IOC chief Thomas Bach asked to intervene in Tokyo Olympic labor dispute
An international trade union wants IOC President Thomas Bach to intervene and investigate alleged labor and safety violations at venues being built for next year's Tokyo Olympics. The Building and Wood Workers' International has been critical for several years of workers' rights at Olympic venues. ...
Suicide of Mitsubishi Electric unit employee caused by overwork, labor office rules
The supervisor’s December 2017 suicide at Mitsubishi Electric unit Melco Semiconductor came after he logged over 100 hours of overtime per month.
Filipino worker says Yokohama legal firm won't return her passport after she quit
It is illegal for employers to keep passports of foreign nationals who live in Japan as technical trainees, but there are no penal regulations for other foreign workers.
Against the tide, cocoa growers plan to suspend ethical programs
In a world that is growing increasingly concerned about corporate commitments to environmental and social responsibility, top cocoa producers Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana are planning to make a move that goes against the tide. The West African nations, which produce more than 60 percent of ...
New ranking finds major chocolate companies flunked child labor scorecard
Major chocolate companies such as Godiva, Lindt and Hershey are failing to keep child labor out of their supply chains, according to a new ranking by activists released Thursday. Godiva was rated the worst, followed by Ferrero and Mondalez on a scorecard of efforts to ...
Action taken against 112 firms last year for abuses under Japan's foreign intern training program
With cases of abuse ranging from trainees forced to pay illegal deposits to an intern who was forced to work 225 hours of overtime in a month, authorities last year took disciplinary action against 112 firms using the state-sponsored Technical Intern Training Program. The firms ...
Japan paternity leave suit spotlights workers' rights
A male employee is suing sportswear maker Asics Corp. for alleged mistreatment after taking paternity leave, a case that has cast a spotlight on gender equality and workers' rights in Japan. The lawsuit — filed by a 38-year-old man who says he was harassed by ...
Ministry says Recruit Career acted illegally in Rikunabi data scandal and demands corrective steps
The labor ministry said Friday it had issued administrative guidance to Recruit Career Co. for selling to its clients web browsing data predicting the odds of job-hunting students declining informal job offers, without the students' consent. The ministry determined that selling the data violated the ...
A vice labor minister quit Wednesday amid allegations that he planned to solicit bribes from a temp agency in return for his help with speeding up visa procedures for foreign nationals the agency intended to dispatch to Japanese firms, labor minister Takumi Nemoto said. The ...
Japanese-language students from South Asian countries see plunge in visa approval rates
The drop in approved visas appears to reflect a government effort to crack down on foreign nationals who enter the nation to work under the guise of being students.
Record 5,160 firms employing foreign trainees in Japan violated labor laws in 2018, ministry says
A record 5,160 business facilities employing foreign technical intern trainees were told in 2018 to correct practices that violated labor-related laws, the labor ministry has said. The number shot up from 4,226 in 2017, in line with an increase in foreigners working under the country's ...
Scandal-hit Yoshimoto Kogyo urged to sign written contracts with its 6,000 entertainers
Scandal-hit artists' agency Yoshimoto Kogyo Co. is being urged to exchange written contracts with the comedians, actors and athletes on its books. The recommendation came after the first meeting of a management advisory panel that Yoshimoto set up after the revelation that several of its ...
