The "Criteria for Recognition of Mental Disorders Due to Psychological Overload" has been revised.

◆Background of the Amendment

　The "Criteria for Recognition of Mental Disability due to Psychological Overload" was revised and notified on September 1, 2023. Until now, the "Criteria for Recognition of Mental Disorders due to Psychological Overload" formulated in 2011 was used to certify cases of mental disorders and suicides as workers' compensation cases. The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare's "Expert Panel on the Criteria for Recognition of Workers' Accident Recognition for Mental Disorders" reviewed the issue in light of changes in social conditions and the latest medical knowledge, and compiled its report in July of this year, which led to this revision.

◆Points of revision

The following three points are key to the revision of the certification criteria.

(1) Review of the psychological load evaluation chart due to work

- Specific event: "Significant customer harassment, including complaints from customers, suppliers, and facility users,” has been added.

- Specific event: "Engaged in work with a high risk of infectious diseases or other illnesses or accidents" has been added.

- Examples of different levels of psychological load (strong, medium, and weak) have been provided with specific illustrations of all six types of power harassment.

(2) Revise the scope of work-related aggravation of mental disorders.

If there was no "special event" within six months prior to the decline in the condition, but the decline was a result of intense psychological strain caused by work, the affected part is considered work-related.

(3) Streamlining the method of collecting medical opinions

The protocol for decision-making in medical cases has been amended. Previously, a consensus of three medical specialists was required to make a decision. Now, in most cases, a decision will be based on the opinion of only one medical specialist, except for particularly difficult cases.

*The psychological load evaluation chart is a chart that evaluates the strength of the load (stress) by applying actual work-related events to the "specific events" shown in the chart.

[Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, "Revised Workers' Accident Recognition Criteria for Mental Disorders Caused by Psychological Overload."

https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/newpage_34888.html

Settlement between Nagasaki University and a foreign assistant professor in a lawsuit for termination of employment.

 

A settlement was reached at the Fukuoka High Court on March 15 in a lawsuit filed by a Belgian man who was an assistant professor at Nagasaki University, claiming that he was unfairly terminated from his position just before he obtained the right to convert his fixed-term labor contract to permanent employment after a total of five years. The university expressed regret over the way it handled the case and will pay 28.5 million yen as a settlement. The man will start working at the university in October 2023 as an assistant professor on an indefinite term. According to the plaintiff's attorney, it is rare for a plaintiff to return to work with indefinite employment.

https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20230915/p2a/00m/0na/038000c

61% of respondents have "declined a selection decision" in their job search

For companies that want to hire talented people quickly, having their mid-career candidates turned down is a headache as the labor shortage continues. Recently, En Japan Inc. conducted a survey on the topic of "declined selections" in their job-hunting activities, and the results have been made public.

*Survey period: May 29-June 27, 2023; number of valid responses: 8,622

◆61% of respondents have turned down a selection. Those who have turned down two or more companies accounted for 63%.

When asked the question, "Have you ever turned down a job offer in your job search?" 61% of respondents answered "Yes," up 5 points from the same survey conducted last year in 2022.

When those who had turned down a selection were asked how many companies they had turned down, 37% said one company, and 63% said two or more companies (breakdown: 2 companies: 28%, 3 companies: 16%, 4 companies: 5%, 5 companies: 5%, 6 to 9 companies: 4%, 10 or more companies: 5%).

Regarding the timing of the declination, 46% of the respondents declined "before" and 45% "after" the interview, while 37% declined "after" the job offer was obtained.

◆The most common reason given for declining was "passed the selection process of other companies" before the interview, and "the story was different from the job information" after the interview.

The most common reason given for declining selection before the interview was that "passed the selection process of other companies" (37%), followed by "I read a bad online review" (27%) and "the company I applied to was not responsive." (20%).

The most common reason for declining selection after the interview was "the story was different from the job information" at 49%, while " passed the selection process of other companies" was second at 35%.

The top two reasons for declining a job offer after receiving it were "passed the selection process of other companies" and "the conditions offered were not good enough" at 44% each.

Reasons for declining a job, such as "the story was different from the job information" or "the company I applied to was not responsive" may not be immediately illegal, but they are a major problem that undermines a company's credibility. Companies should also be aware that word of mouth on the Internet has become one of the factors used by job seekers to select a new employer.

Gender Gap Index 2023 - Japan ranks 125th

 

◆Almost unchanged from last year, record low ranking

In June, the World Economic Forum (WEF) released its Gender Gap Index, which quantifies the gender gap in each country in 2023. Japan's overall score was 0.647, almost unchanged from last year, ranking 125th out of 146 countries (the lowest in the G7 nations). Iceland ranked first with an overall score of 0.912.

The Gender Gap Index indicates the ratio of women to men and is calculated by calculating scores in each of the four areas of economy, education, health, and politics, which are then averaged and rated on a scale of 0 (full inequality) to 1 (full equality).

◆Low in economic and political areas

By sector, education (male-female ratio of literacy and school attendance) was high at 0.997 (47th), and health (gender difference ratio at birth and healthy life expectancy) was high at 0.973 (59th). However, the country's economy (gender ratio of labor participation rate, gender gap in wages for equal work, gender ratio of managers, etc.) was 0.561 (123rd), and politics (gender ratio of Diet members and cabinet members, etc.) was 0.057 (138th), which is low compared to other countries, indicating that there is a gender gap.

