Even so, does your company allow side jobs?

There are many points to be aware of regarding side jobs, such as understanding working hours (e.g., self-reporting of working hours, rules for aggregation of working hours for core and side jobs, etc.), the obligation to pay extra wages, and health management. In addition, if an employee of the company suffers a work-related injury that requires absence from work at the company’s secondary business, the company’s core business will naturally be affected. For these reasons, even some listed companies are reluctant to accept side jobs.

Even if the company understands the issues involved with side jobs, when the company is considering allowing them, it is essential that the company has a written pledge with employees that they are obligated to devote themselves to their core business, including the obligation to report their working hours, and that the company shall have the relevant work rules and regulations.

If a system that permits side jobs as long as they are done under a service contract, these issues would be somewhat lessened, but the effect of doing so in increasing the attractiveness of the company would be lessened.

Therefore, it may be difficult to introduce such a system under the current circumstances. Even if a system allowing side jobs were to be introduced, careful consideration would be necessary.

Recruiting, but Can Not Hire People? The Current State of Recruitment Activities in Small and Medium Enterprises

 

◆Company hiring activity is increasing

Amid the labor shortage, companies are increasing their hiring activities. According to the results of a recent "Mid-career Recruitment and Job Search Fixed Point Survey (September 2022)" conducted by Mynavi Corporation, 39.8% of all companies conducted mid-career recruitment activities in September, and by employee size, approximately 50% of "51-300" and "301 or more" companies did so. Almost all industries saw a year-on-year increase in the rate of hiring activity implementation.

◆20% of companies that cannot recruit people

With the increase in recruiting activities, it seems that small and medium-sized companies are facing a difficult situation in recruiting new graduates. According to a survey conducted by the JCCI and the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry on 6,007 small and medium-sized companies, 51.0% of companies recruited new graduates in FY2021, of which only 45.6% answered that they were able to hire the expected number, while approximately 20% of companies answered that they "recruited but could not hire at all" (19.9%).

Mynavi's "Survey on the Status of Job Offers by New Graduates for Companies Hiring 2023 Graduates", which summarizes the status of job offers for 2023 graduates and the outlook for 2024 graduates, also indicates that 78.6% of companies plan to hire 2024 graduates, and that the number of companies planning to hire "more" graduates will also increase. Under these circumstances, intensified recruitment activities are inevitable.

◆Recruitment activities also need to be devised

The situation surrounding recruitment has also changed dramatically, with online interviews becoming more widespread due to the Corona disaster. It has been heard that questions such as "gakuchika" (what you put effort into when you were a student), which are often used as questions in student recruitment activities, are also causing trouble for students who have few episodes due to the Corona disaster. In order to acquire human resources in a situation where conventional methods do not necessarily match up, it will be necessary for companies to devise their own recruitment methods and differentiate themselves from those of other companies.

Dismissal invalid for no-mask reason -- Condominium janitor wins lawsuit

In a ruling on December 5 in a lawsuit filed by a condominium janitor in his 70s, claiming that he was unfairly dismissed for not following instructions to wear a mask to prevent the new coronavirus, the Osaka District Court ruled that the dismissal was invalid because "the dismissal cannot be considered reasonable under socially accepted norms," and ordered the company to pay approximately 900,000 yen.

According to his attorney, judicial decisions against dismissals over the wearing of masks are rare.

According to the ruling, the man worked as a janitor at a condominium in Settsu City, Osaka Prefecture, and contracted the new coronavirus last May. The following month, after he returned to work, the company approached him about being reassigned to a cleaner at another condominium where wages were lower, after residents complained that the man was working without wearing a mask. When the man refused, he received a termination notice for not following instructions to wear a mask.

The judge noted that the failure to wear a mask was a violation of employment regulations. On the other hand, the judge ruled that it was an abuse of the right to dismiss because there was only one complaint from residents and there was no evidence that the infection had spread in the condominium.

The man claimed that the reassignment was also illegal because it was intended to force him to resign from his job. The court dismissed the case, saying that the reassignment was necessary for business purposes in order to prevent residents from becoming concerned about infection.

Small and medium-sized employers are also obligated to at least a 50% premium rate for overtime work in excess of 60 hours per month - effective April 1, 2023

◆Abolition of deferral measures

Effective April 1, 2023, the regulation that the premium wage rate for overtime work in excess of 60 hours per month shall be "at least 50%" also applies to small and medium-sized employers.

Originally, when an employee worked overtime or on holidays, the employer had to pay premium wages calculated at a rate of not less than 25% and not more than 50%. However, due to an amendment that came into effect on April 1, 2010, it was stipulated that premium wages calculated at a rate of 50% or more must be paid for over 60 hours worked per month. 

However, this revision was not applied to small and medium-sized employers (employers with 300 or fewer workers , 50 or fewer in the retail industry and 100 or fewer in the wholesale or service industry), but it will be applied from April 1, 2023.

