 1,184 firms paid more than 190,000 workers about 24 billion yen in back pay The effort to eliminate the practice of forcing workers to work overtime without pay in violation of the Labor Standards Law is making progress. On September 27, the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare announced that between April 2003 and March 2004, labor standards inspection offices had ordered 1,184 companies to pay 194, 653 workers about 23.9 billion yen in back pay. Unpaid overtime work is most prevalent in the manufacturing industry, followed by the commerce, finance, and advertising industries. The Japanese Communist Party first took up this issue in the Diet in 1976, and has since called on the government more than 240 times to take steps to eliminate unpaid overtime work and establish fair work rules. Public opinion calling for the elimination of unpaid overtime work has also increased. As a result, the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare issued an administrative instruction in April 2001 and administrative guidelines in May 2003 to eradicate unpaid overtime work. These corrections are only the tip of the iceberg, although a growing number of workers and families have got up the courage to file complaints to labor standards inspection offices. (end) |