Chubu Electric Power Employee's Suicide, Workers' Accident Recognized; Nagoya High Court Reverses Court Decision

The mother of Yosuke Suzuki, 26, who worked at the Mie Branch of Chubu Electric Power Company, committed suicide in 2010 because of power harassment and overwork, including abusive language from his supervisor. The Nagoya High Court on March 25 reversed the ruling of the first trial court, which had dismissed the claim, and rescinded the decision by the Tsu Labor Standards Inspection Office.

The Nagoya District Court ruling in the first instance stated that there was no evidence to support his mother's claims of verbal abuse, such as "Is this how you graduated from university? " or "We don't need you." However, High Court Judge Yasuhiro Hasegawa, in his ruling, found that Mr. Suzuki's friend had testified that there had been verbal abuse. The judge found that the verbal abuse was "beyond the scope of work guidance and constituted a denial of his character and humanity.

He also pointed out that the supervisor did not provide sufficient explanation or guidance to Mr. Suzuki, a new employee who did not understand how to proceed with a difficult task. It is clear that the psychological burden was strong overall, and the onset of the mental disorder and the suicide were attributed to the work.

At a press conference in Nagoya City, the mother said, "It proved how hard Yosuke's work was with the help of various people. I am really happy for him."

Tsu Labor Standards Bureau's Deputy Chief commented, "We would like to make a decision after reviewing the content of the ruling and consulting with the relevant authorities. Chubu Electric Power said, "We are aware of the court decision, but since we are not a party to the lawsuit, we refrain from commenting on it."

According to the ruling, Mr. Suzuki joined the company in April 2010. After being assigned to the Mie Branch, he developed a mental disorder and committed suicide in October of the same year. His mother applied for workers' compensation, but the Tsu Labor Standards Bureau denied his claim in 2002.

(Kyodo News)

the Embassy of Canada in Tokyo does not have employment insurance

On April 1, it was revealed that the Embassy of Canada in Tokyo does not have employment insurance, which is required by Japanese law, and that a female employee in her 30s who was hired in Japan and gave birth in Japan is not receiving childcare leave benefits under her employment insurance. She is also not covered by the Canadian social security system.

The General Union (Osaka), a labor union to which the women belong, pointed out that this constitutes an unfair labor practice, and will soon file a petition for relief with the Osaka Labor Relations Commission, demanding that the women join unemployment insurance and hold collective bargaining sessions.

According to the labor union, similar problems are also occurring at embassies and consulates in other countries. It is believed that this is due to the widespread misunderstanding that Japanese laws do not apply to such cases, and the compliance of each country is being questioned.

She is feeling discouraged, saying that they are being neglected, even though their embassy is in a country that values diversity and women's advancement in society.

A spokesperson for the Embassy of Canada responded to the interview, "The terms and conditions of employment for locally hired (Japanese) employees take into account Japanese standards and practices, and we offer benefits comparable to the Japanese system.

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines employment termination invalid - Tokyo District Court approves permanent transfer of 29 employees.

On the 27th, the Tokyo District Court ruled in a case in which 29 members of the Japan Cabin Crew Union (JCU) demanded KLM withdraw its decision to terminate employment of Japanese flight attendants in order to avoid a five-year indefinite turnover period. The court ruled that all of the plaintiffs had been granted indefinite transfers of employment and that the stoppage of their employment was invalid.

Since July 2018, KLM has been forcing Japanese contract-based flight attendants to stop their employment just before they became entitled to a permanent change of employment after five years of continuous employment.

Dutch law has a provision that a fixed-term worker is deemed to be employed for an indefinite period of time if his/her employment continues for more than three years. The plaintiffs argued that Dutch law applied and that they were entitled to a permanent transfer of employment.

KLM's recruitment procedures, training, and scheduling of Japanese flight attendants are also conducted at the company's headquarters in the Netherlands, and the ruling applied Dutch law based on the "Act on General Rules," which stipulates the legal application of international contracts, and approved the indefinite transfer.

At a press conference held at the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare after the ruling, the plaintiff woman said, "I was offered a contract with a upper limit on it just before my contract was up for renewal, and was wrongly told that foreigners could only work in the Netherlands under a fixed-term contract. No easy way to cut off workers who protect the safety of the skies is acceptable,” she stressed.

The Tokyo District Court also ruled against KLM in January last year, invalidating the termination of three other JCU members who had been employed for more than five years, including a two-month training period, on the grounds that they had already been converted to permanent transfer.

How to prevent potential harassment

The "Quantitative Survey on Harassment in the Workplace," conducted by the PERSOL Research Institute, suggests that although it may not seem that there is no such thing, in reality, there is a possibility that some employees are leaving their jobs due to harassment.

◆Potential reasons for turnover

There are approximately 870,000 people who leave their jobs due to harassment annually (in 2021), and about 70% of them do not inform their companies that harassment is the reason for their leaving. In addition, only 17.6% of the harassments were actually addressed by the company.

In a situation of continuing labor shortages, the existence of harassment that is unrecognized or unaddressed by the company is not good for society or for the company's management.

◆Evasive Management"

As harassment has become an issue, supervisors have adopted an "evasive management" approach to avoid harassment, such as not inviting subordinates out for drinks or lunch and not scolding too harshly when they make mistakes, and it seems that subordinates are feeling a sense of distance from their supervisors.