◆Alternate leave provisions also apply

The "compensatory leave" provision will be applied to small and medium-sized employers as well, along with the provision that the premium wage rate for overtime work in excess of 60 hours per month be at least 50% of the monthly rate.

Alternative leave is a paid leave of absence in lieu of payment of premium wages at the legally mandated increased rate of premium wages for workers who work overtime in excess of 60 hours in a month, based on a labor-management agreement.

Items to be agreed upon by labor and management include the calculation method of how many hours of compensatory leave should be granted for hours worked in excess of 60 hours per month, and the unit of measure for compensatory leave (one day or half a day).

In addition, when introducing the system, it should be noted that whether or not an individual worker actually takes an alternative leave depends on the worker's intention, and that if an alternative leave is implemented through a labor-management agreement, the matters related to the alternative leave must be stated as "leave" in the work rules.

Don't forget to advise your employees to transfer their corporate DC assets upon their retirement!

◆The total amount of assets left in corporate DC is approximately 260 billion yen!

According to a summary by the National Pension Fund Association, the pension assets of approximately 1.12 million people have been left unmanaged in the defined contribution corporate pension plan (hereafter, "corporate DC"). The number of participants has increased by 1.5 times since the end of fiscal year 2017, when public records were available, and the total amount was approximately 260 billion yen as of the end of the previous fiscal year.

◆Assets to be transferred after loss of company-type DC eligibility

If an employee retires before the age of 60 and loses eligibility for the company DC, there are two major options: (1) transfer assets to another company DC, or (2) transfer assets to iDeCo. You have two major options. If the transfer procedure is not completed within 6 months of the loss of eligibility, the assets will be automatically sold and converted into cash and transferred to the account of the National Pension Fund Association or a specific operation management institution. (so called automatic transfer).

◆Disadvantages of "automatic transfer

If automatic transfers are made, not only are fees charged to the National Pension Fund Association and the specified management institution, but also monthly management fees are charged, and it is not possible to give investment instructions for the assets or request benefits. In addition, the total period of participation will not be counted, and the start of receiving benefits may be delayed.

Corporate practitioners should remember to advise their employees about this corporate DC asset transfer, along with other retirement procedures, when they retire.

Reference

For those who are employed (or have changed jobs) or retired -- the iDeCo official website

https://www.ideco-koushiki.jp/retirement/

"Human Capital Management" in the spotlight

◆Human Capital Management, which is gaining momentum

The themes of "human capital" and "human capital management" have been gaining momentum in recent years, and on August 30 of this year, the Cabinet Secretariat released "Guidelines for Human Capital Visualization," which has been covered in a variety of media. This guideline provides guidelines for disclosure of human capital for listed companies, but even for non-listed companies, the content of the guideline cannot be ignored as a reference for the future direction of corporate management.

◆Human capital activity of companies is about 30-40%

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) defines "human capital management" as a management approach that views human resources as capital and maximizes their value to enhance long-term corporate value.

According to a survey on the topic of human capital management conducted by Recruit Co., Ltd. of 10,459 people working for companies, the percentage of people who feel that their current workplace is the optimal department assignment and who feel that their job assignment is such that their knowledge, skills, and experience can be utilized is about 30%, the percentage of people who can verbalize their knowledge, skills, and experience related to their current job and those who understand the knowledge, skills, and experience needed to improve the level of their current job was about 40%.

These results show that the current state of companies is far cry from human capital management, which is about maximizing the value of human resources.

◆Watch out for future developments!

In August, the "Human Capital Management Consortium" was established with the participation of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and the Financial Services Agency (FSA) as observers to share advanced cases of human capital management practices, discuss cooperation among companies, and study effective disclosure of information. We will keep a close watch on future developments.

Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry "Report of the Study Group on Improvement of Sustainable Corporate Value and Human Capital

https://www.meti.go.jp/policy/economy/jinteki_shihon/pdf/20200930_2e.pdf

60% Increase in Work-related Accidents for Mental Disorders, Sexual Harassment Prominent - White Paper on Death from Overwork

On April 21, the Japanese government approved the 2022 edition of the "White Paper on Measures to Prevent Death by Overwork," which analyzes the current situation of death by overwork and suicide by overwork. The report introduces data showing that the number of workers' compensation certifications for depression and other mental disorders increased by more than 60% over the 10-year period from FY10 to FY19. The report also points out that the number of cases involving women has increased by nearly 80%, and that sexual harassment is the cause in many cases.

According to the white paper, the number of cases of workers' compensation for mental disorders increased from 308 in FY10 to 509 in FY19. An official from the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare analyzed the reasons for the increase, saying, "Awareness of labor issues has increased due to reforms in work styles and other factors.

By industry, "manufacturing," "wholesale and retail," and "medical care and welfare" were the most common industries, in that order.

The number of women certified increased from 104 to 179, a noticeable increase. Since FY12, when the criteria were changed, "Sexual harassment" and "Experiencing or witnessing a tragic accident or disaster" have accounted for 20% each of the reasons for certification.

The most common reason given by men was "constant long working hours," followed by "events causing a change in the content or volume of work".