The Tokyo District Court on Thursday ordered state-backed Japan Post Co. to partially compensate three contract workers who sued for being treated as less than full-time employees doing the same work, but dismissed their demand for equal pay.
The court ordered that the nonregular workers be paid some ¥920,000 in total, a small fraction of the roughly ¥15 million sought but a decision that could have major ramifications for the company, nearly half of whose 390,000-strong workforce consists of contract workers.
Law forbids businesses from creating "unreasonable" pay disparities between full-time and contract staff, and the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has pushed to close the gap in wages to raise consumption in the stagnant economy.