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 ...
Job security eludes Japan's growing ranks of post-doctorate part-time lecturers
Yosuke Amaike, 39, spends a busy week juggling work at four different schools, where he works as a part-time instructor. He gives lectures at Gifu University, as well as a private university, a junior college and a vocational school, and his salaries are decided according ...
Labor ministry panel suggests hiking minimum wage by ¥27 to push Japan average above ¥900
The proposal marks the second consecutive year for a record increase, eclipsing the 2018 hike, and it could be the first time the wage exceeds the ¥900 mark.
JTB travel agency predicts record 3 million will go abroad during Japan's summer holiday period
The number of people who will travel overseas from Japan during this year's summer holiday period is estimated at 2.99 million, the most since JTB Corp. began compiling such data in 2000, the firm said Thursday. The figure represents a rise of 3.5 percent from ...
Over 2,000 doctors in Japan found to have worked without pay at university hospitals
More than 2,000 doctors at 50 university hospitals in Japan have been working without pay, and many lack employment contracts or compensation insurance, the education ministry said Friday, based on a recent survey. "The findings are very regrettable, and it is only natural to correct ...
Sumitomo under fire over labor dispute and rights abuses at Philippines banana plantation
Two representatives from a Philippines labor union on Tuesday protested what they claim are unfair labor practices and human rights abuses at a banana plantation run by a fruit company affiliated with Sumitomo Corp. Speaking at a news conference in Tokyo, Paul John Dizon, president ...
Uber Eats delivery staff in Japan to launch labor union as they dispute their 'contractor' status
Food delivery staff working in Japan for ride-hailing company Uber Technologies Inc. said Wednesday they plan to form a labor union in a bid to improve what they see as disadvantageous treatment for being classified as independent contractors rather than employees. "The delivery staff are ...
