Tag - labor-laws

 
Menu
Search
 
May 03, 2024
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

LABOR LAWS

Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 1, 2019
Recruits mark first day at work across Japan as fiscal 2019 begins with new overtime curbs
This year's recruits went to work at their new jobs for the first time Monday, the start of fiscal 2019 and the beginning of stricter overtime restrictions.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 29, 2019
Probe reveals 759 cases of suspected abuse and 171 deaths of foreign trainees in Japan
The Justice Ministry's probe into the Technical Intern Training Program confirms growing concerns about a link between the trainees' working conditions and their growing disappearances from companies.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society / EXPLAINER
Mar 28, 2019
Government bill on power harassment takes aim at Japan's workplace woes
A supervisor berates employees as slackers and incompetents. A president taunts, punches and forces a worker to write a letter of resignation — leading the employee to commit suicide. A whistle-blower exposes an illegal cartel, only to be banished and given mundane tasks to perform for over 20 years.
BUSINESS
Mar 27, 2019
Tea label giants vow probe after Sri Lanka labor abuse expose
Plantations in Sri Lanka that supply "slavery-free" tea to top global companies are under investigation by ethical label groups after an expose found illegal wage deductions that have left some workers ill and unable to afford health care.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 9, 2019
Just how convenient are convenience stores in Japan?
The recent trend of online videos showing "baito tero," or "part-timer terrorism," enacted by part-time workers has sparked another media discussion about the plight of low wage earners. Most of these videos were recorded by people working in food-related businesses, and explanations for why they are eating merchandise on the job or retrieving food items from the garbage to pass on to customers range from adolescent-grade mischief to payback for suffering the indignities of what the working poor put up with. The implication of all this rude behavior is that the perpetrators don't seem to care if they are caught because getting fired is no big deal. They can always find another low-paying job.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 5, 2019
Hitachi told to improve or else after its firms are caught again deploying foreign trainees illegally
During inspections last year, the Organization for Technical Intern Training found technical interns engaged in work outside the remit of their training programs, sources said.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 17, 2018
Uber welcomes while unions criticize U.K. plan to maintain flexible gig economy
Uber Technologies Inc. welcomed on Monday the British government's response to a review into workplace rights, which looks set to preserve the business models of gig economy companies, but unions criticized the business ministry's plans.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / 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.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / 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.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Sep 5, 2018
Views From Tokyo: What do you think about Mio Sugita's remark that LGBT people are 'unproductive'?
People in the Japanese capital were asked for their thoughts on the position of the LGBT community in Japnese society, in the wake of a ruling party politician's contentious comments.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / 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.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 6, 2018
Over 80% of Japan's transportation firms violated overtime, other labor rules last year: labor ministry
More than 80 percent of companies that employed truck, bus and taxi drivers last year breached the Labor Standards Law, with illegal overtime accounting for over half the violations, a government survey says.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / 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.
Japan Times
JAPAN / FOCUS
Jul 25, 2018
Japan faces challenges as it moves to accept more foreign workers
Japan's move toward opening its doors to more foreign workers is widely seen as a must to better cope with an expected shrinkage in the working population.
JAPAN
Jul 13, 2018
Ministry report calls for work-style reforms in bid to cut teachers' overtime
The education ministry vowed Friday to promote work style reform at schools in order to reduce overtime among teachers.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / 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.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
May 31, 2018
Japan's ruling bloc pushes labor bill through the Lower House amid worries over karōshi
The government says the comprehensive legal package will represent the biggest shake-up of labor laws in Japan's postwar history, but some believe it could make problems worse.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / 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.'
JAPAN / Politics
May 21, 2018
Opposition deal to tweak Japanese labor bill likely to get contentious legislation past Diet
The ruling bloc agreed Monday with some opposition parties to modify a labor reform bill aimed at tackling Japan's chronic overwork problem, paving the way for its passage before the Diet closes on June 20, lawmakers said.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
May 20, 2018
My company didn't enroll me in the Japanese social insurance program. What to do?
A non-Japanese worker wrote to Lifelines with some questions about the shakai hoken social insurance system.
Weak yen fattens tourist wallets in Japan
People visit the Ameya Yokocho market in Tokyo's Ueno district during the Golden Week holiday on Tuesday.
Number of vacant homes in Japan hits record high of 9 million
A vacant house in Tokyo is seen demolished in January 2020.
'So hot you can't breathe': Extreme heat hits the Philippines
A pedestrian cools himself with a folding hand fan as he waits for a ride along a road in Manila on Wednesday, as extreme heat hit the Philippines.
Kishida sets sights on energy and climate in South America trip
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will use a policy speech in Sao Paulo to set out his vision for ties between Japan and South America, almost 10 years after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe advocated for stronger ties between the two in the same city.
Town to block view of Mount Fuji in response to overtourism
The town government of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, decided to set up a 2.5-meter-high screen to prevent tourists from taking pictures of Mount Fuji looming behind a convenience store.
Kishida sets sights on energy and climate in South America trip
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will use a policy speech in Sao Paulo to set out his vision for ties between Japan and South America, almost 10 years after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe advocated for stronger ties between the two in the same city.
Yellow sand allergy: A health issue made worse by climate change
A screenshot of the Meteorological Agency's satellite image of clouds and yellow sand (in pink) on Sunday.
Climate change, chalky grains and the risks for Japan’s rice farmers
A farmer plants seedlings in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima Prefecture. Japan’s self sufficiency rate for rice is nearly 100%, compared with 38% for food overall, on a calorie basis.
Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’
Performers play a traditional drum unique to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa on March 16 to mark the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture.
Theaster Gates’ ambitious ‘Afro-Mingei’ brings Black Chicago to Tokyo
Theaster Gates' “A Heavenly Chord” lines up church pews before seven speakers and a Hammond B3 organ, a type of electric organ prevalent in Black American churches.

Podcast

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.
[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Longform

When trying to trace your lineage in Japan, the "koseki" is the most important form of document you'll encounter.
Climbing the branches of a Japanese family tree
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Prize winner Maki Imoto catches light with glass
Prize winner Maki Imoto catches light with glass

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER