April 1, 2014
Japanese Communist Party Upper House member Koike Akira on March 25 urged the government to take measures to prevent illegal corporate actions against pregnant workers such as dismissal and forcible retirement.
At a House Welfare and Labor Committee meeting, the JCP vice chair referred to the 2012 government survey results indicating that among women who left their jobs during pregnancy or after taking maternity leave, 14% said that they were dismissed or forced to accept early retirement.
The JCP lawmaker pointed out that while the number of cases of unfair labor acts against pregnant workers reached 3,186, the labor ministry instructed employers to stop such acts in only 19 cases and did not make public the names of companies involved in these cases.
He demanded that the ministry implement effective measures, including strict labor law compliance orders and the public release of company names.
Labor Minister Tamura Norihisa said, “The ministry will properly respond to illegal actions, if found.”
Regarding the survey, JCP councilor Koike cited data showing that the reason for difficulty in taking childrearing leave, 58% of female non-regular employees cited that they were exempted from the company’s childcare leave program and 28.4% of female regular employees said that their company has no childcare leave system.
Koike said that although more than half of women workers work as non-regular workers with a contract of limited duration such as three months or six months, they are unable to take the leave due to strict requirements of the current law on childrearing leave, and called for relaxation of the requirements.
At a House Welfare and Labor Committee meeting, the JCP vice chair referred to the 2012 government survey results indicating that among women who left their jobs during pregnancy or after taking maternity leave, 14% said that they were dismissed or forced to accept early retirement.
The JCP lawmaker pointed out that while the number of cases of unfair labor acts against pregnant workers reached 3,186, the labor ministry instructed employers to stop such acts in only 19 cases and did not make public the names of companies involved in these cases.
He demanded that the ministry implement effective measures, including strict labor law compliance orders and the public release of company names.
Labor Minister Tamura Norihisa said, “The ministry will properly respond to illegal actions, if found.”
Regarding the survey, JCP councilor Koike cited data showing that the reason for difficulty in taking childrearing leave, 58% of female non-regular employees cited that they were exempted from the company’s childcare leave program and 28.4% of female regular employees said that their company has no childcare leave system.
Koike said that although more than half of women workers work as non-regular workers with a contract of limited duration such as three months or six months, they are unable to take the leave due to strict requirements of the current law on childrearing leave, and called for relaxation of the requirements.
