Multilingual labor advisory services lacking in 20 prefectures
Foreign workers with labor gripes have nowhere to turn to in 20 prefectures where bilingual government advisory services are nonexistent, it is learned.
Japan sketches out action plan to address wage disparity and low pay for care workers
Tokyo adopts a draft blueprint to narrow the wage gap between regular and nonregular workers and address other problems of the aging society.
Regional firms trying to lure skilled managers from Tokyo and Osaka
In a bid to grow their businesses and plug talent shortages, regional small and midsize companies are increasingly trying to poach managers and other senior staff from big firms in major cities such as Tokyo and Osaka. At a briefing in Tokyo in late March ...
A moderate shake-up of the nursing care leave system is approaching after the enactment of a revised law last month, as the government tries to help people stay in work rather than quit when faced with the need to take care of relatives. Under the ...
Some 150 people who worked at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant whose cumulative radiation dose exceeded 100 millisieverts will be able to return to the facility starting April 1. By law, nuclear plant operators are required to record and manage the radiation ...
Enterprises marshal forces to give 'crowdsourcing' workers a leg up
New enterprises and programs for helping "crowdsourcing" entrepreneurs improve their skills and income are growing popular. Crowdsourcing is a way to obtain and provide services from masses of people who are working jointly and usually online. It is an attractive option for people who want ...
'Second generation' women of equal employment law favor job flexibility
Noie Motohashi flew to the Sri Lankan capital Colombo last year, choosing an intern job at a pottery maker there over a job offered by a Japanese company. Despite the language barrier and cultural differences, the 22-year-old Tokyo art college student thought that the experience ...
Consumption set to falter after Japan's workers eke out 0.1% pay hike in 2015
The nation's workers barely got a pay rise in 2015, with a 0.1 percent increase in cash earnings slower than the 0.4 percent bump in 2014. Total wages in Japan haven't risen more than 1 percent since 1997 and they fell for the past four ...
Abe's 'equal pay' appeal called into question
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe caused a stir when he called in a Jan. 22 policy speech for equal pay for comparable jobs. Opposition lawmakers did not like what they heard.
State, building supply makers ordered to pay redress for asbestos contamination
A court ordered the state and nine makers of building materials on Friday to pay ¥216 million ($1.8 million) in damages to former construction workers and their families for illnesses they developed after being exposed to asbestos at construction sites. A total of 27 plaintiffs, ...
Stress test to join annual health checks as mental problems rise in corporate Japan
In light of the nationwide rise in mental health problems, the Industrial Safety and Health Law was revised last year to oblige companies to offer annual "stress checks" to employees starting Tuesday. Here are some details on the impact the new test is expected have ...
Workers in Japan estimated to decrease 12% by 2030 as society grays
The number of workers in Japan will fall by 7.9 million, or 12.4 percent, to 55.61 million from 2014 to 2030 if the graying country fails to attain economic growth and bring more women and the elderly into the workforce, a government estimate has ...
