Issues | LABOR PAINS Dec 12, 2018
A new law regarding foreign workers brings up old problems
Activists in the field bring up concerns with Japan's new approach to manual laborers from overseas.
Hifumi Okunuki
Hifumi Okunuki teaches at Sagami Women’s University and serves as the executive president of Tozen Union (Zenkoku Ippan Tokyo General Union). She can be reached at tozen.okunuki@gmail.com. On the second Thursday of the month, Hifumi looks at cases in Japan’s legal history to illustrate important principles in labor law.
For Hifumi Okunuki's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Issues | LABOR PAINS Oct 31, 2018
For work rules in Japan to legally count, employers must hammer them home
Court precedents in Japan have reinforced that work rules lack legal power if they are not easily accessible and known to employees.
Issues | LABOR PAINS Sep 23, 2018
Abe's work-style reforms give Japan's employers the green light to demand unpaid and unsafe overtime
New law caps overtime at unhealthy levels and sets up a system that will legitimize the principle of working for nothing.
Issues | LABOR PAINS Aug 26, 2018
Tokyo Medical University scandal is a throwback to when discrimination against women was the norm
Listening to the excuses being given for discrimination today, it's almost as if 1985's Equal Opportunity Act never happened.
Issues | LABOR PAINS Jul 30, 2018
Japan's courts don't share Mio Sugita's views on supporting LGBT people, precedents show
The country's courts are drawing a line in the sand over discrimination against LGBT people, even as far-right LDP lawmaker Mio Sugita slams support for 'unproductive' members of society.
Issues | LABOR PAINS Jun 24, 2018
Two Japan Supreme Court cases clarify when discrimination against fixed-term workers is OK
June 1, 2018, saw two verdicts from two similar cases handed down by the Supreme Court, both based on the 2012 amendment to the Labor Contract Law.
Issues | LABOR PAINS May 27, 2018
Devilish Japanese TV drama makes a mockery of workplace rights
In "Miss Devil," each firing has some deeper purpose that in the end benefits the hapless victim. The lesson boils down to "I know what's good for you more than you do yourself."
Issues | LABOR PAINS Apr 29, 2018
Abe walks a tightrope on Japan's foreign worker policy
The foreign proportion of Japan's population remains tiny compared to that in European countries or North America, yet the impact of the growing ranks of foreign workers is considerable.
Issues | LABOR PAINS Mar 25, 2018
Dodgy data spared Japan's workers from a labor system that's ripe for abuse, for now
At first glance, the discretionary work system looks like a dream come true in terms of work-life balance. On closer inspection, though, it has the potential to be a worker's nightmare.
Issues | LABOR PAINS Feb 25, 2018
Lessons on life, love and compassionate leave from a silly old bunny
Having just suffered a string of painful losses, this month I will explore compassionate leave (kibiki kyūka), the days you take off in Japan after the death of a close family member.