Consider a personnel system that anticipates longer tenure

 

The age of 100 years of life

The Survey on "Career Development and Employment Management Issues in the Era of 100 Years of Life" conducted by the Japan Institute for Labour Policy and Training (JILP) includes some points that can be helpful when taking action in anticipation of longer service periods.

Treatment when promotion to management positions is no longer expected

Regarding the treatment of full-time employees who are no longer expected to be promoted to managerial positions, the highest percentage of 77.9% said they would continue to work without promotion or advancement. This was followed by treating them as specialists equivalent to managers (34.4%) and rating them as employees equivalent to managers (30.5%). The above percentages are for small and medium-sized companies, but the trend is similar for large companies.

Personnel system for career development and its effects

Regarding human resource systems such as the goal management system and career interviews, the "mentor system" seems to be particularly effective for younger employees up to age 39.

It seems that the introduction of the system is generally less effective for older employees, and in particular, the self-reporting system is less effective or even counterproductive in some cases (60 years old and above) compared to younger employees, but the system for "participation in social contribution" seems to be effective.

The most common human resource development benefits of "social contribution participation" activities such as volunteering are the opportunity to come into contact with society's values (69.5%), the expansion of external networks (48.6%), and the acquisition of new perspectives (37.0%). The trend is similar for both large and small companies.

Handling of concurrent and side jobs

44.0% of SMEs prohibit concurrent or second jobs in their employment regulations. On the other hand, 32.3% of the respondents answered that they have no regulations. It is important to consider your company's policy so that you do not panic in case of emergency.

Enforcement of the Revised Law Concerning Stabilization of Employment of Older Persons

The revised Law Concerning Stabilization of Employment of Older Persons will come into effect on April 1. It includes a provision that makes it an effort obligation to secure employment for employees until the age of 70. Although it is an obligation to make efforts, we should prepare for it on a planned basis.

Support system for secondment by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare

◆Support system for secondment

Companies that are temporarily downsizing their operations due to the effects of the new coronavirus infection are taking steps to use "secondment" (sometimes called "employment sharing" or "employee sharing") with companies that are short on labor in order to maintain employment for their employees.

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) has also introduced measures to support the efforts of such secondment for the purpose of maintaining employment at Corona Damages, which are introduced below.

◆What is secondment?

The so-called secondment refers to the process by which a worker, while maintaining some kind of relationship with the company from which he or she is transferred, enters into a new employment contract relationship with the company to which he or she is transferred, and continues to work for a certain period of time. The term "enrolled secondment" refers to a worker who signs an employment contract with both the company from which he/she was seconded and the company to which he/she was seconded.

◆Subsidies for stable industrial employment

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) provides support for both the company from which the employee is transferred and the company to which the employee is transferred.

This subsidy is for employers who have been forced to temporarily reduce their business activities due to the effects of the new coronavirus infection, and who wish to maintain the employment of their workers through secondment. This subsidy was newly established on February 5, 2021.

The program subsidizes a part of the expenses required during the secondment, such as wages, education and training, and labor management coordination expenses, to be borne by the secondment employers and destination employers (secondment operating expenses). In addition, subsidies are also provided for measures required for the establishment of the secondment, such as the cost of preparing work rules and secondment contracts, education and training conducted in advance of the secondment by the originating employer, and the maintenance of equipment and supplies for the acceptance of the secondment by the destination employer (initial expenses for secondment).

Please keep in mind that this is a subsidy to maintain employment, so it is assumed that the employee will return to work at the original place of business after the secondment period is over.

◆Matching system

Other support measures include a matching system by Industrial Employment Stabilization Center of Japan. The Center provides free matching services for companies that have temporarily over-employed due to the effects of the new coronavirus and wish to utilize on-the-job secondment with companies that are short on manpower in order to protect the employment of their employees. (The Center has offices in 47 prefectures throughout Japan and provides consultation services to companies.)

Knowledge of the materials and effectiveness of masks for preventing new coronavirus infection in the workplace

 

State of emergency declared again in 11 prefectures

On January 13, Japanese government declared a state of emergency in Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo, Aichi, Gifu, Tochigi, and Fukuoka, following the three prefectures of Tokyo, Chiba, Kanagawa, and Saitama.

According to the recommendations of the Subcommittee on Countermeasures for Infectious Diseases of the New Coronavirus on January 5, countermeasures are mainly focused on eating and drinking places, based on a paper published in the British scientific journal Nature, etc. However, it is also said that "there is a risk of rapid spread of infection nationwide," and it is necessary to implement thorough infection prevention measures widely.

