 IHI employees in nominal managerial positions to be paid for overtime work Thousands of employees at the major heavy machinery maker Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries, who are in managerial positions in name only will receive back pay for their overtime work since April, thanks to the movement of the workers and the Japanese Communist Party. Akahata of September 1 reported that the IHI personnel department on August 10 announced that the company will comply with the administrative guidance of the Labor Standards Inspection Office to stop treating "e-job" workers as if they were in managerial positions. IHI in January 2002 introduced a performance-based wage system and created nominal managerial positions in a job category called "e-job". About 2,000 employees in design and engineering jobs were put in this category. "E-job" workers are paid a monthly allowance of 50,000 to 60,000 yen, but are paid nothing for hours they work overtime. However, under the performance-based wage system, some of them worked 60 to 100 hours overtime a month to achieve the goals they set for themselves. The JCP IHI Committee filed a complaint with the Labor Standards Inspection Office about the "e-job" system, saying that employees in this category are not doing managerial work and that it is unjust for these people to be excluded from work-hour regulations. After the change, an e-job employee who works 60 hours' overtime a month will be paid an extra 160,000 yen. IHI workers welcome the change as a great advance toward ending unpaid overtime. They will further act to get the company redress this violation of the Labor Standards Law retroactively since the illegal system was introduced in 2002. (end) |