The more distance subordinates feel from their supervisors, the less they feel a sense of growth, which seems to have a negative impact on the growth and retention of human resources.

◆Listening behavior that balances harassment prevention and human resource growth

On the other hand, some supervisors are able to develop their subordinates while avoiding harassment, characterized by "listening behavior" regarding their subordinates' opinions and stories, and fairness in management. It seems that interactive communication in the workplace is important, along with deterrent measures, to both prevent harassment and help subordinates grow.

In addition to the establishment of a consultation service and prevention regulations, training for managers from this perspective may be useful in the company's anti-harassment measures.

"Employment Status of Foreign Nationals" Reporting Status by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) has released a report on the employment of foreign nationals as of the end of October 2022.

Based on the Law for the Comprehensive Promotion of Labor Policies and Measures, the system requires all employers to confirm the name, status of residence, and period of stay of foreign nationals upon hiring or separation from employment, and to notify the Public Employment Security Office (Hello Work) of the status.

◆Number of foreign workers reached a record high of 1,822,725

The number of foreign workers totaled 1,822,725, an increase of 95,504 over the previous year and a record high since 2007, when notification became mandatory. The year-on-year increase was 5.5%, up 5.3 percentage points from 0.2% the previous year.

◆Nearly 300,000 business establishments employing foreign nationals, a record high.

The number of establishments employing foreign nationals totaled 298,790, an increase of 13,710 over the previous year and a record high since notification became mandatory. However, the year-on-year increase rate was 4.8%, down 1.9 percentage points from 6.7% in the previous year.

◆By nationality, Vietnam accounted for the largest number of visitors at 462,384.

By nationality, Vietnam has the largest number of foreign workers at 462,384, accounting for 25.4% of the total number of foreign workers. This was followed by China with 385,848 (21.2% of the total) and the Philippines with 206,050 (11.3% of the total).

The three main countries with the highest year-on-year increase were Indonesia, with 77,889 visitors, up 47.5% from the previous year, followed by Myanmar, with 47,498 visitors, up 37.7%, and Nepal, with 118,196 visitors, up 20.3%.

◆By status of residence, the number of "Technical Intern Training" was 343,254, down 8,534 from the previous year.

By status of residence, "Professional/Technical field of residence" accounted for 479,949, up 85,440 (21.7%) from the previous year. The number of "Specially Designated Activities" increased by 7,435 (11.3%) to 73,363. "Permanent Resident etc." totaled 595,207, an increase of 14,879 (2.6%) from the previous year.

On the other hand, "Technical Training" decreased by 8,534 (2.4%) to 343,254 from the previous year. Among "activities other than those permitted under the status of residence," "Studying Abroad" totaled 258,636, a decrease of 8,958 (3.3%) from the previous year.

Employment Status of Persons with Disabilities in 2022 and Revision of the Calculation Method of the Actual Employment Rate

◆Number of persons with disabilities employed and actual employment rate are the highest ever

The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has compiled and published the results of "Employment of Persons with Disabilities" as of June 1, 2022, for private companies and public organizations. The number of persons with disabilities employed by private enterprises (43.5 or more employees as mandated by the Law for Employment Promotion of Persons with Disabilities: statutory employment rate of 2.3%) reached a record high of 613,958.0 (up 2.7% from the previous year, up 16,172.0 from the previous year). The percentage of companies that have achieved the legally mandated employment rate is 48.3% (up 1.3% from the previous year). Of the 55,684 companies that have not achieved the legally mandated employment rate, 32,342 companies employ no persons with disabilities (zero employees), accounting for 58.1% of all companies that have not achieved the statutory employment rate.

◆Employment of people with mental disabilities increased

Looking at the number of employees by disability type, those with physical disabilities were 357,767.5 (down 0.4% from the previous year), those with intellectual disabilities were 146,426.5 (up 4.1%), and those with mental disabilities were 109,764.5 (up 11.9%), with a particularly large growth rate among the mentally disabled.

One reason for this is that the employment of people with mental disabilities has been mandatory since April 2008, and the number of people employed is still on the rise. However, the mentally challenged have more difficulty working longer hours and with more stability than those with physical or intellectual disabilities, and their workplace retention rate is lower than those with physical or intellectual disabilities.

◆Revision of the method for calculating the actual employment rate of Part-Time Workers

In order to expand employment opportunities for the mentally disabled who can work for a short time (20 to 30 hours per week), the government established a special measure to count 0.5 points per person as 1 point if certain requirements are met (the measure was supposed to last until the end of FY2022, but is scheduled to be extended through a revision of the ministerial ordinance). In addition, under the revised Law for Employment Promotion of Persons with Disabilities, the employment rate for persons with mental disabilities, persons with severe physical disabilities, and persons with severe intellectual disabilities who work 10 to 20 hours per week will be counted at 0.5 points per person (to be implemented by April 2024).

* The number of persons with disabilities that your company should employ is calculated by the following formula.

Original calculation method

Number of persons with disabilities legally employed by the company (number of persons with disabilities required to be employed) = (number of full-time workers + number of part-time workers x 0.5) x employment rate of persons with disabilities (2.3%)

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.