What is the preventive effect of wearing a mask?

Hand disinfection, wearing masks, and ventilation are recommended as infection prevention measures, but the preventive effect of masks depends on the material used.

The results of an experiment published last October by the Toyohashi University of Technology show numerical changes when wearing a mask (non-woven fabric, cloth, or urethane), a face shield, and a mouth shield.

According to the results of the same experiment, the amounts of discharged droplets out of the body can be reduced to about 20% with non-woven fabric and cloth, but 50% with urethane and 90% with a mouth shield. As for the amounts of droplets inhaled, non-woven fabrics can reduce droplets to about 30%, while urethane can reduce droplets to 60-70%, and face shields and mouth shields have no effect on small droplets.

What is the relationship between vocalization and droplet volume?

In addition, in response to the problem of infections caused by Karaoke, eating, and drinking, experiments are being conducted to see how the expiratory flow rate changes when talking, shouting, singing, eating, and drinking.

　According to the results of the experiment, the amounts of large droplets increase about 10 times more in Karaoke and loud conversations than in normal conversations, and the momentum of the droplets increases about 1.5 to 2 times. In addition, the distance that the droplets can reach is increased by about 1.5 times, so it is necessary to keep a sufficient distance between people and to ventilate sufficiently because the number of small droplets is also doubled.

To prevent infection in the workplace

On January 8, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) asked labor-management organizations and economic organizations to cooperate in the active use of telework, prevention of infection in the workplace, and strengthening of health management. For the sake of your company's business continuity, please take proactive measures to prevent infection in the workplace.

More companies are using telephone answering service providers

 

The "telephone answering service" is attracting attention in the Corona disaster

Due to the spread of the new coronavirus, many companies have introduced telework, but companies with few employees and departments that answer a lot of phone calls face the problem of having to come to work to answer the phones. In addition, answering the phone requires interruption of the original work, which reduces productivity.
To solve these problems, more and more companies are using "telephone answering services".

Features of Telephone Answering Service

A telephone answering service, also known as a secretarial service or telephone secretarial service, is a service in which an outside operator listens to incoming office calls on your behalf and takes them to the person in question. If the operator is unable to take the call, he or she will contact you by phone or email (the method of contact varies depending on the service company, but chat, line, etc. are also available). This also allows you to keep a record of the contents.

In addition, since operators who have received education and training in telephone answering are available, it can also improve the image of the company.

How do you choose the right service company for your needs?

Currently, there are many telephone answering service companies, and the services they can provide vary from company to company. For example, in the case of law profession offices and real estate companies, legal terms and industry knowledge are required, so there are services where operators specializing in the industry are available. There are also companies that can provide services outside of business hours, such as at night or on holidays.

There are also other services that provide mail order product explanations, take orders on behalf of customers, and even handle complaints.

Note that the cost of using a telephone answering service varies depending on the number of calls per month and the number of operators. When considering the use of this service, it is necessary to compare the content of the service, the quality of the operators, and the cost to find the service that best suits your needs.

Outing Privacy is a tort

 

◆What is outing?

Outing refers to the act of another person revealing a secret related to sexuality (such as being gay, lesbian, bisexual, or having gender identity disorder) to those around them without the consent of the person concerned. For example, if a person who has been told by the person in question that he or she likes him or her tells a third party that he or she is homosexual, or if a person who has been consulted by the person in question says that he or she is actually a former man (or woman), it is outing without the consent of the person in question.

◆If you do outing

In The person who has been outed will suffer deeply. If the outing is done in the workplace, it can lead to not only resignation but also mental illness such as depression, harassment trials, and in the worst-case scenario, even death. In fact, there have been trials on the issue of outing, and the high court ruled that outing is "a serious violation of personal rights and the right to privacy, and an unacceptable act" (Hitotsubashi University outing case). There was also a report that a company apologized to its employees and paid a settlement for the damage caused by outing.

◆Measures are the duty of employers

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare's Guidelines for the Prevention of Power Harassment also clearly states that outing, or revealing to other workers sensitive personal information such as a worker's sexual orientation, gender identity, medical history, fertility treatment, etc., without the consent of the worker in question, constitutes power harassment. In other words, employers are obliged to take measures to prevent such harassment. Specific preventive measures include clarification, dissemination, and enlightenment of policies in the workplace, development of a consultation system, prompt and appropriate response to problems when they occur, and development of a system to protect privacy. Respecting diversity and building an environment where employees can work with peace of mind will lead to the development of your company.