 ◆30% female board members by 2030

In June, the government announced the "Women's Version of the big-boned policy (Priority Policy for Women's Activities and Gender Equality)" in order to close the gender gap in the economic field. Prime Minister Kishida then set a target for companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Prime Market to appoint at least one female board member by 2025, and to increase the ratio of female board members to 30% by 2030. The plan also includes fostering and supporting female entrepreneurs and promoting the development of female digital talent and reskilling.

New treatment of foreign students' status of residence has been established

On July 6, the Immigration Services Agency announced the establishment of a new handling of status of residence, which will allow international students who have graduated from universities to stay within a certain period of time until they enter graduate school.

The new treatment is as follows

Outline

If an international student who has graduated from a university and will be entering a graduate school after the expiration of his/her current "College Student" status of residence, and if the graduate school he/she is entering pledges to keep in touch with the student at regular intervals and to contact the regional immigration office without delay if the student's admission is cancelled, the student may be permitted to change his/her status of residence to "Designated Activities" and stay until he/she enters a graduate school (but only for a period not exceeding one year after graduation). If the student pledges to contact the Regional Immigration Services Bureau without delay in the event of cancellation of admission, the change of status of residence to "Designated Activities" will be permitted and the student will be allowed to stay until admission (but only for a period not exceeding one year after graduation from the university).

Eligible person

Foreigners (this does not include students in special course, auditing students, non-degree students, and research students) who have graduated (or completed a graduate course) from a Japanese university (including graduate schools) under the School Education Law of Japan, and who wish to stay in Japan for the purpose of waiting in Japan (within one year after graduation) until they enter a graduate school they have decided to enter after graduation.

Submitted materials

(1) Documents proving the applicant's ability to pay all expenses during his/her stay in Japan

If a person other than the foreign student concerned is responsible for paying the expenses, a document that proves the person's ability to pay the expenses and a document that clarifies how the person came to pay the expenses.

(2) Diploma or certificate of graduation (or completion) from the university you attended immediately before

(3) Documents issued by the graduate school in which you plan to enroll that confirm the fact that you plan to enroll and the date of enrollment (e.g., letter of admission)

(4) A written pledge (see note below) stating compliance with periodic communication, etc., by the graduate school to which the student will be admitted to wait for admission to the school.

What measures are being taken by companies that are not experiencing labor shortages?

According to statistics from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, as of December 2022, Japan's population aged 15-64 decreased by 0.28% from the same month last year, or 208,000 fewer people. In addition, the number of people under 15 years old, who will be of working age, decreased by 293,000 over the same period. The total population has been declining at an accelerated pace since 2019, and as of May 2023, the total population is estimated to be 570,000 less than the same month last year.

◆What companies that do not have a shortage of labor are doing to address it

While many companies are increasingly feeling short-staffed following the lowering of the Infectious Diseases Act classification of the new coronavirus to 'category 5', the same as seasonal influenza, some companies are not short-staffed. According to the results of a survey conducted by Teikoku Databank, many companies cited the following measures as the main factors (multiple answers) for not having a labor shortage.

(1) Raise wages and bonuses (51.7%)

(2) Creating a comfortable work environment (35.0%)

(3) Extension of retirement age and rehiring of seniors (31.2%)

(4) Improved welfare benefits (26.6%)

(5) Fair and equitable personnel evaluation (22.0%)

A ' comfortable work environment' in (2) includes maintaining cleanliness, rest areas and an internal consultation service. In addition, (4) and (5) are measures to make the workplace a place where workers can feel a sense of personal growth and security.

◆Need for wage increase

In the midst of declining real wages due to soaring global prices, companies that are unable (or unwilling) to raise wages and bonuses will experience a decline in employee satisfaction and a sense of security, resulting in an exodus of talented personnel, a decline in competitiveness that will make it difficult to hire new employees, and even if they are lucky enough to hire new employees, they will not be able to afford to nurture them, resulting in early employee turnover.

As the old saying goes, "A man is a stone wall, and a man is a castle", the most powerful force supporting a company is the power of the people you trust. In order to develop as many employees as possible who trust the company, the company should take the initiative to change and show the way forward.

Workers' compensation for reprimand. Executive claims she was subjected to "workplace harassment."

On April 24, it was learned that a female executive in her 50s working for the Japanese subsidiary of Swiss watch manufacturer Swatch Group was certified by the Chuo Labor Standards Inspection Office (Tokyo) as having suffered a mental disorder due to persistent reprimands by a foreign female president who had been assigned to the Japanese subsidiary. The labor union to which the woman belongs, the Sogo Support Union, revealed the incident.

The woman claimed that she was subjected to workplace harassment by the president, who called her "stupid," "low level," and other abusive comments. She presented the recorded data and demanded an apology, but the Japanese subsidiary has not responded. The Japanese subsidiary admitted to the interview that it had received a workers' compensation certification, and responded that "the Labor Inspection Office has not certified it as workplace harassment" with regard to the president's words and actions.

According to the workers' compensation certification document, the woman joined Swatch Group Japan (Tokyo) in 2008 and was in charge of public relations.

She was severely scolded by the president, who took office in March 2021, over the budget for the public relations project, and in August 2021, her personnel evaluation was severely downgraded, and in September she developed an adjustment disorder. The union is calling for her resignation as she is not fit to be president.

May 24, 2023 Kyodo