 2008.
-The 166th Ordinary Diet Session Ends: Revised Part-Time Work Law,
etc. Enacted-
On July 5, the 166th Ordinary Diet session ended. During the session,
various labor-related bills passed the Diet, which include the revised
Part-Time Work Law which provides that part-time workers receive similar
treatment to that of regular workers; the revised Employment Measure Law
which prohibits firms from placing age limits when recruiting and hiring
employees, and obligates them to report on the employment of foreign
workers; and the revised Employment Insurance Law which lays down
revisions to insurance premium rates. In spite of the extension of
the session, the Diet was tangled over the loss of 50 million pension
records, so that the bills related to the revised Minimum Wage Law,
the revised Labor Standards Law, and a Labor Contract Law were carried
over to the next session. Rengo (Japanese Trade Union Confederation)
has criticized the opposition parties as well as the ruling parties
over this, stating that discussion, in particular, of the bill on the
revised Minimum Wage Law was carried over because of party politics.
News Clippings
-Osaka Gas Co. to Adopt Leave Scheme for the Citizen Judge System-
This month, Osaka Gas Co., Ltd. adopted a "citizen judge leave" with
an eye to adoption of the citizen judge system by May 2009.
Under the new trial system, ordinary citizens - those who have the
vote - are selected and sworn in as lay judges in criminal trials.
Selected judges are not allowed, in principle, to excuse themselves
from their positions at any time during the trial process, from trial
examination to judicial verdict. Thus, the company decided to adopt
the new leave system for the purpose of enabling employees to help
and participate in the system.
For paid leave, the company will single out the period when employees
selected as judges are unable to work. Chiba Bank, Ltd. has also decided
to adopt a similar leave system, and an increasing number of firms are
likely to follow suit.
(Fuji Sankei Business Eye, July)
-Foreign-Invested Firms Move Out of China: Environmental Regulations
Strengthened-
Some foreign-invested companies are beginning to pull out of China
where the government has tightened environmental regulations due to
the country's serious pollution problem. Having for long pursued
economic development via foreign capital inducement, China is now
shifting its policy in order to get rid of firms which have a negative
impact on the environment. This will inevitably affect Japanese firms
which have shifted their production bases to the country.
In June, Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. was fined 100,000
yuan (approx. 1.6 million yen) by the State Environmental Protection
Administration on the grounds that an affiliated factory in Anhui
Province discharged water containing chemicals exceeding the quality
control standard. The discharge of poor quality water was attributable
to decrepit devices used to monitor the substances contained in
discharged water. This step taken by the Chinese authorities has
demonstrated that even Japanese firms which have contributed to
the economic growth of China are not exempt from the regulations.
(Kyodo News, July)
US$=118yen (August 1, 2007)
Special Issue
-Japan's Family Life Seen in Household Account Books-
A close look at household accounts provides a picture of how people
live and demonstrates how changes in consumption patterns reflect not
only their lifestyles but also socio-economic changes in society as a
whole.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications' Family Income
and Expenditure Survey is a national statistical survey which has been
carried out since 1946 as an essential source for determining economic
trends. The survey asks households to keep a daily record of their
accounts so as to throw light on their everyday lives. Some of the
findings of this year's survey which feature characteristics of recent
consumption patterns are highlighted below.
Continued on;
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/archives/emm/2003/no.89/89_si.html