Ironic "equality" achieved by lowering benefits for full-time employees

The Supreme Court's high-profile ruling on equal pay for equal work legislation was handed down in October.

In a ruling in three cases (Tokyo, Osaka, Saga), the Supreme Court ruled that the working conditions of contract workers are different from those of full-time employees in five categories, including special work allowance and sick leave, as "unreasonable".

It was ordered that dependents' allowance, New Year's work allowance (special work allowance), holiday pay for the New Year's period, summer winter vacation (special leave), and paid sick leave be provided to non-permanent employees.

As for the benefits already determined by the Supreme Court in its 2018 ruling that "they must be paid to non-permanent employees," they include commuting allowances, full-time allowances, housing allowances, service rewards, and overtime premiums paid to full-time employees. 

As a result of these and other rulings by the Supreme Court, it is almost certain that non-regular employees will also be required to take advantage of the benefits, leave, and welfare programs paid to full-time employees.

The law on which this series of lawsuits was based is Article 20 of the Labor Contract Act, which prohibits working conditions that are found to be unreasonable, taking into account the differences between the working conditions of part-time and full-time employees, the nature of the job, the scope of the change in assignment, and other circumstances.

The Supreme Court's decision says that the individual nature of the benefits and "what the purpose of providing them is" should be examined, and then the differences in job duties and other factors should be taken into account.

It is unreasonable not to provide alimony to non-permanent employees, even if their duties are different from those of full-time employees, as long as their contracts are renewed and "they are expected to continue to work reasonably well", decision says.

In other words, in light of the purpose, "as long as the reality is the same, the company should pay, and it doesn't matter what the job description or the weight of the responsibility is.

As for the housing allowance, the company had appealed several High Court decisions ruling that it was unreasonable not to provide it to non-permanent employees, but the Supreme Court decided not to accept the appeal, and the "pay" by the High Court decision was confirmed.

In theory, it is reasonable to assume that the purpose of the allowance is to subsidize the cost of living, and in light of the "purpose" of subsidizing the cost of living, we conclude that the need is the same for non-regular employees, and that non-regular employees should be paid regardless of their job description.

The same logic applies to the granting of other benefits and vacations.

Many companies are now struggling with deteriorating business performance due to the corona disaster, and some may not be able to afford to increase the treatment of non-permanent employees.

A likely scenario would be a review of benefits for full-time employees to reduce or eliminate them. In other words, the move is an attempt to justify "equal pay" for equal work with non-permanent employees by eliminating benefits for full-time employees.

When it comes to the legislation of equal pay for equal work, which is part of the reform of the work style, the original goal of the country should have been to eliminate the disparity by raising the treatment of non-permanent employees in Japan, where the wage gap is larger than in Europe and the United States, and to create a virtuous circle in the economy by raising the wage level.
However, coupled with performance pressures from Corona, the "equal pay for equal work" legislation could become a negative legacy, depending on the future situation.

Effective next April 1! Equal pay for equal work initiatives and wage trends

 

◆What is "equal pay for equal work"?

Aiming to eliminate the unreasonable disparity in treatment between so-called full-time and part-time employees (fixed-term workers, part-timers, and temporary workers) in the same company, it will be prohibited to create unreasonable disparities in treatment of any kind, including basic salary and bonuses.

In addition, if requested by a non-permanent employee, the employer is required to explain the nature and reason for the difference in treatment compared to a full-time employee, and not to treat the employee unfavorably because of the request for an explanation.

Effective from April 1, 2020 for large companies and worker dispatch, and from April 2021 for small and medium-sized companies.

◆What is the reaction of companies / workers?

In Chapter 2 of the "Annual Economic and Financial Report for Fiscal 2020," which was submitted to the Cabinet on November 6, 2020, the efforts and impact of equal pay for equal work are summarized, and here are some of them.

The percentages of part-time and fixed-term employees who responded that they were not convinced of the difference in treatment compared to the same full-time employees were 37.0% for bonuses, 26.6% for regular raises, 23.3% for retirement benefits, and 12.7% for personnel evaluation and performance.

On the other hand, the implementation rates of the initiatives are: "Clarification of job description" 35.2%, "Review of salary system" 34.0%, "Review of benefits" 31.3%, "Review of benefit system" 21.2%, and "Consolidation of personnel evaluation" 17.7%.

As for the challenges that companies face, 30.4% of them feel that it is costly, 19.5% feel that it is unclear what needs to be addressed, 18.7% feel that it is difficult to change internal practices and customs, 16.5% feel that there is no effective way to deal with the issue, and 16.1% feel that it is difficult to make flexible adjustments to their operations.